The MORE Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page B

awesome. Ava is amazing.”
    Caleb ducked his head and took a sip of his beer. “So you’ve known her a long time?”
    Lucy shook her head. “Only since school started. We both say we lucked out in the roommate pool, you know? So many girls got someone they can’t stand, and we both got our best friend.”
    “That’s great.” Caleb said, a genuine smile on his face. It was obvious the girl cared about Ava. “So, what can you tell me about her?” he asked, grinning conspiratorially.
    Lucy giggled. “Everything.” Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait a second. You’re not like some kind of creepy stalker or something, are you?”
    Caleb choked on his beer. “What?”
    “Because I love Ava like a sister, and she doesn’t need any weirdness in her life,” she said firmly.
    Weirdness? If she only knew.
    Lucy studied him for a moment. “You seem okay, but I will be watching you, buddy.”
    Caleb forced a casual smile, holding up a hand. “I swear. I’m just a grad student studying physics.”
    Lucy bit a lip, eying him warily.
    “I can produce references if it would help,” he offered.
    Lucy’s face brightened in a blinding smile. “Well, I guess you were recommended by a professor, after all,” she said, leaning on the bar and propping her chin on her fist. “So, what do you want to know?”
    “Like you said.” Caleb grinned. “Everything.”

    An hour later, Caleb left Lucy at the bar with her friends, promising three things: First, that Ava would never know that Lucy had told him so much about her. (She would kill me, then die of embarrassment. Then revive me so she could kill me again!) Second, that he would ask her out on a proper date, soon . And third, that he would always— always —treat her right.
    He sighed, feeling more than a little guilty for misleading Lucy. She was a nice girl, and even though he knew the ends justified the means, it still left a bad taste in his mouth. Not to mention the fact that, because of his meddling, she had developed high hopes for a grand romance between Caleb and her best friend.
    He slumped against a tree outside the bar, knowing what he had to do next, but hating it as he always did. Caleb couldn’t have said how long he waited for Lucy to step out. Patience, above all things, was an integral part of his job—of his life, really. So he’d become good at waiting, able to let his mind drift while his body all but shut down.
    Eventually, Lucy stepped through the door, laughing with her friends and hugging each of them tightly before turning to head home. Caleb slipped into the shadows, tailing her unnoticed.
    He could have done what he needed to do in the bar, or even here on the street, but the reaction was never ensured. Lucy could continue on as if nothing had happened, or she could get dizzy and lost. Once, a subject even fell into a dead sleep, which would have been difficult to explain at the bar—and obviously would have been even more difficult to deal with outside, leaving Caleb to explain why he was carrying an unconscious co-ed back to her room. So, he had to wait—again—until she arrived at her dorm.
    He listened from the street as she casually mentioned running into him at the bar, not letting on that they’d talked as much as they had, but rather unsubtly suggesting that Caleb was a decent prospect for Ava’s romantic intentions.
    “He’s cuter than you said,” Lucy said as she got into bed, flipping off the bedside lamp.
    “He’s my tutor ,” Ava replied.
    And Caleb waited— again —until he was sure they were asleep, then pulled a set of lock picks from his pocket and circled around to the back door, hidden by the darkness. The lock was a simple one, and with Caleb’s years of experience, not a challenge at all. He slipped through the door, standing quietly on the other side for a moment, listening for any sounds of life.
    Hearing none, he quickly and quietly made his way to Ava’s room, once again employing his picks and sliding