Read Online The List by Kate L. Mary - Free Book Online Page B

yelled.
    People stopped walking and stared at me. I was too mad to care, and Ryan didn’t even seem to notice.
    He released my shoulders and ran his hand through his hair. “Shit, Buttercup, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that there are some pretty nasty people out there. It just isn’t safe.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ground. It was getting dark, but the streetlights had come on and we were standing right under one. It was like our own little spotlight.
    â€œYou don’t have to tell me,” I muttered. “I know.”
    Ryan tilted my face up toward his. “You okay?”
    I shrugged and hugged myself harder. “Family stuff.”
    He dropped my chin and nodded. “I hear you.” He pressed his lips together and exhaled slowly through his nose. “Listen, my place is just down the street. Why don’t you come over and we can talk about it?”
    I couldn’t look him in the eye, so I stared over his shoulder. At the little lights bouncing on the water in the distance. Boats probably. It seemed like a nice place to be at that moment. Alone, drifting on the water.
    â€œIt’s not something I really like to talk about.”
    â€œThen we can just hang out. I’ll walk you home later.”
    I nodded and he put his arm around my shoulder. He was sweaty, but I wasn’t complaining.
    â€œCome on, Buttercup.”
    Every time he called me Buttercup, something inside me tingled. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Or why he’d chosen to stick me with the nickname. “Why do you keep calling me that?”
    â€œI told you, you remind me of a buttercup.”
    â€œBecause I’m so pale?”
    Ryan squeezed me closer to him. “Because your hair is the same color as their petals and you’re so tall and thin. You’re pretty and delicate like one.”
    I could have sworn the temperature went up about fifty degrees, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off his face. “You think I’m pretty?”
    He laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn’t. Not to me. “Come on, I bet guys are always telling you that.”
    â€œNever.”
    â€œThen everyone in California must have either been blind or stupid,” he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
    He dropped his arm and we headed back the way I’d come, then crossed over to George Street instead of continuing on to Calhoun. Just a few blocks down he stopped in front of a brick building and hit a buzzer while he stretched.
    â€œMy roommate will let us in,” he said, bending his right knee and leaning to the side.
    I tried to keep my eyes off his muscles, but they were like a mythological Siren, calling me to stare. He didn’t seem to mind, so I didn’t even try to look away. Guys like him were made to be stared at—it was simple science, in my opinion.
    The door buzzed and Ryan stood up. His gray eyes met mine and he winked. “Don’t need to keep mentally undressing me, Buttercup,” he said, pulling the door open for me.
    My cheeks grew warm, but I laughed and followed him into the building. The rush of cool air swept over us, leaving my skin sticky. A sigh of relief whooshed out of me. There’s nothing quite as refreshing as stepping into an air-conditioned building after the humidity of the south.
    â€œIf that’s what I was doing, it wouldn’t take much. You’re practically naked as it is,” I snapped back, then immediately pressed my lips together.
    Where did that snappy reply come from? It was a little unsettling. Normally I was so tongue-tied around anyone but family that I couldn’t string two words together.
    Ryan laughed and motioned for me to follow as he jogged up the stairs. It helped me relax, but my stomach was still uneasy. The whole discovering who I was thing was turning out to be a lot easier than I’d thought it would. I wasn’t