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

“Delaney, stop!” Tripp yells, tossing me to one of his guys. “This is part of the game.”

“The game?” My eyes widen, burning with anger. “The fucking game? You’ve got to be kidding me.” I jerk my arm free and spin to knee the guy in the balls. He crumples to the ground. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I scream at Tripp.

Tripp has the nerve to move closer to me but suddenly jerks away. The blanket of heat behind me explains his cowardly reaction.

“You heard her.” Marek’s gravely strength rattles in my chest.

The crowd parts as I rush forward. For a split second, the world is quiet and fearless. I grab the railing and carefully climb over. I face forward to see what he’s seeing, but nothingness greets me. His eyes are shut, but his hand shows his emotions.

I cover his cold, trembling fingers with mine.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“There’s nothing to say.”

“I’m sorry that you’re living this moment, whatever it means to you, over again. It isn’t fair. There’re a million other things I could say, but mostly, I need you to know you aren’t in this alone. You never have been.”

“I am alone.” Turmoil isn’t something I expect to hear from the mouth of the joker. It’s hard to bear witness to the pure life being wrenched from someone.

“Delaney, get off the ledge right now!” Tripp shouts.

“You should listen to him, you know?” Breaker glances at me, a serious expression settled on his face.

“I’ve never been good at listening, though.”

“Then listen to me, Delaney.” His eyes dart below us to the swirling water. “I need you to get off this ledge. I can’t do this with you here.”

“I can’t do that, Breaker.” I shift my weight, securing my feet on the wet edge.

“And why not?”

“Because . . .” Tears prick at my eyes. “Because, Breaker, if you’re here, then so am I.”

“Why’d she have to do it?” He whispers the question. “Why couldn’t she, I don’t know, freeze time and give herself a moment of relief?”

He’s asking questions I don’t have the answers to. I don’t know the truth behind them. Whatever haunts Breaker Davenport lives on this bridge. Fear and anguish radiate off him, wrapping harshly around my heart.

“Delaney, get down. This isn’t your battle,” Tripp commands again.

“You’re wrong there.” I glance over my shoulder. Seeing Palmer and Marek holding each other reminds me that this is my family. She nods, tears rolling down her face. Marek folds her into his chest, shielding her from the pain of watching Breaker losing a battle he has no idea he’s fighting.

“Delaney, get off because I can’t hold on much longer,” Breaker demands, sliding his hand out from under mine.

“If you fall, I’m going with you.” I grab his hand again, but this time, he doesn’t fight me. Instead, he grips tighter, as if he needs me here to keep him present.

“I won’t survive this.” Breaker’s eyes dart between me and the water.

“Yes, you will,” I say with a certainty I know he does not feel.

This very second, I know what Palmer has been talking about this whole time. It’s taken seeing Breaker on the bridge, feeling his pain, to understand the phenomenon of unrelentless love. A single flash of memories makes everything so clear.

“Don’t be fucking reckless, Laney.” Tripp tugs on my shirt, forcing me to grab Breaker’s.

My feet slip first, and off we go.

“I love you,” I whisper as we fall.

Silence meets us, wrapping us in her embrace to protect us from what’s to come. Breaker holds tight to me, shifting his body beneath mine, shielding me as our bodies plummet.

Shock comes first, followed by a quick realization that we are fully submerged.

Within the chilly water, warm arms wraps around me. Arms so strong and a broad chest bring me to the surface. Gasping for air, I’m struggling to tread water when everything goes dark. I’m carried to the shore, and the body behind me makes me forget about the harsh rocks under me.

“You’re okay. You’re okay, baby.” The voice is hollowed, as if he’s screaming into oblivion, muffling the words.

My eyes are clenched tight, too afraid of what I’ll see. Am I dead? Am I barely alive? Fear has a chokehold on me, stealing the very thing that will prove I’m alive. Breathe.

“What did you do?” is whispered in my ear. “What have you done?”

Breaker.

I’m lifted off the ground, my eyes frozen shut, and carried away from the scene. Car doors shut and tires squeal. Controlled chaos surrounds me, and the only thing I can do is lie lifeless in his arms, too weak and too overcome by the river to take away our pain.

“Is she okay? Breaker, is she okay?” someone yells.

“Come on, Delaney. Wake up.” The quiver in the muted voice worries me.

I am awake. Aren’t I?

“There’s blankets in the far back. Warm her up.”

My body is placed on a flat, soft surface. Leather.

“Get her clothes off. They’re too cold and wet to warm her up,” someone instructs.

My clothes are stripped from my body, and a warm body hovers over mine, like a second blanket. Body heat.

“I’m going to fucking kill him!” Marek bellows.

“Get us home!” Breaker yells, his voice unsteady. “Now.”

Who’s on top of me?

“I need you to hold on,” Dixon whispers in my ear. “Hell, I need you to hold on for all of us because we can’t take care of him like you can, okay? So, find enough strength in that little body to speed up that too big heart of yours, okay? You can do it. I promise I will make Tripp pay for what he did tonight, but I need you to be around to witness it.”

How do I fight a losing battle? It hurts too much. It’s too cold. Giving in to the dark would be so much easier.

“Drive faster!” Palmer shrieks. “Is she breathing?”

“There’s a pulse,” Dixon explains.

“We should take her to the hospital!” Breaker shouts. “Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital?”

Turmoil surrounds