Page 32 of The Love Interest

Invite her for a swim. It would be great for her to see your body.

It’s too soon, Kaylee. Trust me.

Juliet’s house is a freaking mansion. Like, it’s way too big for the three people who live here. There’s a gym almost as large as the private ones at the LIC, a tennis court, a guesthouse bigger than my house, and even a sauna. Every time I see something new I gawk at it and Juliet blushes.

She stops walking and faces me. “I know it’s a lot. But it’s not like it’s inherited money. Both Mom and Dad have worked hard to have all this.”

She’s explained that four times now. Her mom is a famous cookbook author, and her dad is a lawyer. Growing up, she spent a lot of time with her grandparents. But now that she can look after herself, her relationship with her parents has improved. Well, that’s the story she tells, but there’s something in the way she delivers it that makes me doubt her.

“Do you get along with your parents?” I ask.

“I guess. They pretty much let me do whatever I want. Dad’s controlling sometimes, but what father isn’t, right?”

“Right.”

She gasps. “Oh, Caden, I’m so sorry to talk about dads after what happened to you. That’s the height of selfishness, complaining about a controlling father to someone who lost his. I’m so sorry.”

Oh crap.I totally forgot that she thinks my dad is dead! I blink rapidly to fill my eyes with tears. “It’s okay, Juliet, it happened a long time ago. I miss him, and I always will, but you don’t need to treat the subject with kid gloves. I had a dad I loved, and then he died. It sucks, but it happened.”

She frowns. “Is your stepdad nice?”

I shake my head. “He’s horrible. He took most of Dad’s money and blew it on bad investments, so now we have pretty much nothing. It’s all right, though; I don’t let it get me down.”

“It’s a miracle you turned out to be as kind as you are, Caden. I’m just realizing this was a bad idea; it’s like I’m boasting about having all this stuff when it really doesn’t matter. You must think I’m the most entitled snob ever.”

“Juliet, I think you’re amazing, and all this stuff is mind-bogglingly cool. This was fun. Truly.”

She eyes me warily. Then she spins and starts walking away, her feet balancing on the very edge of the stone. The moonlight reflects in the aquamarine water, casting a weird blue light over everything.

Stare at her until she notices.

Why? That’s so creepy.

She’ll like it, trust me.

I look up and stare at Juliet. It takes her a few seconds, then her eyes meet mine and she blushes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I can’t help it.”

“I—I,” she stammers. “I have no idea how to respond to that, so I’m going to ignore it. Anyway, Caden, I can’t believe I almost forgot to show you my absolute favorite thing. Do you want to see my lab?”

“Yourwhat?”

“My lab… it’s short forlaboratory.”

“I know, it’s just, um, I didn’t expect you to have one. That’s so cool! Of course I want to see it.”

We walk away from the pool onto a long stretch of grass. At the other side is a gray shed. She unbolts the door and opens it, then flicks on the light, revealing a huge cluttered workspace. There are three long metal benches evenly spaced above a smooth concrete floor. Each one of them is overflowing with metal contraptions, circuit boards, and pieces of smashed-up computers. It truly does look like the workspace of a mad scientist.

“I spend most of my time here,” she says. “If I ever need to get away from everything and create, this is where I come. I love making stuff, if you can’t tell. What do you think?”

Beside her is a rack of test tubes. Each one is filled with glowing blue liquid. I’m genuinely impressed. “This is the coolest place I’ve ever seen!” I say. “It’s like a museum. Can I touch stuff?”

“If you’re gentle, sure.”

I pick up a weird, shiny glovelike thing. It’s shaped like a hand, with the fingers connecting to a black Velcro strap that would fit around my wrist. Each of the fingers is a thin wire. At the very end of each wire is a silver pad.