Page 34 of Not You Again
“We still have evidence to collect,” he said.
“Okay, well, it’s like a few more hours until the eclipse, and there are only so many cheese sandwiches I can eat.” Then she got a brilliant idea. “Unless that’s how you want to spend the time—eating cheese sandwiches—like a competition? In which case IthinkI could probably eat two to three sandwiches per hour without exploding.”
Adam’s mouth opened, then closed. Carly more than enjoyed the moments where she rendered him speechless, this one included.
But eventually, he said, “You haven’t asked about my theory. For all you know, I’m right, too.”
Carly wiped her mouth with a napkin, leaned forward, elbows on the table, and said, “Are you right, then?”
“I’m making strides.” He crossed his arms. “You have your... Together Theory, let’s call it.”
“I prefer ‘Carly’s Theory Is the Correct Theory’ Theory, but go on.” She managed to get a tight smile from him with that one.
“Rick has his Pop the Bubble Theory. I have the shadow bands, but I also think it’s worth timing things like the sunset, the length of the day, maybe even the shooting star that crosses the sky every night. What if we’re so focused on the eclipse that we miss a bigger, more telling change?”
Carly found herself agreeing with Adam. What if there was more to discover? What if the eclipse ended up being a dead end, but there was something else shifting at a faster rate?
“There’s a shooting star?” Carly asked. “Never seen one.”
“Yes. Every night at 11:23. I’ll show you sometime.”
He actually sounded excited about that last bit, which was sort of cute. The guy had really grown on her. “All right, so today we will time all of the things, and when the eclipse shortens—because I’m definitely right—then we can keep pursuing my theory,” she said.
“I agree with most of what you’re saying,” Adam admitted. “But still, we need to follow the evidence.”
Unfortunately, the evidence was pointing to the fact that she found him cuter when he spoke in science. Carly shoved the rest of the croissant into her mouth to stop her thoughts.
“Want to take a drive?” Adam asked.
As Adam drove them up a winding path into the mountains, Carly kept one hand on the door handle to steady herself. Whatever was going on between them was confusing at best, and the first sign of early onset dementia, at worst.
This was a man she’d had murderous thoughts about.There was one particularly fulfilling fantasy that involved him being taken out with a wrecking ball. But now? As they breezed past tall pine trees and endless stretches of wooded mountainside, she sat next to him and felt like she was exactly where she was meant to be.
What the hell was wrong with her? Was she such a broken human that the only person she found attractive was someone who’d gone out of his way to make her feel inferior on more than one occasion?
“I have a problem,” she told herself.
“What problem?” Adam asked.
“Oh my God, did I say that out loud?” She covered her mouth with her hands. Great, so on top of having a crush, she was now talking to herself, but out loud and in front of him.
Oh fuck, a crush?Carly checked to make sure she hadn’t said that one out loud, too, but Adam hadn’t reacted. Shit. She had a crush on Adam. It’s not just that she found him hot—no, she liked this guy. She hadfeelings, emphasis on the desire to feel him up.
“You okay?” he tried again.
“No,” she said without thinking. Then winced, but added, “Hungry.”
“The place we’re going has snacks,” he said.
“Hmmm...” They drove past a big blue sign for the Julian Planetarium. “Where could the astronomer be taking me? Maybe to a gas station so we can raid the candy section? An elementary school cafeteria? An abandoned church so we can eat the unblessed wafers?”
“You are rather strange,” Adam said as he pulled into the empty parking lot.
The planetarium had a big round dome in the middle, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows. There were lights on inside, but Carly didn’t see evidence of any people.
“Youreallylike stargazing,” she said as she got out of the car.
“I used to volunteer here occasionally,” he said by way of explanation. They walked toward the entrance door.
