Read my Lips
Chapter 8
Spencer was busy laughing at Eliana's loud declaration. Even with all his experience analyzing human behavior, he wouldn't have pegged her as a competitive person. Yet she seemed not only eager to win, but also ready to announce her imminent victory to the entire room. Her enthusiasm was making him excited. When it came to his job, Spencer tried to focus on the lives he saved and how he made the world a safer place with every single unsub that he helped to catch. But what he really enjoyed about his work was proving himself and his team smarter than the killers they set out to catch. Outsmarting people that believed they were too cunning to be caught was definitely his guilty pleasure.
"Hey Liana!" The call for attention came from a painfully skinny man with oversized glasses that was standing on the other side of the room. Spencer had yet to be introduced to him. "Get ready! I'm about to put your favorite song on!"
The man's offer seemed harmless enough. But from Elaina's reaction, Spencer assumed that there was some underlying joke he wasn't privy to. Because she hollered back at the man, telling him he better not even freaking think about it.
"Ohmygod," Eliana groaned. She grasped Spencer by arm and issued him a warning. "Cover your ears, quick!"
Spencer took her warning literally, lifting his hands and slapping them down over his ears without question. But that didn't stop him from hearing the loud twangy country song that began to play through the stereo speakers. Eliana covered her own ears. And then she dropped to her knees and threw herself down onto the floor. Once she was on the ground, Eliana started flopping around like a fish out of water, pretending that the music was so awful it was actually killing her. Her friends were laughing. And Spencer started laughing along with them, amused by her ridiculous display.
There were nerf guns lying around the room at random. And a few people, including the thin man that put the music on, grabbed for one and started shooting Eliana with the harmless foam darts. She squealed as she rolled away from the assault, ducking behind Spencer's long legs so she could use him as a human shield. Since he'd unintentionally been drawn into their game, Eliana's friends quickly decided Spencer was fair game and started shooting their darts at him instead. He held up his arms to deflect the first few blows. But when he saw that they were reloading to have another go at him, Spencer grabbed a toy gun that was lying next to Eliana's abandoned chess game so that he could return fire.
Shooting a gun was not a skill that came naturally to Spencer Reid. But the FBI required all their field agents to pass a yearly marksmanship test. After Spencer failed the test two years in a row, Derek Morgan took him on as a personal project and made sure he never failed again. He got better and more comfortable with his chosen sidearm over the years. But even Spencer was surprised when the first foam bullet he fired hit his opponent directly in the middle of the forehead and stuck there. He took aim at the slim man that turned the country music on next. And while Spencer missed him by nearly half a foot, the small suction cup tipped bullet sailed past him and stuck against the power button on the stereo instead. The loud twangy music cut off just as suddenly as it came on. And after a few moments of staring at Spencer in total shock, the entire room burst into a loud chorus of laughter and applause.
Eliana reached for Spencer's hand. And he helped her back off the floor and onto her feet. Her shiny curtain of dark hair was fluffed up around her head from being rubbed around on the rough carpet. But she didn't seem worried about it. And the way she was smiling up at him made Spencer feel like he'd just won the lottery. "Come on Deadshot," she teased, "...let's get a drink."
The bar was complete with all the fixings to make a bunch of silly sci fi themed mixed drinks. Spencer was planning on sticking to water. But after some coaxing from one of Eliana's friends, he ended up with a glass full of electric blue liquid in his hand that smelled like oranges and tasted like gasoline. He forced down a few sips as Eliana introduced him to the other party guests. It was a motley assortment of people that Spencer would be hard pressed to categorize. There was a core group that were all between Eliana and Kevin's ages that he assumed must be their college friends. But the rest of the guests ranged in age from early twenties all the way to over fifty. They varied in ethnicity, gender, and occupation. The only commonality seemed to be their welcoming attitudes and obvious desire to discuss science fiction and literature at great length. It was the only party Spencer had ever been to where he didn't immediately feel uncomfortable and out of place. When Elaina headed back over to the table with Amber to finish her chess game, Spencer stayed at the bar area discussing the theory of time travel with a half drunk man that introduced himself by announcing that he was a nuclear physicist.
