Page 205 - The Love Hypothesis

She scratched the side of her nose. “I figured you were using that bed, so

I put my stuff here, but if you . . .” She gestured confusedly at the room.
“No, that’s where I slept last night.”
“Okay.” She was not counting how many inches there were between the

two beds. Definitely not. “So how’s the conference so far?”
“Same old. I was mostly at Harvard for a few meetings with Tom. I only

got back for lunch.”
Olive’s stomach rumbled loudly at the mention of food.

“You okay?”
“Yeah. I think I forgot to eat today.”

His eyebrows arched. “I didn’t think you capable.”
“Hey!” She glared at him. “The sustained levels of despair I’ve been
engaging in for the past week require a staggering number of calories, in

case you— What are you doing?”
Adam was leaning over his suitcase, rummaging for something that he

held out to Olive.
“What is it?”

“Calories. To fuel your despair habits.”
“Oh.” She accepted it and then studied the protein bar in her hands,

trying not to burst out crying. It was just food. Probably a snack he’d
brought for the plane ride and ended up not eating. He didn’t need to
despair, after all. He was Dr. Adam Carlsen. “Thanks. Are you . . .” The

wrapping of the bar crinkled as she shifted it from one hand to another.
“Are you still coming to my talk?”

“Of course. When is it exactly?”
“Today at four, room 278. Session three-b. The good news is that it

partially overlaps with the keynote address, which means that hopefully
only a handful of people will show up . . .”

His spine stiffened noticeably. Olive hesitated.
“Unless you were planning to go to the keynote address?”
Adam wet his lips. “I . . .”

Her eyes chose that precise moment to fall to the conference badge
dangling from his neck.