Applied Electromagnetism

by Susannah Nix

  He shrugged, like it was nothing to throw himself on his sword for her sake. “I’m the one with more experience here, and I’m the one who committed us to this timeline—over your objections. Therefore, it’s my responsibility, and I’ll make sure they know that.”

  A lump formed in her throat. “Adam—”

  “Look, it’s not going to hurt me any. One missed deadline after all the wins I’ve pulled off for them isn’t going to matter.”

  “Still.”

  “Still what?”

  “Not many people would do that.”

  “Sure they would.”

  “No. I can’t think of many who would.” Something squeezed around her heart, like a big warm hand had reached into her chest. “You are nice.”

  He didn’t look at her, but she could see his mouth turn up at the corner. “Shut up.”

  “Okay, maybe not that nice.”

  The rain went from moderate to torrential in the space of a few seconds. It was like they’d driven headfirst into Niagara Falls.

  Olivia had been living in LA for so long, she’d almost forgotten what real storms were like.

  “This is insane,” Adam said as he leaned forward, struggling to see through the downpour. The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up, and the visibility was only a few feet in front of the car. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “Storms out here aren’t like in LA. When it rains, things can get apocalyptic fast.”

  “No shit. Jesus.”

  Olivia squirmed in her seat as a ball of anxiety settled in the pit of her stomach. Her feet pressed against the floorboards. “Be careful. The roads can get slick when water starts to collect on them.”

  “I understand how physics works.”

  “You should decrease your speed to reduce the risk of hydroplaning. And leave extra space between us and the car ahead.”

  “I don’t need you to womansplain driving to me right now.”

  Her fist clenched around the handle on the door. “Womansplaining would imply you have more knowledge of driving in rainy conditions than me, but since I grew up here and you’ve already admitted you’ve never driven in anything like this before, I am simply explaining it to you.”

  “Whatever you’re doing, it’s making me nervous.”

  “Sorry.”

  Adam’s hands tightened on the wheel and he decreased his speed. “I should have let you drive. I didn’t realize we’d be heading into a typhoon.”

  Olivia bit down on the impulse to point out that a typhoons occurred in a specific region of the Pacific Ocean and were therefore unrelated to the tropical depression currently dumping rain on them in central Texas. Now wasn’t the time to give in to her knee-jerk impulse to push his buttons.

  “You’re doing great,” she told him instead. “I’m only side-seat driving because I’m nervous too. To be honest, I hate driving in the rain.”

  “Really?”

  “You get caught in a few blinding rainstorms on the highway, and you start to develop a complex.”

  “I’ll bet.” He almost had to shout to be heard over the sound of the rain battering the car. It was impossible to see the lines on the road. The only way to know they were in their lane was to follow the taillights of the car in front of them.

  Adam’s arms and neck were bowstring taut. His fists gripped the steering wheel at ten and two like a driving school student. But he was doing everything right. Going slow, but not so slow they were likely to get plowed into from behind. Keeping plenty of distance between them and the car ahead, but not so much they lost sight of where their lane was. Every once in a while he’d veer a little too close to the shoulder and the friction paint on the road would hum, but he always course corrected smoothly, without jerking on the wheel.

  After fifteen minutes that felt more like an hour, the rain started to let up a little. They could see the lines on the road again, and the windshield wipers were able to keep up with the raindrops pelting the front window.

  Just as Olivia started to relax, there was a sound like a small explosion, and the car lurched sideways. She recognized the flat squeal of rubber dragging across asphalt as her insides rearranged themselves.

  They’d blown a tire.

  All the breath left her lungs as Adam wrenched on the wheel to keep them from careening across the highway, and she felt the remaining tires start to hydroplane on the wet road.

  They were going to spin out. She was going to die sitting next to Adam today after all—not on the plane, but in a shitty rental car in the middle of nowhere.

  Only they didn’t die this time either.

  Miraculously, Adam managed to wrestle the car back under control and steer them safely onto the right shoulder of the road. As soon as the car rolled to a stop, Olivia sucked in a long, shuddering breath and let it out again with an involuntary whimper. Her fingers had practically embedded themselves in the plastic door handle, she was squeezing it so hard.

  “Are you okay?” Adam asked, slapping on the hazards and the interior car lights as he swung his head to look at her.

  She gave him a weak nod. There was so much adrenaline spiking through her system, she wasn’t sure she could speak yet.

  “Olivia?”

  Rain pelted the windshield and rattled on the roof of the car as Adam twisted in his seat to face her. His fingers touched her cheek, hesitating for a second before turning her face to his.

  Those beautiful dark eyes stared into hers like they were staring right into her soul.

  Her lips parted, but no sound came out. If she couldn’t speak before, she definitely couldn’t do it now with those eyes on her.

  “You’re okay.” He said it like he was willing it to be true. His thumb moved over her cheek in the softest of caresses. “We’re fine. We made it.”

  She managed another nod, and he took his hand away.

  He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his palms on his thighs as he blew out a long breath. “That was terrifying.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked, finding her voice finally. The blood was still pumping in her ears, making her voice sound oddly distant, and her stomach was tied in about a million knots.

