Below Zero (The STEMinist Novellas #3) by Ali Hazelwood

            Mara glares at me. “Wow. So timely.”

            I blow her a kiss.

            “But things have changed, right?” Sadie asks. “I mean . . . last night he carried you upstairs for seven floors because the elevator was broken. It’s obvious that he has a thing for you.”

            “Yes,” Mara agrees. “Are you going to break my blood relative’s heart? Don’t get me wrong, I’d still side with you. Hos before bros.”

            “He’s not your bro in any sense of the word,” I point out.

            “Hey, he’s my cousin-or-something.”

            Sadie pats her on the shoulder. “It’s the or something that gets me every time. You can really feel the unbreakable family ties.”

            “We seceded last night. We’re the founders of the Floyds 2.0. And you”—she points at me—“could be one of us.”

            “Could I?”

            “Yes. If you gave Ian a chance.”

            “I . . . I don’t know.” I think about how he squeezed my hand while the plane landed. About the way he asked for cookies instead of pretzels, because I told him that they’re my favorite. About his arm around my shoulders back in Norway while the concierge checked us into our rooms. About him falling asleep next to me, and me realizing how taxing, how physically demanding it must have been to come extract me from the idiotic situation I put myself into—no matter that he didn’t so much as roll his eyes at the burden of it.

            I don’t like the word dating. I don’t like the idea of it. But with Ian . . . I don’t know. It seems different with him.

            “I guess we’ll see. I’m not sure he would want to date,” I say, staring at Sadie’s Froot Loops. The ensuing silence drags on so long, I’m forced to look up. She and Mara are staring at me like I just announced that I’m quitting my job to take up macramé full-time. “What?”

            “Did she really just use the world date?” Mara asks Sadie, pretending I’m not sitting right here.

            “I think so. And without referring to the disgusting fruit?”

            Mara frowns. “Dude, dates are amazing.”

            “No, they’re not.”

            “Yes. Try wrapping them in bacon.”

            “Okay,” Sadie acknowledges, “anything is amazing if you wrap it in bacon, but—”

            I clear my throat. They turn to me.

            “So, you’re gonna go out with him?”

            I shrug. Think about it. The idea is so foreign, my brain catches on it for a moment. But remembering the way Ian smiled at me back in Svalbard helps me push right through it. “I think I’ll ask. If he wants to.”

            “Considering that he saved your life, contacted Great-Aunt Delphina, and put up two dudes he’s never seen before so their girlfriends could hang out with you . . . I think maybe he does.”

            I nod, my eyes fixed into the mid-distance. “You know, when I fell, my expedition leader said that no one was coming to rescue me. But . . . he came. Ian came. Even though he wasn’t even supposed to be there.”

            Sadie frowns. “Are you saying that you feel like you have to date him because of that?”

            “Nah.” I grin at her. “As you know, it’s pretty impossible to get me to do something I don’t want to.”

            Sadie bats her eyes at me. “I always manage.”

            “Not true.”

            “Yes, I do. For instance, in ten minutes I’m going to take you to the NASA doctor Ian wrote down the address for, and we’re going to get your foot checked out.”

            I scowl. “No way.”

            “I am.”

            “Sadie, I’m fine.”

            “You really think you’re going to win this?”