Chapter 29
I peered through the window with a wondrous look in my eye as we traveled up the winding road to the campsite. It was a view unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The granite cliffs of the mountain stood tall and proud against the dusky sky. The soft mist nestled around the towering hemlocks, and the furrowed bark of the pine trees made my yearning for urban life feel like a distant memory. I could feel Lex’s eyes on me, but he said nothing, letting me take it all in.
Once we reached the campsite, I took the time to stretch and look around at the bustle of people pitching tents, setting up telescopes, and cooking around campfires.As soon as the tents were set up, Stuart ran off to talk to a few people from the astronomy department about their telescopes, while Lex and I went to look for the rest of his team.
As we started making our way through the crowd, Lex was immediately approached by several strangers asking about his work or just generally gushing over him. He made several attempts to try and politely steer us away, but it was no use. It was still a shock to me just how many people were familiar with Lex and his work. If science had a celebrity, he was definitely it, as far as I could tell.
Lex’s admirers were still peppering him with questions, so I excused myself to go look for Sarah. I walked around until I spotted some of the guys from Lex’s team gathered around a BBQ pit grilling burgers, Sarah and Jace included.
“Hey! You finally made it,” Sarah called out when she saw me walking toward them. She and Jace came over to greet me.
“This is pretty amazing, don’t you think?” I told her, looking around.
“You’re definitely not going to see this in New York,” she answered.That was true. The only stars we ever saw in New York were the movie kind.
“Looks like most of the team is here,” I said, noticing all the guys gathered around. “Except for...” I trailed off, realizing who was missing.
“And she better not show up, or I’ll rip the pink right out of her fucking head,” Sarah said viciously.
Jace chuckled. “Easy there, babe.”
“She’s a fucking monster. If it were me, I would have smashed her teeth in for pulling a stunt like that.”
“Does everyone know?” I asked Jace.
Jace shook his head. “No. I mean, it’s pretty obvious something happened. They didn’t speak the entire day yesterday or today, and Stuart seemed extra happy, so we knew she fucked up. But no one would ever ask him, and I won’t say anything. I promise.”
Relief came over me. “Thanks,” I told him. I really didn’t want the rest of the guys to know what Nicky had done and cause even more problems for Lex.
We chatted for a while, and Lex found us not long after.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said as soon as he reached me.
“It’s okay. I’m pretty used to it now, big shot,” I said with a wink.
His hands found my waist. “I’m not."
“Well, you’re kind of a big deal,” I said, looping my arms around his neck. “I just hope they know that I’m actually your number one fan.”
He grinned. “How did you earn that title?”
“Because, unlike the rest of them, I’ve seen your entire body of work," I said, letting my eyes slowly slide down the length of him.
Lex let out a laugh from deep within his chest, and I reveled in the sound.
“Food’s ready!” Peter announced.
“Finally,” Stuart groaned. I hadn’t noticed him come back.
The night was getting chillier, so I snuggled between Lex’s legs with my plate of food in my lap as we ate by the campfire. The rest of the guys had gathered around the campfire as well, chatting animatedly about different topics, most of which were way over my head. They were currently in a heated debate about Star Wars, however.
“In principle, lightsabers are one-hundred percent possible,” Stuart was arguing.
“No, they’re fucking not, Benowitz,” Louis fired back.
“What about the fact that particle accelerators have conclusively proven that photons have the capability of colliding?” Peter chimed in. Sarah and I were looking at each other like we’d just stepped into an alternate universe.
“Irrelevant!” Louis shouted. “How is light going to travel out three feet and then stop? It makes no sense!”
“All I’m saying is the physics of it is completely plausible,” Stuart said.
Louis set his plate down angrily. “That’s the problem. You’re completely disregarding the engineering aspect.”
Stuart turned to face us. “Lex? You want to chime in here?”
“No, thanks,” Lex answered. “I’d rather not let my girlfriend know exactly how nerdy I am.”
A thrill shot through me at hearing him call me his girlfriend.
“She already knows,” Stuart remarked. “We need you to settle this or it’s just going to keep going.”
Lex sighed. “You’re both right. Photons can collide at very high energies, but you would need a mirror or some other object for the light to bounce off of or it would just keep going.”
Stuart grinned smugly. “I told you.”
“He just said we were both right, dipshit,” Louis shot back.
“Can we talk about something else?” Dan interjected. “You guys are boring me.”
“Actually, Hadley, I wanted to ask you something,” Jace said, changing the subject.
“Sure,” I said through a mouthful of food.
“I wanted to see if you might be interested in giving me a few guitar lessons,” he said, surprising me. “I’d really like to learn, and Sarah said you were an amazing guitarist.”
I made an“aww”face at her, and she flipped me the bird.
“I didn’t know you played the guitar,” Lex said, surprise coloring his tone.
