Read Online Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite by KB Winters - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: KB Winters
Ads: Link
and I tossed the phone into the passenger seat. I blew out a forced breath as I started the engine of the truck, shaking my head with leftover irritation. Damn it, Nate.
We’d been buddies all throughout growing up, even with the age gap, and I hated that we’d lost that somewhere along the way. From the outside, we appeared to have everything in common. He was a Marine, I’d recently gotten out, and he was my spitting image. Hell, we even drove the same brand of truck and dated similar looking women. But that was where it ended. While being a Marine had taught me discipline and responsibility, Nate was using it as a cover to run around, act like an idiot, and had fallen in with a very different crowd than the friends I’d made during my time in the Marine Corps.
There was a chance he’d grow up and pull out of his juvenile antics, I hoped it would happen soon, before he fucked something up that couldn’t be fixed.
* * * *
As I drove back through town to my rental, I passed the strip of shops that were nestled beside The Siren , and saw that the lights were still on inside the small coffee shop. I’d never bothered to look at the official business hours, but as I slowed and turned into the lot, I couldn’t help but wonder if Carly ever left the damn place.
I parked in front and spotted her at the counter, her head down, focused on something on the other side. I went inside and she didn’t even register the soft tinkle of the bell on the door. She was scrubbing furiously at a spot on the counter and appeared completely lost in her own world.
“Hey there,” I said, approaching cautiously, like a person approaching a loose tiger. I had no idea what she was upset about, but the tension was palpable, and I knew that I didn’t want that fire directed at me. “Everything okay?”
Carly jerked up at my question, a look of surprise on her face. “Oh, Nick. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“No worries. Are you all right?”
She nodded, but the lines around her mouth were tense and tight. She dropped the sponge and it landed with a wet plop on the counter. Suds from the cleaner flicked up on to her apron. She scowled down at her front and brushed away the bubbles. “Perfect,” she growled.
“What’s going on?”
Carly heaved a sigh and abandoned her mission to wipe away the suds from her apron. “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes, seemingly at herself. “Okay, not nothing,” she admitted.
“Hey, I get it if you don’t want to talk.” I pocketed my hands in the front of my jeans and shifted my weight to one side. “But if you do, just know that I’m here.”
Her jewel-toned blue eyes flashed to mine, as though startled by my simple offer to listen. I wondered if she ever let anyone in. From what Aaron told me when I first asked about her, she didn’t share personal details freely. But it was hard for me to imagine she didn’t have at least one friend that was a confidant to her.
Who was she? If it weren’t for her pink hair and piercings, I would’ve assumed that back in high school she had been the head cheerleader, homecoming queen, fantasy of every guy in school type of girl. She was the complete package. Full lips that led to an easy smile. Dazzling blue eyes that were wide and open, entrancing and intriguing. A figure that while possibly curvier than most airbrushed models on billboards and swimsuit campaigns, was lush and decadent, the stuff that real men dreamed about. Her features, porcelain skin, and sunny disposition all pointed to an outgoing, spunky, popular girl type.
And while I didn’t know her well enough yet to say for sure she hadn’t been a bubbly cheerleader, there was something about her that told me that wasn’t the case. There was something darker about her that had nothing to do with her somewhat alternative look.
“I’ve just been having a hard time with my sister,” she continued, shaking her head. “She has these new friends that she’s met since being
We’d been buddies all throughout growing up, even with the age gap, and I hated that we’d lost that somewhere along the way. From the outside, we appeared to have everything in common. He was a Marine, I’d recently gotten out, and he was my spitting image. Hell, we even drove the same brand of truck and dated similar looking women. But that was where it ended. While being a Marine had taught me discipline and responsibility, Nate was using it as a cover to run around, act like an idiot, and had fallen in with a very different crowd than the friends I’d made during my time in the Marine Corps.
There was a chance he’d grow up and pull out of his juvenile antics, I hoped it would happen soon, before he fucked something up that couldn’t be fixed.
* * * *
As I drove back through town to my rental, I passed the strip of shops that were nestled beside The Siren , and saw that the lights were still on inside the small coffee shop. I’d never bothered to look at the official business hours, but as I slowed and turned into the lot, I couldn’t help but wonder if Carly ever left the damn place.
I parked in front and spotted her at the counter, her head down, focused on something on the other side. I went inside and she didn’t even register the soft tinkle of the bell on the door. She was scrubbing furiously at a spot on the counter and appeared completely lost in her own world.
“Hey there,” I said, approaching cautiously, like a person approaching a loose tiger. I had no idea what she was upset about, but the tension was palpable, and I knew that I didn’t want that fire directed at me. “Everything okay?”
Carly jerked up at my question, a look of surprise on her face. “Oh, Nick. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“No worries. Are you all right?”
She nodded, but the lines around her mouth were tense and tight. She dropped the sponge and it landed with a wet plop on the counter. Suds from the cleaner flicked up on to her apron. She scowled down at her front and brushed away the bubbles. “Perfect,” she growled.
“What’s going on?”
Carly heaved a sigh and abandoned her mission to wipe away the suds from her apron. “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes, seemingly at herself. “Okay, not nothing,” she admitted.
“Hey, I get it if you don’t want to talk.” I pocketed my hands in the front of my jeans and shifted my weight to one side. “But if you do, just know that I’m here.”
Her jewel-toned blue eyes flashed to mine, as though startled by my simple offer to listen. I wondered if she ever let anyone in. From what Aaron told me when I first asked about her, she didn’t share personal details freely. But it was hard for me to imagine she didn’t have at least one friend that was a confidant to her.
Who was she? If it weren’t for her pink hair and piercings, I would’ve assumed that back in high school she had been the head cheerleader, homecoming queen, fantasy of every guy in school type of girl. She was the complete package. Full lips that led to an easy smile. Dazzling blue eyes that were wide and open, entrancing and intriguing. A figure that while possibly curvier than most airbrushed models on billboards and swimsuit campaigns, was lush and decadent, the stuff that real men dreamed about. Her features, porcelain skin, and sunny disposition all pointed to an outgoing, spunky, popular girl type.
And while I didn’t know her well enough yet to say for sure she hadn’t been a bubbly cheerleader, there was something about her that told me that wasn’t the case. There was something darker about her that had nothing to do with her somewhat alternative look.
“I’ve just been having a hard time with my sister,” she continued, shaking her head. “She has these new friends that she’s met since being
Similar Books
