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By the time the Wranglers—all packed together in Lily’s SUV—show up to the Carter farm, Tyler’s truck is already parked out front. They’re gathering there to work on a plan for data collection for Kate’s project, but of course, Tyler’s there for that and…well, probably other things as well. At least, that’s what they all suspect, but Tyler’s not been willing to give them confirmation yet.
“Think he spent the night?” Dani asks.
“Oh, 100%,” Lily says. “Otherwise, it makes no sense why he wouldn’t ride over here with us. He’s probably been here all week.”
Dexter exhales audibly. “Mrs. Carter is very nice to allow him to use the guest room while he works with Kate and Javi on their project. We’re lucky to be invited to be involved as well. I truly believe this project could be a major scientific breakthrough—”
“Wait a damn minute,” Lily says, yanking the gear shift to park suddenly enough that the car lurches. Boone yips and swings an arm in the arm to pantomime riding a bull.
“You’re supposed to brake first,” Dani mutters.
“Go ahead and bitch about my driving some more,” Lily spits. “You sure got a lot to say for a certified passenger princess.”
In the backseat, Boone fumbles with the lock to override the child-safety feature, eager to get out of the way before Dani and Lily get into it again. As it pops open, Lily seems to remember what she was going to say, so she jerks around in the driver seat to stare at Dexter behind her. “Dex, you know there’s no way in hell that Tyler’s staying in the guest room, right?”
“I don’t care to make assumptions, and it’s certainly not germane to our current work.”
Boone, with one foot out on the gravel driveway, leans back into the backseat. “That’s right. I agree with Dex. Them kissin’ and sharin’ a bed isn’t germy at all.”
Dani barks out a laugh before covering her mouth with her hand.
Lily just rolls her eyes. “That’s—that’s not what he said. And also, I think swappin’ spit’s just about the germiest thing there is.”
“Spoken like someone who hasn’t swapped spit for the better part of a year,” Dani quips.
“Spoken like someone who’s been with the same woman since high school,” Lily says, turning to glare at her.
“Spoken like someone whose longest relationship was in middle school.”
Lily’s mouth falls over and abruptly snaps shut. “Spoken like someone who’s—” But she’s cut off by the sound of Boone’s door slamming, followed quickly by Dexter’s. She looks briefly over her shoulder to confirm that the backseat is, indeed, empty. She turns her gaze back to Dani, who just shrugs.
“Well, then,” Lily says, “Let’s do some science and shit.”
Dani grins and spins the Wrangler salute, and they exit the vehicle to trail behind the men to the barn. By the time they catch up, Boone and Dexter are standing in front of the closed door, and Boone’s got his finger pressed against his lips. Dexter just looks uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to another.
“What’s happening?” Dani whispers. “Why’s the door shut?”
“Just be quiet,” Boone says. He cups his hand over his ear and presses it to the door. Lily and Dani scoot in beside him, leaning gently against the wooden slats with their ears against the openings. “You hear?”
Lily shakes her head. “They’re talking…don’t know what they’re saying.”
Boone says, “They’re fighting.”
“How can you tell?” Dani cups both hands around her ear but just shakes her head.
“I just got superior hearing,” Boone says.
Lily crouches to the ground and peers through the larger gap between the edge of the door and the frame. If she positions herself just right, she can see right through the gap and into the barn. Sure enough, Kate and Tyler are in there, though they’re shadowed toward the back of the barn, standing behind the workstation that Kate uses most frequently.
“I see them,” she whispers.
“Shove over,” Dani says and drops down beside Lily. She shoulders Lily over so she can see through the wider spot as well. “Where? I don’t see them.”
“Did you forget to put your contacts in again?”
Dani presses her lips together and narrows her eyes as if that will make it easier to see inside the barn. Finally, she sighs and scoots back, letting Lily angle her way back in.
Lily chuckles. “I’ll take that as a yes. No wonder my driving scared you so much.”
“Oh yeah,” Dani grumbles. “That must be it.”
Dexter, who’d remained quiet amongst the chaos, clears his throat. Boone turns his head sharply toward the sound. “They’re gonna hear you.”
“And I intend them to,” Dexter replies at a normal volume.
Boone nudges Dani with the toe of his boot and looks down at her with puppy-dog eyes. Dani sighs and shakes her head, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing Dexter’s arm to pull him away before he reaches to pull open the barn door.
“Let the kids have some fun, alright, Dex?”
“All I do is let the kids have some fun,” he says, though he does lower his voice. “You all should let those kids in there have some fun.”
“They ain’t having fun,” Boone says, frowning. His ear is still pressed against the door.
“They sure ain’t,” Lily says. She looks up at Boone. “You be the ears; I’ll be the eyes.”
“Roger.”
“What’s happening?” Dani says, her grip still tight around Dexter’s forearm. He doesn’t try to shake her off.
“Boone’s right: they’re arguing,” Lily says. Through the crack in the door, she sees them huddled close around the laptop on Kate’s desk. They’re not looking at the screen but at each other. She can’t quite make out the looks on their faces, but she can tell they’re not particularly happy. Tyler’s talking animatedly, punctuating his statements with big swings of his arms. Kate’s got her arms crossed and she takes a step back when Tyler opens his arms in a questioning gesture.
“What are they saying?” Dani asks.
Boone speaks low, under his voice. “Okay, so Tyler’s saying that they should do…something because of the…conversation outlook?”
