Read All the Broken Pieces: (Broken Series Book 3) for Free Online

smooth floor in the dining room, she was bound to pick up speed.”
    I got a soft laugh out of her that time. “At least she was friendly. This town has its fair share of grouchy old bats, too. Count yourself lucky to have avoided those.”
    “You mean like Bonnie?”
    She nodded. “Most aren’t quite as rabid as her but yeah, they can be vicious.” Her gaze moved to the kitchen window and she frowned. “Maybe it’s best that you not be seen with me. It won’t earn you any allies in this town.”
    I followed her stare and saw several wrinkled faces peering out at us. “Fuck ‘em.” I flicked my hand in their direction. “I choose my friends; I don’t allow anyone to choose them for me.” I turned to meet her eye. “And I’d like us to be friends, if you don’t have any objections.”
    “Why?” Her response was immediate and unsettling.
    “What do you mean ‘why’? Because I like you. I find you interesting.”
    She barked out a bitter laugh. “Oh, you really need to get out more if you think I’m interesting.”
    “I get out plenty, I’ll have you know.” I acted affronted. “Maybe I just wanted someone to hang out with around here besides Clay and Ali. If you’re not interested in my friendship, I suppose I could go back inside and make nice with my walker stalker.” I made like I was about to leave, starting to stand.
    Her hand shot out and latched onto my wrist, tugging me back down. “Okay, okay. You win. It’s not like people are beating down my door looking to be my friend these days, so who am I to say no?”
    “Gee, stop with all the flattery, will you? You’re gonna make me blush.”
    Her responding smile was beautiful. And fleeting. She looked down at my wrist and realized she was still holding onto it, snatching back her hand with an apologetic look. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant…” she trailed off. “Actually, I’m not sure what I meant. Ignore me. It’s been a long day.” She blew out a breath and averted her gaze.
    “I’m not exactly Mr. Popular, myself.” I admitted quietly.
    She turned back to meet my gaze, clearly curious. “And why do you say that?”
    I blew out a breath and shrugged. “I have it on good authority that I’m weird.”
    “Weird how?”
    “Too quiet, too awkward, too nerdy, too different… You name it, I’ve heard it.”
    She watched me for a moment, her attention shifting from my face to drift down my body, finally settling back on my eyes. “You look pretty normal to me.”
    I gave her a quick once over, smiling. “So do you.” She quirked a brow and fluffed her bright red hair, prompting me to add, “For the most part.”
    She chuckled at that. “It’s usually black, my natural color.” She snagged a lock and twirled it around her pointer finger, eyeing it with an amused smile.
    “I like the red. It’s striking. And it makes your eyes pop.”
    She tilted her head, still watching the red strands catching the light. “It’s okay, I guess. I didn’t really do it for myself, though.”
    “So, who did you do it for? A boyfriend?” Something about the idea of some jackass telling her to change the way she looked pissed me off. Not that she seemed like the type to yield to requests like that.
    “Boyfriend? In this town? You really are new around here.” She shook her head. “No, no man gets to make my choices for me. Ever.” She lifted her hand and nodded to the hair curled around her finger. “This was me giving the people in this town a little ‘fuck you’. I figured since they are constantly gossiping about me anyway, why not make myself easier for them to pick out in a crowd? They whisper and point regardless, and half of them are near-sighted as hell, so this helps them keep the gossip mill running.”
    Her answer left me somewhere between impressed and annoyed. “Why do they gossip?”
    The look she gave me suggested I’d asked a stupid question. “As Clay’s business partner, I’m sure you can