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find Jake standing there, a fat toad in his hands. “Yikes!” The whole toad thing was taking some getting used to.
    “He was sitting on your porch,” Jake said, then leaned down to return the frog to the porch.
    “Jake? What are you doing here?”
    “I thought we could study,” he said, holding up his biology book.
    “I have my chemistry tutor,” I said. “You knew that.”
    “I guess I forgot,” he said, but he didn’t meet my eyes as he said it.
    “No you did not. What is going on?”
    He raised his eyes and admitted, “Anya showed me a picture of your tutor.”
    “She what?”
    “She had a picture of you and this guy on her phone.”
    Anya had taken a picture of the picture? What a freak. “Why did she show you?”
    “I don’t know. I guess she wanted to taunt me.”
    “So you came over here to what? To check him out yourself? To threaten him?”
    Jake laughed. “No, I came over so he’d know you had a boyfriend.”
    “Jake, this is ridiculous. He’s here to teach me.”
    He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I kind of feel like an idiot here, Zoe, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
    His chagrin was endearing. “Come in and meet him and then you have to leave. I have work to do.”
    I moved out of the way to let Jake in the house. As I shut the door, Finn stepped into the kitchen doorway and held up his cell phone. “Hey, Zoe, my girlfriend is on the phone. Is it okay if I step out back for a minute to talk to her?”
    For a minute, I stared. Girlfriend? Then the situation slowly penetrated my shocked brain.
    “Zoe?” Finn urged.
    His girlfriend phone call was a stroke of genius. “Uh, yeah. I mean, first meet my boyfriend Jake, and sure, I’m ready for a break anyway.”
    “Hey, man,” Finn said with a nod at Jake.
    “Hi,” Jake said.
    “Gotta take this.” Finn motioned to the phone and turned to go out the back door.
    For those short minutes, he perfectly channeled a 19-year-old guy.
    “Well,” I said to Jake as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you happy now?”
    “He seems like an okay guy.” He looked sheepish, which I found adorable, so I didn’t mind the whole jealousy show.
    “Good. Now get out. I’ve got p—chemistry to work on.”
    Jake stepped closer and put his hand on my waist. “Your tutor’s on the phone.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “We could spend a few minutes together.”
    The thought of stealing a few minutes to kiss Jake appealed to me way more than it should have. If only I hadn’t been all too aware that Finn was not on the phone. He was not otherwise occupied. The ninety-five-year-old man who I was eager to impress was waiting for me to resume my studies, and that same man from a previous century had nothing better to focus on than my whereabouts. No way was I going to make out with Jake right now. I held my hand against his chest to keep him at bay. “Not a good idea, Jake.”
    “I think it’s a great idea.” He leaned in again, and gave me the lightest of kisses on the lips.
    “Can’t,” I said with a sigh. “I really can’t. My parents are paying for my sessions.”
    Jake stepped back and shoved his hand through his hair. “I guess your dad is still freaked out enough over us dating.”
    If he hadn’t found out by seeing us smooching on Sheree’s front porch, he might have handled it better.
    “Call me later,” Jake said.
    “Of course!” I risked giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Now go.”
    Jake started walking to the door, and as he reached out and touched the door knob, Finn called out from the kitchen, “Nice to meet you, Jake.”
    I jumped as his voice boomed out. Jake merely raised a brow in question and said, “You too.” Then he left.
    Finn had been way more focused on us than I even feared. Thank goodness I hadn’t spent ten minutes with Jake’s tongue in my mouth. He’d have totally busted us. I wanted him to see me as a serious student, a prodigy. I didn’t want