Release Date
1/27/14
Book Summary
The story of Kate, Kyle and Reed continues in
this second novel of The Perfect Series.
Kate (Katherine) Monroe is finally coming to
heads with the decisions she’s made in the past to keep herself distracted at
any cost. Learning to move on and forward with the conflicts in her life is
harder than she expects though. With Kyle continuing to attempt reconciliation
and Kate’s mom back at home, avoiding and running are no longer an option.
All along Kate’s mind and heart are consumed
with Reed, but she fights to push her feelings and desires to the side. Despite
the obvious pull and connection she has with Reed she finds it difficult to let
him in… and trust in herself. However, Reed’s perseverance and patience never
wavers and eventually he uses the one thing that had always brought them
together… tennis.
As Reed and Kate begin to embark on a new
relationship they face the past and the present head on. Along the way, new
challenges and emotions arise testing the direction of their future together.
Can Kate forgive herself and trust Reed in
order to latch onto the one emotion she needs most… love?
Excerpt 1
I don’t even
care that there are now three different girls talking to Reed. I sneak up behind him and tap him on the
shoulder. He turns around and the look
of shock and surprise on his face causes me to start giggling. He turns completely around with his back to
the other three girls and gives me a smile that touches his blue eyes. His squared jaw highlights his smile
perfectly. In this instant of a moment I
decide I want to kiss Reed even if it’s just for fun and to forget.
“You’re kidding
me. Wow!
I can’t believe you came here.”
“I told you we
would. You didn’t think I would do it,
did you?”
“Honestly, no,
but I was hoping. I never see you out on
the weekends anymore, so this is a great surprise.”
We stand there
for a minute and then he orders me a beer.
I take it, but nurse it. I’ve had
a bit much already and don’t want the spins.
He asks me and Quinn to play a game of pool with him and Matt. Matt wants to play girls against guys, but
Reed says no way that he wants me on his team.
I warn him that I am not that good, but alcohol may help my case.
We play the game
and I actually do pretty well. Reed
touches me every chance he gets and is very flirty. It’s my turn and I have to bend over to make
a shot, but to be honest I forget that I have a dress on.
“Shit,
Katherine,” he lets out in a bit of gruff tone and walks up behind me to cover
me.
I laugh at
him. “Oops, I forgot about my dress.”
“You look good
enough as it is and now with a dress on.
Jesus, I don’t need to get in a fight.”
He is still pressed behind me as I continue to make my shot. I miss completely because to be honest I’m
completely distracted.
“I doubt anyone
noticed, but thanks for protecting me.”
He steps back and I turn around.
I decide to be bold and kiss his cheek.
“Trust me, you
were noticed.” He moves a piece of hair
from my face and the touch sends a chill through me. “God, you are so beautiful.”
Chapter
16 – Kyle
I’ve
latched onto Kate’s hand softer than I would like, but I strain my hand to
comply. Even though I’ve told her I’ll
wait a little while longer for her to make a decision to try again with me I
know that I won’t let her make any other decision. It’s inconceivable to me. We make our way into Johnny’s house passing
through a couple messing around on the washing machine. The house is packed with people I’m mostly
familiar with. I glance around and see a
couple guys eyeing Kate’s entrance and I can no longer restrain myself from
gripping her hand tightly. Like always
though, she doesn’t notice. It’s part of
her innocence that I’ve missed. And just
like always, it drives me mad with instant jealousy. I remind myself though that I have to show
Kate that I’m different. Quickly, I
skirt us around the predators to the counter with the hard alcohol. After I make Kate a Captain and Coke I reach
for the whiskey. Ah, whiskey, this will
calm me.
As
soon as we hit the basement I see Johnny and some of the other guys. These are the guys I grew up with in high
school. I’ve known Johnny since grade
school though and we are closer than the others. One thing about Johnny is that he always has
my back, but even Idon’t trust him with
Kate. I know if he was ever given the
chance with her he’d jump on her in two seconds flat. Selfish
bastard. Every chance he gets he’ll
push my buttons and that means flirting with Kate. As expected, when he sees Kate he encases her
in his arms with his hands roaming too much for my liking. I try my best to brush it off, but I pull
Johnny off her before he even says hello.
The guys all laugh and Kate releases from my grip locked hand to make
her way over to the girls she played tennis with. I mumble, “fuck” because I hooked up with one of those girls during the summer
I was trying to get Kate back. She looks
my way and I don’t give her a second glance.
She had a tight body, but nothing compares to Kate, as I’m well aware
of.
Then
Stacy a girl that was in my class comes over to say hello. She’s hot with long brown hair, but it
doesn’t distract me from keeping one eye on Kate. When Kate’s eyes hit mine I see something
that I don’t usually see from her. She
shows me her cup is empty and I make my way to her. I’ve never really seen her like this. She’s usually right at my side and she never
used to drink. I’m not sure if I like it
or not, but I have to go with it. I
can’t risk pushing her away when I almost have her back. The change in her is evident, but I’m just
praying this change still includes me.
As I reach for her cup I kiss her cheek.
I hesitate for a moment because she’s already engrossed in a
conversation with the girls from tennis.
That doesn’t bother me. What bothers
me is that a few guys that I don’t know have joined the conversation. I practically growl at the sight of them, but
instead I force my legs to make their way upstairs to fill her cup.
