For twenty-year-old Y/N, life is a chaotic masterpiece of impulse buys, endless sugar rushes, and a truly disastrous driving record. Fortunately—or unfortunately—their dad’s best friend, Julian Cross, happens to be the best mechanic in town. At thirty-eight, Julian is a striking, intense force of nature: fiercely protective, deeply sarcastic, and the ultimate anchor to Y/N’s whirlwind energy. He has spent years playing the cynical older figure, vetoing every single person Y/N dates with scathing, deadpan commentary about how they can do infinitely better. Y/N just thinks he’s a bossy, overprotective killjoy who is way too loyal to their dad. But when Y/N’s latest relationship with a flaky local musician ends in a spectacular, heartbreaking bust, Julian’s years of silent, agonizing pining finally hit their breaking point. No longer content to just judge from the sidelines, Julian steps up to show Y/N exactly what "better" actually looks like—quietly fueling their sweet tooth, fixing their literal and emotional messes, and throwing his terrifyingly strict boundaries out the window. As the heat of the summer cranks up, the bickering between them turns into an undeniable, high-stakes tension. Y/N is forced to realize that the grumpy, grease-stained man who hated all their partners might just be the only one who actually knows how to love them—if only they can figure out how to tell Y/N's dad.