Page 148 - The Love Hypothesis

“I’ll see you next year at Harvard, right?” His gaze finally slid up to

meet hers. “I have the perfect bench set aside for you.”
Her heart detonated. It absolutely exploded with joy in her chest, and
Olive felt a violent wave of happiness, pride, and relief all wash over her. It

could have easily knocked her to the floor, but by some miracle of biology
she managed to stay upright and smile at Tom.

“I can’t wait,” she said, voice thick with happy tears. “Thank you so
much.”

He gave her a wink and one last smile, kind and encouraging. Olive
barely managed to wait until she was outside to fist-pump, then jump

around a few times, then fist-pump again.
“You all done?” Adam asked.
She turned around, remembering that she wasn’t alone. His arms were

folded on his chest, fingers drumming against his biceps. There was an
indulgent expression in his eyes, and—she should have been embarrassed,

but she just couldn’t help it. Olive threw herself at him and hugged his torso
as tight as she could. She closed her eyes when, after a few seconds of

hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her.
“Congratulations,” he whispered softly against her hair. Just like that

Olive was on the verge of tears all over again.
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?”