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    coach would probably love to have his name in CycloWorld ."
    "He did say it was okay to quote him." Christopher had asked; Luca had agreed.
    "Who?"
    "You have to buy a copy of CycloWorld to find out." Christopher smiled, enigmatically, he hoped, and crossed over to the other
    side of the highway--the junction with Highway 72 had a light. Stu shouldn't have more "out" when he'd
    only have trouble with the "back." "This is a good turnaround."
    Stu followed; so did his questions. "I'll just find out when I proofread for you!"
    Gearing up by one sprocket gave Christopher an easy spin but made Stu quit asking. He hadn't decided how much to mention--if his ride
    with Luca was a date, Stu wasn't entitled to know. But riding technique wasn't anything personal, it wasn't like telling the
    world that Luca had asked him out. And Luca had given him permission.
    He led the way back to Boulder, letting his friend draft as compensation for tiring him. Then Stu got another rest break--Christopher pulled over
    when his cell phone rang.
    Luca's voice floated through, warm and inviting. " Ciao , Christopher."
    Entirely too aware of Stu parked behind him, Christopher tried to keep his pleasure from hijacking his voice completely. "Heya, Luca. How are the
    mountains?"
    "Cold. Very little oxygen here--every blood cell has to work thrice. We leave for Boulder soon."
    Imagining that Luca had called before getting into the team van, he tried to estimate their arrival. Two hours, maybe. Enough time to finish the ride and
    clean up, plus some. "But good training?"
    "Yes, I tell you about it at dinner, okay?"
    "Sure. Did you have a place in mind?"
    The answer was almost lost in the whoosh of a passing VW Bug. "--Italian place on Pearl Street, close to bike shop, okay?
    Casual."
    That only narrowed it down slightly; Christopher could think of three eateries that matched that description. "Fine. It probably won't
    taste like your mother's cooking."
    Luca laughed. "Nothing tastes like my mother's cooking. I pick you up at seven, okay?"
    "Great. See you then." Christopher gave his street address and directions, only stumbling over a couple of words. Luca, framed in his
    front door, ready to come in... The time was going to crawl along.
    "Hot date?" Stu snapped him out of his reverie.
    "None of your business." Clipping back into his pedals, Christopher wished that Stu didn't take such a lively interest in his
    social life.
    "Aaaaand... you aren't discussing who coached you, and it's 'Heya, Luca,' all husky,
    aaaaaand--"
    Christopher took off, interrupting the unwelcome perceptions from behind, but Stu found enough energy to stay on his tail and continue snooping.
    "And Luca Biondi lives in Boulder now!" Stu shouted, making himself heard even over the wind and a pick-up truck passing.
    "You have a date with Luca Biondi, don't you!"
    Christopher shifted, going three gears higher than he'd been riding four days ago, and left Stu in the dust. Luca hadn't said one
    single thing about being out.
    ***
    Finally convinced he'd shaved closely enough to remove whiskers that hadn't planned to grow until sometime next week, Christopher
    managed to dress himself in a freshly pressed blue button-down shirt, black jeans with a sharp crease, and hang the tie back in the closet. Even with the
    knot pulled down to his breastbone like he'd seen in a magazine, this was still Boulder; a tie wasn't casual. He glared at the clock
    for not fast forwarding to seven. It gave him enough time to brush his teeth again. He'd already cleaned the kitchen, remade the futon so that
    its linens looked like upholstery, locking that untrustworthy furniture into couch position, and vacuumed all four hundred square feet of the basement
    apartment in the old divided house on College Hill. Luca might come in later.
    Three sharp raps on his garden level door at two minutes to seven made him jump. Luca, with a tentative grin, stood in the stairwell, a bike at his side.
    Christopher only noticed