Ready or Not (The Love Game Book 4)

by Elizabeth Hayley

  “You’re fuckin’ nuts,” said the younger one. “Only people you see running around here are runnin’ from somethin’.”

  “Not me,” I said with a tight smile. “I just needed the exercise.”

  “You look good to me,” the younger man said, and as he looked me over, I wished I hadn’t elaborated.

  His comment was creepy as hell, but he might just have meant it as an innocent compliment. At least that was what he’d probably claim if I said anything back to him about it.

  I just went with a “See you later”—though I hoped I wouldn’t—before hauling ass inside and jogging quickly up the steps to my apartment.

  When I arrived at work an hour and a half later, Ransom was waiting outside, a broad smile across his face as I headed toward him.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “What’s up? Did you come out here to greet me?” I asked, only half kidding.

  “That’s exactly why I’m out here. That and I have to get the kids off the bus.”

  “Why are you out front?”

  “I feel like I’m having a flashback to like two seconds ago when I said why I was out here.”

  “Shut up,” I said, smacking him playfully on the shoulder.

  I could feel how solid he was—like his skin had been injected with some sort of substance that made it impossible for anyone to physically hurt him. I wondered what he looked like without his shirt on, but I tried to push the thought out of my head since there was no use imagining something that would most likely never happen. If I’d never seen him shirtless at the old apartment when there was a pool there, I doubted it would happen at an after-school program.

  “There was a beehive hanging from one of the branches on that tree near the back parking lot. Roddie tried to knock it down because he swore it was vacant and thought the kids would freak out if they saw it.”

  Roddie was a college student who’d been at the center for a year or so. He was a sweet guy, but he had about as much sense as some of the kids we worked with.

  “I’m guessing it wasn’t vacant?”

  Ransom shook his head and tried to suppress a smile as he took out his phone. He already had the video cued up, and when he pushed play, my hand immediately covered my mouth. It was cringeworthy. He split the hive in two, and a swarm of bees came flying out. Even though Ransom had filmed the video from pretty far away and the quality wasn’t great, I could still see the cloud of bees following Roddie as he ran toward the building. After that, the video got shaky before cutting out completely.

  “Oh my God,” I said. “Is he okay? Did he get stung?”

  Ransom nodded, still trying not to laugh. “Like all over. I feel bad for the guy, but it’s also his fault, and he’s not allergic or anything, so he’s fine. I mean, he went home to get some Benadryl, but he’ll be fine, I’m sure. Once the swelling goes down.” This time he couldn’t stop himself from laughing, and I joined in. “So anyway, there are still bees flying around everywhere out back, so I wanna make sure the buses don’t go down there and that the kids who walk know to go in through the front today.”

  “Okay, let me just put my bag inside and get the room ready for their snack, and I’ll come back out.”

  “Already done.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I got here a little early today.”

  “Thanks,” I said, smiling.

  “Plus, the last few times you did snack, the kids hated it.”

  We were standing next to each other near the curb, looking out for the bus, and I glanced over to see if I could tell if he was serious. I couldn’t.

  “Stop. My snacks are fine. And it’s not like I make them. I just pick them from the kitchen.”

  “Only a weirdo chooses yogurt or string cheese when there’s still Goldfish left. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you how disappointed the kids were, but they know you’re new and didn’t have the heart to tell you.”

  “Well, sorry for being health-conscious. Jeez.”

  “Don’t apologize to me. The real victims are over there,” he said with a one-sided smirk as a bus entered the parking lot.

  Once the vans and buses had dropped the kids off, Ransom took them inside to get them settled while I waited for the few walkers who still hadn’t arrived.

  After the kids got settled and got their homework out, Ransom announced that he’d gotten pretzels and pudding from the kitchen for snack.

  “Once you’ve washed your hands, you can come up and grab some,” he said. “I got chocolate and vanilla.”

  After they were seated again and shoveling spoonfuls of pudding into their mouths, I felt obligated to apologize.

  “Sorry about the carrots the other day,” I announced.

  “Why?” Gianna asked, taking a few pretzels out of her bowl.

  “Because they’re vegetables, and no one likes vegetables.”

  “I like them,” Gianna said.

  Her friend Emilia ate a bite of her vanilla pudding and washed it down with some milk. “Me too.”

  Then a boy named Kyle chimed in. “And they’re good for our eyes, right, Mr. Ransom? Didn’t you say if I wanna play QB in high school, I gotta eat things that’ll fuel my body?”

  “I did,” Ransom replied. “Good for you for remembering.”

  I internally sighed, wanting to be irritated about Ransom playing with me and, by extension, causing me to look like an ass in front of the kids, but I couldn’t muster it. He was such a goof, it was really my own fault for not suspecting he’d been lying to me earlier. Despite that, I couldn’t completely let him off the hook.

  I can’t stand you, I mouthed to him, which only made him smile wider. “Are you gonna take those dumb sunglasses off, by the way?”

  He’d been wearing them outside, which wasn’t all that strange, other than it being a bit overcast so they weren’t really needed. But now we were inside where it definitely wasn’t sunny, and his sunglasses looked odd, like they were too big for his face. Or maybe women’s?

