Page 30 of The Scientist
“Alright. I can drive us. I’d like to break in Agnes.”
“Agnes?” he asked.
“My new car! She’s beautiful, Stuart. I can’t wait to show her to you.”
“Oh yeah. Lex told me you found a car.”
“Yes, and she’s pretty great.”
“Can’t wait to meet her.” He smiled, walking down the porch steps.
I got ready for our outing, throwing on a pair of jeans and a plain emerald scoop-neck fitted top that brought out the green in my eyes. I brushed my hair out and gave the ends a slight curl, adding a light amount of makeup. I took a look at myself in the mirror, deciding I looked decent before making my way over to the guys’ house.
I knocked a few times on their door and waited until it swung open to reveal a sweaty, shirtless Lex, looking very surprised to see me standing there. He’d obviously just gotten back from his run as he pulled his earbuds out.
“Hey,” he greeted, still a little out of breath. Through a valiant effort, I kept my eyes averted from his bare chest, but then I decidedYOLO! I gave in and took a quick peek at the smooth planes of his broad chest that had little beads of sweat glistening over perfectly tanned skin. There was a small patch of hair right at the center that I stared at for a few seconds before moving down to his toned abdomen. His body wouldn’t be described as ripped but was certainly sculpted enough to make any girl drool.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, snapping me back from my ogling.
“Oh um,” I stammered, trying to pull my thoughts out of the gutter and remember what I was doing there. “Stuart asked me to lunch.”
Stuart walked up right at that moment, slapping Lex on the back.
“Hey, you made it back. Go hop in the shower. We’re heading to La Carreta for lunch.”
I held my breath, waiting for his response, unsure if I wanted him to accept or not. He glanced at me for a brief moment before saying, “Give me five minutes.”
I relaxed a little as he walked away and realized I needed to get a better grip on my reactions if we were going to be spending more time together.
Stuart invited me inside, and we chatted about our classes before Lex came back down not long after, looking freshly showered and thankfully fully clothed. He was also wearing his glasses, which I found to be quite endearing. I had only seen him in them on faculty night, and I decided they suited his face nicely.
“Alright, let’s go meet Agnes,” I said to Stuart.
“Who’s Agnes?” Lex asked.
“How dare you?” I said, feigning offense. “The two of you met yesterday. How could you forget her so soon?”
“The car, dude,” Stuart explained.
“Right,” Lex said, probably questioning my sanity as we walked toward the parking lot.
“Here she is!” I announced like a proud mother.
“Nice.” Stuart walked around, giving her a once-over. “She looks dependable. Well done, Hadley.”
“Oh, it was all Lex,” I told him as we all got into the car, Stuart in the passenger seat and Lex in the back.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, you should have seen him!”
I proceeded to regale him with the previous day’s events as we drove into town with Stuart interjecting briefly to tell me where I needed to turn. I explained the whole story of how Lex caught that the engine in the first car was leaking oil and then about how they were trying to sell us Agnes at a much higher price.
“…then that’s when Lex jumped in, speaking full-blown, perfect Spanish. You should have seen these guys’ faces!”
I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Lex sitting quietly, looking out the window with his elbow leaning on the door frame. His fist was resting on his cheek, partially obscuring his face, but I could have sworn I saw a small smile there as I was telling the story.
“And can you even believe that?” I said to Stuart. “The guy speaks three languages. Even I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.”