All Geek to Me

by Allie York

  Downstairs, I salute Katniss, sip my coffee, and look around. Everyone is at the shop. And I mean everyone. Greer and Tuesday are in the floor, separating piles of comics and graphic novels. They both look like death, but they’re working, coffee by their side. Rae is at the front desk, plugging in a laptop and arranging a new cash register. An older man with suspenders and a fedora is next to the front door with a locksmith, instructing him on how to do his job. I scan the room again and blink, taking another sip of my coffee. Wyatt is at the jewelry case with a broom and dustpan, sweeping up glass. I didn’t even notice that they broke the case last night. It was pointless because we never lock it and none of it is worth much. The autographs in the cases are worth more than most of the jewelry.

  I’m staring at Wyatt like an anime girl with hearts in her eyes when a kid runs up to me. He has blond hair and familiar blue eyes,

  “What’s your name?” He has a Teeny Titans book in his hands. Teeny Titans are the Teen Titans, but for really young kids.

  “Noralee. What’s your name?” I crouch down, making an effort to not fall over, so that I’m on his eye level.

  “Cruze. Can you read to me? Daddy buyed it for me, but I only know five words.” The tip of his nose is pink from the cold and I remember to look up and check outside. There’s about four inches of snow out, but it looks like the slushy kind, not the packing kind. Hopefully it doesn’t all refreeze overnight. A tug on my hand reminds me that I have a book to read.

  I drop to the floor and cross my legs. Without an invitation, Cruze plops right in my lap. “Which five words can you read?” I have no idea about kids. I know nothing about little boys, or four-year-olds, or any of it. When it comes to kids, I’m Jon Snow.

  “I, A, book, me, and…” He taps his chin in contemplation and I almost giggle. “OH! The! I know the word the.” He points his finger in the air.

  “That is a lot of words,” I commend him.

  He shrugs. “I have a genius in my brain,” Cruze adds nonchalantly.

  At that, I do giggle. “You sure do.” I have to bite my lip to keep from busting out laughing.

  “So, can you read it, Norlee?” The way he says my name has my heart melting. I have so many things to take care of, but none of them are as important as reading to this adorable little boy. I take the offered book and flip the to the first page. I don’t have a lot of experience with Teeny Titans, but the plot seems to follow typical Teen Titans and the characters are just watered-down versions of themselves. Robin is a little bossy, Starfire is a little ditzy, Raven is broody, Cyborg and Beast boy are bromancing. I read the book cover to cover while Cruze listens with rapt attention. Once I’m done, I close the book, thinking I’m finished, but I am very wrong. As soon as the book is closed, I get rapid fire questions from the little genius. I’m asked everything from where is Batman—because Robin is Batman’s sidekick—to why Raven floats instead of walking. We only cover about half his questions before a shadow falls over us and we both look up to see Wyatt. He smirks at me and reaches for Cruze. His son immediately abandons my lap for his dad’s arms. I can’t blame him one bit.

  “Norlee read to me!” Cruze shoves the book directly in his dad’s face.

  “That was nice of her,” Wyatt gushes to Cruze. “Did you use your manners?”

  “Thank you for reading my new book, even if Batman wasn’t in it.” Cruze nods.

  “You are very welcome.” I smile at the cute little kiddo. He’s so stinking cute.

  “Hey, Kiddo, go see Pops and ask if he wants pizza later.” Wyatt gives him a squeeze before Cruze leaps from his arms, lands like a superhero, and dashes off after Pops. It doesn’t take me long to realize that Pops is the older man in the fedora.

  “Thanks for reading to him.” Wyatt watches his son run off.

  “How could I say no when he calls me Norlee?” I ask.

  “That is a very valid point. Most of the time I correct his mistakes, but when he says things that are so damn cute, I can’t bring myself to correct him. Like when he was obsessed with cats on TV and called them titties. I let him say it and laughed every time.” Wyatt nods at the memory.

  “Does he see his mom?” I ask stupidly and quickly cover my mouth. “That was so rude and intrusive. I am so sorry.” I risk a glance at Wyatt, but he keeps staring at Cruze.