  “They’re a fashion statement.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the type of statement you want to make. They look like something you stole from Kris Jenner’s closet.”

  “Who’s Kris Jenner?” Gianna asked.

  “She’s…” Ransom started to explain before clamping his lips together. “Never mind.” He pulled the glasses off and hung them from the collar of his V-neck T-shirt.

  “Oh, damn,” Kyle said. “What’d the other boy look like?”

  “What?” Ransom said, reaching up to his eye, which was puffy and bruised. “Oh, this? A door got me. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Kyle said, walking closer to check out Ransom’s injury. “This door have a name ’cause I’ll fu…” He caught himself before Ransom had to. “I’ll mess it up.”

  Ransom put his hand out and rested it on Kyle’s head and looked him in the eye. “I didn’t get into a fight, Kyle. Just drop it.”

  Thankfully for Ransom, Kyle did, but I couldn’t blame the kid if he was still wondering who the hell did that to him. I wondered too.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon helping the group with their homework, playing card games, and bringing them out to their parents when they arrived. Once all the kids had been picked up, I walked over to the cabinet where I kept my bag.

  “You’re horrible at Uno,” Ransom said.

  It was true. I’d lost all but one game. “Not as horrible as you are at lying.”

  “I don’t lie.”

  “That’s a lie right there. Everyone lies.”

  “Even you?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

  “Even me,” I admitted. Though I wasn’t about to say about what.

  He opened the main door for me so we could head to our cars.

  “So what really happened to your eye?” I asked. “Are you in like some sort of underground fight club or something?”

  “Ha! Not even close.”

  “Then what happened? And don’t tell me you got hit wi
th a door.”

  He walked a little farther, and I kept stride beside him. Finally, when we arrived at my car, he stopped. “Things got a little crazy over the weekend. It was a complete accident.”

  “Okay.”

  “It was,” he said, sounding eager for me to accept that as the truth.

  “I believe you,” I said, thinking that now we were even because every time I’d acted like I couldn’t stand him, I’d been lying too. And I was sure we both knew it.

  Chapter Nine

  T A Y L O R

  It’d been a while since Sophia and I had gone out just the two of us, and I was definitely in need of a girls’ night. Between two jobs and keeping up with school, I barely had any time to hang out anymore, and Sophia was just as busy. But since one of the girls at the bar had asked if she could pick up my shift so she could earn some extra money before her sister’s bachelorette party in two weeks, I figured I’d let her take my Friday so I could have a night off.

  Sophia and I had tried to think of something different to do, and she’d suggested going to a lake where we could rent paddle boards for an hour or so. It sounded low key and pretty relaxing, so it wasn’t a difficult sell despite the fact that I’d never gone paddle boarding in my life. But really, how hard could it be?

  “We get life vests, right?” I asked Sophia as we waited in the rental line.

  “Yeah, but I think you only need to wear one if you’re twelve or under. I think they just strap it to your board so it’s nearby for adults.”

  “Can we rent two paddle boards for an hour?” I asked when we got to the window of the little hut they used as their rental station.

  “Sure,” the girl replied. “I just need a license to hold, and you guys can pay when you return.”

  I handed my license over and then put my money and phone in the waterproof pouch I’d brought. It’d worked pretty well when I’d taken it to water parks and pools before and seemed to withstand getting wet, though I didn’t trust it if it submerged should I fall off the board, which was likely, knowing me.

  We headed down to the small beach where two tanned, shirtless guys jogged up to us so they could measure us for our paddles. They gave us some minimal instructions, including that we should start on our knees until we were out farther before trying to stand on the board.

  “I might have to stay on my knees the whole time,” Sophia said after we’d paddled for a few minutes.

  “Well, your knees are where you’re most comfortable, so I’m not surprised by that.”

  “Asshole,” she said with a laugh.

  “This isn’t too difficult yet. I think I might be able to stand. I’m just gonna go for it.” I brought my paddle up onto the board and laid it perpendicular in front of me. Then I shifted into a squat on my toes and popped up before I had a chance to chicken out. I’d just begun my internal celebration when I realized I’d left my paddle on the board. “Shit. I have to figure out how to get that.”

  “Just reach down and grab it.”

  “You think?”

  “Yeah, you were fine standing. You can do it again.”

  It made sense, but I didn’t consider that the board had slowed down, making balancing on it more difficult, like riding a bike that was barely moving.

  So when I tried to kneel down again, I leaned too far to one side and fell right into the lake. I managed to grab the board so I didn’t go under, but I was still completely soaked. After a minute or so, and Sophia paddling over to help pull me up with her paddle, I was able to get seated on the board again. Though it wasn’t graceful.

  “Oh, shit. I hope my phone isn’t ruined. I should’ve tied the lanyard around the life vest on the front of the board so if I fell, my phone wouldn’t go in too.”

  “That would’ve been a good idea.”

  I was already opening up the plastic case to see if the water had made it to my phone, and what I saw on the screen made my heart jump.

  Sophia must’ve noticed my reaction because she said, “Is it completely broken?”

