The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
“Adam being gone. Hell, even I miss that little shit.” Hechuckled. “How are you holding up?”“Oh.” She took her hands out of her pockets, crossed herarms in front of her chest, and then changed her mind anddropped them woodenly by her sides. Yep. Perfect. Actingnatural. “Fine. Good. Busy.”Holden looked genuinely relieved. “Great. Have you guysbeen talking on the phone?”No. Of course not. Talking on the phone is the hardest,most stressful thing in the world, and I can’t do it with the nicelady who schedules my dental cleanings, let alone with AdamCarlsen. “Ah, mostly texting, you know?”“Yeah, I do know. However buttoned-up and sulky Adam iswith you, please know that he’s making an effort and he’s amillion times worse with everyone else. Me included.” Hesighed and shook his head, but there was a fondness behind it.An easy affection that Olive couldn’t miss. My oldest friend,he’d said about Adam, and clearly he hadn’t been lying. “He’sactually gotten a lot better, since you guys started dating.”Olive felt on the verge of a full-body cringe. Unsure ofwhat to say, she settled for a simple, painful, awkward:“Really?”Holden nodded. “Yep. I’m so glad he finally scrounged upthe courage to ask you out. He’d been going on and on aboutthis ‘amazing girl’ for years, but he was concerned about beingin the same department, and you know how he is . . .” Heshrugged and waved his hand. “I’m glad he finally managed topull his head out of his ass.”Olive’s brain stuttered. Her neurons went sluggish andcold, and it took her several seconds to process that Adam hadbeen wanting to ask her out for years. She couldn’t wrap herhead around it, because . . . it was not possible. It didn’t makesense. Adam didn’t even remember Olive existed before she’d
Title-IXed him in the hallway a few weeks ago. The more shethought about it, the more she grew convinced that if he’d hadany recollection of their bathroom meeting, he would havesaid as much. Adam was famously direct, after all.Holden must have been referring to someone else. AndAdam must have feelings for that someone. Someone heworked with, someone who was in their department. Someonewho was “amazing.”Olive’s mind, half frozen until a few seconds ago, began tospiral with the knowledge. Setting aside the fact that thisconversation was an utter invasion of Adam’s privacy, Olivecouldn’t stop herself from considering the implications of theirarrangement for him. If the person Holden was talking aboutwas one of Adam’s colleagues, there was no chance that shehadn’t heard about Adam and Olive dating. It was possiblethat she’d seen the two of them get coffee together on aWednesday, or Olive sitting on Adam’s lap during Tom’s talk,or—God, Olive slathering him with sunblock at thatgodforsaken picnic. Which couldn’t be good for his prospects.Unless Adam didn’t mind, because he was sure beyond anydoubt that his feelings were unrequited—and oh, wouldn’t thatbe funny? About as funny as a Greek tragedy.“Anyway.” Holden pushed away from the wall, his handcoming up to scratch his nape. “I think we should go on adouble date one of these days. I’ve been taking a break fromdating—too much heartache—but maybe it’s time to dip mytoes in again. Hopefully I’ll snatch myself a boyfriend soon.”The weight in Olive’s stomach sank even lower. “Thatwould be lovely.” She attempted a smile.“Right?” He grinned. “Adam would hate it with theintensity of a thousand suns.”He really would.
- 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
- Page 175 and 176: Adam was still around. The reason s
- Page 177 and 178: “I will if you get pumpkin stuff.
- Page 179 and 180: “It literally takes ten minutes.
- Page 181 and 182: you need to get over it. For scienc
- Page 183: Chapter TenHYPOTHESIS: If I fall in
- Page 188 and 189: the whole idea was idiotic and a ca
- Page 190 and 191: added begrudgingly, “he’s not n
- Page 192 and 193: noticeably different from the Adam
- Page 194 and 195: “Ol.”“How would that conversa
- Page 196 and 197: The lie rolled off her tongue like
- Page 198 and 199: It was all Olive could do not to le
- Page 200 and 201: Olive looked at Adam, expecting him
- Page 202 and 203: “Not sure. Not sure Holden knows,
- Page 204 and 205: She paused right in front of his ch
- Page 206 and 207: “We could, like, sleep in on Sund
- Page 208 and 209: Olive: Well, TSA is notoriously inc
- Page 212 and 213: “But I could tell you so many jui
- Page 214 and 215: stricken and frantic. “I can’t.
- Page 216 and 217: crap her pants. “Right.” Olive
- Page 218 and 219: “Well.” He fidgeted with the ca
- Page 220 and 221: “You’re not mad, right?”“I
- Page 222 and 223: Possibilities. That’s what Adam
- Page 224 and 225: them. I do hate that I love them, t
- Page 226 and 227: Could room.With him.Olive knew full
- Page 228 and 229: She huffed, crossing her arms over
- Page 230 and 231: “No.” She winced.“Is it the p
- Page 232 and 233: “Adam, I’m pretty sure that if
- Page 234 and 235: me to cry under the shower?”“Th
- Page 236 and 237: to my professional career, general
- Page 238 and 239: “Hey.” Olive forced her face in
- Page 240 and 241: “What is it?”“Calories. To fu
- Page 242 and 243: She rolled her eyes. “For Dr. Asl
- Page 244 and 245: It didn’t go perfectly, either. S
- Page 246 and 247: friends, but maybe she could buy hi
- Page 248 and 249: “A pretty girl like you should kn
- Page 250 and 251: to spending more time with you next
- Page 252 and 253: “Nothing.” Her voice shook. It
- Page 254 and 255: “It’s not what they say. It’s
- Page 256 and 257: “And I keynote-spoke.” He grabb
- Page 258 and 259: “Um . . . I’m wearing heels, he
Title-IXed him in the hallway a few weeks ago. The more she
thought about it, the more she grew convinced that if he’d had
any recollection of their bathroom meeting, he would have
said as much. Adam was famously direct, after all.
Holden must have been referring to someone else. And
Adam must have feelings for that someone. Someone he
worked with, someone who was in their department. Someone
who was “amazing.”
Olive’s mind, half frozen until a few seconds ago, began to
spiral with the knowledge. Setting aside the fact that this
conversation was an utter invasion of Adam’s privacy, Olive
couldn’t stop herself from considering the implications of their
arrangement for him. If the person Holden was talking about
was one of Adam’s colleagues, there was no chance that she
hadn’t heard about Adam and Olive dating. It was possible
that she’d seen the two of them get coffee together on a
Wednesday, or Olive sitting on Adam’s lap during Tom’s talk,
or—God, Olive slathering him with sunblock at that
godforsaken picnic. Which couldn’t be good for his prospects.
Unless Adam didn’t mind, because he was sure beyond any
doubt that his feelings were unrequited—and oh, wouldn’t that
be funny? About as funny as a Greek tragedy.
“Anyway.” Holden pushed away from the wall, his hand
coming up to scratch his nape. “I think we should go on a
double date one of these days. I’ve been taking a break from
dating—too much heartache—but maybe it’s time to dip my
toes in again. Hopefully I’ll snatch myself a boyfriend soon.”
The weight in Olive’s stomach sank even lower. “That
would be lovely.” She attempted a smile.
“Right?” He grinned. “Adam would hate it with the
intensity of a thousand suns.”
He really would.
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