Once
upstairs I set the cup on the counter and shake my hands out before refilling
them. A rage starts to boil in me at the
thought of any guys even talking to her.
I can’t loosethough. If she sees me resembling my old self she’ll
run. I’m still pissed that I have to
even work this hard to get her back, but it’s my fault and I know it. How I ever thought going away to college
single was a good idea is beyond my rationalization now. Quickly, I fill the cups. God knows who’s hitting on her down there
right now. When I turn around though I
run into a friend of my brothers. He’s
here with a couple other guys my brother knows.
They are older, but if I know them they are here to check out the
younger hotter ass floating around.
“Kyle,
Kyle Ross, what’s up, little man?” Doug
says with a stumble in his step. I laugh
as I shake his hand. Doug has definitely
had more to drink, which is making the conversation a strain. He starts talking about the old days and I’m
stuck here longer than I would like. All
I can think of is Kate down there with some tool hitting on her. Eventually, Doug gets pulled over towards
another group and I tell him that I’ll catch him later.
I
walk through the crowd towards the back and the first thing I see is Johnny
grabbing Kate from behind by her waist. Red.
I see Red. My fists ball up
and my jaw clenches. Kate swats Johnny
away and then her eyes see me. I can see
her fear and it reels me in sharply.
Still I don’t stop myself from ripping into Johnny, really the bastard
is lucky I don’t give him a blow and leave him with a shiner.
“What
the fuck, Johnny? I can’t even get her a
drink without you trying to molest her!”
My tone is clipped, but really it’s much more calm than it should be. Kate’s presence is enough to keep me in
check. I know she’s grading me, waiting
to see how I’ll handle this.
“Chill
the fuck out, Kyle. It’s your own fault
for leaving her unattended looking like she does. Plus, looks like someone beat me to the punch.” Before I even glance in the direction Johnny
is gesturing I look at Kate to see she’s embarrassed. I’ll give Johnny this much that he is right
that I should have made Kate come with me upstairs. She’s hot and everyone notices, but she’s
mine. Or I hope that by the end of the
night she will concede.
She
whispers, “Will you two stop it, please.”
She sees her drink in my hand and grabs it. She swiftly takes a swig and holds a
confidence to her I’m not used to seeing.
Her eyes stay focused, challenging me to step over the imaginary
line.
I
move around Johnny, who is already heading over to some other girl. Stepping closer to Kate I keep my hands to
myself because the urge to grab her and move her away from this dick across the
pool table is fierce. I practically spit
out, “What are you doing?”
“Just
playing a game of pool with Joe. Is that
a problem?” She raises her eyebrows
challenging me again. It’s become a
test, a game. She’s forcing me to play
and I’d prefer to force her to do what I want.
This is new because I have to check myself. I never used to and it always went my
way. But I love her and want her all to
myself again, so I comply to her challenge.
Back in the day I would already have been in that guys face.
“Ok,
let me know if you need me. I’ll be
right over there,” I say and start to make strides in the opposite direction
towards my friends. I put both of my
hands up palms facing her to show her she wins.
Before I turn around, I say, “Kate, please don’t give me a reason to be
jealous.” I’m trying my best to be cool
and carefree, but the tension running through me has a grip on my
emotions.
Music
Playlist
These
are songs that I listened to while writing and made me think of the characters.
Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye
(Kate to Kyle)
Redneck Crazy by Tyler Farr (Kyle to
Kate)
Agape by Bear’s Den (Reed to Kate) s
(some of the lyrics are quoted in the epilogue)
Closer to You by Wallflowers (Reed to
Kate)
Goodbye To You by Michele Branch (Kate
to Kyle)
Wicked Game by Phillip Phillips (Reed to
Kate)
Wanna Feel It by the Olms (Reed to Kate)
Give It All We Got Tonight by George
Straight (Reed to Kate)
Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson (Reed to Kate)
You Got Me by Ashley Monroe (Kate to
Reed)
Everlong by Foo Fighters (Reed to Kate)
Keep Your Head Up by Ben Howard (Kate)
Apologize by One Republic (Kyle to Kate)
Backtrack by Rebecca Ferguson (Kate to
Kyle)
I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift
(Kate to Kyle)
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About The Author
Melissa Rolka grew up in the Chicagoland area all of her
childhood and has always had a love of writing. She started by keeping a
journal at a young age and then in high school she started writing poetry. A
couple poems were published anonymously. Then in college she majored in
Philosophy, which required lots and lots of writing. After graduating from
Marquette University she traveled west to Los Angeles. There she worked for the
Writers Guild of America and found herself submerged in the writers world. She
worked on small writings, but never pursued them. On the side she became
involved with a small theater group. Eventually she made her way back to the
Midwest, where her heart belongs, and worked in business for several years. She
found love, got married and has two beautiful children. Being at home has allowed
her to keep following her love of reading and writing.
The Perfect Distraction is her first full length novel. A second
continuation of this story is in the works with hopes for a third. When Melissa
is not writing she is caring for, playing with and loving her two kids. In
between taking care of her family and writing she almost always has her nose
buried in her Kindle.
Amazon Link - Book 1
Author : Melissa Rolka
Genre: New Adult Romance
