The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
“The— Oh.” Adam rolled his eyes, looking a little morelike himself. “Right. That fu—” He stopped short. “Thatpicnic.”She grinned. “It’s on Monday.”He sighed. “I know.”“You’re still going?”He gave her a look that clearly stated: It’s not like I have achoice, even though I’d rather have my nails extracted one byone. With pliers.Olive laughed. “Well. I’m going, too.”“At least there’s that.”“Are you bringing Tom?”“Probably. He actually likes people.”“Okay. I can network with him a bit, and you and I canshow off how steady and committed we are to the departmentchair. You’ll look like a wingless bird. No flight riskwhatsoever.”“Perfect. I’ll bring a counterfeit marriage license tocasually drop at his feet.”Olive laughed, waved goodbye, and then jogged up to Anh.She rubbed the side of her hand against her lips, as if trying toscrub her mind clean of the fact that she had just kissed Adam—Dr. Adam Carlsen—for the second time in her life. Which,again, was fine. It had been barely a kiss. Not important.“Well, then,” Anh said, tucking her phone into her pocket.“You really just made out in front of the biology building withassociate professor Adam MacArthur Carlsen.”Olive rolled her eyes and started up the stairs. “I’m prettysure that’s not his middle name. And we did not.”“But it was clear that you wanted to.”
“Shut up. Why were you looking at us, anyway?”“I wasn’t. I happened to glance up when he was about tojump you, and I just couldn’t look away.”Olive snorted, plugging her headphones into her phone’sport. “Right. Of course.”“He’s really into you. I can tell from the way he stares at—”“I’m gonna listen to music very loudly now. To tune youout.”“—you.”It wasn’t until much later, after Olive had been working onTom’s report for several hours, that she remembered whatAdam had said when she’d told him she’d be at the picnic.At least there’s that.Olive ducked her head and smiled at her toes.
- Page 74 and 75: “The relationship, it’s fake. W
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- Page 78 and 79: Olive nodded again. When a single t
- Page 80 and 81: little unsettling, the realization
- Page 82 and 83: Olive smiled back, gesturing at Ada
- Page 84 and 85: herring for breakfast on the reg. M
- Page 87 and 88: WAS LATE for her second fake-dating
- Page 89 and 90: “I worked.”They got in line to
- Page 91 and 92: department chair this morning. He
- Page 93 and 94: “Is that so?”“Mmm.”His mout
- Page 95 and 96: “The time difference screwed me u
- Page 97 and 98: that he wasn’t planning to. Olive
- Page 99 and 100: “That is, I, um . . . never put t
- Page 101 and 102: “What kind of question is that?
- Page 103 and 104: “Who?”“Tom,” Adam said, a t
- Page 105 and 106: Olive had no idea he was giving a t
- Page 107: Adam laughed silently just as Tom s
- Page 110 and 111: “Hey—sorry.” She gestured in
- Page 112 and 113: Because millions of dollars in rese
- Page 114 and 115: torso. He didn’t say anything but
- Page 116 and 117: pitch her voice. “Or do you maybe
- Page 118 and 119: Cherie just standing there, chattin
- Page 120 and 121: “Because you moved the truck. I
- Page 122 and 123: this time with the sleeve of his sh
- Page 127 and 128: with an uneasy expression and start
- Page 129 and 130: “Yeah, well.” He stood and walk
- Page 131: Olive: Did you just fail Greg?trick
- Page 137 and 138: In the back seat Olive and Jeremy e
- Page 139 and 140: a six-pack?”Jeremy blinked. “Mi
- Page 141 and 142: 1.5. Okay, I don’t like this. Jer
- Page 143 and 144: had a choice. Any choice. Especiall
- Page 145 and 146: “So.” Her mouth was dry. “Thi
- Page 147 and 148: She pinched him lightly on the unde
- Page 149 and 150: Adam nodded, Tom spun around and he
- Page 151: “What? No.”“Because that’s
- Page 154 and 155: “Should you be having caffeine at
- Page 156 and 157: “Can’t stand chocolate.”Olive
- Page 158 and 159: He glared, but she was starting to
- Page 160 and 161: “There are things you can do abou
- Page 162 and 163: the person she loved the most, but
- Page 164 and 165: He nodded, thoughtful. “You’re
- Page 166 and 167: jeans. “We’re friends. We weren
- Page 169 and 170: Olive: Tom just invited me to your
- Page 171 and 172: she’d sent. “To make sure I und
- Page 173 and 174: Once they were in Adam’s car—a
“Shut up. Why were you looking at us, anyway?”
“I wasn’t. I happened to glance up when he was about to
jump you, and I just couldn’t look away.”
Olive snorted, plugging her headphones into her phone’s
port. “Right. Of course.”
“He’s really into you. I can tell from the way he stares at
—”
“I’m gonna listen to music very loudly now. To tune you
out.”
“—you.”
It wasn’t until much later, after Olive had been working on
Tom’s report for several hours, that she remembered what
Adam had said when she’d told him she’d be at the picnic.
At least there’s that.
Olive ducked her head and smiled at her toes.
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