  “Um…no,” I said, my voice absent and detached as I stared at the screen. I scanned the beginning of the text like I was trying to take in all the words at once and make sense of them, but I had to slow down and read it all the way through.

  Hey, T. Hope you’re okay.

  You had me worried when you

  didn’t show up to school. Don’t

  do that again.

  There was no name assigned to the phone number, but I didn’t need one to know it was Brad. He was the only person who’d ever called me T, and even without that reference, there was something about the tone of the text that made me sure it came from him. I’d blocked his number months ago, but he must’ve gotten a new phone. Did he buy one just so he could contact me? I didn’t want to think about that possibility. That had a new level of fear attached to it.

  “Taylor?” Sophia’s voice snapped me out of my internal monologue, and I looked up at her. The concern on her face most likely mirrored mine. “You okay?”

  This time she’d asked about me, not the phone, and I knew she wouldn’t believe me if I told her I was fine. She knew me better than that.

  “It’s him.”

  “Him who?” We were both quiet for a moment before her eyes widened. “What’d he say?”

  I shook my head like the motion might get the words out of my mind. “Nothing really. Just that he hopes I’m okay and not to worry him again.”

  “That’s…kind of disturbing.” Sophia looked almost as freaked out as I was. “It’s like he’s giving you an order or something. You think you should contact the cops or something?”

  “And say what? A guy I used to date texted to see if I was okay when I decided not to return to school without telling anyone where I am?” I leaned back on my board to lie down so I could stare up at the sky.

  The sun was fading behind the trees that lined the lake, casting beams of light through the leaves that fell onto the water. It was absolutely beautiful. And I should’ve felt peaceful, calm. But instead, all I could think about was how unsafe I felt even though I was in public surrounded by water. I guess Sophia was right, I thought with an empty laugh. I’m an island.

  She seemed to be thinking about my question since she hadn’t spoken. And after a few more moments, I let my head fall to the side so I could see her.

  She was sitting on her board with her legs crossed, moving her fingertips through the water slowly. “Do you have any threatening texts or emails or anything from him?”

  “Nope. Nothing like that. He’s too smart to put anything in writing. And it’s not like he tried to attack me or anything. He hasn’t even verbally threatened me. Technically, he hasn’t done anything illegal. He’s just creepy and doesn’t listen when I say I want nothing to do with him. He knew most of my friends at school before I did, so it’s not like they’d be rushing to see my side of things. Brad’s good-looking and charismatic. He’s funny, athletic.” I sighed heavily. “He’s one of those guys that other guys wanna be and girls wanna be with.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Sophia said, giving me a small smile that comforted me more than her words did. “You’re my ride or die. The Thelma to my Louise.”

  “Does that mean you’re gonna kill him and then take me on a road trip?”

  Sophia shrugged. “I’m not ruling it out.”

  That made me laugh out loud, and I felt a little better when I pictured Sophia and me driving down some unnamed highway in a convertible. “You know the end of that movie is them driving off a cliff, right?”

  “So maybe that wasn’t the best pop culture reference. Hillary and CC from Beaches?”

  I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “You can be CC since she’s the talented one who lives.”

  “Love you,” I said.

  “Love you too. I’m so happy you’re here.”

  “Me too.” I felt tears starting to form, but I managed to stop them from falling. “How about Janis and Damian? Ca
n’t go wrong with a Mean Girls reference, right?”

  “No. You can’t.”

  After a few moments, Sophia said, “Just try to forget about it for now. You’re hundreds of miles away from him.”

  I hated how Sophia was always right. “I’ll try. Though that may mean extending our girls’ night to dinner and drinks with the rest of the group. I might need some antics with my alcohol if I’m gonna try to ignore what a disaster my life is right now.”

  She was already taking out her phone. “I’ll text everyone now.”

  R A N S O M

  “Whose idea was this?” Taylor asked after her ball hit a stone around the edge of the putting green and popped up into a flower bed beside the course.

  “Uh, I’m pretty sure it was yours,” Sophia told her.

  “That’s untrue. When I suggested we go over to the old apartment, I was thinking we could hang by the pool or the fire pit, not compete in a sport.”

  I put my ball down and lined up the club behind it. “It’s not really much of a competition when there are only three holes and five people.”

  “It’s also not much of a competition when most of the people playing have absolutely no golf skills,” Toby pointed out.

  We’d all been hitting the balls around for the past fifteen minutes or so, and almost everyone needed a minimum of six shots to get it in the hole.

  When Sophia texted all of us after she and Taylor had finished dinner, I didn’t expect anyone to be free to hang out. It was a Friday night, so Drew, Brody, and Xander were working at Rafferty’s, and Aniyah and Cody both had plans already, so it ended up being just the three of us and Carter and Toby.

  I was happy I could make it. There were very few Fridays I was free, and this happened to be one of them.

  “Let’s make this interesting,” Toby said.

  “But it’s so interesting already,” Sophia said dryly. “I don’t know how it can possibly get any better.”

  Toby seemed oblivious to her sarcasm. “A bet.” He sounded more excited than the moment called for. “Guys versus girls. We’ll add up the total shots it takes for every member of the team to get it in the hole. Winners buy the losers drinks at the place of their choosing.”