Page 33 of Study Buddies

For better or for worse, Kyle had emerged from his room a little before eleven yesterday morning and came down to join us. That was a good thing because he was strong and a hard workerwhen he chose to be. But it was a bad thing because he and Lucas kept circling each other like cats in an alleyway.

It didn't help that Kyle took every opportunity to show off for Tori. Moving heavy furniture by himself. Carrying tall stacks of boxes up the stairs. And of course, going shirtless. I couldn't quite tell if all that was because he liked Tori, because he wanted to piss Lucas off, or just because he automatically behaved that way around a pretty woman. We’d gone to the same high school for four years, so that last part was a definite possibility.

So no, I wasn’t too eager to leave the peaceful backyard. Partly because of the aforementioned pretty woman. “Let’s start from opposite sides and try to both sit down at the same time, like back-to-back.”

Tori tilted her head. “Okay, not a bad step one. What’s step two?”

“I’ll let you know if step one doesn’t kill us.”

Laughing softly, she moved to the other side of the hammock. I felt a little foolish facing away from her. We probably looked like we were going to walk ten paces and then turn and duel. “Ready?” I asked her. When she said yes, I counted to three.

We both sat, clutching the thick ropes until the hammock stopped swaying. Tori’s back was inches from mine. I knew that from the way her ponytail brushed against me.

“We could just stay like this,” she said, sounding amused. “Less risk of broken bones.”

“Nah, we’re braver than that. I’ll count to three again, and we’ll both swing our legs up to the right and try to lay flat, okay?”

“Okay.” She sounded somewhat doubtful this time. I counted again, and then I leaned to the left, bringing my legs up on the right. Too late, I realized that Tori was leaning the other way. She yelped as she course corrected. The hammock swungviolently, but I grabbed her shoulders, easing her down next to me.

She clung to me, her body tilted toward mine until the hammock finally stopped its dizzying waves. “Guess we should’ve specified whose right we meant,” she said with a giggle.

The hammock rocked gently. I eased my arm out from between us but couldn’t find a good place to put it with our bodies so close together. Finally, I stretched it out above her. When she lifted her head, I slid it under. That worked.

But gravity kept pulling us closer. Finally, Tori placed her hand lightly on my chest to keep from falling on me. The hammock rocked gently, and I had to admit that it felt nice. Especially after the dusty confines of the basement.

“Did you fall asleep?” I asked after a few minutes of companionable silence.

“Nope. I think I could, though. It’s nice out here.”

“Yep.” But there was something I wanted to talk to her about that wasn’t as nice. “So, what’s going on with you and Kyle?”

Tori shifted uncomfortably, making the hammock sway. “I was just surprised to see him like that after the baseball game.”

“What?” I was genuinely confused.

“Just, you know, with his shirt off. It took me by surprise.”

It suddenly hit me what she was talking about. I’d forgotten I caught her checking out Kyle’s bare chest on Friday evening. A laugh escaped before I could stop it. “I meant with the tutoring,” I clarified.

“Oh.” Her face was so close to my chest that I could almost feel the heat radiating off her flushed cheeks. “Um, we worked for a couple of hours yesterday on his paper.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. While you and Lucas went to the library to study.”

“Is that why you didn’t go?”

“Yes.”

For some reason, the thought of her and Kyle working here all by themselves didn’t sit well with me. But then again, neither did the fact that she had to tutor him in the first place—especially with her own grade on the line.

Tori shifted again, every little movement rubbing against me and making the hammock sway. I couldn’t tell if she wanted to talk about this more or not. Did tutors have some kind of tutor-student confidentiality?

I stared at the canopy of trees above us and the blue sky beyond that. Lately, things at this house had felt like a minefield. Lucas was pissed off all the time. Kyle seemed hellbent on antagonizing him. Tori was caught in the middle, which wasn’t what I wanted for her. But, well, I was kind of stuck there, too.

So yeah, this living arrangement was going great so far—but at least she wasn’t living with her creepy ex-roommate. Just a couple of dudes who couldn’t seem to move past high school.

I shook my head, still lost in thought. Tori clearly had the worst luck in roommates—except with me. I made a vow to shield her from the worst of the stepbrothers’ animosity.

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