Page 68 of The Proximity Factor

I leaned against the headboard, knowing I could be here for a while. I swore, though, if they started asking invasive questions about how intimate Lanie and I were, that was going to be a deal breaker for me. Hopefully they’d taken my past warnings seriously.

I accessed my account and downloaded this week’s instructions to find this garbage:

Dear Mr. Remington,

Thank you for taking part in Study 19.A.2024-568. To conclude our research, please use the link and login credentials below to complete Binary Search’s questionnaire and schedule an evaluation with Dr. Lisa Horton, their in-house psychologist. Please complete the questionnaire by midnight and schedule the evaluation for no later than Wednesday, August 21. Remember, you may not discuss the questionnaire or evaluation with anyone before the research concludes on August 24. This includes Ms. Davenport.

What the hell was this? I didn’t care that I’d signed a disclosure saying I wouldn’t speak to anyone about the experiment. I wanted to run over to Lanie’s room and ask her if she received the same thing. If so, what did she think of this? And what was Binary Search? There was no way I would meet with their psychologist. Who keeps a psychologist on staff anyway, except for hospitals or doctor’s offices?

Before I clicked on anything, I was going to do my own research. I grabbed my phone and typed in Binary Search. What came up both perplexed me and irked me.

Binary Search. A Dating by Design company. Let us help you find your last first kiss.

What in the world had I just participated in? Did this matchmaking company fund the research? Did they know Lanie and I would be a match? Had we been set up?

I KEPT GLANCING OVER AT Parker in the driver’s seat of his car as we drove together to meet with the research team Saturday afternoon. It had been a weird last week together. We hardly saw each other because he was crazy busy. But when we were together, I got the feeling Parker had received the same message I had last week and he knew a matchmaking service was involved in this study somehow. He’d probably filled out Binary Search’s questionnaire, just like me. It was so odd, because I got the feeling it was the same questionnaire they gave their clients, and it had many, if not all, the same questions I’d answered when I applied to be part of the study. Which, looking back, had felt very much like I was signing up for an online dating service. But obviously, I didn’t have a need for Binary Search. Not that I would ever use them, anyway—their prices were exorbitant. And I liked to meet men the old-fashioned way. You know, like through social experiments.

The psych evaluation was weird too. I doubted Parker appreciated it, if indeed he also had to do it. It was like the doctor kept making sure I was honest about my questionnaire. I worried I was a little too chatty during the session. But it was like she knew Parker and I were an opposites-attract scenario and it worried her. Should I be worried about it?

“This is it,” I said, just to make conversation. Nervous energy charged the air.

Parker reached for my hand. “We survived.”

“Barely,” I teased him.

He chuckled.

“Honestly, though. This is the best thing I’ve ever done.”

He pulled our clasped hands over to his strong thigh, covered in dress pants. “Agreed.”

“Um ... I know we’re not supposed to talk about anything, but does this seem weird to you? Was the last questionnaire like, really, really strange?” I had to know. The suspense was killing me. I also wanted to know if he’d talked to the psychologist. Was he worried?

His square jaw tightened. “Yeah,” he breathed out like he wasn’t pleased.

“I just don’t understand.” My intention was to keep it vague.

“I don’t either, but none of it matters. We’re going to jump through the last hoop. Then it’s going to be you and me all weekend long, doing whatever you want.”

“Whatever?” I purred, feeling better. I had nothing to worry about. Parker and I were going to make this work. After all, he’d made sure to rent a place as close as he could to Goldenville while still being close to Atlanta.

He flashed me a crooked smile. “Anything you want.”

“Oh, baby. The possibilities,” I sang. Believe me, I had all the ideas ready to go. That was after he helped me move back to my apartment, though. I was still kind of dreading it.

He laughed.

Feeling more relaxed, we pulled into the parking lot in front of the social sciences building on campus. It was an older, rust-colored brick three-story building. There was a sleepy afternoon feel on campus as very few students walked around, and the parking lot was practically empty.

Staring at the building, I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed in the past twelve weeks. Maybe I hadn’t changed the world, but my world had certainly changed. I’d gotten something better than a new friend for life. Not to say I didn’t consider Parker a friend—I most certainly did. But I thought of him as more. How much more, time would tell. But this I knew: I loved him.

I let out a huge breath. “Let’s do this.” I flung open the car door.

Parker followed my lead, and we met around the car, where he took my hand. There was just something about that small act. It was like Parker saying, You are my person.

Parker hurried his pace like he just wanted to get this over with so we could get on with our lives, but I wanted to take our time and hold on just a little longer. I couldn’t help but worry about what was on the other side of us not living together anymore.

We walked out of the blistering heat into the office area of the building. It smelled like musty books and cleaning products. No one sat at the front desk to greet us, but soon a herd of people came walking down the hall. I recognized some of them as the professors and undergrad students who were running the study. Two people stood out the most. I’d read all about them on Binary Search’s About Us page: Kenadie Hadley, owner and CEO, and Zander Grainger, executive vice president. Kenadie was much like her picture—beautiful with sandy-brown hair in beachy waves. There was a softness to her smile, but she had girl boss written all over her. Zander walked with confidence, like he knew how attractive he was. But he looked bored to be here, like he had better things to do with his life.

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