The Art of Stealing Hearts (On Hold)

6. The one with the carburettor

~|Chapter 6|~
•The one with the carburettor•

"Have you called the mechanic?"

It was the Saturday after the incident with Aaron and all the staring in school. We all had somehow gathered in the living room, all of us busy doing something or the other. Only Wes, Hunter and the triplets weren't in the room. Jake was humming to himself, and I was texting Lincoln when Chase asked Tyler about the mechanic.

"Why do you need a mechanic?" I asked curiously.

All the guys looked up at me, startled. I can't really blame them; it was one of the rare times that I had started a conversation.

"The Jeep's carburettor needs to be changed," Chase answered me once he got over his initial shock. "Someone was sure that he could change it, but he clearly has no idea what he was doing." His words were directed at Tyler, who scowled.

"It's not my fault the Jeep is so old," Tyler defended himself.

"I could take a look," I offered. Again, everyone stared at me. I guess they didn't know many girls who knew about cars. "Have you bought the new carburettor?"

"Yeah," Chase said finally. Shaking his head, he muttered, "of course you can take a look."

Tyler snorted. "Look, there is no need. I'll call Kyle."

"What? You think I'll burn down the Jeep?" I asked, offended. "You would know that you could trust me had you let me drive your bike."

Tyler had a beautiful bike, a Ducati Scrambler Sixty2, which I would have loved to drive. Tyler obviously didn't give me the keys, hence the resentment. He never let anyone near his bike, in fact, his on-off girlfriend hadn't been granted that privilege, according to Milo.

"That bike is not meant for girls." Tyler told me sullenly.

"And you are a sexist pig," I snapped back, forgetting the others in the room, who hooted at my remark.

"She's going to set you in your place, Tyler," Dylan grinned.

"Joey, why are you calling Tyler a pig?" Milo piped up. "He's my brother. So if he's a pig, that would mean we are a family of pigs."

This cute little kid was going to be the death of me someday. I grinned and shook my head, not sure how to answer his question. Chase saved me.

"Milo, Joey's speaking metaphorically." He told his youngest brother. This was the first time Chase had called me Joey. I have to admit, he made that boyish pet name sound good.

"Then what does the word mean? Sexist?" Milo persisted. "Does that have something to do with Tyler taking his clothes off with Kelly? Aaron said they were having sex."

No one was saying anything because, well, nobody knew what to say.

"Aaron!" Chase snapped. "Can you please be more careful with your words around the kids?"

Aaron smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"So what does it mean?" Milo asked, not backing down. "Joey what did you mean?"

"Don't worry about it, Milo." Tyler ruffled his little brother's curly hair. "Joey is bipolar; first she was all polite and then she became a sucker because I didn't let her near my bike."