  “She doesn’t want him. Never has. So, no, he doesn’t see her. He’s never asked about a mom, but I know my time is coming. It won’t be long before I have to answer the hard questions. I guess I’ll just be honest.” He shrugs.

  “He seems like he’s doing great,” I comment like I know about kids or something. “Did you know that there’s a genius in his brain? That’s pretty cool. I wish I had a genius in my brain.” We both nod in agreement.

  “He’s a smart kid. He’s going to be way smarter than me and I’ll be screwed.” Wyatt shakes his head at the smart.

  “Especially during those teen years,” I agree, and he shoots me a dirty look. “Sorry.” I bite back a laugh. How did you pull this together?” I scan the place again. Tuesday and Greer are shelving, Rae is on the phone and the computer, and Pops and Cruze are walking toward us.

  “I called Pops—he’s my dad, by the way. Everyone else showed up and went to work. I wish I could take credit, but I guess they all rode together and got here early.” He shrugs as Pops and Cruze get to us. The older man hands me a pink carbon copy sheet from the locksmith. Up close I realize that Wyatt looks just like him. Pops is maybe seventy but still strong and fit. His light blue eyes have the same spark as his son and grandson.

  “The locksmith said to submit this to your insurance. They’ll take care of it. Have you called them yet? You make copies of that police report and make sure it has all those expensive computers are on there and all the book damage. I’m glad no one got hurt.” Pops reaches his hand out to me. “Ezekiel Collins. You must be the cute little thing that kept my son from signing up for that cop dating service.” I sneak a glance at a blushing Wyatt before shaking his dad’s hand.

  “Noralee Reynolds.” I meet his firm handshake with one of my own. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Collins and thank you for coming to help.”

  “Call me Zeke.” He catches Cruze when the kid comes flying at him. “Anything for the girl making my son want to do something besides work and sit at home.”

  “Norlee read my book to me. It doesn’t have Batman, but she does the voices so it’s okay.” He is so matter of fact about it that I have to bite back a laugh.

  “Maybe the next one will have Batman, and I’ll need her to show me how to do those voices.” Pops puts him down.

  “Hey!” Rae shouts from the desk and I start to excuse myself, but she shakes her head. “I need the kid.” She blows a bubble and winks at me. Cruze takes off toward her in a streak of blond hair. The three of us watch while she points at something under the desk and he disappears underneath.

  “So, Zeke, does that mean Wyatt has been talking about me?” I smile at Wyatt’s eyes going wide.

  “Well,” Zeke begins.

  “Pops, please.” Wyatt rubs a hand down his face.

  “It wasn’t him as much as Janet who suggested, very strongly, that you may have piqued his interest.” Zeke slides his eyes to his son.

  “Kill me now,” Wyatt groans.

  “Janet?” I ask, trying to sound as innocent as possible. I have an idea of who Janet is.

  “My partner, Janet Morton, and that’s enough of this conversation.” Wyatt uses what I imagine is his ‘Dad voice’ trying to tell his dad and me to shut up. Not happening.

  “Yeah, I told him to sign up for that site, the one for cops, just cops dot com, but he wouldn’t do it. I even made him a profile with a picture. Turns out it was because he wanted to take you out. I even gave him the five dollars to come speed date with you. I see why he wanted to come here, you’re a pretty girl, Noralee. If I were about twenty years younger…” Zeke is cut off by his son.

  “Pops! We get it. Th
ank you for all of those unnecessary details. I got it from here.” Wyatt pinches the bridge of his nose and Zeke winks at me before strolling off, hands in his pants pockets. I watch him go before turning to an embarrassed Wyatt.

  “I like him.” I grin and take a step closer to Wyatt, boldly sliding my hand across his lower back and resting it on his waist.

  “You know how you felt about your friends when they made you follow through with speed dating?” He finally looks at me, draping his arm around my shoulders. I nod. “I feel that exact way about my father right now. It’s not a good feeling.” He shakes his head and sighs.

  “I think it’s sweet that you liked me so much after I did that.” I turn toward him and gently brush the pale yellow bruise on his face. “I mean, it made an impression I guess.” I pause for his reaction, but he stares blankly at me and my smile drops. “See what I did there?” I try to clue him in.

