Page 14 of Not Fooling Anyone

He leans back, grinning widely, and picks up his pen again.

Despite me starting earlier, we’re somehow done at the same time, turning in our clipboards to Dr. Clark in the adjoining room.

“Good,” she comments, glancing over our paperwork. “We’ll do a lot of preliminary stuff today. Getting info about you as a couple, taking baselines—that kind of thing. And I’m sure you read the informed consent form, but each week we’ll be looking at physical markers in the body of what we consider to be love. It’s more invasive than anything we’ve done in this lab before, so I’m excited to see how it plays out.”

Invasive? What’s she going to do to us?

She motions us toward two chairs next to her, crossing one knee over the other. “Let me get to know you two a little. How long have you been together?”

“Two months.” I clear my throat, hating how hoarse I sound.

“Oh, good. A newbie couple. I’d love to see your results compared to some longer-term, established couples.”

Great. Just what we need is for her to scrutinize our results and realize how fake we are.

“And where’d you two meet?” She directs this question to Ethan. Please let him not go off-script.

“My boxing gym. Her dad’s a trainer there and she came in one day to meet him.” He reaches over and intertwines his fingers with mine. “I was a goner from then on.”

I squeeze his hand in warning, but he merely smiles. He better not push it.

Dr. Clark nods. “So, in your case, there was an immediate attraction you acted upon.” She writes something down in the notebook on her lap. “And it was the same for you, Lexie?”

“Um, yes.” What’s she writing? What do our answers mean?

“Yeah, she was actually the one who asked me out,” Ethan boasts. “She can’t get enough of me.”

I squeeze his hand harder, digging my nails in, and he subtly flinches.

Good.

“That’s a first for the couples we’ve interviewed so far.”

“When I see something I want, I go after it,” I say, forced to play along.

She scribbles in her notebook again. “Love the attitude. I wish I was more like that.”

He leans in, barely audible as he whispers, “See? She loves it. And damn, I liked hearing you say that, too.”

I elbow him while she’s still only half paying attention and jotting down notes, shooting daggers out of the corner of my eye toward him. He’s going to get us busted.

She asks us a few more questions about our living situations, how often we see each other, and what we like to do together. Our answers must be satisfactory because she smiles at the end and directs us back to the first room, introducing us to Justin, the fifth-year grad student who is her second-in-command for the study. He raises a hand in greeting, his brown hair flopping over his forehead, and hands us questionnaires to fill out as Christian and Amber follow Dr. Clark to the other room.

“What would you say is your level of happiness with your partner?” Ethan asks, reading from the page. “Definitely a ten. Am I right?”

“I’m marking down a one,” I hiss, careful to make sure we’re not overheard. “I can’t believe you said I asked you out. I thought you were joking about that yesterday.”

“What? It’s not like it’s a bad thing. I’d find it incredibly hot if you asked me out.”

I snort. Like that would ever happen.

“I mean, I know you’re secretly dying to, so you might as well get it over with and ask me out for real already.” He sighs dramatically, and I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes again.

“Stop messing around and fill out the questionnaire.”

What must he be like in class if he can’t ever concentrate? Tutoring him is going to be a bitch.

“I don’t have to look at the questions. You get a ten in everything.”

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