Page 47 of Not Fooling Anyone

I look over my shoulder, finding Christian and Amber walking down the row, Amber giving us a little wave.

“How did you all do on the test?” she asks as she sits down. “Dr. Clark posted the scores this morning. Christian and I both got A’s.”

I glance back at Lexie, raising my brows.

“I got an A,” Lexie says.

“Me too,” I add. I lean to the side, whispering in Lexie’s ear, “You should tell her how much you liked the study group.”

“Why would I do that?” she murmurs back. “I hated it.”

“To be nice. We should be friendly since we’re in the Psych study together.”

She lets out an aggrieved sigh, but leans forward to talk across me, angling her body toward Amber. “The study group last week really helped. We should, um, do it again sometime.”

Amber’s eyes light up with excitement. “We should. Maybe next Thursday after class? We have another test the following Tuesday.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I grab Lexie’s hand, intertwining our fingers. She can’t be mad about going this time if she’s the one who suggested it. “How was the fMRI for you guys yesterday?”

Christian frowns. “We did the kissing test.”

Lexie’s fingers clench against mine. “The what?” she asks, her voice sharper than normal.

Dr. Clark taps her microphone from the front of the room, everyone quieting. “All right guys,” she says. “We’ve got a lot to cover today about research design and methods.”

Lexie lets go of my hand to retrieve her plethora of items from her backpack, and opens her notebook to a fresh page, scribbling something down before turning it to me.

What did he mean by kissing?

I glance at her, shrugging my shoulders. I’m just as clueless as her.

She writes something else.

Well, ask him.

I take the pen from her, writing down my own message.

I will after class. I’m trying to listen to Dr. Clark and you’re being a bad influence.

Her lips thin as she tilts the notebook back toward her and plucks the pen out of my hand.

Seriously, what did Christian mean by that? Are they going to study the way we kiss or something? I’m definitely not opposed to the idea, but Lexie’s another story. Will she go for it?

We’re already a third of the way through the study. She survived a near panic attack yesterday. She won’t bow out now over a little kiss, will she?

Her leg jiggles up and down next to me, obvious tension in her. I casually drop my arm over the back of her seat, leaning in to whisper, “Relax. We’ll figure it out.”

She nods, her leg ceasing its frantic motion.

At the end of class, I catch Christian’s attention before he leaves. “Hey man, what’d you mean by the kissing test earlier?”

He shrugs, scratching at his jaw. “It was pretty easy. They took cheek swabs before and after we kissed.”

“It was weird kissing with Dr. Clark right there, though,” Amber adds. “So be prepared for that when it’s your turn.”

When will it be our turn? Next week? Later than that?

“Thanks, guys. See you on Tuesday.”

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