The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Once they were in Adam’s car—a Prius, to exactly no one’s
surprise—and driving to campus, she felt so happy she
couldn’t possibly be quiet.
“He’ll take me. He said he’ll take me.”
“He’d be an idiot not to.” Adam was smiling softly. “I
knew he would.”
“Had he told you?” Her eyes widened. “You knew, and you
didn’t even tell me—”
“He hadn’t. We haven’t discussed you.”
“Oh?” She tilted her head, turning around in the car seat to
better look at him. “Why?”
“Unspoken agreement. It might be a conflict of interest.”
“Right.” Sure. It made sense. Close friend and girlfriend.
Fake girlfriend, actually.
“Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“There are lots of cancer labs in the US. Why did you
choose Tom’s?”
“Well, I sort of didn’t. I emailed several people—two of
whom are at UCSF, which is much closer than Boston. But
Tom was the only one who answered.” She leaned her head
against the seat. It occurred to her for the first time that she
was going to have to leave her life for an entire year. Her
apartment with Malcolm, her nights spent with Anh. Adam,
even. She immediately pushed the thought away, not ready to
entertain it. “Why do professors never answer students’
emails, by the way?”
“Because we get approximately two hundred a day, and
most of them are iterations of ‘why do I have a C minus?’ ” He
was quiet for a moment. “My advice for the future is to have
your adviser reach out, instead of doing it yourself.”