Page 110 of The Scientist
Lex shrugged. “It never came up.”
Louis scoffed. “This explains so much. He looks like he’s been walking on clouds lately… I guess it makes sense. I would be too if I were dating Hadley freaking Olivier.”
“You know‘freaking’ isn’t actually my middle name,” I said as Lex walked me over to their table, where Peter was seated across from Louis. Dan and a few other guys I recognized at the adjacent table had started to laugh. I smiled at them in hello, and they gave me their usual nod in response.
“Sorry. I think my brain is hemorrhaging from this revelation. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Lex is a good-looking dude, but I know some guys in the math department who’d give their right testicle to be with you.” Louis inclined his head toward me. “How do I know this, you might ask? Because they told me so themselves and even specified which testicle.”
I laughed at the absurdity of it. “I don’t require testicular sacrifices for first dates anymore.”
He threw his head back in laughter. “How did this even happen?”
“Her car broke down. Lex was waiting outside. It’s a long story. One that I’m still bitter about,” Stuart responded. “I’m usually the one waiting outside for him most days.”
“Yeah, it was first come, first served,” I said, and the room burst into laughter again.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Stuart said, waving me off. “Can we get back to the game?”
I heard Louis mumble, “Hadley freaking Olivier” once more under his breath before they went back to their cards.
“Do you want to sit?” Lex offered me his chair.
“No, I’ll stand. I’d like to watch.”
He sat down, and I stood at his side, draping my arm over his shoulder, and looked down at his cards, trying to decipher the game.
“So how does it work?” I asked, not familiar with the game at all.
“It’s a partner’s game, which is why I’m glad you’re here, Betty, because now maybe mypartner,” Stuart said the word accusingly, “will actually concentrate instead of glancing at the door every thirty friggin’ seconds.”
Lex didn’t even deny it. He just chuckled, placing his free hand on my hip and rubbing gently.
Louis was staring holes in the hand Lex had on my hip with his mouth gaping. Neurobiologists, in my limited experience, could really be so dramatic. I decided to mess with him a little more.
“Hey, do you guys have any coffee? I could really use some. Someone kept me up all night last night.” I winked at Lex and bumped his shoulder with my hip.
“Kitchen,” Stuart said without looking up from his cards.
“You want any?”I asked, looking down at Lex.
He smiled up at me. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”
I bent down to kiss him and got the satisfaction of seeing Louis’s jaw nearly hit the table, which had me biting my lip to keep from laughing.Too easy, I thought as I went through the swinging door to their kitchen.
“You’re my hero, dude!” I heard Louis say. “Maybe you could set me up with one of her other friends from the blind community.”
That was the last thing I heard before, “Ouch! Hey! C’mon, I was just kidding!”
Lex must have thrown something at him, and I started to chuckle. I found the coffee pot and made myself a cup because I really was dragging. Lex had told me he always had trouble sleeping, but I was starting to see just how easily he managed it. It seemed he could function on little to no sleep at all. His tolerance must have built up over the years of late nights in the lab.
When I came back to the card table, they looked like they were on their best behavior now. I leaned against Lex, settling in to watch them play. I came to see the game was mostly about trying to outmaneuver the other team. You kept separate scores and ultimately played for yourself, but the partnership made it possible. They would often play out the possibilities in their heads before the losing team threw in their cards for the round, making it more difficult for me to understand what was happening, but I was enjoying myself.
I eventually found myself sitting in Lex’s lap, holding the cards while he whispered instructions in my ear, trying to explain the game and telling me what moves to make.
More and more people had started showing up, including Nicky, who had been throwing daggers at me with her eyes ever since she’d walked in and spotted me sitting in Lex’s lap.
Stuart groaned. “Great, the ice queen’s here.”
“Fuck you, Stuart,” was her favorite response.