“Well, it wasn’t just for that,” she admitted. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the restaurant.”
“You mean Vir completely sandbagging me in the way he asked me to take a walk with him?”
“Hey!” she cried out, giggling as I continued to drink my shake. “Don’t talk about my dad like that! And for the record, he sandbagged me, too.”
“Except you didn’t have to get grilled by him.”
“Vir didn’t grill you,” Electra declared with a laugh. “That’s not his style.”
“Trust me, coming from the father of a girl you like, even ‘Good morning’ can feel like you’re being raked over the coals.”
As I finished speaking, I raised a hand to my mouth, stifling a yawn. I was obviously more exhausted than I realized.
“Nice to know that you still like me,” she said slyly, “but you getting sandbagged by my dad isn’t what I wanted to talk about. It was the kiss.”
I nodded as I began to yawn a second time. “Yeah, I figured that was it, but don’t worry – I didn’t read anything into it.”
“You didn’t?” she queried in surprise.
“No,” I sort of moaned as I drowsily stretched my arms out. “It’s like what you said on the phone: if we hang out, we’ll fall back into the habit of being a couple. That includes doing all the things that couples do, like when you held my hand for a second at dinner, or kissing each other goodbye.”
“So you’re saying I kissed you out of habit, not because I wanted to.”
“Well, I’m hoping you wanted to a little bit,” I said.
“Maybe I did,” she admitted sheepishly, “but I need you to understand that…”
Chapter 25
I woke to the feeling of an unexpected (but not uncomfortable) pressure on my side. Opening my eyes, I saw Electra snuggled up next to me, with her arms wrapped around my torso. We had apparently fallen asleep on the couch. (In fact, reflecting back on it, I had actually dozed off while she had been talking.)
Placing my hand on her wrist, I tried to gently disengage myself, but came across some unexpected resistance.
“No,” Electra firmly announced, tightening her arms around me without looking up. “I want you to stay right here.”
“But I can’t,” I said, finally breaking her grip and moving her hand away. “And neither can you. Your father’s probably going bananas by now.”
“No, he’s not. I told him I was crashing here last night.”
“You did what?!” I screeched, coming to my feet.
“Will you relax?” she murmured nonchalantly. “Dad trusts you. And more importantly, he trusts me.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” I blurted out, shaking my head. “That’s just something fathers say to find out what guy will be stupid enough to take the bait. I’m not that guy.”
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” she declared as she stood and stretched.
“Well, you can tell me all about how I overreacted later, but right now I’m teleporting you home.”
Electra gave me an odd look. “You sure you want to do that?”
Her question made me pause for a moment, but if she had a point, it wasn’t immediately evident to me.
“I don’t see what the problem is,” I said.
“Well, you’re trying to send me home, unkempt and ungroomed, the second I wake up,” she noted. “It’s tantamount to kicking me out in the morning after I spent the night here. Now that is the kind of thing that would set a father off.”
I simply stared at her for a moment, not believing what I was hearing. Obviously, she was just yanking my chain, but over-protective fathers wasn’t a subject I found humorous at the moment.
“Nothing happened,” I said, “so there’s nothing to report that would set anybody off.”
“Still doesn’t mean you get to kick me out.”
“Nobody’s kicking you out,” I insisted. “I’m taking you home.”
“No, you’re trying to send me home – and looking a mess, at that.”
Groaning, I wiped my face with my hand.
“Look,” she continued, “I’m not asking for much – just a toothbrush, a washcloth, and a bathroom I can use.”
I was on the verge of telling her she had all that at home, but was interrupted by my phone ringing.
I held up a finger to Electra, indicating she needed to give me a moment, while at the same time pulling out my phone. It was Alpha Prime calling me.
“Yeah,” I muttered as I answered the phone – not an ideal greeting, but all I could muster at the moment. If he was put off by it, my father’s tone didn’t convey it.
“Hey,” he said in greeting. “Glad you’re awake. You ready to get started?”
“I suppose,” I replied without much enthusiasm. “Want me to meet you at HQ?”
“No, I’m on my way to you now.”
“Okay. How long before you get here?”
A second later, I heard the doorbell ring for the second time in the last twelve hours, while my father, chuckling, said, “Not long.”
“Great,” I mumbled, hanging up the phone. I looked at Electra and then gestured in the direction of the door. “Can you get that for me, please?”
“Uh, sure,” she replied with a nod. “But–”
“Great,” I stated, cutting her off. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then I teleported.
Chapter 26
Popping up in my bedroom, I shifted into super speed and raced through my morning routine (including a quick shower). When I was done, I swiftly got dressed and teleported back to the living room. I’d been gone less than a minute.
When I appeared, Electra had apparently opened the door and let Alpha Prime in. At the moment, the two of them were looking at each other like they were having a staring contest. In fact, for a second, it seemed as though they didn’t even know I was in the room. There was an intense look on Electra’s face, and it occurred to me that maybe Alpha Prime, upon finding her here so early in the morning, had made a comment that reflected a
