Chapter 26

Chapter 26
Sera POV

The taxi ride back to downtown felt endless, filled with the kind of silence that screams louder than conversation. I pressed myself against the window, watching the city blur past while trying to process what had just happened at Morrison's Automotive.

The recognition I'd felt when that mechanic looked at me had been devastating in its intensity.

"Well, that was interesting," Bri said finally, breaking the silence that had stretched between us since leaving the shop.

Her voice carried the casual tone of someone making small talk, completely oblivious to the supernatural drama that had just played out in front of her.

"Interesting how?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear her answer.

"The mechanic. Kael." The way she said his name, with a slight emphasis that suggested she'd been thinking about him, made something uncomfortable twist in my stomach. "He was quite attractive, don't you think?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. I'd been so focused on the inexplicable connection I'd felt, the magnetic pull that had made me take that involuntary step toward him, that I hadn't considered how he might have appeared to someone who hadn't experienced the same supernatural recognition.

"I didn't really notice," I lied, the words tasting bitter on my tongue.

"Really? Because he was definitely the rugged, mysterious type. All those muscles from working with his hands, and those eyes..." She trailed off with a dreamy sigh that made my chest tighten with something I didn't want to identify.

Jealousy. Pure, irrational jealousy over a man I'd met minutes ago, who'd treated me like I was invisible after that first moment of devastating connection.

"He seemed cold," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral despite the emotions churning beneath the surface.

"Cold? I thought maybe he was a little shy." Bri shifted in her seat to face me more directly. "There's something appealing about the strong, silent type, don't you think? Like still waters running deep."

Every word she spoke felt like a needle under my skin. How could she describe him as appealing when he'd dismissed us both with such deliberate indifference? How could she see potential where I'd seen only rejection?

But more troubling was my own reaction. Why did I care what Bri thought about a stranger? Why did her obvious attraction to him make me want to argue, to point out his coldness, to somehow convince her that her interest was misplaced?

"Maybe," I said, because any other response would have revealed too much about my own confused feelings.

"I mean, did you see the way he carried himself? That quiet confidence that comes from being really good at what you do?" Bri was warming to her theme now, and I could see the familiar sparkle in her eyes that appeared whenever she developed a crush. "And his voice when he was explaining about the diagnostics, OMG, it was sooo deep in all the right ways."

I had noticed his voice. Deep, slightly rough, with an accent I couldn't place but that had sent shivers down my spine when he'd called out from behind the truck hood. But hearing Bri describe it in such admiring terms made me feel possessive in ways I had no right to feel.

"You barely talked to him for five minutes," I pointed out, perhaps more sharply than necessary.

"Sometimes five minutes is all you need to recognize potential," she replied, giving me a curious look. "Are you okay? You seem tense."

The observation forced me to examine my own behavior. I was tense, wound tight with emotions I couldn't articulate. The encounter at the shop had left me feeling raw and confused, and Bri's obvious interest in Kael was making it worse.

"Just tired," I said. "It's been a long day."

But as the taxi continued toward downtown, I found myself replaying every moment of our brief interaction. The way Kael had straightened up from under the hood, the instant recognition that had passed between us, the magnetic pull I'd felt before his expression had shuttered and he'd treated me like a stranger.

There had been something in his eyes in that first moment, not just recognition, but pain.Like seeing me had hurt him in ways I couldn't understand.

"I might ask Dad to recommend me to other people who use the shop," Bri continued, apparently unaware of my internal turmoil. "You know, create opportunities to run into him again."

The words sent another spike of jealousy through me, followed immediately by self-recrimination. What right did I have to feel territorial over someone who'd made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me?

"That seems like a lot of effort for someone you just met," I said carefully.

"The best things in life usually require effort," she replied with the confidence of someone who'd never had to doubt her ability to get what she wanted. "Besides, there was definitely something there. A spark."

A spark. If only she knew about the electric shock of recognition that had passed between Kael and me,

But she hadn't felt it. To her, he was just an attractive mechanic with good customer service skills and appealing forearms. She had no idea that meeting him had felt like encountering a missing piece of my soul.

By the time we reached my building, I was exhausted from the effort of appearing normal while my emotions churned like a storm system beneath the surface.

"Thanks for coming with me today," Bri said as I climbed out of the taxi. "I know car trouble wasn't exactly the weekend adventure we had planned."

"It's fine," I replied, though nothing about the day felt fine.

"I'll call you when I hear back about the repairs. Maybe we can grab dinner and I can tell you more about my brilliant plan to casually run into our sexy mechanic again."

The possessive pronoun hit me like a slap. Our mechanic. Like Kael was something we shared.

"Sounds great," I managed, though the words felt like broken glass in my throat.

After the taxi pulled away, I stood on the sidewalk outside my building, trying to understand what was happening to me. Three days ago, I'd never heard the name Kael Morrison. Now the thought of Bri pursuing him made me want to scream with frustration.

The elevator ride passed in a blur of self-recrimination and confused analysis. I had no rational reason to feel possessive of someone who'd treated me with professional courtesy at best. The connection I'd felt had clearly been one-sided.

But even as I tried to rationalize my feelings, I couldn't shake the memory of that first moment when our eyes had met. The recognition had been mutual, I was certain of it. For just an instant, before his expression had shuttered, I'd seen something in his face that matched what I was feeling.

Then he'd deliberately looked away, spoken only to Bri, treated me like I was invisible.

The rejection stung worse because I couldn't understand it. If he'd felt even a fraction of what I'd experienced, how could he dismiss it so completely?

I let myself into the condo and immediately headed for the kitchen, needing the ritual of making tea to calm my scattered thoughts. But as I waited for the water to boil, my mind kept circling back to gray-green eyes and the way my heart had stopped when he'd straightened up from under that truck hood.

The tea didn't help. Neither did a hot shower or the mindless television I put on for background noise. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kael's face in that first moment of recognition, before coldness had replaced whatever he'd been feeling.

By the time I finally went to bed, I was no closer to understanding my reaction to him or why Bri's obvious interest made me feel like someone was stealing something that belonged to me.

I lay awake staring at the ceiling, replaying every second of our encounter..

And underneath all of it, the growing certainty that whatever I'd felt in that place was far
from over, despite his apparent determination to pretend nothing had happened between us.