Page 38 of The List of Things

“Hey, ladies. Practice went well?” He asks over the group as we start to pass.

“First boot camp of the summer actually. Tryouts start next month, all the new freshmen don’t start boot camp until a week before,” Leah speaks, her voice not as pointed as her stare.

“Cool, hope it went well,” He tells them and continues walking.

I look over my shoulder, and Leah is doing the same, her eyes glaring down at me. I look away, turning back to the front, not liking the thought of her being jealous over something like this.

Something fake.

I also don’t like her claim on him in the slightest. She broke it off with him, why does she care what he does with his time? Why does she assume she has any control at all in his life? She’s the type to try and ruin a good thing, I can tell just by the way she looked at me and Bell. I’m the protective type over my friends. I’d consider him my friend at this point, and she acts like it’s her job to keep tabs on him. I understand being hurt, being broken up with, or wanting your ex back, but Leah takes it to another level. At the end of the day, if he’s moving on, it’s not her job to sabotage that. It shows me, and probably him, that she never really cared about him in the first place.

“Ignore her Ryn.”

I look up at him the second we step onto the turf.

“It’s hard when she’s shooting daggers at me. Especially since she has no reason to,” My voice is soft despite my words being serious.

“You have what she wants,” He drops his duffle bag on the ground between us now.

“Not actually,” I tell him, and he steps forward, over his bag.

He curls his finger under my chin, tilting my face up to him, “You’re wearing my name on your back, and walking onto the field, my safe space with me. It might be fake to us, but to everyone else except our friends, it’s not.”

Reality rushes through me at how right he is. Leah thinks he’s choosing me. She’s noticed since the party. I don’t doubt she saw me when I came to the field a few days ago to tell him I’d do the list with him. I don’t feel one ounce of regret agreeing to this.Not yet anyway. But I wonder if I should feel bad... For Leah, or anyone else we’re fooling.

“She was probably just telling me because she knows my sister is coming here next semester as a freshman. She cheers, and she’s really good. Leah knows that,” He shrugs, and I nod.

“Yeah probably…” I agree, wanting this conversation to end.

I don’t need to worry about Leah at all.

“Put your hair up,” He tells me, changing my thoughts again.

“Why?” I ask.

He pushes my hair back for me, his hands grazing my skin, sending flames through my body.

“Because I want to see your pretty face,” He jokes, and I raise my eyebrows waiting for a serious answer. “Because it’ll be easier for you. I can braid it for you.”

“I don’t have a hair tie,” I tell him, and he pulls one off of his wrist.

“I do, turn around,” He tells me, and I do.

He runs his large hands through my hair, pulling and twisting.

“How do you know how to braid hair?” I ask, knowing he’s not even doing a simple braid, he’s doing French or Dutch, something most men wouldn’t know anything about.

“My little sister didn’t have a mom as she grew up... My grandma is an amazing woman, but my sister wanted our mom, dad, or me... So I learned what I had to.”

My heart melts, and breaks all at once, thinking of the two of them growing up without a mom or dad. Especially a young girl like Brianne.

“You’re a really good brother...” I never saw it firsthand, but by the way he treats me, and the things I’ve learned thus far about his family I can just tell.

“I try my best,” He tells me, still working his fingers through my hair as he braids it back. “Do you have any siblings?”

My chest vibrates. I don’t know why it feels intimate when someone wants to know something about me. Not someone, but Bellamy. Because I know he’s the type of person who’s actually going to remember what I say. He’s actually listening to me.

“No... My mom couldn’t after me. They always wanted more, but they couldn’t. I was like a miracle to them,” I use the words my mom always used.

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