He presses a button on the center console and takes control of the steering wheel. The car speeds up and suddenly whips around a corner. I grip Adam’s shoulder to keep from flying across the seat, and he puts an arm around my waist to steady me.
“Sorry.” I avoid looking at him, but I don’t let go. And he doesn’t either.
“Man, they sure don’t make cars like they used to,” Future-Adam says with a laugh.
The car takes another sharp turn, tires squealing on the wet pavement. Adam holds me in place, his arm tightening around my waist. Is Future-Adam driving like a maniac just so his younger self can cop a feel on me? Then again, I’m not exactly pulling away from Adam either, so maybe I’m just as guilty.
“Sorry,” I say again. I’m stuck on repeat, my brain fuzzy. Maybe because I’m burning up in this hot car. Or maybe because of the way Adam’s looking at me, like he wants to kiss me. This time I don’t want to punch him.
“All right, I’d better put it back in automatic before the police come after me.” Future-Adam presses the button again. The car slows down and Adam releases his grip on me.
Zoe and Trent are staring at us, and I want to jump out of this car and forget this moment ever happened. I pull away from Adam and try to move off his lap to escape his eyes and his lips and the heat between us. Zoe attempts to scoot over, but she only gets an inch closer to Trent, who’s already slammed up against the car door. There’s nowhere for me to go.
“Comfortable back there?” Future-Adam asks. I glare at him. Oh yeah, he’s definitely doing this on purpose. “Relax, we’re already here.”
The Aether Corporation building is impossibly tall, with black granite walls and sleek, silver windows reflecting the dark, cloudy sky. The car takes us down into an underground parking structure and parks itself in a spot labeled RESERVED: ADAM O’NEILL. The doors unlock and Future-Adam jumps out to open the door for us.
“Sorry about that,” he says and offers a hand to help me out.
I ignore it and hop out of the car, giving him a look that says, “I know what you were doing there.” But he just smiles and steps back so the others can get out.
Future-Adam leads us past rows of parked driverless cars to an elevator with the Aether logo. As we walk, he pulls something out of his pocket that looks like a thick metal pen, except there’s a red light glowing at the end and buttons along the side. He presses one of the buttons, and the light switches from red to green.
“What’s that?” Adam asks.
“It’s a jammer. It blocks audio and visual recording devices within a twenty-foot radius.” He hands the device to his younger self, who begins to study it.
“Why do we need that?” I ask. Isn’t he working for Aether? Will they be expecting us?
“I don’t want Aether’s cameras recording us.”
Adam examines the jammer and then hands it back. “It looks like a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who.”
“That’s not an accident.” Future-Adam grins at him. “A friend made it for me. Same person who designed the flexis.”
“You were wrong,” Trent mutters to Chris. “Adam is still the biggest nerd here.”
“And now there are two of them,” Chris says.
I shake my head as we step into the elevator. The two Adams stand side by side, the younger one sneaking peeks at his older self. It’s freaky seeing them together and noticing how similar they look, except for the thirty years added to the future version.
“Why do you still wear glasses?” Adam asks his older self. “Flexis can auto-correct your vision, right?”
“A girl once told me I look cute in glasses. But you need to pay attention.” Future-Adam checks his watch, and I’m surprised to see it’s the same twenty-four-hour watch we all have on now. He kept it all these years.
The door opens, but he blocks us with his arm so we can’t exit. “Get ready to run.” He peers outside the elevator, then checks his watch again. “Wait…wait for it…”
People in suits enter in a huge group from the revolving doors and head to the front desk where a security guard is waiting. They crowd around, completely blocking our view of the desk.