“Convective outlook,” Dex says suddenly, his voice now firmly down to a whisper. “Must be talking about the convective outlook. What about it?”
“There’s something that Kate’s not paying attention to in the cool air…the cool air erection.”
Dani’s cheeks puff out as she holds back a laugh.
“Cool air advection,” Dex says. He’s speaking quickly like he’s piecing together a puzzle. “That’s the movement of colder air toward warmer area. Happens behind cold fronts and—”
“Kate’s saying something about a—” Boone smirks. “—blow echo?”
Dex ignores Boone’s expression and nods. “Bow echo, yes, that’s the reading on the radar wherein you might see some—”
“Things are getting heated!” Lily says, tilting her head to be able to see better. Kate’s moving back toward Tyler now, though her arms are still crossed tight. She’s shaking her head firmly.
Boone’s eyes widen as he presses the side of his face to the rough slats. “Tyler says that this is defamation! There’s a streaming difference in the defamation!”
“Deformation. Diffluence,” Dexter says. “The rate of change of shape of fluid bodies. The pattern of wind flow in which the air moves outward. So, what they’re saying is that—”
“Oh, she’s mad-mad,” Lily says, explaining what she’s seeing. Kate advances on Tyler, but Tyler doesn’t step back. She uncrosses her arms and stabs the index finger of her right hand into his chest. She pulls back and then does it again. He just stares at her.
Boone nods his head like he’s just solved a mystery. “Yeah, yeah,” he says. “She’s saying something about a relative of Felicity. Oh my god, maybe Tyler is dating someone named Felicity! Or maybe her cousin or something!”
Lily reaches up and pinches Boone on the calf. “Keep. Your voice. Down,” she hisses.
“A relative of Felicity,” Dex muses. “Oh…uh–relative velocity?” He looks around like someone might tell him whether he has the correct answer. “That’s the velocity of an object as measured with respect to—” Dexter stops as Dani lightly squeezes his arm.
“I’m not sure it matters so much what they’re talking about,” she says softly.
Boone covers the ear not pressed to the barn door to block out the sounds of Dex jabbering. “Science is makin’ T real mad.”
“Kate too,” Lily says. Tyler and Kate are within arm’s distance from each other, though Kate is no longer stabbing her finger into his chest. They’re just glaring at each other, as far as Lily can tell. “Boonie, are they saying something?”
“Nothin’,” Boone whispers.
“They’re just…staring at each other.” Lily stays still, watching the two of them, but it’s like they’re frozen. For a moment, she fears that the spying Wrangler crew has been spotted, but then whatever spell that had fallen upon Kate and Tyler is broken. Tyler takes one step forward and all the sudden he’s pressing Kate into the wall of the barn behind them, kissing her roughly. Her hands tangle in his hair. “Oh…oh!” Lily wants to stop looking, but she can’t turn away.
“What—what happened?” Dani says.
Lily’s been stunned into silence but she’s unable to look away. Tyler’s hands grasp Kate’s hips, and he hoists her up. Her legs loop around his waist and he moves them until she’s sitting on the desk. With one hand, he slaps the laptop closed and swipes loose papers and other objects off the top of the desk. He hits a ceramic mug, and it clatters off the desk, clanging against the metal stool.
“They’re throwing stuff at each other!” Boone gasps.
“No, they’re not,” Lily chokes out. She still can’t look away.
“Then what’s happening?” Dani says.
Tyler’s got his hand wrapped in Kate’s hair now, tilting her head and trailing kisses down her jaw and down her neck. Her head drops back, and her mouth hangs slightly agape.
“Now it sounds like Kate’s hurt,” Boone says frantically. “Lils, what’s happening?”
“I—uh—” Lily has lost the ability to form actual words. Kate is fumbling at the waist of Tyler’s jeans now, and Lily swallows audibly. She knows she should absolutely not be watching her friends doing this, but she’s also thrilled that they’ve uncovered the secret (if it had ever been a secret at all) that Tyler and Kate are together.
“We gotta do something,” Boone says, pulling away from the wall. “I think Tyler’s hurt, too.”
Suddenly, Lily feels someone grab the neck of her shirt and pull her back roughly. She loses balance in her crouch and falls to her butt, looking up to see Dexter standing over her.
“What’s happening?” Dani says.
Dexter cuts his eyes back to her. “Let the kids have some fun, alright?” He says it pointedly enough that Dani understands, her expression changing from concern to shock to smugness in the span of mere seconds. She reaches down to smack Lily on the back of the head, but Lily’s giggling hysterically with her hands clamped over her mouth.
Boone’s still looking between the three of them, eyes wide and frantic. “What’s going on?”
Lily removes her hands from her mouth long enough to sputter, “S—science doesn’t just make them mad. Science makes them mad horny.”
Boone’s eyebrows raise nearly to his hairline, and he visibly dry heaves. Still giggling, Lily clambers to her feet and grabs Boone’s arm to drag him away from the door. The group drifts away from the barn and back toward the vehicle.
“What are we gonna do now?” Dani says.
“If they’re gonna have a happy hour, we might as well have one of our own,” Lily replies, unlocking the doors.
“Sonic!?” Boone says, obviously no longer sick to his stomach.
Lily nods and flings herself into the driver’s side. The rest of them fall into their regular spots, and the SUV turns and bumps back down the gravel driveway the way it came.
