Chapter 7
TARA
Istare up at the wall of the humanities building, tilting my head sideways. “When Janine said unsavory graffiti... she really undersold what we’re dealing with here.”
“You mean the anatomically detailed phallus gracing our halls of learning?” Alfie studies it with exaggerated scholarly interest, hands in his pockets. “I’d say it’s rather... striking.”
“It’s actually quite beautiful.” I tilt my head the other way, squinting. “I mean, the attention to detail is impressive.”
“Must’ve been a medical student.” Alfie muses. “Though if they’re using themselves as a reference model, I have some concerns about scale.”
“Maybe they were compensating?”
“Or partaking in art therapy.”
“Look at the shading though!” I gesture enthusiastically before catching myself. “I mean... how horrible. Very inappropriate.”
“Very,” Alfie agrees solemnly, already pulling out his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Documenting this.” His thumbs move quickly. “Aaand sending it to the group chat. Caption ‘Found Ethan’s portrait.’”
“You’re terrible!” I say, but I’m laughing.
“What? This is how guys show affection. Through anatomically correct insults.”
“By calling each other dicks?”
“It’s our love language.” His lips quirk up. “Though I have to admit, whoever did this had balls.”
“Oh my god.” I shove his shoulder. “Did Alfie Spencer just make a joke?”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m not a robot, Tara.”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s exactly what a robot would say.”
When Janine texted about prepping the mural space, I almost said no.
I had very important plans. Reorganizing my closet by color, binge-watching that show Alex keeps spamming me about, maybe even attempting to cook something more ambitious than microwave ramen.
But Alfie replied instantly that he was already on campus, and well.
.. I couldn’t let him suffer alone, could I?
Now I’m staring at the pile of scaffolding pieces Janine wants moved into position, questioning all my life choices.
“Just the first section today,” Janine said, gesturing to the metal poles and joints. “Shouldn’t take more than an hour. I’ll sign you both off once it’s set up.” She checked her watch and backed away. “I’ve got a meeting, but you two can handle this, right? Just lock up when you’re done.”
The pieces don’t look that big individually. Totally manageable. I mean, I did that one arm workout video last month. I’m practically a fitness influencer.
“I’ll get started,” I announce, grabbing one of the longer poles before Alfie can move. It’s significantly heavier than expected. But I’ve committed now.
Alfie makes a sound that might be a laugh. When I glance over, his face is carefully neutral, but his eyes are dancing.
“What?” I challenge, trying to pretend my arms aren’t already shaking.
He watches me struggle, hands in his pockets. “Nothing.”
“Clearly it’s something.”
“Just admiring your technique.” His voice drops lower. “Very... determined. Do you need some help?”
I adjust my grip as the metal starts to slip. “The pole and I are doing just fine, thanks.”
“Really.” He sounds like he’s grinning. Asshole. “Is that why you’re turning such a lovely shade of pink?”
“It’s hot out.”
“Hm, is it?”
“Are you just going to stand there critiquing my form?”
He tilts his head, eyes trailing over me deliberately. “The view is quite entertaining.”
“You’re horrible,” I manage, even as the pole threatens to escape my grip.
“Just observant.” He steps closer, still not helping. “You know, there’s a fascinating geological process called joint loading...”
“Really? You’re giving me a science lecture right now?”
“Just thinking out loud.” His voice is pure innocence even as his eyes gleam. “When a single point is under excessive pressure…”
“Let me guess, this is going to be a very educational metaphor?”
“Just making some observations.” He steps closer, I can practically feel his breath on my skin. “About weight distribution and load bearing.”
“Do you practice these lines in the mirror?” My voice comes out breathier than intended as the pole slips again.
“They come naturally.” He watches me struggle with infuriating composure. “Like the way that pole is about to naturally acquaint itself with your toes.”
I make a sound that’s embarrassingly close to a whimper. The pole has somehow quadrupled in weight in the last thirty seconds.
Alfie moves closer but still doesn’t take it, just stands there with his hands in his pockets, radiating smug amusement. “Need something?”
“Okay, fine,” I grit out. “A little help would be... acceptable.”
“Sorry?” He leans in, eyes dancing. “Couldn’t quite hear you over the sound of your arms shaking.”
“Alfie.”
“Tara.”
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”
He steps even closer, his chest nearly touching my back.
