Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Jayden looked around, but the handful of other patrons weren’t paying any attention to us. “She doesn’t need you to protect her.”
“The hell she doesn’t.”
“She could’ve stopped him anytime she wanted to. And she chose not to.” Since I wasn’t throwing, he gathered his darts and let them fly again.
I waited until he was done. “What choice did she have when he was right next to her, putting his hands all over—“
“Lucas, he gave her a safeword.”
For a moment, I couldn’t even comprehend that. “What?”
“I talked to him last night, after you went to sleep.” Jayden sighed. “I know this is hard to believe, but Kyle’s trying to be careful with her. He knows he can push too hard, so he gave her a way to shut him down.”
“By giving her a fucking safeword?” Rage filled my head, drowning out all thoughts. “She’s into that?”
With a low laugh, he shook his head. “If you mean bondage or BDSM, I would strongly assume not.” He sighed again. “I know you can’t see it this way, but I think he was trying to make sure she felt safe. That’s what a safeword is for, after all.”
“How can you say that? If he had any concern for her at all, he’d leave her the fuck alone.”
“You know he can’t do that. She’s tutoring him.”
“Most tutoring sessions don’t require a safeword.” I began to pace. “I have to talk to her. I have to tell her what he did with Natalie—“
“She knows,” Jayden interrupted. When I glared at him, he took a deep breath. “I told her the basics. She’s living in the same house as both of you. She needed to know.”
My shoulders tensed as I thought that through. Tori now knew about the worst moment of my life. “It wasn’t your story to tell,” I said bitterly.
“I know. And I’m sorry. But—she’s kind of in the middle of it now. And I hate to say it, but I think you’re the one putting her there.”
I raked my fingers through my hair, glaring at Jayden, who was suddenly keen on examining a torn poster on the wall. “I’m not putting her anywhere, but maybe I should. Starting now. You or I can drive her, she doesn’t need to be alone with Kyle in his truck. And no more movie nights or letting him come to the study group. And as for the tutoring sessions—”
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m not doing that.” He stared at me, his face unhappy. “Let’s sit down. I think this talk would go better without sharp projectiles.”
A waitress came by with another beer for him, and he thanked her as she walked away. Then he slid it over to me. I gulped some down because the look in his eye warned me I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Tori’s your friend, and she likes you. But that doesn’t mean she has to hate Kyle just because you do.”
“But the way he took Natalie from me—“
“Was a really shitty thing to do. We’re in agreement, there. But that doesn’t mean your friends have to hate him for the rest of time.”
My breath hitched. “Including you.”
“I don’t hate him,” Jayden said simply, and it was like a punch to the face. “I’m sorry, but I don’t. He’s not my best friend, but I don’t hate his guts.”
“I get it.” I looked away. “Neither of you have my back.”
“You mean me and Tori, I assume. And you’re wrong on both counts.” He leveled a look at me. “It’s not that simple, and it’s not a fucking loyalty test. Tori’s free to like any of us—or none of us.”
“If she likes him, she has no idea what she’s getting into.” The thought was both painful and alarming. “Do you think Tori is a—“ I swallowed, feeling like a bad friend for even discussing this.
“A virgin? I don’t know. But my guess is that she hasn’t had a lot of experience—and probably even less good experience. Guys in high school or even college aren’t always known for their finesse and for putting their partners first. Present company excluded, of course.”
I took another swallow of the weak-ass beer. “We shouldn’t be talking about her and her experience level, whatever it is.”
“Yeah. But… just like your history with Kyle, we’re all living on top of each other—almost literally. So issues are bound to come up.”
“I just don’t want her to get hurt.”
“I don’t either, but that’s something we can’t protect her from. Helping her with her creepy ex roommate is one thing. But this… we’re young. We’re all just trying to figure things out. What we want. What we like. How to get those things.”
“Kyle’s sure got it figured out.”
Jayden sighed. “Don’t be so sure. He needs to pass that comp class to avoid getting kicked off the team—which is another reason we need to work this shit out and not be at each other’s throats. Tori needs to pass, too.”