Wrenching Around

Riley Thompson wiped her hands on a clean towel and flipped the sign on the bakery door to closed. The sweet smell of cinnamon and vanilla still hung in the air from the last batch of rolls she had pulled from the oven. She had been on her feet since four that morning, and her back ached from the hours of kneading dough and lifting trays. The register was empty, the display case nearly bare, and the only sound left was the low hum of the refrigerator in the back.

She pulled her phone from her apron pocket and checked the screen. Three missed calls from her mother, plus two texts from Tyler that made her stomach drop. The first one read: Riley, sweetheart, when are you going to stop playing hard to get? The second one was shorter but somehow worse: We both know this is just a phase.

Riley set the phone on the counter and let out a long breath. The family reunion was coming up in three weeks, and she already knew how the weekend would go. Her mother would smile and ask pointed questions about her love life. Tyler would show up uninvited like he always did. Everyone would act like she was the problem for not taking him back after three years of on-and-off nonsense.

She needed a plan. Something that would make it clear she was done with Tyler and not interested in whatever her mother thought was best for her. The idea had been sitting in the back of her mind since last month when her delivery van broke down. Mason Briggs had fixed it in under an hour, barely said two words the whole time, and charged her less than she expected. He seemed solid. Quiet. And most importantly, not the type to get weird ideas just because she asked for a favor.

Riley grabbed her keys and locked up the bakery. The drive to Briggs Auto Repair took ten minutes through the quiet streets of town. She parked next to a rusted truck and walked through the open bay door. Mason was under the hood of a pickup, his gray t-shirt streaked with grease, and his short dark hair damp with sweat.

He looked up when he heard her footsteps. His blue eyes showed surprise, but he didn't stop working right away. He wiped his hands on a rag and straightened up, waiting for her to say something.

"I need a favor," Riley said. The words came out faster than she meant them to. "It's kind of crazy, but I'm desperate."

Mason leaned against the truck and crossed his arms. "What kind of crazy?"

She told him about the reunion. About Tyler and the texts and the way her mother never stopped pushing. She explained that she needed someone to show up with her, someone who would make it obvious she was not available and not interested in going backward. She offered free cinnamon rolls for life if he would pretend to be her boyfriend for the weekend.

Mason listened without interrupting. His blue eyes sparkling as he assessed the firecracker in front of him. Long, auburn hair pulled up in a messy bone, flour dusted her flushed cheeks. Her hazel eyes burned with anger when she mentioned her ex and shown with hope when offered him free cinnamon rolls.  When she finished, he rubbed the back of his neck and studied her face for a long moment. "Why me?"

"Because you don't look at me like you're waiting for something," Riley said. "And because I don't think you'd try to turn this into something it's not."

He nodded once, like that made sense to him. "What would pretending actually mean?"

She felt heat climb up her neck but kept her voice steady. "We'd need to look convincing. Hold hands. Maybe a couple of kisses if people are watching. Nothing crazy."

Mason's jaw tightened at the word kisses, but he didn't say no. He reached up and ruffled his dark hair, spinning his ball cap around before putting it back on. He just kept looking at her like he was trying to decide if she was serious or if this was some kind of joke. The garage was quiet except for the ticking sound of the truck engine cooling down.

"I need time to think about it," he said finally. "When do you need an answer?"

"Three weeks," Riley said. "That's when we leave. Here's my number." She pushed her business card into his hand.

Mason looked at it, stuck it in his back pocket, wiped his hands again and turned back to the engine. He didn't promise anything. He just picked up a wrench, nodded at her, and went back to work like she had asked him to change her oil instead of pretend to love her for a weekend.

Riley stood there for another minute, watching him work. She had expected him to laugh or tell her to leave. Instead he had listened. That was more than she got from most people when she talked about her family.