  He nodded. “Yeah.” He kept on nodding, like he was trying to convince himself.

  She reached across the console and squeezed his hand. “You did great. You saved us.”

  He swiveled his head to look at her, and gave her hand a squeeze back. “Not too bad for a rain novice, huh?”

  She smiled at him. “Not bad at all.”

  His forehead creased in a frown. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I did not expect to have two near-death experiences today, but other than feeling like a character in a Final Destination movie, I’m fine.”

  “I’m not sure either of them really count as near-death.”

  There was the Adam she knew. If he was arguing with her, he must be fine.

  He plucked his phone out of the console. “I’m calling Triple A.”

  Olivia looked out the window at the rain-sodden night. It had to have been twenty miles since they’d passed their last town, and it hadn’t been much of a town. “It’s going to take forever to get a wrecker out here in this weather.”

  “I know, but what choice do we have?”

  “We could change the tire ourselves.”

  He stared at her like she’d just suggested they rob a bank. “In the dark, on the side of the highway? In the rain?”

  “It’s fine,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “The rain’s letting up and the visibility’s better already. Just pull up a little more, so we’re on a straightaway instead of a curve.” The easier they were to see, the less the chances of someone hitting them from behind.

  Adam pulled the car up, slowly and carefully. He cut the engine and turned to look at Olivia uncertainly. “Maybe we should just wait for Triple A. They can do it for us and then neither of us has to mess with it.”

  “Are you afraid of getting yo
ur hands dirty?”

  He looked embarrassed. “I’ve never changed a tire before. Have you?”

  “Sure.” Her dad had forced her to learn how to do it when she’d gotten her license. It had been a while, and she’d never had to do it on the side of a highway before—at night, in the rain—but she ought to be able to manage it. Especially with Adam lending his strength to turn the lug wrench, which was the part that gave her the most trouble. “I’ll teach you. Come on. Get out on my side of the car. It’s safer.”

  She got out and ran around to the back of the car while Adam slid out from behind the steering wheel and clambered over the passenger seat. Despite her optimistic declaration about the weather a minute ago, it was starting to rain harder again, and she was thoroughly drenched by the time she got the hatch open.

  But it was just a little rain, right? If she could get this tire changed, they’d be back on the road in a few minutes. As opposed to waiting for a wrecker, which could put them hours more behind their already fucked schedule.

  Adam met her at the back of the car, and they both huddled under the rear hatch while they flipped the back seat down and shoved their bags out of the way so they could lift up the bottom panel of the cargo area where the spare tire was stowed.

  Or was supposed to be stowed.

  “There’s no spare,” Olivia said, staring at the empty tire-shaped space.

  “Nope,” Adam agreed.

  “I can’t change the tire if we don’t have a spare.” There also wasn’t a jack or a lug wrench, so even if there had been a spare, they still would have been screwed.

  “Can I call Triple A now?” Adam asked.

  “Yep.”

  He slammed the hatch shut and they ran back around to the passenger side in what was ramping up to another torrential downpour. By the time Adam had crawled across her seat and fit his large frame behind the wheel, Olivia was soaked through to the skin.

  She did her best to wipe the excess water off her face and arms while Adam called AAA. Without a towel it was pretty much a fool’s errand. Why, oh why had she worn a white shirt today? Now that it was wet it was semi-transparent, and her beige lace bra was showing through. Also, she was freezing, despite the fact that it was eighty-five degrees outside.

  She toed her shoes off and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them for warmth. Which mostly just succeeded in squeezing her wet clothes against her body, making her even colder.

  “You want the good news first, or the bad news?” Adam asked when he got off the phone.

  “Good news,” she said. “I can’t take any more bad news.”

  “They should be able to get a wrecker here in an hour.”

  She hugged herself tighter. “That’s the good news?”

  “The only garage in the area is closed for the night, so the wrecker’s going to drop us off at a nearby motel.”

  She groaned and banged her forehead against her knees. “We’re so fucked.”

  “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

  “I’m starting to feel like we’re on a D&D quest instead of a business trip, and there’s an evil dungeon master who keeps throwing obstacles into our path.”

  It took her a moment to realize Adam was laughing. It sounded strange and dusty, like he hadn’t used it in a long time. Even he looked surprised by it, like he wasn’t used to the sound of his own laugh. Maybe it was that rare of an occurrence, like an eclipse or a leap year. Or even rarer, like a comet that only came around once every century.

  He reached up to wipe his eyes. “If I meet that dungeon master, I’m definitely going to beat the shit out of him.”

  “Have you ever been on a trip that went this bad?” Olivia asked.

  “No. This is definitely the worst trip I’ve ever had.” He laughed again, but this time it sounded shaky, with maybe a slight tinge of hysteria. “Congratulations, you’re witnessing history.”

  “Lucky me.”

  He dragged a hand through his wet hair. “It could be worse, I guess.”

  “How?”

  “I could be here with Gavin instead of you.”

