Ultraviolet Catastrophe (13 page)

The pain faded from his eyes, and he smirked at me, almost back to his flirtatious self. “Oh, I think you do. Over dinner maybe?”

I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. “Oh my god, do you ever give up?”

“Not until you say yes.”

His eyes sparkled blue and green, and I had a hard time coming up with a reason not to. Then I remembered Amy’s scowl. I still had no idea if they were seriously dating or not, but that was enough to make me pull back. “How about you give me some of those hacking lessons first? I have a feeling it might come in handy.”

“And give away my secrets? Never. But I will show you how to bypass security and sneak into the kitchens. I might even show you my secret stash of cookies if you’re really good.”

I grinned. “Cookies? How did you guess they’re my Kryptonite? You’re on.”

“Let’s go over the original calculation again.” Asher brought up Dr. Avery’s work on his computer. We’d spent every afternoon for the last week in his office, working on deciphering the jumble of letters and numbers and strange symbols filling his huge monitor.

I groaned. “I’m never going to admit it to anyone but you, but I still have no idea what I’m even looking at, let alone how it all fits together.”

Asher lounged back in his chair, arms behind his head. “Well, isn’t it lucky I do? And I’m an exceptionally patient teacher.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” I opened my notebook. “Let’s try again.”

We’d fallen into an easy, joking sort of friendship, and for the first time, I let myself hope I might fit in at QT. I still battled with my own feelings of stupidity, though. I could feel things getting easier, my brain seemed to pick up concepts quicker, but I hated I couldn’t just look at the equation and know immediately what it meant. I hated Asher had to waste his time explaining things to me I would have already known if I’d been at QT for more than a month. Every time I asked a question, I felt like an idiot.

We’d been at it two hours when Asher shook his head and turned off his monitor. “Stop it, Lexicon,” he said. “You have that look again.”

“What look?”

“The one that says you’re ashamed of yourself for not knowing something. You need to give yourself a break.”

“You need to mind your own business,” I muttered.

Asher smirked. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you. Listen to me, Lexie. I like answering your questions, and they’re not stupid. They’re making me think about this whole formula in an entirely different way. That’s a good thing.”

“If Amy or Zella or Max were here, you’d already be done.” I frowned at my tablet, and the squiggly line that meant Sigma.

“If they were here, we’d still be working on it, too. This is a tough assignment. Why else do you think I picked you to help?”

“Because you felt sorry for me?”

“Because I knew you were the best person for the job. Sometimes we need an outsider’s perspective and ideas to catch the holes in something.”

My laugh was angrier than I intended. “And what an outsider I am.”

Asher sighed. “I think we’re done for the day. When you start feeling sorry for yourself, it’s time for us to quit.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “How about some dinner? We’ll stop by the lab and let your dad know I’m taking you out.”

I hated he was right. I was feeling sorry for myself. And I could feel myself getting grumpy from being hungry, so I nodded. “Fine. But only because my dad said he might have to work late and I don’t want to get stuck here all night.”

Asher smirked. “You’re always so gracious, Lexicon.” He locked his computer and shoved his tablet into his messenger bag before we left.

As we made our way toward my dad’s lab, I snuck glances at him walking easily beside me, hands shoved into his pockets. It amazed me that we’d become friends. He still tried to flirt with me, but I realized now he usually did it when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable. His flirty personality was like armor, something he pulled on to face his enemies or hide from his friends. When we were alone together, working on the calculation or talking through one of the lines of formula, he was just Asher. Brilliant, funny, vulnerable.

“Why so serious?” he asked in his best Joker voice. It bounced off the walls and echoed eerily in the silent hallway. Most of the labs on this floor were empty since Dr. Danvers had transitioned all the Project Infinity staff to Division Nine to work on the wormhole device.

I shook my head. “Not serious. Just thinking.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t push me. I liked that about him. Somehow, he always knew when to leave things alone. And then I realized I just liked Asher in general. Not in that “he’s cute and I want to date him” sort of way. I genuinely liked him as a person. He was the first guy I’d ever felt like that about.

Of course, he was cute and I definitely wouldn’t mind dating him, but I shoved those thoughts away.
Focus on the project, Kepler.

We reached my dad’s office, and I pushed open the door, letting it bang against the wall to announce our presence. There was no way I wanted to risk a repeat of last time. I was still scarred from seeing Jordan all over him.

Dad’s office was unexpectedly empty, but I spotted him and Jordan down the hall, bent over one of the lab computers. He looked up as we entered. “Don’t tell me I’m late. I swear it’s only four o’clock.”

“You’re fine, Dad. Asher and I are going to grab dinner. Feel free to take as long as you need.” I knew he was stressing over his Project Infinity assignment; he’d been spending more and more time locked in his labs. He was even distracted when we were home at night, constantly tapping on his tablet or staring off into space.

“Good idea. I have some catching up to do, so I might be a bit late. Don’t worry if I’m not home before you go to bed.”

I tried not to think too hard about what might make him that late. Or if it had to do with Jordan. “Sure. See you later, Dad.”

Jordan waved. “Bye, Lexie.”

I pulled Asher from the room, eager to escape her sickly sweet personality and grating voice.

“She’s not that bad,” he said as we waited for the elevator.

“She’s trying to hook up with my dad. Of course she is.”

He shrugged as we stepped inside the elevator. “Maybe you should give them a chance. Your dad’s been alone a long time. He deserves some happiness.” My jaw fell open, and he grinned at me. “Doesn’t hurt she’s hot. He’s kind of my hero.”

I punched him in the shoulder. “Oh my god. Don’t even go there. I don’t care if she’s the ugliest woman on the planet. He’s my dad, and he should not be making out with someone just a few years older than me. Or an employee. It’s just gross.”