She drove back to the apartment above the bakery with her thoughts racing. Mason had not said yes, but he had not said no either. That was something. She unlocked the door and kicked off her shoes, then headed straight for the shower. The hot water felt good on her sore muscles, but it did not quiet the nervous energy in her chest.

Her phone buzzed on the bathroom counter. Another text from Tyler. She ignored it and finished rinsing her hair. When she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her hazel eyes looked tired, and her auburn hair was a tangled mess. She had spent the last year trying to build something that was hers, and she was not going to let Tyler or her mother take that away.

She got dressed in soft sweatpants and an old band tee, then went to the kitchen to make tea. The apartment was small but comfortable, with a tiny balcony that overlooked the street below. She sat on the couch with her mug and stared at the wall, trying to imagine what it would feel like to walk into the reunion with Mason beside her.

The thought made her stomach flutter in a way she did not expect. Mason was attractive in a rough, quiet kind of way. She had noticed it when he fixed her van, but she had pushed it aside because she was not looking for anything real. This was just an arrangement. A favor between two people who barely knew each other.

Still, she could not stop thinking about the way he had looked at her in the garage. Like he was actually considering it. Like maybe he understood what it felt like to have people expect things from you that you did not want to give.

Riley finished her tea and set the mug in the sink. She needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be another early morning at the bakery, and she still had to figure out what she was going to tell her mother if Mason said no.

She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. The streetlight outside cast a soft glow through the curtains. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the weekend going smoothly, with Mason playing the part of the steady boyfriend and Tyler finally backing off. It was a nice picture. She just hoped Mason would agree to help her make it real.

The next morning came too fast. Riley was back in the bakery by five, mixing dough and prepping the display case before the first customers arrived. She kept her phone in her pocket and checked it every time she had a free moment, but there were no new messages from Mason. She tried not to let it bother her. He had said he needed time, and she could give him that.

By mid-afternoon the bakery was busy with the usual rush of people stopping in for coffee and pastries on their way home from work. Riley smiled and chatted with regulars, but her mind kept drifting back to the garage and the way Mason had listened without laughing at her. She had not realized how much she needed someone to take her seriously until he did.

She was wiping down a table when the door opened and her friend Sarah walked in. Sarah worked at the bank across the street and stopped by most afternoons for a cinnamon roll and whatever gossip she had picked up that day.

"You look distracted," Sarah said as she sat at the table. "Everything okay?"

Riley glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. "I did something kind of stupid yesterday."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Stupid how?"

"I asked the mechanic who fixed my van to pretend to be my boyfriend at the reunion."

Sarah's eyes went wide, then she laughed. "Mason Briggs? The guy who barely talks?"

"That's the one," Riley said. "He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either. I offered him free rolls for life."

"That's a solid offer," Sarah said. "What did he say?"

"That he needed to think about it." Riley wiped the same spot on the table again. "I don't know why I thought he'd actually go for it. It's a crazy idea."

Sarah took a bite of her cinnamon roll and considered this. "Maybe not as crazy as you think. Mason's a good guy. Quiet, but solid. And he's not the type to mess with you."

"That's what I thought too," Riley said. "But I still feel like an idiot for asking."

"You did what you had to do," Sarah said. "Tyler keeps showing up here. Your mom keeps calling. If this gets them to back off, it might be worth it."

Riley nodded, but she was not sure she believed it. Asking Mason had felt like a good idea in the moment, but now that she was thinking about it, she wondered if she had made things worse. What if he said no? What if he said yes and then regretted it halfway through the weekend?

She finished cleaning the table and went back behind the counter. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of customers and small talk. By the time she locked up again, her feet were sore and her head was full of questions she didn't have answers to.

Riley climbed the stairs to her apartment and dropped her keys on the kitchen counter. She checked her phone one more time before getting in the shower. Still nothing from Mason. She tried to tell herself that was fine. He would call when he was ready, or he would not call at all. Either way, she would figure something out.

But as she stood under the hot water, letting it run over her tired muscles, she could not stop hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would say yes.