  Olivia’s stomach flipped over. Was he actually enjoying her company? She would write it off as a dig at Gavin, except for Adam’s eyes. They’d gone soft again, and there was something in them she’d never seen before. It hinted at possibilities she wasn’t prepared to think about or acknowledge.

  Before she could formulate any sort of response, Adam twisted around and lowered his seat back to rummage around in his suitcase. “Here,” he said, tossing her a heather gray hoodie.

  She accepted it gratefully, using it to dry off her face and arms before putting it on and letting the softness encircle her in its warm embrace. A pleasant scent enveloped her: laundry detergent, something that smelled a little like leather, and whatever it was that Adam used in his hair.

  “Better?” he asked as he dried his head with a black T-shirt.

  “Yes. Thank you.” She pulled the hoodie tight around her, resisting the urge to bury her face in it and huff it like glue.

  When he’d finished drying off, he twisted back around in his seat with a tired-sounding sigh. “I guess I should probably turn the ignition off.” He’d cut the engine earlier, but left the ignition on so they’d have light inside the car.

  “Why?” She didn’t want to lose the little bit of light they had, or the radio for that matter. It was one thing to be stuck in this tiny car together, but to be sitting here in the dark without even music as a distraction was an alarming prospect.

  His hand was already halfway to the dash, and it paused in midair as he gave her a questioning look. “So we don’t run the battery down?”

  “Triple A is already coming,” she pointed out. “If the battery dies, I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to give us a jump.”

  “I guess.” He sounded unconvinced.

  “I’d rather have the light on so we’re easy to see.”

  His expression shifted to alarm. “Do you think we’re in danger here?”

  “From flash flooding?” she asked, because flash flooding was always a danger with this kind of rain.

  His eyes widened. “Oh my god, are we in danger from flash flooding?”

  “Probably not here.”

  “Probably not here?” he repeated, sounding panicky.

  She tried to reassure him. “I mean, it seems like we’re on decently high ground. And I don’t remember crossing any bridges recently, so we’re probably fine.” Her voice rose a little at the end, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

  Adam sucked in a shaky breath. “Okay, I was actually worried about the danger from a car hitting us from behind, but now I’m afraid we’re going to be swept away in a flash flood, so thank you for that.”

  “You’re welcome,” Olivia said. “If it’s any consolation, I’m now worried we’re going to be hit from behind, so I guess we’re even.”

  “Terrific.”

  An eighteen-wheeler blew past them on the highway, making their car rock and the windows rattle.

  “It’s probably fine,” she said. “On both counts.”

  “Yeah. I’m sure it is.” Adam leaned back in his seat and she watched his chest rise and fall as he tried to make himself relax. It was just like at the airport, when the crowd had made him nervous. Or on the plane, when he’d been anxious about takeoff.

  The urge to take his hand was so strong her fingers actually twitched. She shoved them under her leg instead. “Where would we even go if we decided to go somewhere safer?”

  “No idea.”

  “There’s nothing around here. I mean nothing.”

  “True.”

  “Like, maybe if we happened to set out in the right direction, I guess we might stumble across a barn or an old shed or something eventually, but I don’t know how that would be any better.”

  It sounded too much like the setup of a fanfic or erotic novel. Two people stranded in the middle of nowhere take shelter from the
elements in a rustic barn and end up huddling together for warmth until their repressed urges take over and then…

  She couldn’t think about what happened after that.

  Or repressed urges.

  Or huddling.

  Not when they were sitting in a car with the windows fogging up. Against her will, Olivia’s mind traveled back to the last time she’d been inside a fogged-up car with a member of the opposite sex. It had been way back in high school, with Bobby Barger. Olivia’s face heated at the memory, and she was grateful Adam wasn’t looking at her.

  “How would Triple A even find us if we were off hiding in some ramshackle barn?” he mused as he peered out the window at the inky darkness.

  Olivia’s mouth was dry, and when she spoke the words came out in a hoarse whisper. “They wouldn’t.”

  He nodded. “We’re better off staying here in the car.”

  “It’s the safest thing to do.” She uncapped her water bottle and took a long drink.

  “Definitely.”

  “Yep.” Her thumbnail scraped at the label on the bottle. “We’ll just…stay here.”

  They both fell silent as they stared straight ahead at the rain battering the windshield. Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” came on the radio, and it felt way too pointed, like some higher power was looking down on them and laughing, but Olivia couldn’t make herself reach for the radio to change it. The air in the car felt too heavy, like it was pressing down on her. Pinning her to her seat. Her wet clothes clung to her skin like adhesive tape under Adam’s hoodie as his scent twined around her.

  He cleared his throat, and she tensed.

  “Are there any more Beaver Nuggets?”

  Chapter Nine

  It only took the wrecker forty-five minutes to get to them. Good thing, because Olivia’s phone was running low on battery by then. When she’d gotten tired of reading her social media accounts, she’d resorted to playing Candy Crush, which she’d forgotten she still had on her phone.

  The rain had stopped, thank god. Olivia was halfway to being dry after their earlier soaking, and she didn’t relish the idea of getting drenched again.