Although, Gabriel was the kind of person who would have started college at fifteen or sixteen. Reid had looked him up after he’d left, curiosity getting the better of him, and he’d been impressed by all the papers Gabriel had written that he couldn’t even decipher the titles of.
He was clearly a smart guy, and while smart guys were often stupid about things that weren’t in their area of expertise, he seemed reasonably sensible.
“I know it,” Reid said. “There are some nice walks around there, but I wanna start small. Five extra minutes per day this week, okay?”
Gabriel groaned in protest.
“I know, I know,” Reid said, stepping away from Gabriel. “But after the first couple of days, you’ll thank me.”
“You sound very sure of that,” Gabriel said, one eyebrow raised.
“I’m a great therapist.” Reid grinned. “Everyone says so.”
“Thatiswhy I’m here,” Gabriel conceded. “I read about your work with trauma patients.”
A blush crept up Reid’s neck. Of course Gabriel had looked him up, and he should have realized that, but it was still strange to hear.
“Well, you know I’m not kidding, then,” Reid said, sitting down at his desk. “You can get off there and come sit over here, if you want.”
Reid watched Gabriel climb off the examination table gingerly, lurching toward the desk at first, but managing to straighten himself up.
Reid’s stomach clenched at every sign that he was in pain. He hated to see anyone suffer.
Besides, Gabriel was cute.
Not that he was allowed to think that. But as long as he never said or did anything about it, it didn’t make any difference what he thought. No one could read his mind.
At least, he sincerely hoped no one could read his mind.
“So do you teach?” Reid asked, pulling up Gabriel’s file and tapping away at his keyboard to start a personalized program for him.
Gabriel burst into laughter. “Oh, no, no way,” Gabriel said. “I get impatient with people who don’t understand what I’m talking about, and that makes me a pretty awful teacher. I guest lecture at best.”
“Whatdoyou do, then?” Reid asked.
“Research and development, mostly. I make it so that the university’s name turns up beside mine on any papers I publish, and they give me lab space, my own desk, and almost enough money to cover my rent. Then I consult for Atmos, which pays a whole lot better and means I get to go to space, but they’re still technically a startup, so I’ve never been ready to put all my eggs in that basket. UW isn’t going anywhere.”
Reid considered that, wondering if Gabriel could see the contradiction. He’d been willing to take the risk of leaving the planet in a shuttle with minimal testing, but not willing to work full-time for the company who’d built it.
“But you know about all the cool secret projects, right?” Reid asked, unable to pretend that he wasn’t curious anymore.
Gabriel had been tospace. Only a few hundred people had done that. It was impossible not to be fascinated by him. And he worked for one of the coolest cutting-edge technology companies around.
He was the kind of guy who was going to change the world. That was…
Well, from Reid’s perspective, hot.Reallyhot. He’d always had a thing for smart guys.
A lot of smart guys were also total assholes, but Gabriel seemed different. Kinder, and if not better with people, at least more aware that he wasn’t all that good with people. He was awkward, but it wasn’t the uncaring awkwardness other guys like him tended to have about him. He knew how awkward he was and he tried to make up for it by being funny.
It worked. Reid was hanging off every word.
It had been alongtime since he’d dated anyone, so whatever attention he could get from someone he was attracted to felt great.
“None of the projects are secret. Full disclosure has always been a core company philosophy, which I like. I don’t think there’s any point in hiding stuff from people. And if we found aliens on the moon, we’d tell everyone.”
“Are there aliens on the moon?”
“I doubt it,” Gabriel said. “We would have noticed by now. But the moon is next, I think. Even a moon base, maybe. And then long-distance generational ships.”
