Chapter 6 Crossing the Line
Avoidance
I spent most of the night in the garage.
Not because there was work that needed doing.
Not because I couldn't sleep.
Because I was a coward.
The realization wasn't pleasant, but it was accurate.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Elliot standing in the middle of the apartment with surprise and hope written across his face.
Then I remembered the kiss.
The way he'd looked at me.
The way he'd kissed me back.
The way I'd wanted to pull him closer instead of walking away.
That was the problem.
I wanted too much.
Far too quickly.
By three in the morning, I'd rebuilt half an engine that didn't need rebuilding and reorganized an entire shelf of parts just to keep my hands occupied.
By five, I'd given up pretending I was working.
By seven, I was sitting alone in the office with a cup of coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes earlier.
The garage was quiet.
The apartment above was quieter.
I hadn't gone back upstairs.
Not once.
The smart move would've been waiting until Elliot left his room.
The smarter move would've been pretending the kiss never happened.
Unfortunately, life rarely cooperated with smart plans.
Footsteps echoed on the staircase.
My shoulders immediately tensed.
A second later, Elliot appeared in the doorway.
For one brief moment, neither of us spoke.
The memory of last night seemed to settle between us instantly.
Visible.
Heavy.
Impossible to ignore.
"Morning."
His voice sounded careful.
Too careful.
Like he wasn't sure what version of me he was going to get.
The realization made something uncomfortable twist inside my chest.
"Morning."
Silence followed.
I looked down at the paperwork on my desk.
Not because it was interesting.
Because looking at him felt dangerous.
Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to keep my distance.
So that's exactly what I did.
Or at least tried to do.
"Coffee's fresh."
Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
A kiss one night.
Coffee instructions the next morning.
The conversation skills of a dead houseplant.
Elliot nodded slowly.
"Thanks."
He remained standing there for another second.
Waiting.
For what, I wasn't sure.
An explanation maybe.
A conversation.
Anything.
Instead, I focused very hard on a repair invoice.
Eventually, he walked away.
The disappointment in his expression lingered long after he disappeared into the break room.
I hated that.
The morning only got worse from there.
Normally, Elliot spent time in the office while I worked.
Today he seemed determined to give me space.
Or maybe he was waiting for me to close the distance.
Either way, the result was the same.
The garage felt wrong.
Quieter.
Colder.
Every time I glanced toward the office, I found him staring at a computer screen with far more concentration than necessary.
Every time our eyes met, he looked away first.
The kid was hurt.
The realization became impossible to ignore.
Not angry.
Not embarrassed.
Hurt.
Because I'd kissed him.
Then walked away.
Then acted like nothing had happened.
The worst part?
He deserved better.
By noon, I was officially irritated.
Not with Elliot.
With myself.
A customer spent five minutes explaining a simple problem while my attention drifted toward the office.
Another asked a question twice because I hadn't been listening.
Rhett would've had a field day mocking me if he'd been there.
Fortunately, he wasn't.
The universe occasionally showed mercy.
I tightened a bolt beneath a motorcycle frame.
Failed to focus.
Tried again.
Failed again.
My thoughts kept returning to the same thing.
Elliot's face after the kiss.
The hope I'd seen there.
The confusion this morning.
The disappointment now.
"Damn it."
The curse slipped out before I could stop it.
A voice behind me spoke immediately.
"That bad?"
I nearly hit my head on the motorcycle.
Fantastic.
I sat up.
Elliot stood several feet away holding two bottles of water.
His expression looked cautiously neutral.
Like he was trying not to expect anything from me.
That somehow hurt worse than anger.
I accepted the water.
"Thanks."
He nodded.
Then turned to leave.
Just like that.
No conversation.
No questions.
No lingering.
The absence felt wrong.
"Wait."
The word left my mouth automatically.
Elliot stopped.
Slowly turned back.
My brain immediately failed to provide a follow-up.
Excellent.
Professional.
Mature.
"What?"
I stared at him.
Searching for something intelligent to say.
Nothing arrived.
The silence stretched.
Eventually, Elliot offered a small smile.
The kind people used when they were pretending they weren't disappointed.
"It's okay."
The words hit harder than they should have.
"What is?"
His shoulders lifted slightly.
A shrug.
A defense mechanism.
"I get it."
No.
He didn't.
That was the problem.
Because if he understood what was actually happening inside my head, nothing about this would make sense.
The issue wasn't that I regretted kissing him.
