Page 145 of Study Buddies

I stroked her hair and held her while she cried. I didn’t ask her if she really thought I said those things about her.

Suspecting she thought the worst of me was bad enough. Knowing it would break me.

39

LUCAS

I didn’t seeJayden’s car when I pulled up to the little coffee shop a mile from the house. Figuring I must’ve beat him there, I headed inside. Only to stop dead when I saw Kyle sitting at a table by the window.

Shit.

There was no chance this was a coincidence. I was going to bury Jayden in a shallow grave under his beloved hammock when I got home.

“What.” I sat down across from Kyle. Might as well get this over with.

“Coffee?” he stated, not quite an offer.

I squinted at his cup. “Yes, it is. Want to tell me what this is about?”

He sighed, leaning back in his chair, looking out the window. “It’s about Tori. And a little about me.”

Great. Because I just loved hearing about the two of them being involved in any way. “Why am I here?”

“First, take a listen to this.” He slid his phone over to me. “Do you have earbuds?”

“Yeah.” I fished them out of my pocket. Listening to low instrumental music helped me study sometimes.

It took me a few moments to connect my earbuds to his phone, and during that time, my mind offered a half-dozen reasons why I should get up and walk right out of here, but I didn’t.

I pressed play on an audio file and listened to Kyle explain exactly how he’d cheated on his papers. And then the incredibly crass thing he said about Tori.

“God, you’re a pig.”

Kyle nodded. “That seems to be the consensus.”

“So, this was their evidence?”

“They played it right in the middle of the fucking English Department conference room.”

“She had to hear that with her professor and her advisor right there?” After I beat Kyle to a pulp, I was going to find Tori, take her in my arms, and never let her go.

“Her advisor is useless,” Kyle growled.

My anger was ratcheting up by the second. “How could you do that to her? How could yousaythat to her?”

“It’s easy. I didn’t, and I didn’t.”

“Really? Because it sounded just like you.”

“Yeah, it did. Which is why I came to you.”

It took me a second to understand. “You’re saying this audio was faked?”

“Is it possible?”

My racing thoughts couldn’t keep up. “Yeah, it’s possible, but…” It just sounded so much like him. Not just his voice, tone, and inflection. The language, the attitude—those things were completely on-brand for him, too. “You’re sure someone didn’t just catch you on a bad day when you were ranting?”

“I never said those things. Never even thought them.” Kyle sounded tired. “This is your field. How would someone do this?”

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