“Where else is he going to find someone?” Asher gestured. “It’s not like we’re in the middle of a huge town. QT is about the only place to meet people. He’s hardly the first to date a coworker here. Some of the scientists have taken to calling it ‘fishing.’ You know — catch and release.”

I put my hands on my hips. “And of course you’d know all about that?”

He gave me a crooked grin, and my stomach swooped.

I shrugged and tried to play it cool. “I guess I’ll have to find out firsthand. There’s no shortage of smart guys around. Maybe I should do some fishing myself.”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” He wagged a finger at me. “I was here first.”

“What about Amy?”

“I don’t think Amy’s interested in you like that.”

The elevator doors slid open, and I laughed at him over my shoulder as I exited. “Ha ha. Very funny. Just so you know, I’m not dating someone based on a game of dibs. Sorry, Ash.”

“Are you two dating?” Dr. Rosen asked, looking puzzled. “Did I miss something?”

My face went from zero to red in 2.5 seconds, and I stammered out a laugh. “Um, no, Dr. Rosen. We were just joking around.”

He glanced between us, raised one bushy eyebrow. “I see.”

Asher scuffed the toe of his Chucks on the marble floor. “We’re grabbing some dinner at Coco’s. Want me to bring you back something?”

Dr. Rosen shook his head. “I’m fine. I’ll try to grab something from the cafeteria. I’m probably going to be late. Avery has us all working around the clock to get this first round of testing done. He’d better ease up soon. I can’t have the staff walking around here like zombies.”

“Make sure you set a reminder,” Asher said with a frown. “You know you won’t remember.”

But Dr. Rosen just waved a hand and turned to me. “You worry too much. And how are you feeling, Lexie? Any more side effects from Grant’s shot?”

“Not as far as I can tell.”

He studied me before nodding. “Good. I’m still running tests, but it seems like whatever it was just didn’t work. Please let me know if anything changes, though.”

“Thanks, Dr. Rosen.”

“My pleasure. Now, go have your dinner. I’ll see you at home, son.” He paused, turned to me with his eyes sparkling. “And Lexie? Go easy on him, Asher’s a good kid. Most of the time.”

I smiled over at Asher. “Yeah, he has his moments.”

Coco’s was dead when we walked in. We’d beaten the dinner rush by a good half hour, and most of the tables sat empty. Coco waved at us, a chunky bracelet with skulls and flowers around her wrist jangling with the movement. “Sit wherever you want. I’ll be over to get your orders in a minute.”

Asher picked a booth along the back wall, and I slid in across from him. We were tucked in a back corner, semi-secluded from the rest of the place, and I wondered if he’d picked this spot for a reason. The thought made my pulse speed up.

“So what’s good here?” I asked, scanning the menu, trying to play it cool.

Asher’s eyes widened. “You haven’t eaten here yet? What have you been doing for food?”

“I can cook. Kind of. And Dad has the pizza place on speed dial. We’ve been managing.”

He snatched the menu from my hands and tucked it behind the ketchup. “I’m ordering for you today.” He raised that eyebrow at me again. “You’re not vegetarian, are you?”

I couldn’t stop my laugh. “I grew up in Ohio. We’re firmly steak-and-potatoes kind of people.”

“Good. Because Coco makes this burger. It’s…indescribable.”

“In a good way I hope.” I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and looked around. Coco was chatting with a scientist at the bar, but otherwise, we were alone.

“Definitely.” He slouched back in his seat and tilted his head, studying me with a half-smile.

His gaze made my skin feel too small for my body, and I shifted on the bench. It always felt like he saw things other people missed, like he used his amazing brain to understand people in a way nobody else could.

“I’m glad you finally came to your senses. I’m not used to working this hard to get a girl to go out with me.” The dimple flashed in his cheek, and his eyes darkened.

I shook my head, biting back a laugh. As much as I wished otherwise, I knew by now that Asher’s flirting never meant anything. “That was working hard? Wow, I’m going to have to step it up then. I’ve made it way too easy on you.”

“Lexicon, you could never be easy.” His blue eyes were serious, at odds with his playful tone. “That’s what I like about you.”

“Ah, so the more complicated, the better? Doesn’t that scare most guys off?”

“I’m not most guys. You should know that by now.”

I had to look away from his intense gaze before I could even find the words to respond. “Aren’t you
ever
serious?”

“Why are you
always
serious?”

I looked down at the scarred surface of the table, traced one of the gouges with my finger. The words rushed out before I could think them through. “I’ve had to be. It’s the only way I know how to act. Hide behind whatever character someone expected me to play. Daughter. Student. Classmate. How could I be myself when I didn’t know who I was? Until last month, I was someone else. Someone with a different brain and different way of seeing things. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Asher leaned forward, his eyes searching mine, but before he could respond, Coco showed up to take our order. Like a flip had switched, Asher was bright and funny again, his sudden seriousness gone. I wasn’t the only one who played roles around here.

“This is Lexie’s first dinner here, Coco. Let’s give her the works. She’s going to need a basket of chili cheese fries, one of your deluxe burgers, an Italian soda — cherry, I think — and a piece of your cheesecake when we’re done. Might as well give me the same thing.”

Coco grinned. “You sure do know the way to a girl’s heart, don’t you, darlin’? You’re in for a treat, Lexie.” She slipped her tablet in her pocket and made for the kitchen.

I smiled cheerfully at her pixie cut and her slight frame. The girl was nothing I would have expected to find in Oak Ridge, and that made me happy. It also made me happy that she’d interrupted a conversation that had gotten way to serious.

I waved my hand around the restaurant. “This place is amazing. I’m eating dinner made by a Goth girl chef — who also happens to be a scientific genius — in a town full of the smartest people in the world. I can’t get over it.”