Anxious Love (Love Sick #1) by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle Read Free Book Online

and walked into the living room. I stopped and slid down the wall in the hallway. I pulled my legs to my chest as I waited to hear his answer. How he saw me was important.
    "You're a little guarded, but I get it. You don't know me."
    "You're so open to everything. I'm not like that. I want to be, but..." I ran my hand up and down the wall over my head. "It's hard for me."
    "Well, I'll help you. If you'll let me." He was walking around, and I heard street noise through the phone. "You can start by coming out on the balcony so I can see your pretty face."
    The balcony door was open, and I could hear his voice from the street.
    I hung up the phone, scrambled to my feet, and ran out onto the balcony.
    "There she is." Ryan stood on the opposite side of the street and had his hand open and in the air.
    All the calm, soothing feeling I had talking to him changed when I saw him. His bright eyes and honest smile made my heart race. "What are you doing here?"
    "Since you can't come out and play, I thought I would come by and bug you until you agree to come hang out with me."
    "You want to come up?"
    "Nope, I'm fine right here. I told you I would let you get your work done." He sat down. "I'm just going to sit here until you agree to go out with me."
    I giggled and sat down on my balcony, my legs dangling over the side. The smile on his face made my insides twitch. I peeked between the slats in the balcony, checking out his strong legs as they dangled off the stoop. One hand rested on his hip while the other lay on his lap. His T-shirt hung loose, but I could make out the contours of his shoulders. He wore light jeans and blue tennis shoes.
    "You know this is just as distracting. I can't get any work done with you watching me."
    "Nope, not leaving."
    "Ugh." I blinked, as Ryan's eyes grew wide. I looked down and saw Sophie on the balcony below. She wore a red sheet wrapped around her torso and nothing else. "You two are ruining my chance to get my freak on with a very well-endowed ginger."
    "Oh, my God," I said.
    Ryan stood up and chuckled.
    "Aw, Soph, thanks, babe," a man's voice boomed from her room. I shook my head.
    "Okay, tell me the problem," Sophie said.
    "There's no problem," I said.
    "She won't go out with me."
    His assessment of the situation irritated me. I wanted to go out with him; I was going to go out with him. I never said I wouldn't; I just didn't know how.
    "Okay, let me intervene here and maybe I can move this along." She turned her head up to me. "Leah?"
    "Yes, Sophie."
    "Do you want to go out on a date with Ryan?"
    "I do, but—"
    "No buts." She turned back to Ryan. "I know your answer. Okay, so Ryan."
    "Yes, Sophie." He matched my tone, teasing me. I smiled despite myself.
    Sophie stared off into the sky for a minute.
    "Tomorrow afternoon. I want you to get a picnic together. Either buy it or cook it. Whatever you think will make the best impression." I watched Ryan's face but focused on Sophie's instructions. "At 2:00 pm, Leah will meet you at Audubon Park in the open field just west of the fountain." She turned back to me. "Leah, you show up at 2:15 pm because it never hurts to make a man wait for a minute. That sound okay?"
    "Yeah." I nodded my head.
    "Ryan?"
    "I can do that."
    "Terrific." She clapped her hands, and her sheet slipped. Ryan's face turned red, and he looked away, but I could see him shaking from here. "Oops, sorry. So now that it's settled, Leah, go back to work. Ryan, go do whatever it is you do when you're not bugging my little Leah."
    "Okay, I'm going." Ryan squared his shoulders, walked across the street, and looked up; his head craned back. "Leah?" he whispered in a loud voice.
    "What?" I asked in the same voice.
    "I can't wait." He blew me a kiss, and while the move was cheesy and obnoxious, the kiss landed smack dab in my core, and I moaned under my breath as he disappeared under my balcony. I stood up and walked to the north side as he walked back in my view. He turned and smiled before