Page 8 of Study Buddies

Okay. Sleep well!

You too.

I put my phone back in my backpack. The hotelwaslovely—and also expensive. That was why I’d checked out two days ago.

Which wouldn’t have been a big if I’d actually found an apartment like I told Hailey, but that was a lie. Every spare moment had gone into searching for a place, but in a small town like Haverford, housing was scarce—unless you could fork out thousands of dollars a month.Hailey knew that better than anyone, since she’d been in the same situation recently. I’d spent so much time searching for a place that I’d neglected my homework. That was one of the reasons that I’d been glad when Lucas had reinstated the study group.

But not the only one.

With a sigh, I pushed up from the chair and headed toward the small restroom in the back of the laundromat. I used it and washed my face. Then I fished a travel-sized brush and toothpaste out of my pack and used that, too.

Then I trudged to my car. It didn’t take long to drive to the little park. It was nestled between a small neighborhood of single-family housing and the deeper woods that lined the mountains. I’d discovered it after driving around the other day, depressed about the status of my housing search.

It had been so calm and peaceful there that I’d stayed for hours, until well after dark. The calm of the park versus the absurdity of spending over two hundred dollars a night on a hotel had made the decision had been easy. I had checked out the next morning.

I chose the parking space closest to the board at the start of the trailhead. A small light illuminated the map and information on it, and it provided enough light for me to see in the car, but not enough light to bother me all night.

With a sigh, I looked around. There was a pillow and some blankets in the trunk. I’d used them to stretch out in the backseat the past two nights, but the thought of getting out ofthe car right now was too tiring. All I wanted was to go to sleep and forget I’d ever seen Todd tonight. The man who’d been a classmate. Then a friend. Then a roommate.

And then revealed himself to be a very delusional, possessive creep.

That thought sent a shiver down my spine. I checked the locks twice before unclipping my seatbelt.

Closing my eyes, I felt for the lever on the side of the seat and lowered it down. For tonight, this would do. I’d never seen anyone here at night. And in a town such as this, the most dangerous thing I might encounter out here was a bobcat, and as far as I knew, they didn’t come this close to town. And they sure as hell didn’t know how to pick the lock on a car door.

Folding my arm, I rested it over my eyes. I needed sleep—I could figure out the rest of this tomorrow.

Just as my racing thoughts slowed, I heard a sound. Then a shadow passed across the windshield. My heart lurched as I shot upright. The knock on the window triggered whatever deep-rooted fight or flight instinct I had, but then I heard my name. “Tori, are you in there?”

The voice belonged to Lucas.

4

JAYDEN

“Get whatever you want,”I told Tori as she perused the menu. She sat across from us in a booth at a diner that looked straight out of the ‘50s. The large bench seat made her look even smaller. And the way she kept nervously toying with the end of her ponytail made her look younger. “My treat.”

Her brow wrinkled. “I’m not homeless.”

I tilted my head to the side. “It kind of looks like you are.”

“Well, okay, but I’m not broke.”

“Good to know, but you’re still not paying.” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Lucas’s nod.

The whole reason we were here at all—and why she wasn’t sleeping in a fucking car in a parking lot—was that he’d sensed something was up.

He told me about the camera that creep had planted after we dropped Tori off, and I saw fucking red. No wonder women were cautious around men. With assholes like that out there, I didn’t blame them.

But even with that knowledge, I’d been content to drive off and leave her at that laundromat.

Lucas had convinced me to park across the street and wait. I was tired and wanted to go home, but he’d made us stay.

And he’d been right to.

“Can I get chicken strips?” She looked up from the menu.

“Get whatever you want.” Lucas said it this time.

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