Page 38 of Study Buddies

“I know what a safeword is.” My cheeks burned, and I couldn’t look in his direction. “But why would I need one?”

“So you can shut me down. If I cross a line, you say the word, and I’m done.”

This conversation was spiraling out of my control like most of our tutoring sessions. “We’re adults. We should be able to talk without one of us needing a safeword.”

“But if we have one, then we talk about fun stuff without you jumping out of my truck if I go too far.”

There was a lot to unpack there, but I settled on one issue. “The fun stuff?”

A grin tugged at his lips. “Come on, Victoria. Don’t pretend you never think about sex. Especially when I’m around.”

I ignored that last part. “A safeword just feels… like I’d be in over my head.”

“It’s supposed to make you feel the exact opposite.”

I thought that over and then gave a half smile. “What if you’re just being a prick, and I want you to shut the hell up?”

He shot me a wicked grin. “Then tell me to shut up, and I might do it… or might not. It certainly has a better chance of working coming from you than the brainiacs back home.”

Home. For some reason, that word echoed in my brain. It wasn’t my home, but… it certainly felt more like home than anywhere else I’d stayed recently.

“What’s the deal with you and the ‘brainiacs’?” I’d heard Jayden’s summary of the issue, but it would be nice to hear Kye’s side of things.

“That would take longer this drive. Let’s stay on track. What do you want your safe word to be?”

“We’re really doing this?”

“Why not? You were the one telling me to use bigger words, right? Wait, I’ve got it. Use the name of that app you showed me with the list of words.”

I frowned until I realized what he meant. “You mean the thesaurus?”

“Yeah. I knew it sounded like a dinosaur name. That can be your safeword.”

In spite of myself, I was considering the idea. “Is it a good safeword if a moment ago, you couldn’t remember what it was called?”

He grinned. “I won’t forget it now. It’s a good choice—it’s not a word that comes up in normal conversations.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “It kind of does—we’re university students. Some of us are here to study.”

He grinned. “It sure didn’t at the frat house. Okay, are you ready to take it for a test drive?”

For a weird moment, I thought he meant his truck. Then I understood and nodded.

“I’ll ask you a question. You either answer it or use your safe word.”

“All right. But I haven’t completely ruled out jumping onto the side of the road.”

He laughed, and I joined in. One thing that could be said for Lucas’s stepbrother was that he wasn’t boring. And he sure kept me on his toes. “What’s your question?”

“Remember that second time we met? When we were at the union?”

“Yes.”

“And I texted you saying I was going to send you a dick pic?”

“Yes.” My voice was more cautious this time.

“I sent you that attachment, and you turned beet red and slammed your phone down, refusing to look. But you kept sneaking glances at it, and eventually, you opened it. Why’d you do that?”

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