There was about another half hour of drinking and conversation before a few of the partygoers began to organize the trivia competition. The game was set up like a sort of customized version of jeopardy. A computer program that Spencer guessed was probably cooked up by Kevin Lynch with a little help from Penelope Garcia, served as the moderator. And they competed in teams of two or three, answering questions and earning points for them depending on the level of difficulty and the speed with which they answered. With his extensive knowledge of Star Trek, Spencer didn't expect for the game to be much of a competition. But he quickly realized that many of his opponents knew just as much about the franchise as he did. And some of them were faster with their answers. It helped that Eliana knew nearly everything about Star Trek Enterprise, the most recent of the series. Spencer only watched that one through once, when it aired. He didn't care for it, since much of the content seemed to deliberately contradict the canon of the original series. When he mentioned this quietly to Eliana, she laughed and whispered back. Apparently Connor Trinneer, the actor that played Charles Tucker III, was hot enough to make her forget about canon.
"Is he the one you write stories about?," Spencer asked, leaning in close enough to whisper the question to her. He supposed he ought to be jealous of Eliana's attraction to another man. But he found her fangirl crush more endearing than anything else.
Eliana's head whipped to the side, the game controller forgotten in her hands. Her lips were slightly apart as an expression of shock formed on her face. "How do you know about that?," she asked. But the question seemed to be rhetorical, because Eliana immediately added, "...Kevin Lynch has the biggest mouth in the galaxy, I swear." She handed Spencer the game controller so she could pull her dark hair out from behind her ears to hide her heated cheeks. "You know, I think it might be possible to actually die of embarrassment," she groused.
"Trust me," Spencer assured her, "...it's not." If a person could die from making a fool of themselves, he'd be long dead by now. And there was no reason for Eliana to be embarrassed about writing fictional stories and posting them online. Unless her stories contained bad spelling and grammar, something that people actually should be embarrassed about and usually weren't, there was no reason for her entire face to be turning red.
Spencer lifted one hand off the controller and wrapped it around her, pulling Eliana against his side. She leaned into him, hiding her pink cheeks by burrowing into him and tucking her head against his chest. Her body was warm and she smelled like laundry soap and oranges. Having her so close was making it hard for him to concentrate on the trivia game. Instead of searching his mind for the answer to who created the Bajoran wormhole, Spencer found himself wondering if the tops of Eliana's breasts were as pink as her cheeks. And how warm her bare skin might feel if he slid his hand under the hem of her shirt and touched her bare midriff like he did when they were slow dancing in his kitchen.
Eliana gave Spencer one tight hug before she released him and returned her focus to the game. But even when he handed her the controller back, Spencer kept his arm around her shoulders as they played. And with her help, they managed to make a comeback from the few questions they missed during their discussion of her writing. They came in second to a team that was being led by the drunk physicist that Spencer was chatting with earlier. And after the trivia was over, the man exchanged contact information with Spencer and left him with an invitation to attend a foreign film festival later in the month.
"Can I give you a ride home?," Spencer asked. Not only did he want to drive Eliana home so that he could spend more time with her, he also didn't like the idea of her walking all the way to the metro stop and riding it home so late at night. Especially when he knew she'd been drinking. She'd be an easy target for an unsub looking for his next victim. Just the thought of that sent a shiver up Spencer's spine.
"I was going to ride home with Amber," Eliana said. "We usually have a sleepover after trivia night."
Eliana's tone was regretful enough that for a moment Spencer wondered if she was going to break her plans with her friend. As much as he wanted to steal an extra few minutes with her, he didn't want her to have to do that. And if he was totally honest with himself, he was nervous about what might happen if he drove Eliana home. He didn't think there was a high probability that she would invite him in. But there was a chance. And he wasn't sure if he was excited or terrified by that possibility. He reminded himself that women didn't invite him into their homes. But then again, they didn't invite him to parties either.
"That's okay," Spencer said, cutting off any further discussion about Eliana's plans for the rest of the night. "I'm tired anyway." He actually wasn't tired at all. Once Spencer got home, he planned to look up Eliana's pen name online and read the entirety of everything she'd ever published while he drank a pot of hot chamomile tea. Then he would decide how tired he was.
