Kate spent the entire weekend playing with the idea of Kiba's offer. She wanted to accept it. It was hard to find someone willing to help her usually. He was dangerous, she realized. Not only did he have an amazing body and knew how to kiss her socks off but he was kind too. On Monday she asked Ino for her thoughts on the offer and Ino pretty much confirmed what Kiba had said. He had a hard time in school and he was raised by a single mom. Ino also let Kate know that if Kiba offered something it wasn't out of pity or some hero complex, he genuinely wanted to help and he was genuinely a decent guy and to Kate that made him even more dangerous. She would fall for him if she let herself and that was a forbidden emotion to feel towards another man. She couldn't afford another guy who would leave her.
Kiba received a text from Ino later in the day letting him know that Kate had asked about him and he replied he told her to. On Wednesday he went to take akamaru out for his afternoon walk. He noticed Kate's younger brother's car was in the parking lot again on his way back inside after his walk. He walked up the stairs to her apartment and knocked. When Nate opened the door he was smiling widely. "Hello officer Inuzuka and Akamaru. How are you today?"
"I told you kid, it's Kiba, at least when I'm off duty, and I'm doing well. Body feels a lot better today than it did last week. How are you doing?"
"Pretty good man, Oli and I are working on homework but Katie isn't home right now. She gets off in about... An hour." He said after looking at his watch.
"I'm not here for her. Do you know anything about cars Nate?" Kiba wasn't sure how to broach the subject of helping him with his car. He figured if Kate even knew he was talking to her brother she'd kill him but someone needed to help him fix that death trap.
"Uhh, not really. I've never really had anyone to help me learn about that." Nate laughed self-consciously, "I'm a little lacking in the dad department and my older brothers were all too busy when I finally got a car."
"Oh. I was raised by mom too so I get it. I had a friend's dad help me out though, want to learn about cars?" Kiba asked.
"Absolutely!" Nate all but shouted. "I know my car needs fixing but I'm saving all my money for college, so I haven't really gotten any repairs. I was lucky that my siblings pitched in to get me that."
"Got any work clothes?" Kiba asked noticing he didn't want to ruin the kid's clothes.
"I've got some basketball shorts in my car but my t-shirt is a sleeveless thing, and it's a little cold for that." Nate said thinking out loud.
"Are you guys done with your homework?" Kiba asked as an afterthought.
"Yeah we are. We were gonna watch some TV."
"Meet me at my apartment door in 5? I have a pair of sweats and a long sleeve t-shirt you can borrow. Put Oliver in some older clothes, please?"
"Yeah!" Nate said and closed the door as he shouted to Oliver to get changed.
Kiba walked back into his apartment and got one of his smaller long sleeve t-shirts, and a pair of sweats. A little before 5 minutes was up he heard the knock on his door. He opened up for them and told Nate to change. Nate came out and they walked out to his car.
For the next 45 minutes Kiba went over the basics with the boys on cars. He also made some notes on things that needed to be fixed. Nate was slightly covered in grease but he looked happy and even Oliver had managed to get his hands a little dirty. Kiba was covered completely in grease and his hands were now black with the stuff. He saw Kate pull into the parking lot and she approached them slowly.
"Hey guys…" She said looking at the trio, "What's going on?"
"Kiba knows how to fix cars!" Nate said excitedly. "He's teaching me about them."
Kiba saw her looking at him and he looked away wiping his hands on an old rag. He didn't want her mad at him again and he really wasn't up for another round of arguing. His shoulder was hurting and his cast had managed to get grease on and in it. His doctor was going to kill him. He had an appointment tomorrow and the cast would come off anyway. Hopefully he wouldn't need another one but they told him he'd probably get another one.
"Alright guys let's go get washed up, I've got a special kind of soap that will get the grease out of your hands and you can change back into your clothes Nate." Kiba went to follow the boys back inside but was stopped when Kate grabbed his good arm. "I know you said to leave Nate alone but, his car is a death trap and I just want to help him keep it running. I'm a huge advocate for going to college and we didn't even talk about cop work. He's gotta learn this stuff so when he goes away to college he's not left hanging somewhere. I just want to-"
His sentence was cut short when she put her fingers over his lips. "Shh, I know. I'm not mad. I wanted to say thank you." She looked into his eyes and she felt the burn return. He was incredibly dangerous she kept reminding herself but she couldn't stop the thumping in her chest as she stepped away from him.
She wanted to kiss him. She walked with him back into the house and realized he must have given his keys to the boys because they were inside waiting for them. He went under his sink and pulled out the gritty soap and all three boys washed up in the kitchen sink. When they were done Kiba made sure that Oliver's hands were clean and Oliver went to play with Akamaru while Nate was changing and she approached him. He was adorable and had grease on his cheek adding to his charm. He smiled at her widely as she approached. She grabbed a paper towel and wet it with the soap and water and used one hand to grab his face and the other to scrub away the grease on his cheek. She saw his heated gaze land several times on her lips and felt his hands land on her hips. She finished washing off his face right as Nate came back in and the moment was lost. She noticed Kiba repositioning his pants as he faced the sink and smiled. They definitely wanted each other. She gave her keys to Nate and asked him to walk up with Oliver and get him changed while she talked with Kiba about something and Nate smiled and wagged his eye brows at her as he grabbed the key and took Oliver upstairs.
