Glass Heart Hero: A Dark High School Romance by Lindsey Iler (free ebook reader for iphone .TXT) 📕

Breaker helps me to my feet. “I remind you of that night, and I hate that, but I don’t regret what happened. I saw something in you in that room that I don’t think you knew you were capable of.”

“Murder?” I wipe the tears off my face.

“Perseverance.” He lightly holds my chin in place. “We’ve each seen the darkness in the world, Delaney. Don’t allow yours to blow out your light.”

Breaker may see a light inside of me, but what he doesn’t notice is I’m a shell of who I was. No amount of reminding me will change that reality.

One of them is the light, and the other’s the darkness.

How do I know which is which?

Chapter Seven

Breaker

“I gave him notice,” I tell Marek as we walk to the car.

“When is it?” He opens the driver’s door, awaiting my answer before getting inside. I don’t know why he’s in such a hurry to get to school. Mondays suck.

“Tomorrow night,” I say, completely bored with the idea of what’s to come.

Dixon throws his bag in the seat and groans as he slides in beside it.

“Long weekend?” I ask, assuming so since no one has seen him much.

“Don’t ask. Just some bullshit with Reagan,” he answers, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his head against the glass.

Apparently, I’m not the only one living in hell.

Marek reverses down the driveway, barely looking out the windows for guidance. “You ready for this? Because if you aren’t, we can come up with something else.”

I’ve had the whole weekend to think about my first move. Tripp is going for psychological warfare with these challenges. My option is to play the physical card. It’s the advantage I have over him. I wasn’t nicknamed Breaker for going easy on my opponents.

“He’s strong, but he’s no fighter. I’ll handle this one.”

“What’s the point in the gauntlet?” Dixon asks. “Didn’t she stay the night this weekend? I thought you two assholes were trying to prove who’s the better man for her, which, by the way, is archaic as fuck. If she’s staying the night with you, didn’t she already make her choice?”

In a perfect world it would be that easy.

“She rambled on about some shit about having us both and keeps saying things about the light and dark in the world.”

“Let me guess, Tripp DuPont is the light?” Dixon cackles. “She does realize he’s . . .”

“No, she has no idea,” I cut him off. When I think about her alone in a room with him, I become murderous.

“Why don’t you tell her? Save the girl the trouble of finding out the hard way and let her run into your arms like the little prince charming you are.”

“Because I don’t want to be the second choice. I want to be the first one. I want her to wake up and realize she can’t fathom a life without me.”

“You sound like a fucking pussy.” Dixon kicks my seat. “No offense.”

“Not all of us are capable of flipping off our emotions, Dixon, so fuck off.”

“Break, don’t listen to him,” Marek says through his struggling smile.

“Fuck you, too, Marek.” I kick my feet up on the dash. “You’re one to talk. You worship the ground Palmer walks on. Stop acting like none of us are capable of putting someone above our own needs and wants.”

“Speaking of Palmer, where is our little ray of sunshine?” Dixon leans up, wrapping his arms around the headrest. I shove him off.

“She met up with Delaney early this morning to grab coffee.” That explains his eagerness to get to campus.

“Uh oh,” Dixon singsongs. “You know what that means? They’re totally talking shit about the two of you.” He points between Marek and me while grabbing his bag.

Marek parks the car, then flips Dixon off.

“Speaking of romance, Dixon, let’s talk about Reagan,” I say.

“What about her?” He rolls his eyes.

“Nothing at all.” Marek shrugs, laughing hysterically as we head for first block.

“Have you heard anything, though?” Dixon sprints to keep up with us.

“Let’s face it, boys. We aren’t the guys who humped and dumped last semester,” I point out. “No more pussy roulette for us.”

“And you know who we have to blame for that?” Marek lifts his hand, and we follow to the tip of his finger.

“Palmer,” Dixon and I say in unison as we watch her approaching us. Delaney is at her side.

“What did I do?” Palmer wraps Marek in a hug.

“You ruined us is what you did,” Dixon barks. “Thanks a lot. Because of you, we’re all sensitive and acknowledging our feelings. Personally, I don’t like it.” He storms off towards his first class.

“What did we miss?” Delaney asks, stopping next to me.

“Dixon is upset because Reagan doesn’t want anything to do with him!” Marek yells. A few students laugh. Dixon’s response is to hold his middle finger high in the air as he walks away.

Unsure of what to do or where Delaney and I stand, I keep my arms straight at my sides. Everything in me wants to reach out and grab her hand, to kiss her before we head off to our classes, but I don’t.

“Why are you so uptight this morning?” Delaney leans in and whispers in my ear.

“I’m not.” I walk away from her.

She runs after me. “Seriously, Breaker, what’s going on?”

“Listen, when you showed up at the house Friday night, I thought there would be this shift. I thought it was you picking me. I’m not too blind to see that you’re struggling with whatever demons you have burrowing inside your mind, but I’m also not sure how I fit into your process.”

“But you were more than happy to find a way into my panties. I see how it is.”

“It’s no big fucking surprise that I want you, Delaney. Shit, all you have to do is glance in my direction, and I’m hard, so don’t use that as an excuse.” I point in her face, finding myself more upset than I’d thought I would be. “I’d bury myself