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a pang of . . . something at his interest in her friend. Not that she could blame him. Everybody loved Lucy.
    Lucy hesitated only briefly before shaking his hand. “Oh, yeah. Sure. Nice to see you again.” Her eyes darted between them. “Did you two have plans?”
    Ava’s cheeks heated as she remembered Lucy’s matchmaking from the night before—which was even more embarrassing now that she suspected Caleb might actually be interested in her roommate. “No. No plans,” she said quickly.
    Caleb laughed. “Well, don’t sound so scandalized at the idea. You sure know how to stroke a guy’s ego.”
    Ava took a deep breath. “Sorry.” She smiled. “I’m just a little tense about this quiz.”
    “You need any help?” He started to pull out a chair.
    “Oh, no. I couldn’t ask you to do that. Not on your own time.”
    Caleb shrugged. “It’s no problem. Really.”
    So for the next hour, he explained—or rather, re-explained—luminiferous aether, Avogadro’s Law, and the Peltier effect, and Ava tried to retain as much as possible. Lucy seemed focused on outlining her English paper, but popped into the discussion now and then—most pointedly when it got to be close to lunchtime.
    “Please, tell her she needs to take a break from all of this,” she begged Caleb. “I need her to help me with my pre-date preparations.”
    Ava watched him closely to see how he’d respond to the knowledge that Lucy already had a date for the evening, but he didn’t seem upset at all. Instead, he turned to Ava, trying to maintain a serious expression.
    “You need to take a break from all of this,” he said, lips quirking.
    “Tell her she’ll do fine,” Lucy added.
    “You’ll do fine.”
    “And she needs to help her best friend before she has a nervous breakdown.”
    “You need to help your friend.”
    “And she needs to loan me her cute, black boots with the buckles.”
    Caleb laughed, and at that moment, his cell phone beeped with a text. “Sorry,” he said to Lucy as he quickly read the message. “You’re on your own with that one.”
    Lucy stuck out her tongue. “Spoilsport.”
    “I’ve got to run,” he said, pocketing his phone as he stood and shouldered his backpack. “Lucy, good luck on your date. Ava, good luck on your test. If you need any more help, you’ve got my number.”
    “Thanks, Caleb.” Ava watched him until he disappeared behind the stacks, then noticed Lucy’s raised eyebrows as she turned her attention back to their table.
    “What?” She busied herself flipping through her notebook.
    “What do you mean, ‘What?’ What is going on with you two?”
    “Nothing’s going on. I told you. He’s my tutor.”
    “Yeah, right. That’s why he was so eager to toot you on his own time.”
    “Toot?” Ava snorted. “Nice. Besides, I think that was more about you than me.” Ava fought to keep the note of resentment out of her voice, unsure of why it was there in the first place.
    “Oh, that had nothing to do with me, sweetie. That was all you.” At Ava’s doubtful look, she rolled her eyes. “You know my gaydar is on the fritz, but my lustometer is working just fine, and that boy lusts for you.”
    “He does not!”
    Lucy rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe not lust, but I’m getting a definite like vibe. He’s interested.”
    “You’re crazy.”
    “Maybe, but that has nothing to do with this.”
    “Luce—”
    “Av!” Lucy leaned over the table. “Explore the evidence. One—” She held up a finger. “He offered to help you out with your studying on his own time.”
    “You said that already,” Ava muttered. “He’s a good tutor. Devoted to his job.”
    “Two.” Lucy held up another finger, ignoring Ava’s protests. “He’s completely focused on you. I mean, it’s like he’s trying to look right into your soul or something. It’s kind of disturbing, actually.”
    Ava just shook her head. “You’re imagining things.”
    Lucy sighed heavily. “Oh, yeah? Well, how