God help me, I didn't regret it at all.
The issue was that I liked it too much.
Liked him too much.
Too quickly.
Too completely.
And that terrified me.
"Elliot."
His name came out rough.
He looked at me patiently.
Waiting.
Trusting.
Still trusting me somehow.
I wasn't sure I deserved that.
"I shouldn't have..."
The sentence died halfway through.
Because it wasn't true.
I shouldn't have kissed him.
Maybe.
But I wanted to.
Still wanted to.
The desire hadn't disappeared overnight.
If anything, it had become stronger.
More dangerous.
Elliot's expression softened slightly.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The noise of the garage faded into the background.
Everything narrowed to the space between us.
To the uncertainty.
To the things neither of us knew how to say.
Finally, Elliot looked away.
A small movement.
Barely noticeable.
Yet somehow heartbreaking.
"Right."
One word.
Quiet.
Resigned.
Then he walked back toward the office.
This time I didn't stop him.
I watched him go.
Watched his shoulders tense.
Watched him disappear behind the glass door.
And suddenly the garage felt emptier than it had all morning.
The realization landed with brutal clarity.
Distance wasn't helping.
Avoiding him wasn't helping.
Pretending last night hadn't happened wasn't helping.
All it was doing was hurting him.
And somehow, that bothered me more than the attraction itself.
I stared at the office window.
At the silhouette visible behind the glass.
At the man I'd spent days trying not to care about.
Then I closed my eyes briefly.
Because a truth I didn't want was becoming impossible to ignore.
I could keep creating distance.
I could keep inventing reasons to stay away.
I could keep convincing myself it was the right thing to do.
But the moment I saw the hurt in Elliot's eyes, every argument lost its power.
And for the first time since I'd walked away from that kiss, I realized something terrifying.
Staying away from Elliot Reed might be impossible.
No More Running
I spent the entire afternoon trying to convince myself that I was done.
Done hoping.
Done wondering.
Done replaying the kiss in my head every five minutes.
Unfortunately, my heart refused to cooperate.
Jaxon had spent the entire morning avoiding me.
The entire afternoon too.
Not completely.
He still spoke when necessary.
Answered questions.
Accepted the coffee I brought him.
But there was distance now.
Carefully maintained distance.
The kind people created when they were afraid of something.
Or someone.
The realization hurt more than I wanted to admit.
Because the kiss hadn't felt like a mistake.
Not to me.
It had felt honest.
Real.
For one perfect moment, everything between us had finally made sense.
Then Jaxon had walked away.
And now he was pretending none of it mattered.
I sat in the office staring at my laptop.
The words on the screen blurred together.
Outside the glass window, the garage slowly emptied as closing time approached.
Customers left.
Tools were put away.
Engines fell silent.
Eventually, only Jaxon remained.
He stood near one of the workbenches, cleaning grease from his hands.
The sight made my chest ache.
I was tired of pretending.
Tired of guessing.
Tired of wondering whether I had imagined everything.
The attraction.
The tension.
The way he looked at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention.
I closed my laptop.
Enough.
The decision arrived suddenly.
Cleanly.
Either he wanted me or he didn't.
I deserved an answer.
Even if it hurt.
Especially if it hurt.
Because at least then I could stop hoping.
The garage felt unusually quiet as I crossed the floor toward him.
Jaxon noticed immediately.
His eyes lifted.
Followed my approach.
Something wary appeared in his expression.
Like he already knew this conversation wasn't going to be easy.
Good.
Neither was spending the day avoiding me.
He set the rag aside.
"Elliot."
I stopped a few feet away.
Close enough to see the tension in his shoulders.
Close enough to feel my own pulse racing.
"We need to talk."
A flicker of resignation crossed his face.
"Yeah."
Neither of us moved.
The silence stretched.
Finally, I took a breath.
"Why did you kiss me?"
The directness surprised both of us.
Jaxon's jaw tightened.
"Elliot—"
"No."
I shook my head.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Change the subject."
His eyes closed briefly.
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
The reaction told me everything.
He didn't want this conversation.
Unfortunately for him, neither did I.
Yet here we were.
"You kissed me."
My voice remained steady somehow.
Despite everything happening inside me.
"Then you walked away."
Jaxon looked toward the floor.
Not answering.
That hurt more than any response could have.
I swallowed hard.
"Was it a mistake?"
His head snapped up immediately.
The reaction was instant.
Violent.
"No."
