“At least it’d be a first date.” I bite my bottom lip, wishing I could shove the words back into my mouth.

“Is that what you want? To go on a date?” Jace asks. His voice has shifted from joking to serious.

We’ve reached the beginning of the buffet, which displays an assortment of leftovers from dinner, along with a random array of eggs, pizza, and doughnuts for late night study fuel. I grab a plate and begin filling it with food. Jace does the same.

“Viv?” he asks as I silently grab a piece of chicken.

“The idea never occurred to you?” I ask, moving farther down the line.

Jace follows. “Of course it occurred to me,” he replies. “I just have a lot going on right now, and you—you complicate things.”

“I complicate things?” I ask. “You brought me home to meet your entire family! I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“I know,” Jace replies. “And I’m glad I did, it’s just I still—”

The sound of my name being called distracts us both. I turn away from my overloaded tray to see Katie standing a few feet away with a couple of her friends.

“Hey, Katie.” I smile despite my annoyance as I notice her awestruck expression when she realizes who is standing next to me.

“This is my roommate, Katie,” I inform Jace, keeping my voice neutral despite my churning emotions. “Katie, this is Jace.” I try to remember the names of her friends but come up blank for both.

“Hey.” Jace flashes Katie an easy grin, then glances over at me. I don’t return his gaze.

“These are my friends Liza and Alex,” Katie finally says, nodding to her two companions. They’re both staring at Jace with wide eyes.

“It’s nice to see you guys,” I tell them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a long line has started to form behind the point in the buffet where Jace and I stopped moving. The girl closest to us is waiting patiently, her eyes glued to Jace. He seems to notice the bottleneck at the same moment I do, and he lifts both of our trays off the rack to let the other students in line pass us.

Without another word, he strides over to an empty table while carrying both trays. Katie and her friends watch his wordless departure closely, along with what seems like most of the other students in the dining hall.

“I’d better go eat,” I tell them. “You guys are welcome to join us.”

“No, it’s fine. We’re just grabbing a quick snack before rehearsal,” Katie answers. “I’ll see you back in the room, okay?”

“Sounds good,” I reply.

I walk over to the table Jace chose, only stopping to fill one cup with still water and the other with sparkling at the drink dispenser.

I set the glass of fizzy water down in front of Jace when I reach the table and take the seat across from him.