Page 313 - The Love Hypothesis

“I was . . . I was afraid you might be mad at me. For ruining things. Your

relationship with Tom, and maybe . . . maybe you won’t be able to move to
Boston anymore.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care. I couldn’t care less about any of it.” He

held her eyes for a long moment, his mouth working as though he was
swallowing the rest of his words. But he never continued, so Olive nodded

and turned around, starting to walk again.
“I think I’ve found another lab. To finish my study. Closer, so I won’t

have to move next year.” She pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at
him. There was something intrinsically enjoyable in having him next to her,

so physical and undeniable. She felt it on some primal, visceral level, the
giddy happiness that always came with his presence. Suddenly, Tom was
the last thing she wanted to discuss with Adam. “Dinner was nice. And you

were right, by the way.”
“About the pumpkin sludge?”

“No, that was amazing. About Holden. He really is insufferable.”
“He grows on you, after a decade or so.”

“Does he?”
“Nah. Not really.”

“Poor Holden.” She huffed out a small laugh. “You weren’t the only one
who remembered, by the way.”
He glanced at her. “Remembered what?”

“Our meeting. The one in the bathroom, when I came to interview.”
Olive thought that maybe his step faltered for a split second. Or maybe it

didn’t. Still, there was a tinge of uncertainty in the deep breath he took.
“Did you really?”

“Yup. It just took me a while to realize that it was you. Why didn’t you
say anything?” She was so curious about what had been going on in Adam’s

head in the past few days, weeks, years. She was starting to imagine quite a
bit, but some things . . . some things he’d have to clear up for her.
“Because you introduced yourself like we’d never met before.” She

thought maybe he was flushing a little. Maybe not. Maybe it was