  “Oh, I see what you did. My face just doesn’t find it funny.” He tries so hard to keep his face neutral, but finally cracks a smile.

  I stick my finger in his face, poking the dimple in his cheek. “HA! You got it! And it was funny! Puns are always funny!” I rock from my toes to my heels and back. “Tell me I’m funny,” I demand.

  The smile finally turns into a laugh. “You are most certainly not funny, but you are cute as hell.” His laugh stops and he clears his throat, obviously embarrassed by the fact that he just called me cute.

  “You aren’t too bad looking yourself.” I can’t help but smile and he leans in to kiss me lightly on the cheek. “As much as I’d love to sit here and flirt with you, I have so many things to do before I can try to open back up tomorrow.”

  “This is flirting?” He looks shocked. “No wonder I’ve been single so long, I’ve been doing it wrong all this time.” He sighs.

  “Maybe it’s not flirting, and you’ve been doing it right?” I tap my chin and furrow my brows in thought.

  “I feel like if I’d been doing it right, I wouldn’t be five years single.” Wyatt shrugs. “But alas, here we are.”

  “Here we are,” I echo, and we stand still for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes. There’s a weird intimate connection between us for a beat before a small child comes barreling into his legs. He stumbles, catches Cruze, and starts laughing. I, unfortunately, am clumsy as hell and have zero balance. I flail my arms, trying to get my feet underneath me. I fail, of course, and go backwards into a rack of Funko Pops. Boxes hit the floor, my back hits the shelves, and I finally grab an edge to stop my descent just as my ass is about to crush a row of Spiderman Pops.

  “Timber!” Rae yells from somewhere behind me, and I let go of the shelf just long enough to show her how attractive my middle finger is. I brace on the shelf to haul myself up, completely forgetting that this particular shelving unit is on wheels and that we rarely lock them. I push myself forward, the shelves go back, and my ass hits the floor, hard. Somewhere behind me the shelving unit hits something, but I can’t look. My legs are splayed out in front of me, my arms are hanging uselessly at my sides, and my face is on fire. I hang my head and cover my face.

  “Damn it, Nora! I just reshelved all those!” Tuesday’s feet come into my line of sight through my fingers. A slow clap comes from somewhere and it’s safe to assume it’s from Rae.

  “Well good grief.” Zeke’s voice comes from over me. A hand appears and I uncover my face to grab it. I’m pulled up into Wyatt and look up to notice his shoulders shaking. The ass is laughing at me.

  “I wish I could say this never happens,” Greer chimes in, rolling the shelf back into position, “but Noralee falls all the time.”

  “Is it always so dramatic?” Zeke looks around and a chorus of ‘yes’ rings out.

  “It’s true,” I confirm, wiping an embarrassed tear from my eye. “Even my falls are dramatic.” I sniffle. I’m not so much crying as my eyes and nose were activated by the fall.

  “Are you okay?” Wyatt bites back a laugh to ask, leaning into my ear. I nod. “Liar.” He smirks at me.

  “Omg! I wish you could have seen that!” Rae suddenly appears. “You were all…” She windmills her arms and makes a face. “And then you…” she makes an explosion noise, “Oh man. You are a train wreck.” Rae shakes her head.

  “I have the best friends ever.” I roll my eyes and realize that Cruze is standing next to Wyatt, a distraught look on his face. “You okay?” I kneel in front of him.

  “I made you fall.” He looks on the brink of tears.

  I almost laugh. “No, you didn’t. I fall all the time. No one needs to help me, it just happens. It happens a lot. I’m very clumsy.” I awkwardly reach over and pat his shoulder. Have I mentioned that I have never been around kids? “Okay? I’m fine, I promise.” I’m lying, obviously. My ass hurts, my arms ache, and my pride is wounded beyond repair at this point.

  “Okay.” He nods thoughtfully. I start to stand up, but he takes my hand, “Norlee. Can I come back for you to read to me with voices?” All my embarrassment is gone in an instant.

  “You can come back any time to read with me. Sometimes I forget the word ‘the’ and I know you can help me. Just make sure you bring your dad.” I wink at him and his little face lights up.

