Page 277 - The Love Hypothesis

breath hitched, a chuff against the corner of his mouth, and for a few

precious seconds she just savored it, the deep pleasure that ran through
them both as they closed their eyes and let themselves just be, here, with
each other.

Quiet. Still. One last moment.
Then Olive opened her mouth and turned her head, breathing against his

lips, “Please.”
Adam groaned deep in his chest. But she was the one who closed the

space between them, who deepened the kiss, who combed her hands into
his hair, short nails scraping against his scalp. She was the one who pulled

him even closer, and he was the one who pushed her back against the wall
and moaned into her mouth.
It was frightening. Frightening, how good this felt. How easy it would

be to never stop. To let time stretch and unbend, forget about everything
else, and simply stay in this moment forever.

But Adam pulled back first, holding her eyes as he tried to collect
himself.

“It was good, wasn’t it?” Olive asked, with a small, wistful smile.
She wasn’t herself sure what she was referring to. Maybe his arms

around her. Maybe this last kiss. Maybe everything else. The sunscreen, his
ridiculous answers on his favorite color, the quiet conversations late at
night . . . all of it had been so very good.

“It was.” Adam’s voice sounded too deep to be his own. When he
pressed his lips against her forehead one last time, she felt her love for him

swell fuller than a river in flood.
“I think I should leave,” she told him gently, without looking at him. He

let her go wordlessly, so she did.
When she heard the click of the door closing behind her, it was like

falling from a great height.