Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness.

Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness. (8)

Anna Taylor

The garage was like a second home to me. It was where I grew up, where I went to get away, where the people who helped raise me were.

“Terry!” I called, waving as we approached the doors of the shop. He was a tall, bulky man who helped my mother run the shop. His twin brother, Sam, helped organize everything, while Terry made sure that Jamie’s Auto wasn’t run into the ground.

He gently gathered me into a huge hug, the comforting smell of motor oil and new car filling my nostrils. I swear, you could bottle up the smell of these guys around here and sell it.

He put me down and ruffled my hair. “I missed you all summer, squirt. Glad you’re off.” He easily looked over my head, grinning at Noah, who stood awkwardly in the background. “Who’s this?”

“Noah, Terry, Terry, Noah,” I introduced, stepping back so that they could shake hands. Noah winced slightly as Terry took his smaller hand into his huge one, pumping it energetically. “Nice to meet you, man. I didn’t think that Anna would ever start dating again--”

“We’re not dating,” we said at the same time. Terry chuckled and ruffled Noah’s hair. “Ain’t that cute. Your mom’s in the back, squirt.”

“But--” I started. He walked away with a wink, whistling. I shook my head. Crazy old guy...

I followed his directions and headed for the back, past the air-conditioned office and the booths. I called out hellos as Noah followed me, stepping around people and tools.

My mother was leaning over a small Audi, her hair tied back into a messy ponytail as she tinkered with something in the hood.

“Mom,” I called, knowing that she was absorbed in her work. She hit her head on the hood, muttered a curse, then looked at us, her brown eyes lighting up.

“Noah! Anna! What a pleasant surprise.” My mom wiped her hands on a greasy rag and walked over to the shelf by the wall, taking two pairs of aprons and gloves and tossing them at us. “Suit up. We’re busy today.”

I caught mine, rolling my eyes at Noah’s petrified expression. “Come on, princey.”

Then I turned and tripped over a wrench. He let out a bark of laughter. “Lead the way, Anna.”

I gave him the finger while he followed, laughing along with the rest of the crew.

*

“What does this do?”

“It shows the oil level.”

“Correct.” I put the stick back in.

“Brûle en enfer.”

I bit my lip. “Kiss my--”

“No.”

“This is some bull--”

“No. One more guess,” Noah grinned at me, eyes twinkling.

I put a gloved hand to my chin, pausing in work on the car that I was fixing. “Hmm...asshole’s die early?”

“Close. Burn in hell.”

“Ah.” I nodded and sighed, tucking a loose strand behind my ear and leaning back over the car. We had agreed that whoever won this round (best out of fifteen) would get to do whatever they wanted. “Alright, what do you want?” I knew what it was.

“Library. As soon as you get done with that, I mean,” he gestured toward the SUV that I was slaving over. It only needed a basic tune up. The customer, a middle aged woman with age lines and twins, was sitting in the office, waiting.