  “Daddy! She said I can come back, but I have to bring you.” Cruze says the last part like he is not excited about his dad tagging along.

  “Awesome!” Wyatt gives Cruze a high five. “Hey, can you and Pops go warm up the truck? I’m going to help clean up then we’ll go get that pizza!” Without a word, Cruze hugs me then runs after his grandfather, relaying the instructions loud enough for all of us to hear.

  “I appreciate you helping this morning. And tell Cruze it was a pleasure to meet him.” I climb to my feet and look up at Wyatt.

  “If you need anything else, let me know.” I turn to see Cruze and Zeke head outside, the little guy bundled up like a mummy. “I’ll see you Friday?” He asks so hopefully that I’d never tell him no.

  “You know where I’ll be.” I smile and he leans in to kiss me. I expect a peck on the cheek, but get his full lips on mine, his arms around me, and my body melting into his. I throw my arms around his shoulders, and pull him closer, his tongue teases the seam of my lips and they part for him. The store melts away around us, and I fall into a lusty haze while our mouths move together. When he finally breaks the kiss, he leans in close to my ear.

  “The next time I’m in your apartment, I’m not sleeping on the couch, and you won’t be sleeping at all.” His voice is deep, gravelly, and so fucking sexy. Wyatt kisses me on the head and strides confidently toward the door. I’m left still, speechless, and watching that fine ass in some gray sweatpants. Holy. Shit. Before he leaves, he waves at everyone else. “Bye Rae, bye Tuesday, bye Greer.” He nods and leaves, the bell dinging over his head. I stare, mouth open until he closes his truck door and pulls out of the lot.

  The world comes rushing back to me when Rae shouts, “That is how a boyfriend acts. You taking notes, Greer? Nick isn’t your boyfriend.” She blows a bubble to punctuate her point.

  “Neal.” Greer rolls her eyes, but her real feelings are written clearly on her face. She’s sick of us poking fun at her not-boyfriend.

  “Wow. Does he have a brother?” Tuesday whistles. “That was HOT! What’d he whisper to you?”

  “I am not telling you that. Now that my distraction is gone, we should get this place back together. I’m going to call the insurance company, you guys keep up the good work, and Rae, you can do whatever it is you do.”

  “I need that spare laptop back when you’re done with it. You’re welcome!” Rae walks past me with finger guns and heads to her room. Tuesday and Greer immediately go back to what they were doing before my interruption. I head to the desk to use the work phone to call the insurance company. It’s going to be a long day trying to figure out what to tell the insurance adjuster about how much is missing and damaged. I can sell the damaged comics for a lower price, but that is still m
e losing money, and I’m sure they won’t give me what the computer and register are worth. I’m going to have to argue with an adjuster whose job it is to argue back. I try to brace myself for a fight when I realize that I don’t even have the police report. I sigh in frustration and look around for my cell to call and ask for the report number when I see it laying on the desk with one of my Gryffindor post-its on it. Thought you might need this. See you Friday. How in the world did I get lucky enough to hit the world’s hottest cop in the face with my door?

  12

  Noralee

  Between buying new computers, a cash register, jumping through all the hoops for insurance, and taking a new inventory on missing and damaged products, the week goes by in a blur of confusion. An alarm was installed two days after the robbery, and I feel so much better about sleeping at night.

  By the time the next speed dating event rolls around, we have learned, gotten feedback, and revamped the process a little to make it move quicker and more efficiently with the numbers we’re expecting. I made a form to fill out online and Tuesday took to the social media to make sure it was visible on all our outlets. The night before the event, I ran all the numbers and went out to buy four more tables and twenty new chairs. By the time Valentine’s day rolls around, we’re going to need to move shelves around. I’m hoping that some of the same people from last week decided to call another participant and maybe a connection was made. Speaking of connections, Wyatt and I have been texting nonstop for six days. It went from asking how things at Words for Nerds was going, to telling me that he’s had some interest at the police department for speed dating, to the next time he sees me, he won’t be able to keep his hands off me. I haven’t had sex with something that didn’t need batteries in so long, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten how to do it. Surely, it’s like riding a bike, right?