Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
Author:Ali Hazelwood [Hazelwood, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-08-23T00:00:00+00:00
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⢠⢠â¢
I HAVE BEEN at HBI for three and a half minutes when I meet the first person I know, a former RA in Samâs lab whoâs now a Ph.D. student atâI glance at his badgeâStony Brook. We hug, catch up a bit, promise to get together for drinks over the weekend (we wonât). By the time I turn around, Levi has met someone he knows (an elderly guy with a fanny pack and an eyeglass chain that scream âengineerâ from the top of the Grand Canyon). The cycle lasts about twenty minutes.
âJesus,â I mutter once weâre alone. Itâs not as though weâre famous, or anything like that, but the world of neuroimaging is very insular. Incestuous. Inescapable. And lots of other I adjectives.
âI had more social interactions in the past twenty minutes than in the last ten months,â he mumbles.
âI saw you smile at least four times.â I pat his arm comfortingly. âThat canât have been easy.â
âI might have to lie down.â
âIâll get an ice pack for your cheeks.â I look around the crowded hall, suddenly reminded of why I hate academic conferences. âWhy did we come today, anyway? MagTechâs presentationâs not until tomorrow.â
âBorisâs order. A feeble attempt to look like weâre not just here to snoop, I believe.â
I grin. âDo you ever feel like weâre super-spies and heâs our handler?â
He gives me a half-amused, half-withering look. âNo.â
âCome on. Borisâs totally the M to my James Bond.â
âIf youâre James Bond, who am I?â
âYouâre the Bond girl. Iâm going to seduce you in exchange for blueprints and stab you while I sip on my martini.â I wink at Levi, then realize that heâs flushing. Did I go too far? âI didnât mean toââ
âThere are a couple of engineering talks I want to go to,â he says abruptly, pointing at the conference program and sounding remarkably normal. I must have imagined it. âYou?â
âThereâs a panel at four that sounds interesting. Also, itâs my sacred duty to go out for a drink. Big Easy and all that.â
âOh. Did you want to . . .â
I cock my head. âWant to?â
He clears his throat. âDid you want company? Were you already planning to go with your friend, orââ
âMy friend?â
âThat friend of yours.â
âWho?â
âI forgot her name. That girl who was in Samâs lab? Dark hair, did fNIRS research, and . . .â He squints. âNah, thatâs all I remember.â
âAre you talking about Annie Johansson?â
He glances back at the program. âMaybe? That sounds right.â
I canât believe Levi forgot Annieâs name after she pursued him mercilessly for ages. She knew his damn blood type, for cakeâs sake. Probably his social security number, too. âWhy would I go for drinks with her?â
âI just assumed,â he says absentmindedly. âYou two were inseparable.â
My heartbeat picks up. Probably for no reason. âBut sheâs not here.â
Leviâs still reading the program, not really paying attention to me. âI thought I saw her a minute ago.â
I whirl around. Yes, my palms are starting to sweat, but just because sometimes they do. All palms sweat sometimes, right? I look about frantically, but Iâm sure that Annieâs not here.
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