“Do you guys ever actually talk or do you just spend all your time fucking?” Sarah asked while the other guys started to laugh. I shot her the bird back, and she smirked at me.
“No seriously, she’s incredible,” Sarah said. “She’s a musical mimic. She can hear any song and play it right back to you.”
Louis scoffed incredulously. “Bullshit.”
Sarah shot him a look like she was ready to throw down. “You want to put money on it?”
“What did you have in mind?” Louis asked, grinning.
“Hundred bucks says you can’t give Hadley a song that she doesn’t already know,” Sarah said, narrowing her eyes at him. “And if she doesn’t, then she only gets a minute of hearing it before she plays it back perfectly to you.”
Louis extended his hand. “You’re on.”
She shook his hand, staring him down, and said to Jace, “Go get your guitar, baby.”
The other guys started laughing and saying“oooooo” like a fight was about to break out. When Jace came back, he handed me his guitar.
“This is really beautiful,” I told him, tuning the strings.
“Thank you. It was my grandfather’s,” Jace said fondly. “That’s why I wanted to learn.”
“Okay boys, do your worst,” Sarah said confidently. “I already know what I want to do with my hundred bucks.”
She winked at Louis, and he laughed before saying, “I’ve got to see this.”
“Stevie Ray Vaughn,Pride and Joy,” Peter said, throwing out the first song.
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Too easy.”
I smiled before I started to play. I did have quite a catalog of music in my brain. Notes and chords had always come easily to me. Sarah knew I was a safe bet. They all started whistling and cheering as I played the song through the first chorus.
“Bring It on Home.” Louis narrowed his eyes. “Led Zeppelin.”
Sarah made a scoffing noise. I skipped the intro and started to play the section Jimmy Page comes in on the song because I knew that’s what he wanted to hear. I heard more whistling and cheering as I played. They started to throw more songs out at me in rapid succession. Most of them I knew until Dan gave me an obscure Creedence Clearwater Revival song that he had to play for me off his phone. I was able to play it back for him after about thirty seconds of listening.
“Pay up.” Sarah stuck her hand out. Louis shook his head, grinning, before he pulled out his wallet and slapped the money into her hand.
“Unbelievable.” Louis looked dumbfounded, and I just laughed. Lex was watching me the entire time with an expression that could only be described as awe.
“You can sing too, right, Hadley?” Peter asked.
“So can Sarah,” I said, nodding at her sitting in Jace’s lap, looking happier than I’d ever seen her.
“What?” Jace looked up at her. “I didn’t know that.”
“That’s because we spend all our time fucking, baby,” she answered with a sweet smile.
Jace grinned wickedly. “That mouth,” he said staring down at her lips hungrily. They looked like they were seconds away from tearing each other’s clothes off.
“That’s actually a good idea. Why don’t you sing for us, Betty?” Stuart said. “We don’t have anything else to do. The show doesn’t start for a few more hours.”
“I’ll sing if Sarah will.” I tilted my head toward her.
She tore her eyes away from Jace and sighed. “Fine, but I’m just doing backup. I have nowhere near her vocal range.”
She came to sit beside me on the small stump I had found myself on while the guys were peppering me with songs earlier. I chose a Journey song I knew would be a crowd-pleaser.
I started to play“Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” and sang along this time as I strummed while Sarah harmonized with me.
“You’re such a lucky motherfucker,” I heard Louis tell Lex, who was watching me with a mixture of lust and adoration in his eyes.
“I know,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.
After that, it turned into karaoke hour as I played songs that I knew most people were familiar with and everyone jumped in on the choruses, singing loudly. We had started to draw a crowd as more people had filed in to watch. The sound of laughter and off-key voices filled me with happiness. It was an amazing feeling not to take music so seriously for a change and just enjoy the company of my friends.
“I’m running out of ideas,” I said after finishing what felt like the hundredthsong of the night.
“Why don’t you play a song for Lex?” Sarah said coyly. “He’s been awfully quiet. Play something that you know he’d like.”
“Hmmmm.” I looked at him and grinned.
He grinned back at me. “Don’t do it.”
I started to play the intro to“If I Could Turn Back Time,” and the guys started howling with laughter.
“No!” Sarah shouted. “I can’t stand that song,” she said, plugging her ears. “No offense, Lex. Choose another one.”
He shook his head, smiling at me. I tilted my head and studied him for a few seconds before a song popped into my mind.
As I started to play the intro chords, those in the crowd who recognized the song started to whistle and cat-call. I began singing the first lines of“Sex on Fire”by Kings of Leon, giving Lex a sultry smile and winking as I reached the chorus. A smile played across his lips as I sang, but his heated stare was making me feel flushed even in the freezing night air. As the song wrapped, I was about to tell everyone I was done playing so I could drag Lex back to the tent, but my eyes went wide with shock when I saw the one person I never expected to be here walking over to us.