Safer Outside (A Mature YA Romance) (The Outside Series) Read Online Free

around his finger.
    I’m sure my mouth was hanging open but no words came out. Kim was even more shocked than I was and quickly stepped in.
    “Logan, right? It’s good to see you. I knew Becky from choir. She was always talking about you.” Kim sidled up to me and practically shoved me aside to get in front of Logan. Probably her way of giving me space to gain some composure but it just made me mad. And jealous.
    Logan winced at the name and took a step back from Kim. If I wasn’t one of the main characters in that scene, I would have laughed out loud. I’m pretty sure some of the guys did laugh but I wasn’t paying attention to them. My eyes were glued to Logan’s, watching his reaction to Kim and her proximity.
    “You’re one of Becky’s friends?” His look of disdain was apparent. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    I looked to Kim and wasn’t sure if I should laugh or feel sorry for her. I’d nev er seen her rejected by anyone—ever. She was in shock and obviously mortified by his comment.
    “W e aren’t close friends. I just knew her from a few classes.” Kim quickly recovered, never really allowing herself to be out of control of a situation. “Well, it was nice to meet you guys but we need to get to our lockers.” With a swing of her golden locks, she strode to me and grabbed my arm. “See ya.”
    Not quite realizing what was happening, Kim pulled me away from the guys with Jen and Allie on our heels. As soon as we rounded a corner, I stopped to compose myself. “What just happened?”
    My friends were just as confused as I was but they w ere also beaming. “That hot senior was totally picking up on you,” Jen gushed. She was practically jumping up and down with her hands grasping mine as we relived the previous few minutes.
    I looked to Kim for confirmation. She was the expert at this kinda thing.
    “I think he was.” Kim seemed reluctant to admit it, but as my best friend, I think she was generally pleased. “He seemed to be really into you. You need to talk to him again. I’ll see if Austin wants to do something after school and maybe he’ll bring Logan.”
    ~**~
    After school, I had to go straight to the elementary school two blocks away to pick up Riya and Simon, the two kids I tutored in the afternoon. Walking down the street with my mind replaying the conversation at lunch, I barely noticed the car that pulled up beside me. When the window rolled down and loud music poured out of it, I stopped to look inside.
    Randy was in the passenger seat of a shiny new white Mustang. Such a guy car. Logan leaned over the steering wheel and caught my eye. “Hey, Liz. Can I give you a ride home?”
    Seriously? I had to take a few deep breaths before I could force words out. “Oh, um, thanks, but I’m just picking up a couple kids from Washington.” I pointed to the elementary school field that was only a few houses away from where we stopped.
    “Were you like six when you had them?” The half smile on Logan’s face made his left dimple call out to me. I just wanted to touch it.
    “Ha ha. I’m tutoring them until their parents get home.” I started walking but he kept rolling beside me.
    “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “Okay, see ya.” I waved but didn’t make eye contact again. I wanted to climb into his car and go wherever he would take me, but there was no way I’d ever let him near my house. Thank god for the tutoring excuse or that would have been awkward.
    Just as I reached the field, my phone vibrated in my bag.
    “Hi, Mom,” I answered with more than a hint of annoyance in my voice.
    “Hi, baby. Do you have any money here that I can borrow?”
    Of course that’s why she was calling. She only called when she needed money or for me to babysit. Usually both. “I think I have a twenty in the blue jar on my dresser. You can have that.”
    “Oh, actually, I had to use that last week. I can wait til you get home but I need diapers and a few other things that I can’t