The Ark

32.

Fat drops of rain pelted the car like bullets. The sudden and intense downpour felt almost mocking.

I stared at Zaphron as he watched the rain turn into a watery sheet, sliding down the windshield. "Jax doesn't keep a spare?" I asked, my voice sounding thin with desperation.

Zaphron sighed, not willing to meet my eyes. "He does, but I left it on the charger back at the apartment."

I slumped further into my seat and let out a groan.

The pelting rain grew louder in the silence between us.

"Screw it," Zaphron said, opening his door again. He stomped out into the rain, heading around to the front of the car and lifting the hood. After several minutes of nothing happening, I swore under my breath and looped the duffle over my shoulder, stepping out into the rain myself.

I rounded the open bonnet to find Zaphron fiddling with a bunch of wires in the battery bay.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be playing with electrics in the rain," I said, peering at the car's innards—and definitely not noticing how Zaphron's white shirt had gone transparent in the downpour.

"While I appreciate the safety lesson," he said, his wet hair hanging in his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder. "It's the only option if we're going to get out of here."

I bit my lip and watched him fiddle with the wiring a little longer. His clothes clung to him in the rain, every movement of his shoulders and chest visible under the soaked weight of his shirt.

Focus Astrid. Stop the guy from frying himself on engine wires.

"Zaph." I reached out and put my hand on his forearm. His skin felt warm despite the chill of the rain and I nearly retracted my fingers in surprise. "Just leave it. Until the storm passes at least."

He stopped what he was doing and cast a pointed look in my direction. "There's a reason no one stuck around here after the weather warning. It's not safe."

I let go of his arm and rolled my eyes. "It's got to be safer than willingly making yourself an electrical conductor."

He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth to cover a grin and turned away. "Alright." He closed the car bonnet, leaning back on it casually—as if rain wasn't hammering down on both of us. "I guess we're staying here then."

"Um." I motioned wildly to the cabin. Droplets of water were clinging to my eyelashes and beginning to run down my neck. "Can we go back inside then?"

"Sure," Zaphron said, getting slowly to his feet. "But it's not like either of us could get any more drenched." He tugged at his wet shirt and gestured to my clothes, which were now just as clingy as his. The weight of his gaze lingered on me a moment longer than necessary, lighting a firecracker in my stomach.