Read Online Broken (The Outsiders Series) by Jamie Loeak - Free Book Online Page A

now, Carter. Wait till it wears off a little bit. I know she’s going to want to remember your first time together and all,” she says with a wink. Then, without another word, she steps inside with Ryan.
    I sigh and follow the m inside. And I look up into a large room. The ceiling is two stories high, and there’s a huge, glass chandelier. There’s a disco ball attached to the end of it right now, and it’s flashing different colors around the dance floor. Girls are grinding each other while guys stand around watching. Red, plastic cups are piled near a keg in the corner. There are a few liquor bottles, too.
    Ryan and I go grab a few drinks. The girls end up taking them all when we get back, and we l et them do what they want. We end up standing in an awkward circle while the girls down the beers. I mentally shake my head at Lane, who’s probably going to end up wasted and passed out somewhere.
    Just then, Colton comes from the middle of the dance floor, where he was just humping Anne Marie. He’s all sweaty and he already can’t walk in a straight line. “Hey,” he says as he tosses his arm around my shoulder, “I’m glad y’all could make it on time. We just got started,” he says to us all. Then he turns to Lane and Brooke. “The girls are on the dance floor now if you two want to join them. They’ve been waiting on you two all night. Apparently, there’s some gossip,” he says to them. The girls rush off, too excited to say anything more to us. And we’re just left with the cups. And Colton.
    I look at him, noticing his blonde hair and blue eyes. He matches Ann e Marie a little too perfectly. I guess that’s the way all popular couples look. And he’s built, but not like Todd, who looks like he works out. Colton just looks like he swims.
    “Here,” he says as he reaches out, takes the empty cups, and tosses them in a trash can. “Now let’s leave the girls to their dancing. It’s time for some bro time, gentlemen.” He throws his arms around us again – but I’m starting to get used to it – making sure to slosh the rest of the beer in his cup so that it ends up on Ryan’s shirt. And then, he leads us outside on the deck, where Todd is waiting. Ryan immediately freezes up. I can tell that he doesn’t want to do this right now, and I don’t blame him. I pull away from Colton’s arm and move in front of him.
    “What are you doing?” I whisper.
    Colton’s eager look turns into annoyance. “We’ve been together longer than you could ever know, Carter. They need to work on their friendship, man. And you don’t need to barge on in like you own us.” His normal friendliness takes a turn toward the crazy and he steps forward. 
    “I don’t act like I own you,” I argue. “But I’m going to be someone’s friend for real. I’m not gonna fake it and betray them.”
    Todd gets closer to us. “What?” he asks me in his deep voice. “You come around for three days and you steal my best friend. Don’t talk about being real friends.”
    I turn, looking from Colton to Todd. Crap. How did I get myself in the middle of this mess? Then again, I knew that popularity had its drama. Even the guys are possessive of their junk.
    And I don’t mind fighting. But two on one isn’t fair.
    But Ryan steps forward and throws down the first thing he finds. The beer bottle smashes on the ground and shatters. “You stole Katie from me, so don’t you talk about stealing things,” he says to Todd. “And Colton’s right, we go way back. So it’s okay for Carter to steal from you. He doesn’t know you. But you stole from me, jackass, and that’s not cool – considering we go way back, I wouldn’t have expected it from you. So stop blaming Carter. He didn’t do it or cause this. And it doesn’t matter how hard Todd tried to convince you, Colton.” He stops there and pulls in a deep breath to calm himself down. “You were wrong,” he says before he turns around and starts walking away from