Page 170 - The Love Hypothesis

“Is Tom going to be gagged and tied up in the trunk?”

Adam sighed. “Holden.”
“I’ll allow him in the back seat, but if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut,
I’ll ditch him on the highway.”

“Fine. I’ll let him know.”
Holden seemed satisfied. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He

patted Adam’s shoulder once more, but he was looking at Olive.
“It’s okay.”

“Really? Well, then.” His smile broadened and he pulled up a chair from
a nearby table. Adam closed his eyes, resigned.

“So, what are we talking about?”
Why, I was just in the middle of lying my ass off, thank you for asking.
“Ah . . . nothing much. How do you two . . .” She looked between them,

clearing her throat. “Sorry, I forgot how you and Adam know each other.”
A thud—Holden kicking Adam under the table. “You little shit. You

didn’t tell her about our decades-deep history?”
“Just trying to forget.”

“You wish.” Holden turned to grin at her. “We grew up together.”
She frowned at Adam. “I thought you grew up in Europe?”

Holden waved his hand. “He grew up all over the place. And so did I,
since our parents worked together. Diplomats—the worst kind of people.
But then our families settled in DC.” He leaned forward. “Guess who went

to high school, college, and grad school together.”
Olive’s eyes widened, and Holden noticed, at least judging by how he

kicked Adam again.
“You really haven’t told her shit. I see you’re still going for brooding

and mysterious.” He rolled his eyes fondly and looked at me again. “Did
Adam tell you that he almost didn’t graduate high school? He got

suspended for punching a guy who insisted that the Large Hadron Collider
would destroy the planet.”
“Interesting how you’re not mentioning that you got suspended

alongside me for doing the exact same thing.”