“You know, I could have jumped in earlier. Taken over. But you needed to figure out your own limits.” His voice drops lower, sending shivers down my spine that have nothing to do with exertion.
“I’m not here to decide what you can handle. That’s your call.”
“I had it under control,” I mutter, but the relief when he finally takes the pole is immediate.
“Of course, you did.” His tone is perfectly serious, but there’s heat in his eyes when they meet mine.
When I catch my breath enough to look at him properly, he’s watching me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“What now?” I ask.
“Nothing.” But he’s almost smiling.
We fall into a rhythm after that, moving poles and setting up joints.
I fill the silences with random facts about fossils, partly because I can’t help sharing when I’m excited about something, and partly because I don’t love silence, which is a problem because it seems to be Alfie Spencer’s natural state.
He doesn’t say much, but I catch him watching me with what might be amusement when I get particularly animated about Cambrian extinction events.
“So,” I say, when we both silently agree to take a breather - Janine lied about this being a quick hour job, we’re forty-five minutes in and nowhere near done.
Though that might have something to do with the height difference between us making every lift an interesting challenge.
“You’re here all summer for research, right? ”
“Yep.”
“What kind of research?” I press, genuinely curious. I’ve heard snippets from Troy about Alfie’s work, but never the details. I know he’s got one year left on his undergrad, being a year ahead of me.
“Studying mineral formations on Europa.”
“Wait, seriously?” I straighten up, forgetting how sweaty and gross I must look. “The Jupiter moon? The one with the subsurface ocean?”
Something shifts in his expression as he takes me in. “Yeah.”
“That’s incredible! How’s it going? Have you started running simulations yet?”
“Promising,” he says after a moment, and I watch him decide whether to elaborate.
Something in my expression must encourage him because his usual reserve cracks slightly.
“We’re studying how certain minerals might form under Europa’s conditions.
If we’re right about the formations we’re seeing.
..” He trails off, but there’s a light in his eyes I’ve never seen before.
“In the subsurface ocean? Whoa.” Environmental science might focus more on Earth’s ecosystems, but the potential for life on Europa has been one of my favorite research topics since I did that paper on extremophiles last semester.
“I read that paper from JPL about potential hydrothermal activity there.”
His eyes widen. “You follow planetary science research?”
“Sometimes. When it intersects with my interests in extremophile organisms and potential extraterrestrial ecosystems.” I shrug, suddenly self-conscious under his intense gaze.
“Plus, Europa is basically a giant ocean world. Pretty relevant to someone studying Earth’s marine systems. Troy mentioned you’re trying for CalTech? ”
His expression softens. “My grandpa was at CalTech in the 60s,” he says quietly, almost to himself.
“He was one of the first scientists to hypothesize about Europa’s subsurface ocean.
” It should be illegal for anyone to look this good doing community service talking about science data.
His dark hair falls in his eyes as he leans on his hand, his jaw clenched in concentration.
The sleeves of his black shirt are rolled up, showing forearms corded with muscle.
He catches me staring and raises an eyebrow, and suddenly the air is ten degrees hotter. “What did you think about their methodology for detecting chemical signatures?”
I blink.
Right.
Science chat.
“Uh, I mean, it was ok. It would probably be more accurate if they used an SEM machine as well as XRF data. But I understand that it’s an expensive machine to run so they probably got some good info. And I did wonder…anyway, it’s not my area of expertise.”
“No, go on. What did you wonder about?”
My aching arms remind me we’re supposed to be working. “Maybe we should finish this first? Before Janine finds us debating space ocean chemistry instead of actually building anything?”
“Right.” He grabs another pole, but doesn’t break eye contact. “Though we’re definitely continuing this conversation later.”
“Is that a threat or a promise, Spencer?” The words come out more flirtatious than intended.
“Both.” His voice drops lower, rough in a way that makes heat pool in my stomach. “I like hearing your thoughts about my research.”
“Oh.” I check my phone, trying to ignore how close he’s standing. “I should go soon. Got orientation at Luzia.”
I brace myself for his raised eyebrows, the careful suggestions that maybe a bar job isn’t the best idea.
But Alfie just nods. “Good experience. Hospitality work teaches you a lot about people.”
I stare at him, thrown by the lack of protest. “That’s... not what everyone else thinks.”
“What do they usually think?”
“Oh, you know. That it’s dangerous, or beneath me, or how I should focus on my studies instead.”