Page 64 of Study Buddies

She was perfect.

Drop-dead gorgeous, but also kind. She had a good heart. And—shit. Maybe Jayden was right. Maybe I was putting her on a pedestal.

And that wasn’t fair to her. And… well, it wasn’t what I should want, either. I needed to look at Tori for who she was, not who I thought she should be. Because otherwise it wasn’t real. You couldn’t get close to someone when you were refusing to recognize the whole of who they were.

When we left, I paid for the drinks. It was the least I could do. Jayden had given up his afternoon to set me straight.

And it turned out he wasn’t done.

“There’s two more things I need to tell you,” he said as he drove along the twisty little road back.

Shit.

“What now?”

“First, Tori and I are going to the game tomorrow.”

“The baseball game?” In other words, Kyle’s game.

“Yep. You’re welcome to come.”

“Thanks.” We both knew I wouldn’t.

Jayden sighed, his eyes still firmly on the road. “And the other thing is about what happened on the sofa.”

I let out an exasperated breath. “I get it. She was into it and Kyle’s apparently not evil incarnate—at least in this case.”

“She wasn’t the only one into it.”

I frowned. “Yeah, he made his interest pretty clear. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her once she put that dress on again.” That was another thing that bugged me—the way he’d gotten her to do that.

“I meant me,” he said softly. “I liked watching her. And not just those amazing legs. I looked at her face, too. She knew I was watching. And I’m pretty sure that she liked it. That it made it more exciting for her.”

Fuck.

“Am I the only one in the whole damn house who’s not being driven by raging hormones?”

“Probably. But I’ve got to be honest—that aspect of Tori kind of caught me by surprise. I’d bet it did her, too.”

I rubbed my eyes. “I don’t want to know this.”

“You should, if you want to see who Tori really is, not just who you want her to be.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “What am I supposed to do with that information? About either of you?”

“I don’t know, man. But we’re almost back, and I know what will make you feel better.”

“What?”

“Clearing crap out of the basement with your best friend.”

My eyes closed as I shook my head, trying to figure out whether to laugh or cry. But one thing I did know—for once, I didn’t think I’d be able to focus on homework.

I sighed. Jaydenwasmy best friend, and no matter how much I’d hated this conversation, deep down, I knew he was looking out for both Tori and me. And given that, it was hard to stay mad at him.

“What the hell. Let's clear crap out of the basement.”

21

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