Fixing my eyes on him, I take stock. He’s a casual clothes guy for sure. I’ve never seen him wear anything other than jeans, khaki shorts, T-shirts, and the occasional short-sleeve button-up. But they always look new, and I don’t think I’ve seen him repeat an outfit yet. And that silver food truck he shares with his brother looks practically brand-new the way it shines like a seashell in the sunlight. Whatever finance job Callum had must have paid a pretty penny for him to drop everything and move to the state of Hawaii, one of the most expensive places you could choose to live in the US, so he could rehab his brother’s struggling small business.

Maybe Finn had money troubles before, but his big brother has seemed to make them all disappear.

He sticks his head out the window. “Now try it,” he says in that same gentle yet firm tone, pulling me back to the present.

Hopping into my car, I shove the key in the ignition and turn it. The second it starts, I’m positively giddy with relief. The fact that it started so quickly means that my battery is still good, at least for a little while longer, and I won’t have to replace the alternator. Instinctively, I almost grin up at him, but I catch myself. He already made it clear today he’s not interested in seeing my smile.

I take a second and will my face back to neutral before stepping out of the car. He removes the cables and tosses them in his back seat. I stand by the hood of my car, alternating between crossing my arms over my chest and clasping my hands behind my back. Nerves swarm my stomach, like butterflies that are angry about being cooped up. I open and close my mouth a handful of times, waiting for the right time to tell him thank you. He saved my skin today, and for that, the very least I owe him are words of gratitude.

He climbs out of the car and turns to me. I open my mouth once more, this time certain I’ll say the right thing, but he speaks first.

“You could say thank you, you know.”

“What?”

He rolls his eyes, then slams the back door to his car shut. “That’s typically what a person says to another person when they’ve done something nice for them.”

His words fall out in a dismissive mutter. It sends me straight from simmering nerves to boiling over.

“You seem pretty fixated on manners and etiquette for someone who doesn’t like to follow those rules himself.” I spin on my heels and walk back to the front door of my car before turning to look at him once more. “I was actually going to say thank you. I was waiting for you to get out of the car so you could hear me clearly.”