Page 61 of Study Buddies

“And, of course, you do.”

“We could talk about something else,” he said, stepping back. “Like, say, movie night.”

“No thanks.” I threw a dart harder than necessary, making it thud into the board. Jayden didn’t even look to see where it landed. He just stared me down. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yes, you do.”

Shit. I didn’t—not really. But he knew me almost as well as I knew myself. This best friend thing was a double-edged sword. They could see right through you and call you out.

My next two throws were worse than the first, and I grumbled as I plucked them off the board. Jayden was still studying me as I returned to the throwing line. Finally, I exhaled sharply. “He needs to leave.”

Jayden didn’t miss a beat. “It’s his house, too.”

“That doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants to people.”

“To her, you mean.”

“Yeah.” I watched as Jayden took aim. “He was harassing her.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Jayden said quietly. His dart landed cleanly in the triple ring, giving him twenty-four points.

Not that I cared about the score. “Are you blind? Did you see what he was doing?”

Jayden sighed. “Yes. But it wasn’t… unwelcome.”

My head swung around, but he was staring down, eyes focused on the red darts I kept transferring from hand to hand. “How can you say that?”

“Because I was there.”

“He uses people. Uses women. You know that.” Jayden was my best friend, and he knew how my whole world had come crashing down when Kyle had taken Natalie from me. He knew that better than anyone. “He’s a fucking predator. And I let him sleep in the room right next to hers.” As mad as I was at Kyle, I was also furious with myself.

Jayden looked around, but the handful of other patrons weren’t paying any attention to us. “She doesn’t need you to protect her.”

“The hell she doesn’t.”

“She could’ve stopped him anytime she wanted to. And she chose not to.” Since I wasn’t throwing, he gathered his darts and let them fly again.

I waited until he was done. “What choice did she have when he was right next to her, putting his hands all over?—“

“Lucas, he gave her a safeword.”

For a moment, I couldn’t even comprehend that. “What?”

“I talked to him last night, after you went to sleep.” Jayden sighed. “I know this is hard to believe, but Kyle’s trying to be careful with her. He knows he can push too hard, so he gave her a way to shut him down.”

“By giving her a fucking safeword?” Rage filled my head, drowning out all thoughts. “She’s intothat?”

With a low laugh, he shook his head. “If you mean bondage or BDSM, I would strongly assume not.” He sighed again. “I know you can’t see it this way, but I think he was trying to make sure she felt safe. That’s what a safeword is for, after all.”

“How can you say that? If he had any concern for her at all, he’d leave her the fuck alone.”

“You know he can’t do that. She’s tutoring him.”

“Most tutoring sessions don’t require a safeword.” I began to pace. “I have to talk to her. I have to tell her what he did with Natalie?—“

“She knows,” Jayden interrupted. When I glared at him, he took a deep breath. “I told her the basics. She’s living in the same house as both of you. She needed to know.”

My shoulders tensed as I thought that through. Tori now knew about the worst moment of my life. “It wasn’t your story to tell,” I said bitterly.

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