Miles From Kara by Melissa West Read Free Book Online Page A

concerned. They were clearly drunk. They shouldn’t even be going out like that.
    â€œYeah, we have a pledge picking us up.” They stared at Colt like he was a juicy piece of meat they wanted to sink their teeth into, and I found myself stepping in front of him and shooting them a look that said he was already marked as Kara territory. Then I immediately felt sick to my stomach for even caring. He was Ethan’s roommate, for God’s sake!
Fuck, Kara. Fuck
!
    The girls started down the steps, and I spun around to find Colt standing closer to me, his expression hooded. “You’re confusing, you know?”
    â€œEverything about this is confusing.”
    He nodded and stepped back, so I could go into his apartment.
    As soon as the door closed behind me, I wanted to leave. It felt weird standing in Ethan’s apartment without him there. Add in that I was with a guy I had not-so-honorable thoughts about and the awkwardness skyrocketed to straight agony.
    I knew where the leather sofa was comfiest. I knew the refrigerator squeaked when you opened it too slowly. I knew the apartment nearly as well as my own, yet suddenly I was seeing it in a new light. The guitar case sitting by the sliding glass door. I assumed it was Colt’s, but I wasn’t entirely sure. It felt like I only knew a part of Ethan, not all of him.
    I walked over and sat down on the sofa. “Where did he go?” I asked, my voice small. We both knew I didn’t know he’d gone.
    â€œSome cabin in the mountains with his frat brothers.”
    I nodded.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said, as he slipped into the kitchen and brought back two cans of beer. “Want one?”
    â€œThanks . . .”
    He popped one open and passed it to me. “You don’t seem overly bothered that Ethan didn’t tell you he was going out tonight.”
    I thought about it for a moment. “I’m more upset because I’m
supposed to be
rather than actually caring. Does that make sense?”
    Colt stared at me, clearly biting his tongue to keep from saying what he really thought.
    â€œYou can give me your opinion. We’re friends.”
    â€œAre we?” he said, his accent making the simple words sound way sexier than they should.
    I cleared my throat and forced myself to continue looking at him. “Of course.”
    â€œThen I think you’re insane for staying with the bloke. Roommate or not, he treats you like shit. You shouldn’t take that. No girl should.”
    I knew he was getting upset. His Aussie slang tended to slip out most when his emotions were high. I straightened as I realized that I’d been paying closer attention to him than I intended. Much closer attention. I finished my beer and set the empty can on their end table.
    â€œWant another?”
    I opened my mouth to say no, that I was already buzzed enough to hit Olivia’s drinking scale, but I didn’t want to think so much right now. Whatever was happening with Ethan and me wasn’t healthy. He left without telling me. I texted his roommate behind his back. None of it was healthy. Yet . . . I didn’t know how to end things with him. He knew all my secrets, all my flaws, and he loved me anyway. What if no one else ever loved me despite those ugly parts of me?
    Colt pushed off the sofa and started for the kitchen, tossing his can in the trash as he went. “I’m bringing you another.”
    â€œThanks,” I said as he handed me a fresh beer. “I just . . . Even when you know you should, it’s hard to end things when the person you’re ending things with has been a part of your life for so long. Ethan’s seen a lot. He’s been with me through so much. It’s just . . . turning my back on him now feels like I’d be saying that none of that mattered. Like it meant nothing when he was there for me, ya know? I don’t want to be that