****

I found Lexi sitting at her favorite table at the deli in the quad on campus. There were a few different things I liked to eat here and only one thing that she liked, so I decided to head through the line first. Then I walked over after grabbing our lunches.

“Boo!” I yelled in her ear as I dropped the tray on the table since Lexi seemed deep in thought.

“Eeek!” she shrieked in response, drawing stares from all around the room. “Holy shitballs, Aubrey. You know I hate to be scared.”

“Sorry,” I said with a grin on my face. I knew it had been bitchy of me, but I always liked to scare the crap out of her when I could.

She glared at me from across the table as I sat down. “You are so not sorry, brat.”

“Well, at least I’m going to feed you. That should count for something,” I argued.

“Except I’m pretty sure you were going to feed me anyway, even without scaring me. So I’m thinking it doesn’t count as anything,” she grumbled at me as she snagged her food off the tray.

“Geesh. Okay, I really am sorry if scaring you means that you’re going to be in a bad mood when I actually get to spend time with you,” I apologized—for real this time.

“Ha! Much better,” she crowed.

“Dammit! You tricked me into that didn’t you?”

“Who, me? Tricked you into thinking you really hurt my feelings by scaring the shit out of me when you know I hate that?” she asked innocently. “Now do I look like the kind of person who would do something like that?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Yes, you look exactly like the kind of person who would do that. At least to me.”

She giggled at my teasing tone. “God, Aubrey. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. Thanks for asking me if I could meet you today. It was perfect timing,” I said as I reached out to squeeze her hand.

“Perfect timing for what?” Lexi asked, tilting her head and giving me an inquisitive stare.

“Well, for one thing, I was available,” I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “And for another?” she asked, knowing that there was more to the story.

“And I could use some advice,” I replied.

“Ohhhh, advice!” She rubbed her hands together in excitement. “About what?”

I looked around the room to make sure I didn’t see Luka anywhere. Not that I ever seemed to run into him on campus, but with my luck, he’d walk up behind me while I was talking about him.

“A guy,” I said in a hushed tone of voice.

Lexi got all bug-eyed at my response and leaned in closer. “A cute guy?”

“No. A super-hot guy who is driving me crazy.”

“Do I know him?” I thought about it for a minute and figured that the odds were she didn’t know who he was. “I don’t think so. He’s my math tutor.”

“Wait! You have the hots for a math geek?” she exclaimed.

“A math geek with dirty-blond hair, piercing, green eyes, an amazing smile, and these muscles. Ohmigod. You would not believe his muscles,” I explained. “Then again, he plays hockey, so I guess the muscles make sense, because when he’s not studying, he’s on the ice or working out all the time.”

“Damn! Smart, hot, and athletic. No wonder he caught your eye,” she agreed.

“Actually, do you remember that guy I noticed in your building? When you had me over for dinner towards the start of the year? That night when Drake’s friends came over to play poker?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she drawled out.

“It’s the same guy,” I admitted. “The one I bumped into. The only guy I’ve really noticed at all this year so far.”

“Okay. This all sounds pretty good so far. When do we get to the advice part?” Lexi asked.

“Well, I’m into him, and I think he’s interested too. But he hasn’t asked me out on a date or anything.”

“So you should just ask him out,” Lexi advised.

My best friend, who hadn’t dated for almost three years until she met Drake, who had literally swept her off her feet, was telling me to ask a guy out.

“Really? That’s your great advice?”

“It seems pretty easy to me. You like him. You think he likes you, but he hasn’t made a move yet. You really only have two options. Either you keep waiting for him to do something or you pull up your big-girl panties and you ask him out yourself,” she said, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal.