Page 34 of Study Buddies

She tilted her head up, and her silky hair slid across my arm. “What is it with those two?” Clearly, she’d been thinking along the same lines I had. “It can’t just be because of their parents’ marriage, right? I know stepsiblings don’t always get along, but this seems extreme.”

I sighed, not surprised she asked. Trouble was, it wasn’t my story to tell—it was Lucas’s. But maybe I could share a little about the parts I’d experienced firsthand. After all, I’d known Kyle as long as Lucas had.

“They didn’t like each other in high school, even before their parents met. And then it all happened so quickly, and suddenly they’re living together, and that made it worse. I’m sure you can guess that Kyle was popular, a star athlete, and guys like thataren’t known for how they treat people lower down on the food chain. But a lot of guys that age were self-centered jerks. I myself wasn’t the exemplary man that you’ve come to know and love.”

I glanced down in time to see her lips curve into a smile.

“So it’s just high school stuff? Jock versus nerd?” Then she quickly stammered, “I don’t mean Lucas was a nerd, just, you know… I’m sure he was the smart kid in school.”

I squeezed her shoulders. I knew what she meant. “He definitely was the smartest guy in school. And yeah, maybe a little nerdy.”

Tori was quiet for a minute, and then she said, “It seems like something else is going on.”

Shit. She was putting me in a tough position. Finally, I made my decision with a sigh.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but, well… it affects you and me, now, too. Because if they keep fighting, you and I may both want to go sleep in your car.”

She laughed lightly at that, but I could see in her eyes that she really wanted to know their history.

“Promise not to breathe a word of this to Kyle or Lucas?”

“Of course.”

“Lucas had a girlfriend, Natalie, all through high school. Well, they met as freshmen, and they were a couple by their sophomore year. They really seemed perfect for each other. They were always together, always laughing and smiling, and I think Lucas really believed that he’d found the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

“I know it’s easy to look at that kind of situation from afar and say: This is just a high school romance. It’s not going to last. You won’t marry your high school sweetheart. But I think Lucas believed he was going to.”

Tori tensed, as if bracing herself for bad news.

“The last semester of our senior year, just a month or two before graduation, Lucas grew quieter, a little more reserved. I thought it was the stress of final exams approaching, but then he told me that it felt like something was off. He was having some trouble with Natalie. They were arguing more, disagreeing about their future.” It had worried me, how down he seemed.

“And then one day, he came home from some meeting and caught Natalie coming out of Kyle’s bedroom.”

“Oh shit,” Tori said softly.

“Yeah. It was bad. Neither one of them denied it. In fact, Kyle bragged about it—about stealing Lucas’s girl—even though they didn’t stay together. Lucas was crushed. He and Kyle weren’t close before that, but now… now they’re enemies.”

“And roommates.” She sighed. “Poor Lucas. That’s awful.”

“Yeah, it was a really bad time. He was valedictorian, gave a speech at graduation, but it was like all the life had gone out of him.”

I didn’t mention that I hadn’t seen him show any interest in even looking at another woman until last year when we started the study group. With Tori.

“But wait—didn’t they live together here last year before you moved in?”

“Yeah. Their parents had already bought the house at that point, and they held on to the naive idea that it was all going to work out. I was in an apartment on the south side of campus, but from what I gathered, Kyle wasn’t here often last year. Just stopped by to get some things, maybe do some laundry. I think he and Lucas made it a point not to be here at the same time if they could possibly avoid it.”

“Kyle didn’t stay here? Where did he sleep?”

I bit back a grin. I had a funny feeling that Tori was imagining him hopping from one woman’s bed to another all year—which,actually, I wouldn’t really put past him. But that wasn’t the case as far as I knew. “Usually at that fraternity he joined.”

“But I thought freshmen couldn’t live in frat houses?”

“He’s Kyle. The rules don’t apply to him. They never have.”

I had endless examples of that, but I had already talked more than I should have. It felt disloyal to Lucas to be talking about this stuff, but god knew Tori didn’t need more roommate drama. She’d already been through a lot.

“I don’t know Kyle very well, but I’m still kind of surprised that he’d do something like that.”

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