The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

“The book you’re reading. With the tiger on the cover.
German?”
“Dutch.” She felt his voice vibrate, from his chest and
through her flesh.
“Is it a manual on taxidermy?”
He pinched her hip, lightly, and she giggled. “Was it hard
to learn? Dutch, I mean.”
He inhaled the scent of her hair, thinking for a moment.
“I’m not sure. I always knew it.”
“Was it weird? Growing up with two languages?”
“Not really. I mostly thought in Dutch until we moved back
here.”
“How old was that?”
“Mmm. Nine?”
It made her smile, the idea of child Adam. “Did you speak
Dutch with your parents?”
“No.” He paused. “There were au pairs, mostly. Lots of
them.”
Olive pushed herself up to look at him, resting her chin on
her hands and her hands on his chest. She watched him watch
her, enjoying the play of the streetlights on his strong face. He
was always handsome, but now, in the witching hours, he took
her breath away.
“Were your parents busy?”
He sighed. “They were very committed to their jobs. Not
very good at making time for anything else.”
She hummed softly, conjuring a mental image: five-yearold
Adam showing a stick-figure drawing to tall, distracted
parents in dark suits surrounded by secret agents speaking into