"Can I walk with you out to your car?," Elaina asked, shifting her weight from one scuffed tennis shoe to the other. Spencer nodded his head. He'd rather say goodnight to her with some measure of privacy instead of in the busy hallway where people were laughing and hugging and making plans for their next nerd-friendly endeavors. Eliana leaned away just long enough to let Amber know she'd be back in a few minutes. Then she caught his hand in hers and let Spencer lead her out to his nondescript dark colored sedan.
Once the car locks disengaged, Eliana slipped into the passenger seat and clicked the door shut behind her. Spencer rounded the front of the car and climbed inside, unsure of what was about to happen once he was alone inside his vehicle with her. His car was parked partially under a large maple tree. And the streetlight above was shining through the branches, painting the seats with soft patches of light.
"I'm so glad you came," Eliana said. She stretched her arm across the seat, taking Spencer's hand in hers. Her thumb was softly rubbing back and forth across the back of his palm.
"I'm glad I came too," he replied. He wasn't sure what else to say. And the silence stretched out between them, leaving only the soft sound of their breath and the feel of her hand in his. He could sense that Eliana was waiting for something. He just didn't know what it was. The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted to see her again. Preferably as soon as possible.
"There's a series of classic slasher movies playing at the Avalon…," he mentioned. "Maybe we could go see one tomorrow?" In the dim car lighting, Spencer saw the corners of Eliana's mouth quirk up into a mischievous smile.
"What's the point of horror movies?," Eliana asked. "They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who can't act and is always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting."
"You just quoted Scream, didn't you?," Spencer asked, his chest shaking with silent laughter.
"It's one of my favorites," she replied with a soft giggle of her own.
"You do want to go then? To the movies?," he confirmed. If Eliana didn't want to see a movie, he'd gladly take her somewhere else. Wherever she wanted.
"I've got a better idea," Eliana said. Her voice had a hint of nervousness to it. And Spencer felt her hand squeeze against his just a little tighter. "Why don't you come over to my house. I'll make dinner and we can watch all the classic slasher movies you want on Netflix…"
Spencer didn't think he'd ever said yes to something so fast in his entire life. And he said it with such enthusiasm that it made Eliana laugh harder than her Scream quote joke. She was still smiling when she leaned across the slight space between them and pressed her lips against his. It took Spencer a moment to react. But in this instance, his body seemed to know what to do before his mind caught up. His thoughts were still a swirling jumble as his arms wrapped around Eliana's waist, pulling her across the center of the car and half into his lap.
Her lips were soft and warm. And he could feel the fabric of her oversized sweatshirt against his skin when her arms stole up and wrapped around his neck. When he felt the gentle swipe of her tongue against his lips, he groaned. And for once all his usual concerns about germs were the farthest thing from his mind. He parted his lips eagerly, letting his tongue tangle up with hers until she was the one moaning. She tasted like the fruity cocktails they were drinking inside. And he was finally able to get his hands under the hem of her shirt and rest them against her bare skin.
Making out with a girl in a car seemed like something every man had done at some point as a teen or young adult. But it was a first for him. The steering wheel made it awkward and hard for Spencer to position his arms. His height did not put him at an advantage. And there was little to no room to maneuver his body. But kissing Eliana in his front seat under the dappled streetlights was still an experience Spencer knew he would remember for the rest of his life. He wasn't sure how long they might have stayed there with their mouths locked together if Eliana's friend Amber hadn't appeared and began knocking on his car window.
"Let's go," Amber hollered between her semi drunken giggles. "I want chicken nuggets!"
Spencer felt Elaina's mouth turn up into a smile as she broke their kiss. She gave him one more soft peck. And then she was sliding off his lap and back over towards the passenger side door.
"Goodnight Dr. Reid," Eliana said, her voice full of innuendo and promise. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Amber pulled Eliana out the door before Spencer could respond. But he smiled and shook his head as he listened to them giggling and chittering to each other like school girls as they headed down the sidewalk towards Amber's car. Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow? He's coming over to watch Netflix. For some reason Eliana's mention of Netflix sent both women into a fit of high pitched laughter. They kept walking, holding onto each other's arms as they went. Just before she was about to disappear from Spencer's sight, Eliana turned back and blew a kiss towards his car.