Page 71 of Study Buddies

He looked over as ifIwas the strange one. “I don’t control when the races start, Victoria.”

“Y-you…” I couldn’t even gather my thoughts. Forget betting on horses, he was betting on both my grade and his. My scholarship and his. “You really do that in class?”

He shot me an arrogant look, his lips clamped shut—but then I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

“Kyle!” I couldn’t tell if I was more relieved or angry when he burst into laughter. I smacked his arm, not moving it a bit, but I did it again. “You jerk!”

He was still laughing. “I’m a jerk fornotgambling in class?”

“You’re a jerk for making me believe it.”

His laughter finally dwindled, but he still had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “No offense, but it was easy. You can be kind of naive and innocent sometimes.”

“Innocent?”

“You forgot naive.”

Though we were joking around, his assessment stung. “Would it be better to be calculating and pushy like that redhead?”

Kyle wasn’t smiling anymore. “No.”

“Is she your?—”

“No.” He glanced at me without turning his head, as if trying to ascertain my mood. “No one’s ever done that for me before.”

“Done what?”

“Pretended to be my girlfriend to get someone off my back.”

“Your back wasn’t the part of you she was pawing at.”

He laughed. “True. But thank you. It’s nice to be the one being rescued for a change.”

Maybe he was still teasing, but to my ears, he sounded sincere. “It was my turn. You rescued me, or rather my necklace, from my former roommate.”

“Ah, yes. Okay, then, we’ll call it even. Although to truly be even, you should’ve punched Jasmine in the face.”

I gave him the side eye. “Is that what you did to Todd? Is thatallyou did to Todd?” I’d been wondering but hadn’t been brave enough to ask.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Are you an undercover cop? Because you have to tell me if you are.”

“If I were, I’d point out that you’re going fifteen miles over the speed limit. Are you going to tell me or not?”

He shook his head. “You could be wearing a wire. How about this—I’ll tell you if you let me frisk you first.”

He was joking, but that didn’t stop heat from pooling in my core. “No thanks, I don’t want to know that badly.”

“Can I frisk you anyway?”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. Talking with him like this was fun. And arousing. And it was also kind of a challenge to keep up with his rapid-fire innuendo. But the one thing it wasn’t was scary. Because he’d made sure, back when he barely knew me, that I had an out if I wanted one.

I didn’t.

Things werequiet for a few minutes. As always, I admired the confident way he drove. Not that Jayden and Lucas didn’t, but with Kyle… well, he was an athlete. He was in complete control of his body. His every movement was efficient and skilled. And it was almost like his truck was an extension of him. He handled it as skillfully as he did a bat, ball, or glove.

“I enjoyed the game.” Immediately after I said it, I cringed. Could I have sounded any lamer? A personenjoyeda painting at the art gallery. What I’d said didn’t even come close to conveying how impressed I’d been. Then again, this was Kyle and gushing over him too much would just feed his already inflated ego. And possibly give him the wrong idea. Or, like the right-yet-still-not-wise idea.

“Me too.”

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