Falling Up

1. Three o'clock

Jason was underneath the car with a spanner, tinkering away at his project car, a 1969 Dodge Charger, which he had stored in the back of their auto shop. Business was slowing down for the afternoon which is usually when he liked to work on his own car. He had picked it up on the cheap and had been attempting to restore it for a couple of months now. Today however he was frustrated and as he turned the spanner one last time he did so with a bit too much force.

"Shit," said Jason as the spanner fell on top of him, releasing a spray of oil through his hair and down his light grey t-shirt.

He pulled himself out from under the car, sitting up and throwing the spanner against the wall in frustration. "This piece of shit is never going to work," he said, letting off a sigh.

He rubbed his face with the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up as a trickle of sweat dripped down his toned abs. Despite the normally cooler temperature of Montana they were in the middle of a heat wave and being hauled up inside their auto shop only seemed to make the temperature worse.

"I don't think the car is the problem here," replied Noah as he entered the garage and chucked a rag over to Jason who proceeded to wipe the oil from his face and hands. "You're worried about her," Noah questioned, although it was more of a statement than anything.

Jason ran his hand through his now oily hair, unintentionally slicking it back in the process. Of course he was worried about their sister. He had been worried about her all day but he was always worried about Riley. He spent his life trying to protect both his Riley and his brother Noah and just the thought of what they went through still elicited a gnawing anger within him. He had trouble controlling that anger on the best of days.

He got up off the floor and walked over to the nearby sink, attempting to get off the oil from his hands. "What if something happens to her Noah?"

Noah leaned up against the car, crossing his arms as his muscles flexed across his chest. He had never seen Noah so physically in shape before. Sure he had been the quarterback in high school and was always pretty fit but this was just a different level.

"She'll be fine Jason. Besides, you can't keep her cooped up in the house for the rest of her life," replied Noah. "It's just college."

That's what Jason was afraid of. College meant boys and he wasn't sure if Riley could handle that yet. Or more likely, he wasn't sure he could handle it. She had no backup there. No one to watch her back. Not that he did a very good job of it in the first place anyway.

He still beat himself up over what happened to her. Every single day he blamed himself for the hell that she went through. For letting his sadistic step-father lay his hands on her. His fist banged against the tap in anger, trying to turn it off. His response was always anger at the smallest of things.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath as his fist started to turn a slight shade of pink from the sheer force of turning off the stupid tap.

"By the way, Mr. three o'clock is here," said Noah casually, ignoring Jason's angry outbursts. He was sure Noah was getting used to it by now.

Jason glanced up at the clock noticing it was already 3:05pm. "Ah crap. Why didn't you tell me?" asked Jason as he went to quickly wipe his hands on a clean rag. He took a quick look in the mirror, frowning at his reflection.

"He'll wait," said Noah with a grin. "He always does."

Jason walked past his brother, playfully punching him in the arm at the insinuation that something was going on between them. Mr. three o'clock, as they had come to nickname him, had come in three times a week for the last month to get his car detailed, cleaned and serviced.

He didn't even know why. The car always looked spotless to him yet Jason didn't care. He enjoyed looking and this man was damn fine to be looking at.

"Mr. Knight," nodded Jason as he walked into the main garage to find Mr. Knight standing next to his car as always.

"When are you going to start calling me Tyrus?" he asked, looking as good as ever in his dark navy suit and white shirt. It was definitely tailored and completely unlike the one suit that Jason owned in the back of his closet that barely saw the light of day. He had no idea how Mr. Knight wasn't dripping with sweat in this heat like Jason was.

"When you stop becoming a paying customer, Mr. Knight," replied Jason as he walked over to the beautiful 718 Porsche Spyder. He ran his fingers along the smooth white surface as he always did before turning back around, leaning on the hood and giving Mr. Knight a grin.

"Business before pleasure Mr. Knight," Jason grinned.

Tyrus looked him up and down as Jason proceeded to run his finger along his bottom lip, enticing him further.

They did this little dance every time, simply teasing each other with words and small actions, but it never progressed any further. He wasn't even sure if Mr. Knight even swung that way. But Jason sure did and man would he have liked to nail him against the hood of the car he was leaning on.

Getting off the hood of the car he let out a small breath before turning around to open the hood. He would never allow anything to happen with Mr. Knight anyway. He was the provider for both Riley and Noah and he couldn't think about himself right now, he was too concerned about Riley and Noah to have his mind be focused elsewhere.

Riley was clearly nervous about going to college and Noah had been so obsessed with his training lately that he was sure something was up with him. Plus, with the pressure of running the auto shop and providing for his family, he didn't have much time to think about himself. He would allow himself a little flirt here and there but that was it. Family came first. They always did.

Tyrus turned around to sit at the small round table nearby as he always did and shrugged off his jacket, placing it neatly on the back of the small chair. He pulled out his laptop as usual, rolling his sleeves of his white shirt up his arms and began typing away.

Jason leaned into the hood of the car to start work. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in the waiting room Mr. Knight?" he said, glancing back. "We have more comfortable chairs and air conditioning."

Tyrus didn't even lift his head from the laptop or stop typing as he responded. "I'm fine here Jason. I like to keep an eye on things."

"Afraid I'll drive away with your car?" laughed Jason.

"I wouldn't put it past you," smiled Tyrus from behind the laptop. "That car is my favourite and I'm not letting it out of my sight."

As Jason grabbed a spanner from his toolbox his thoughts went back to Riley and his foot started to jitter on the floor. Only one more hour and he can go and pick her up. His phone vibrated with a text message in his pocket and he quickly dropped his spanner through the engine of the car, cursing slightly to himself as he jammed his hand into his pocket and picked it up.

Expecting a text message from Riley he grunted only to see a reminder for an upcoming bill.

"Is something the matter?" said Tyrus, tearing his eyes away from his laptop to look at Jason.

"It's nothing," he responded as he shoved his phone back into his pocket and bent down under the car to grab the spanner from the floor.

"If something is bothering you I would like to know," said Tyrus.

"And why is that?" responded Jason as he pulled himself out from under the car and grabbed hold of the hood of the car to pull himself up off the floor.

With the spanner now in his hand he leaned over back into the hood of the car and didn't notice Tyrus who had got up from his seat and was now standing so close behind him he could feel the heat radiating from his chest.

"Because I want your entire focus on my car," he whispered, placing his hands on the hood of the car with Jason trapped in between. He leaned in closer, his well defined muscles pressing up against Jason's back. "Or your entire focus on me."

Jason gulped, dropping his spanner for the third time that afternoon. Tyrus let off a husky laugh before pushing himself off the hood of the car and heading back to his seat. Letting out a deep breath he tried to focus again on what he was doing.

Focus Jason. Focus.