The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

“And I promise if I ever bring Adam home, I’ll put a sock
on my door— Ouch!”
“You evil creature.”
“I was kidding! Wait, don’t leave, I have something
important to tell you.”
He paused by the door, scowling. “I’ve reached my
maximum daily intake of Carlsen-related conversation.
Anything further will be lethal, so—”
“Tom Benton, the cancer researcher from Harvard, reached
out to me! It’s not decided yet, but he might be interested in
having me in his lab next year.”
“Oh my God.” Malcolm walked back to her, delighted.
“Ol, this is amazing! I thought none of the researchers you
contacted had gotten back to you?”
“Not for the longest time. But now Benton has, and you
know how famous and well-known he is. He probably has
more research funds than I could ever dream of. It would be
—”
“Fantastic. It would really be fantastic. Ol. I am so proud of
you.” Malcolm took her hands in his. His face-splitting grin
slowly gentled. “And your mom would be so proud, too.”
Olive looked away, blinking rapidly. She didn’t want to cry,
not tonight. “Nothing is set in stone. I’ll have to persuade him.
It will involve quite a bit of politicking and going through the
whole ‘pitch me your research’ bit. Which as you know is not
my forte. It might still not work out—”
“It will work out.”
Right. Yes. She needed to be optimistic. She nodded,
attempting a smile.
“But even if it didn’t . . . she would still be proud.”