his head. “I’m so confused.” He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his soft sweater, which only made a smear worse. Head down as he tried a napkin on the lens, he sighed. “You seem great, but I really like Max.” It was the truth and there was no point fighting it.
“Fair enough. It’s too bad, because you’re damn cute.”
Feeling his face go hot, Jeremy put his glasses back on. “Um, thank you.”
“I’m pretty sure Max shares this opinion.”
“What? No.” Jeremy shrugged and fiddled with the crust of his sandwich. “He’s so out of my league. Look at him! Literally captain of the football team and a senior. I’m a skinny frosh with no friends. I mean, I only met him because I wiped out on some ice and he took pity on me.”
Levi laughed. “Ouch. But I’m not getting pity. His vibe is more like he’s wanting to punch me and haul you off over his shoulder.”
“No way. He’s the one who pulled the plug on teaching me. Or put it on pause. We’re paused.”
“Teaching you?”
“Forget it.” Why on Earth had he brought that up?
“Ah. Got it.”
“Anyway, back to the game. So, our food stocks are really low. I think we should go to the grocery store, although there’s a pretty high risk to making that move.”
But Levi would not be deterred. “So your friend Max over there was giving you private lessons?”
Tips of his ears burning, Jeremy nodded. “But now we’re staying with his family, so it’s all on hold. Because of the house rules and because it would just be weird. Which was fine with me because it’s only a couple of weeks until January, and then we can…pick up again. But he encouraged me to meet with you, so maybe he doesn’t actually want me? I’m not sure. It’s so confusing.”
Levi frowned. “Sounds like he’s playing games with you.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Hmm. Maybe you should teach him a lesson in not taking you for granted.” He beckoned Jeremy closer. “Here, I’ll tell you a secret.”
Not sure what to expect, Jeremy leaned in across the table. Levi whispered, “He’s watching us right now. I bet if I touch your hair or something, steam’s going to come out of his ears.” Winking, he barely touched Jeremy’s head. “Probably looks like I’m going to kiss you from where he’s sitting—oh shit, I’m good. He’s coming over. Don’t look. Laugh like I’m amazingly funny.”
Jeremy sat frozen, trying to laugh, his heart thumping. Max was coming over?
Then Max was there, looming beside the table, opening his mouth to say something before snapping it shut. He tried again and said, “Uh… Hi.”
“Hi,” Jeremy replied warily. “Are you okay?”
Max’s face was flushed, and he looked mortified. “Yeah. Sorry to interrupt. I was… Hi! I’m Max.” He extended his hand to Levi, who half stood and shook it, offering his name before sitting again. Max cleared his throat. “Just wanted to make sure everything’s okay.”
Jeremy shifted uncomfortably. On one hand if Max was actually jealous that was incredible—but on the other, he was being kind of a jerk for coming over. Maybe he just wanted to make sure Jeremy didn’t need rescuing? Which made him feel warm and gooey. And maybe Jeremy should make him jealous.
“Yeah, we’re great. This is a fun game. Zombies and stuff.”
“Cool.” Max rocked on his heels. “Cool, cool, cool, cool.”
Levi said, “I’ve got to run. I didn’t think coffee would last this long, but time flies when you have great company.” He shot Jeremy a wink. “Talk soon? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? Jeremy managed, “That would be cool. Thanks for a great game.”
“Tomorrow?” Max echoed.
“Yeah, that maple syrup thing sounds fun. Perfect for my nieces. I’ll see you both then.”
Jeremy pushed his chair back and gave Levi the world’s awkwardest hug because a handshake didn’t feel right. “It really was good to meet you.”
“Follow my lead tomorrow,” Levi whispered. “It’ll be fun.”
Max was staring daggers at Levi’s retreating back. Frustration surged, because that really had been rude of him to butt in, and Jeremy had already been a terrible enough date to someone who deserved better.
“Why’d you interrupt?”
Max shrugged. “I was done shopping, and I figured I’d check in to see how things were going. You weren’t even supposed to know I was there.”
“I didn’t, but Levi noticed you staring.”
Max laughed uneasily. “My bad. I wasn’t trying to…”
“What?”
“Dunno.”
Crossing his arms, Jeremy tried to laugh it off. “You were the one who wanted me to come on