The answer arrived without hesitation.
Something inside me loosened.
Just a little.
Not enough.
But enough.
"Then why are you acting like it was?"
Silence.
Thunder might as well have crashed through the building.
The question lingered between us.
Heavy.
Impossible to avoid.
Jaxon ran a hand through his hair.
Frustration flashed across his face.
Not directed at me.
At himself.
"I don't know how to do this."
The confession caught me off guard.
I stared.
"What?"
His laugh sounded rough.
Humorless.
"You."
The single word settled directly in the center of my chest.
"I don't know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to you."
My heart stumbled.
Actually stumbled.
Because this wasn't rejection.
This was fear.
I could see it now.
The realization changed everything.
Jaxon looked away.
Toward the motorcycles.
Toward anything except me.
"You're twenty-one."
I opened my mouth.
He continued.
"You're smart."
"Elliot, you've got your entire life ahead of you."
His voice grew quieter.
Rougher.
"And I've got a past that follows me everywhere."
The words finally revealed the truth.
Not rejection.
Fear.
The realization hurt.
But it also made me angry.
Because he was deciding things for both of us.
Again.
"You don't get to make that choice."
His eyes returned to mine.
"What?"
"You don't get to decide what I want."
The words came faster now.
Stronger.
Months of frustration with my father suddenly mixing with everything I felt for Jaxon.
"My father does that."
I took another step closer.
"You don't."
Something shifted in his expression.
Surprise.
Maybe because I rarely raised my voice.
Maybe because I rarely stood my ground.
Not this time.
"I'm tired of people deciding what's best for me."
The words echoed through the quiet garage.
"I'm tired of being told who I should be."
My throat tightened.
Emotion creeping into every sentence.
"And I'm really tired of pretending I don't care about you."
The confession hung between us.
Raw.
Terrifying.
Honest.
For one long moment, neither of us moved.
Jaxon simply stared.
Like he couldn't believe what he'd heard.
Maybe he couldn't.
My pulse thundered in my ears.
The silence felt endless.
Then Jaxon exhaled.
Slowly.
Like he'd been holding his breath for days.
"You make this impossible."
The words were almost a whisper.
A laugh escaped me.
Small.
Unsteady.
"Good."
Something changed then.
Not dramatically.
Not all at once.
A wall.
One I'd been crashing into since the day we met.
Finally beginning to crack.
Jaxon looked exhausted.
Defeated.
And strangely relieved.
Like he'd spent days fighting a battle he never wanted to win.
His gaze dropped briefly.
Then returned to mine.
The intensity nearly stole my breath.
"I've been trying to stay away from you."
I smiled softly.
"I noticed."
That earned the faintest hint of a smile.
The first real one all day.
God.
I loved that smile.
The realization arrived before I could stop it.
Terrifying.
Wonderful.
Dangerous.
Jaxon's expression softened.
For the first time since the kiss, the distance disappeared.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The wall between us finally lowering.
"You deserve honesty."
The words came quietly.
"I don't know where this goes."
My chest tightened.
Neither did I.
But somehow that didn't matter.
"Neither do I."
The answer felt right.
Simple.
True.
A long silence followed.
Then Jaxon took the final step.
Closing the distance between us.
His hand found mine.
Warm.
Steady.
Familiar.
The contact felt different now.
Intentional.
No excuses.
No storms.
No panic attacks.
Just us.
His thumb brushed gently across my knuckles.
The small gesture nearly broke my heart.
Because it felt like surrender.
Not weakness.
Trust.
"Elliot."
I looked up.
Found him watching me.
No walls.
No masks.
Just honesty.
For the first time.
"I'm done running."
Emotion tightened my throat.
Before I could respond, he leaned down and kissed me.
The kiss felt completely different from the first one.
Not desperate.
Not uncertain.
Certain.
Like a choice.
Like a promise.
When we finally pulled apart, neither of us spoke.
Words weren't necessary anymore.
The important things had already been said.
For the first time since meeting Jaxon Kane, the space between us felt uncomplicated.
Not easy.
Definitely not easy.
But honest.
And somehow that mattered more.
Later that night, long after the garage lights were switched off and the apartment settled into silence, neither of us felt any need to create distance anymore.
The walls we'd spent days building finally disappeared.
And for the first time, whatever existed between us belonged to both of us.
Not fear.
Not uncertainty.
Something real.
Something worth risking.
Something neither of us wanted to walk away from again.
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