Page 41 of Study Buddies

“No. You’ll have to come up with your own.” But we’d just passed the coffee shop where I’d tutored him on Saturday, so we were almost back to the house. If Lucas was there, I didn’t want to show up all hot and bothered. “Maybe a thesaurus could help you with that.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

And he was true to his word, only making G-rated small talk for the short remainder of the drive. I filed that information away to think through at another time. For now, I just knew that he'd been right, this had been fun. And that for all his flirting and inappropriate talk, maybe, just maybe, he could be trusted.

16

TORI

How’s itgoing with your hot new roommates?Hailey’s text read. I’d finally come clean to her about my living situation. She’d been mad that I’d lied about having a place to stay, but she’d quickly forgiven me. If anyone could understand sharing a home with three men, it was her. Naturally, she’d looked my new roommates up online. Kyle, being on the baseball team, was the easiest to find, and she kept bringing him up. As if she didn’t have enough handsome guys in her life.

Good. Jayden just gave me a campus tour, now we’re at a little coffee shop.

A campus tour??? You’re in your second year here. You’ve been on campus just as long as he has, right?

Yes, but he knows all these cool little places.I glanced over to the counter, where he was ordering. This place was the perfect example. It was buried in the basement of the social sciences building, and I’d had no idea it was here. Before that, we walked around campus, getting in a little exercise before the study group tonight. He’d shown me a house on the edge of campus that always had cats in the front yard. A little courtyard with a fountain in it near the administrative building. And, hilariously,the base of the chemistry building where you could just make out the edge of a dropped hammer embedded in the concrete.

It had been fun, seeing the university through his eyes. Jayden was an observant guy. As we walked around, I’d had the strange urge to take his hand. Then again, maybe it wasn’t all that strange. After all, I’d practically been lying on top of him in the hammock on Sunday. That had been the most relaxed I’d felt in weeks. With Jayden’s bicep under my head, it had been as if he was holding me in his arms. I’d liked it—maybe too much. Then, when I remembered that top-notch scalp massage he’d given me, well, let’s just say he’d been on my mind a lot lately.

I’ve got to get to class, Hailey texted.Be good and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.She followed that with a winking emoji. Given that she was living with three hotties, I wasn’t entirely sure what was entailed.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure about my own list. But I did know that the drive home with Kyle yesterday had been pretty steamy. My skin still tingled every time I thought about it. And later, when I was in bed, I could hear Kyle moving around his room just on the other side of the wall, and, well, that had led to some very happy dreams.

“Sorry that took so long.” Jayden set a tray down on the table. He’d bought sandwiches, chips, and drinks.

I smiled up at him. “You bought me dinner and you’re apologizing?”

“Not sure that this counts as dinner.” He sat down, scooting his chair close to mine. “But I like this place. It’s never crowded, mainly because no one knows about it.”

I sure hadn’t. The quiet hum of the café made it feel like a hidden world, separate from the bustle of campus. “Did they make the sandwiches fresh or something?”

“No, they’re from the display case.” He lowered his voice, leaning in. “The guy behind the counter is brand new. To the café, and by the looks of things, to planet Earth.”

I giggled and resisted the urge to look over at the poor guy.

“My friend Mia’s shift starts soon, and she’s great. Practically runs the place. I’m glad you’ll get to meet her—I think you’ll like her.”

Um… who the hell was Mia? This was the first time I’d heard the name, but she seemed like someone Jayden liked. As friends? Or something more? A dull ache hit my stomach, and I had trouble swallowing the chip I’d just eaten. I was well aware that I had no claim over the man sitting next to me, but I kind of liked spending so much time with him recently. Maybe I was hanging out so often with good-looking men that I was getting spoiled.

Still, I kind of hoped this Mia had a boyfriend.

Jayden twisted the lids off two green glass bottles. The label identified them as some sort of carbonated lemon-lime drink. I took the one he held out.

“Let’s make a toast.” His smile had me anticipating whatever he was going to say.

“To what?”

He clinked the neck of his bottle against mine. “To our success in the bathroom.” He stopped dead and then rolled his eyes, laughing at himself. “That came out so wrong that I really hope you’ll forget it.”

It took effort not to laugh, especially since I knew what he’d meant. “I didn’t hear anything, sorry. What are we drinking to again?”

He grinned and chose his words more carefully. “To successfully clearing out the downstairs bathroom and getting it ready for use.”

We clicked drinks again, and I said, “Much better.” The drink was fizzy and tickled my tongue. “I still want to buy a bathmat and a trash can and all that.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. I live there too, you know.”

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