The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

“Well.” He fidgeted with the cardboard holder of his cup,
and his eyes darted to Anh, who seemed blissfully oblivious to
his discomfort. “Jeremy’s hotel room is paid for because of
that fellowship he’s on, and he asked Anh to stay with him.
And then Jess, Cole, and Hikaru offered for me to stay with
them.”
“What?” Olive glanced at Anh. “Seriously?”
“It will save all of us a lot of money. And it will be my first
trip with Jeremy,” Anh interjected distractedly. She was typing
something on her phone. “Oh my God, guys, I think I found it!
A location for the Boston event for BIPOC women in STEM! I
think I’ve got it!”
“That’s great,” Olive said weakly. “But I thought . . . I
thought we’d room together.”
Anh glanced up, looking contrite. “Yeah, I know. That’s
what I told Jeremy, but he pointed out that you . . . you know.”
Olive tilted her head, confused, and Anh continued, “I mean,
why would you want to spend money on a room when you
could stay with Carlsen?”
Oh. “Because.” Because. Because, because, because.
“I . . .”
“I’ll miss you, but it’s not as if we’ll be in the rooms for
anything other than sleeping.”
“Right. . . .” She pressed her lips together, and added,
“Sure.”
Anh’s grin made her want to groan. “Awesome. We’ll get
meals together and hang out for poster sessions. And at night,
of course.”
“Of course.” It was all Olive could do not to sound bitter.
“I look forward to it,” she added with as good a smile as she
could muster.