Page 12 of Study Buddies

“I do know that. Now.”

“And Jayden,” Lucas said.

“Glad you two finally remembered me.” The voice from the doorway startled us both. Jayden stood there, his legs still bare, but now a Langley t-shirt covered his upper body.

“Hi.” I suddenly felt shy, perhaps because of the way I’d stared at him before. “Were you able to get much sleep?”

He grinned. “I did, so you can drop the guilty look. How’dyousleep?”

“Good. It’s a nice bed, but the décor wasn’t quite what I was expecting.”

Something passed over his face, but I couldn’t identify it. “What time is your first class?”

“Eleven.”

“I can drive you.”

My gaze went to my car. It was parked on the grass on the side of the driveway under a tree. “I can drive.”

Jayden shrugged. “We’re going to the same place. Why not go together?”

“I—”

“And I’ll drive you back,” Lucas said. “Can you meet me in the union at six?

“Yes, but?—”

“Then it’s settled.”

It was? I hadn’t planned on spending more than one night here. No, I wasn’t going to attempt another night in my car, but If I was going to impose on anyone, it should be Hailey. She’d offered. I’d barely spent time with either of these men except for our study sessions. But as I looked from Lucas to Jayden and back again, they seemed resolute.

So it looked like I was staying here another night.

6

TORI

“Tori?May I speak with you after class?”

Uh-oh. No student liked to hear that as they made their way into a lecture hall. Professor Abrams hadn’t ever asked me to stay after class before.

“Of course,” I said, as if I wasn’t going to spend the next hour worrying about what she wanted to talk to me about.

She seemed to guess my fears because she smiled at me. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.”

That would’ve been reassuring if her smile hadn’t faltered at the end. That didn’t bode well.

Predictably, I worried the entire class, even though this required composition course was one of my favorites.

After class, I waited while the other students filed out and then followed Professor Abrams up to her third-floor office.

Perching on the edge of a chair, I waited until my teacher was settled behind her desk before I looked up.

Crap. She was watching me with concern.

“I can do better,” I said hastily.

Her eyebrow rose in confusion.

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