Ready or Not (The Love Game Book 4) by Elizabeth Hayley (i wanna iguana read aloud txt) 📗

Before I could think too much more about it, Taylor barged into the bathroom, startling at the sight of me.

“Shit, you scared me,” she heaved between breaths.

“Sorry. I was just…in here.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” she replied, eyeing my curiously.

I needed a good transition for how to bring up the plan I had.

Be smooth, Ransom.

“I heard you and Sophia talking, and I can help.”

Her eyes narrowed at me.

Not smooth.

“Were you eavesdropping on my conversation?”

How did I answer this without being a creep? “Yes.”

At the hardening of her face, I realized that was, in fact, not the way to avoid being creepy.

She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip out like the angry little bee she was.

“I didn’t mean to. I was coming in here and heard Sophia mention you needed a job.”

She raised an eyebrow, which was as effective as a torture method to get me to keep talking because that was what I did.

“I work at a community center. We run a camp in the summer for kids. It’s ending this week, and a lot of our counselors are heading back to school. But our after-school program is starting, and we need staff. It’s probably not quite as intense as where you worked this summer, but we still get our fair share of troubled kids, so it’s no cakewalk. They could probably use you every afternoon, and it would leave you time to do your school stuff during the day.”

It had been quite a word vomit I’d released, but I wanted to get it all out there before she told me to mind my business. I did think it would be a good opportunity for her. And having an excuse to see her almost every day was a definite plus. Though I’d keep that bit to myself.

She eyed me warily, her jaw bobbing up and down as she nibbled into her bottom lip. After what seemed an eternity, she exhaled. “Why would you do that for me?”

Not quite the question I was expecting. The intent way she was looking at me let me know that my answer to this was important.

No matter how many times I’d tried to get close to Taylor since we’d met, she’d always rebuked me. Her inviting me into her space was a major step forward, but I had a feeling we’d plummet backward if I was too honest. Not that I wanted to lie, but she seemed…skittish. My only guess was that she wanted my offer to be genuine and not because I wanted to get into her pants—something she’d shown she was decidedly not interested in me doing.

Telling her that I wanted to help would come across like pity, and explaining that I wanted any excuse I could get to be in her presence would have her erecting a metaphorical Berlin Wall between us.

So, instead, I went with, “Because you’re terrifying, so the kids will like me more in comparison.”

Her smirk told me I’d gotten the answer right.

Chapter Four

T A Y L O R

“Excuse me, lady. I have twenty dollars for you.”

“Huh?” Hesitantly, I looked to my right, where a guy who looked to be around my dad’s age, standing at the metal mailboxes in the apartment entrance, was holding out a twenty-dollar bill. “Oh, um, that’s okay. You keep your money.”

He was only about my height, with graying hair that needed a washing and thick glasses that were held together with what looked to be black electrical tape.

“Take it,” he said. “Really. Buy yourself somethin’ nice.”

“I don’t need it. You keep it,” I said again.

I wanted to head to the elevator, but I would’ve had to move past him to get there. He hadn’t done or said anything inappropriate, but for some reason, someone offering me money felt more insidious than it would’ve felt had he asked me for some. Like offering a stranger cash was the adult equivalent of someone rolling down the window of a nondescript white van to tell a child that they have extra candy. The only difference was the child would have more room to get away. Here, in the dimly lit lobby with peeling floral wallpaper, I felt closed off from the outside world.

The space was actually too small to even call it a lobby. It was more of a hallway that could fit either someone getting their mail or someone walking toward the elevator, but not both. I grabbed some bills that had already arrived—which made me thankful Xander had been able to at least hook me up with free Wi-Fi—and did my best to ignore the awkward man attempting to give me a handout.

By the time I got back upstairs, I felt exhausted, as if the efforts of the day had suddenly caught up with me now that I could actually relax. I appreciated everyone’s help, more than they probably knew, especially since I’d only known most of them a few months. But that same fact made me feel a little strange taking their help, mainly because I hated feeling indebted to anyone.

Living independently shouldn’t have been an all-or-nothing scenario, but something made it feel like that—like if I didn’t have the help of my own parents, I shouldn’t have help from anyone. Though logically the opposite was probably true.

Sophia had told me not to be an island, and Drew and Ransom had already offered to help me get jobs where they worked. And judging by how long everyone stuck around after I was completely unpacked, it seemed like at least a few of them wondered whether I’d make it through the night by myself.

Whether that said more about my ability to take care of myself or my choice in housing remained to be seen.

After lying down for a little while, I pulled myself up to look for something to eat. It would have to be either peanut butter and jelly or another slice of pizza, and since I’d already eaten three slices earlier with the gang, I opted for the