Flowers and Motor Oil

Calix Ellis never expected to return home with a college degree in one hand and uncertainty in the other. At twenty, with shoulder-length locs, quiet eyes behind his glasses, and hands that know how to make anything bloom, he finds himself back in his small town, tucked behind the counter of his mother's flower shop, wondering what's supposed to come next.
Roman Vasiliev isn't the kind of man who blends in; tall, broad, buzz-cut, and always smelling faintly of motor oil and the open road. At twenty-one, he's carved out a simple life working with bikes, staying out of people's way, and keeping the soft parts of himself buried beneath leather jackets and low grunts.
When Roman walks into the flower shop one morning, he isn't looking for flowers. But he sees Calix; delicate, focused, with hands that move like they're touching something sacred, and Roman keeps finding reasons to come back.
What begins as stolen glances and awkward conversation grows into late-night drives, quiet confessions, and a road trip that changes everything. Together, they'll navigate family expectations, quiet yearnings, and the space between what they've always known and what they're just beginning to feel.
Flowers and Motor Oil is a tender queer romance about the soft unfolding of love, where strength wears many faces, silence can say everything, and sometimes, the most unexpected hearts are the ones that fit just right.