laying the foundation
When a guy or a girl starts texting you a few weeks before coming back from a school break, such as the summer or christmas vacation in order to appear that they are interested in you, but it is really just a drawn-out booty call.

before you can build a house, you must lay a foundation, hence before you can convince the girl to hook up with you, you must lay the foundation to do so.
"so dave started texting me again"
"do you think he likes you?"
"well i'll see him in a week, so maybe he's just laying the foundation"