Page 29 of Study Buddies

Kyle laughed. “Bro, I literally just played in a baseball game.”

“I’m not going to take up anyone else’s space,” I said hurriedly. “You all live here, I don’t.” Those were the facts, which meantIwas the one who should take the couch—not that I had much hope that Lucas would let me. But still, it couldn’t be that uncomfortable. It had felt downright amazing when Jayden hadgiven me a scalp massage while Lucas rubbed my feet. Even the memory of it made me want to moan.

“You live here too,” Lucas insisted.

Jayden agreed. “Yeah. You’re here, and you’re alive. Therefore, you live here.”

I paused, not knowing how to make them see sense. This was their home, not mine. Absentmindedly, I picked up an old plastic contraption, possibly some kind of kitchen appliance? I had no idea, so I set it back down. “Just temporarily.” It wasn’t like I could impose on them forever.

“So you’re leaving?” Dammit, why did Lucas have to look so crushed?

“Yeah, as soon as I find a place.” I frowned, realizing that I hadn’t searched the apartment listings in days. There had been too much else going on. Kyle’s arrival. Classes. Homework. And the fact that my composition grade was tied to the performance of the guy who hadn’t been to a tutoring session since the disastrous one in the library the other night.

“You don’t have to,” Jayden said. He glanced between the other two men. “I know I don’t own the place like Thing One and Thing Two here, but I pay rent. You could too.”

Lucas nodded, then gave me a ghost of a smile. “Unless you’re trying to set a record for the most moves in a two-month period.”

Kyle stepped closer. He was tall enough that he had to bat away a cobweb hanging from the rafters above. “Exactly how many crappy roommates have you had?”

“Too many.”

Jayden tilted his head as he studied me. “So maybe it’s time to have some uncrappy ones.”

“Just stay, Tori,” Lucas urged. “It’s got to be stressful, constantly looking for housing, especially in a town like this. Wemay not be perfect, but we’d never harass you like Todd.” He leveled a look at his stepbrother. “Well, most of us won’t.”

“Nice.” Kyle shot Lucas the finger.

“See?” Jayden said. “One big happy family.”

“Thank you for the offer.” It was all I could think of to say. I wasn’t in the habit of people extending offers to me like that. Especially in a house with only two bedrooms. “I appreciate it, and I’ll think about it.”

“You can sleep in my bed with me,” Kyle offered with an easygoing grin. “Of course, there’s a strict dress code. Or a strict code about not being dressed?—”

I rolled my eyes, but somehow, his words didn’t bother me. I was starting to learn that that was just Kyle being Kyle. Jayden, however, plucked an old snow boot off a nearby pile and chucked it at Kyle’s head. Kyle caught it easily and set it down before leveling a look at Jayden. “Really, Jay?”

Jayden bristled. “Maybe you could help instead of being a perv.”

“Or just go hang out in your room,” Lucas said. “You must like it since you kicked Tori out of it.”

Kyle’s eyebrow rose. “I just offered to let her?—”

“Dude, don’t,” Jayden said at the same time as I smacked Kyle lightly on his arm.

His bare arm.

His bare, muscular, sculpted?—

Oh, crap. This time, he did catch me looking, judging by the smirk on his face. I still thought he was a jerk, but, well, a hot one.

Then he looked away, scanning the area again. “If we get enough of this crap out of here, we could bring in some exercise equipment. Free weights, a bench press, maybe a rowing machine.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” Jayden seemed willing to take any help we could get. “Let’s hit this hard this weekend and see how much we can clear out.”

“But… “ I hesitated. All three guys looked at me. “We still need time for studying.” I glanced up at Kyle as I said it. I didn’t want to flat out say that I needed to tutor him. Even though Jayden and Lucas knew that, I didn’t think he’d like me saying it in front of them.

“Of course,” Lucas said. “Do you need to go now?”

“It’s Friday night.” Kyle made it sound like studying was illegal on Friday evenings.

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