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

“Threesomes sometimes happen in this house!” Byron yells from the kitchen.

“Are you guys done?” Delaney covers her face.

“Don’t even think about it.” Reagan glares at Dixon then heads for the kitchen.

“We’ll see.” He wiggles his brows, following behind her and smacking her ass.

“I’ve known Delaney a long time, and she barely lets me near her handbags.” Palmer gawks at the side of her best friend’s face.

Delaney’s cheeks pink. “It was barely a threesome.”

“Don’t diminish what we had.” Madison leans over the couch and kisses Delaney.

Did she just slip my girlfriend the tongue in the daylight? Madison giggles the whole way into the kitchen, slapping Byron on the chest as she passes him. The grin on his face tells a whole story I’m not sure I want to hear. After he dragged her away last night, I can only imagine what went down.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Palmer says, chasing after Marek.

Once they’re gone, Delaney and I are alone. She sits up, tucking the blanket under her arms.

“I heard what you said last night when you thought I was asleep,” she says, grinning over her shoulder as if she didn’t already know the way I feel. Her eyes are thoughtful, taking me in.

“And?”

“And nothing. Just wanted you to know I’m fully aware of how you feel about me.” She steals the blanket from me, jumps off the couch, and runs out of the room, leaving my nakedness exposed. “Oh, and, Breaker!” she yells. “I’m looking forward to one day.”

******

In the week since we’d forced Tripp’s hand, he hasn’t contacted Delaney, which is surprising, considering the USB file we gave him had nothing but dick pics, courtesy of the four of us. Delaney had far too much fun helping me out with that task.

Madison and Delaney have grown closer in a way I hadn’t expected. After our tryst, because there’s no other way to describe what happened, I had assumed it would be awkward. We didn’t talk about it after the next morning. Nothing needed to be said. We hooked up. A part of me worried Delaney had been indulging me. She’s reiterated several times that she wasn’t, and the jealousy part didn’t come into play, especially since the second my cock touched Delaney, Madison had pretty much been forgotten.

“You ready for today?” Delaney asks, coming out onto the balcony. Her arms wrap around my waist. I sigh, satisfied with the feel of her chest against my back.

“Honestly?” I circle around, leaning my forearms on the banister. Delaney tries to give me space, but I tug her into me, maneuvering her arms around me. She grins, happy to oblige. “Not really, but there’s no better time than now. I can’t let him near my sisters.”

“This will change everything.” Delaney’s eyes widen. “What we’re doing today is choosing to remove ourselves from our family ties.”

“You have your mom,” I state, not realizing how it sounds. “I mean . . .”

“No, you’re right. I do have my mom, and I need to remember I’m lucky for that.” She stretches her calves, rising to kiss me, sadness in her eyes. “I wish I could have known yours, had a chance to meet her.”

“She was radiant.” Time stops as I remember different things from my childhood. “She used to bake cookies a lot. Probably more than she should have, but she always said she loved watching me grab at the chocolate chips she dropped in. For the most part, I had a pretty normal childhood, and it was all because of her. She worked really hard to hide my father’s shortcomings.”

“Do you have a picture of her?” Delaney asks. It’s such a simple question, but it brings a satisfying heaviness to my chest.

“I do.” I grab my wallet and remove the oldest thing I own, handing it over to the only person I would trust with it.

With delicate hands, Delaney holds onto the tattered, fading paper, running her finger in soft brushes over it. “You have her eyes.”

“You think so?” No one ever talks about her anymore, so it’s foreign to have a simple conversation like this one.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Delaney peers at me through her thick lashes, love so deeply rooted in her stare that it may as well reach out and choke me.

“We better get going,” I say, taking the photo from her and tucking it safely in my wallet where it will stay until it disintegrates.

Everyone is around the kitchen table. Their voices hush when we walk in.

“What’s going on?” I ask, a sinking feeling settling in my stomach.

“Umm . . .” a quiet voice says behind me, followed quickly by a loud gasp.

Delaney covers her mouth, barrels past me, and stops in front of Madison, blocking me from seeing her.

“What happened?” Delaney asks.

Madison moves to the side, revealing her face. A cut on her brow is caked with dried brown blood. The swollen eye, though, is what holds most of my attention and rage. It’s bruised and puffy, hiding the blue eye behind it.

“Oh my god!” I hiss out a breath, joining Delaney, but glancing at the table. Everyone looks away. “Did you guys know about this?”

“Madison called me last night,” Byron explains.

“I made him promise not to say anything,” Madison pleads. “I’m okay. Well, I’m okay now, but it hurts. More my pride than anything else. I can take a punch most days.”

“Who did this?” Delaney grabs Madison’s arms and brings her over to the table. Byron gives up his chair, and looms behind her like he’s watching guard.

“I’ll give you one guess.” She rolls her eyes, wincing from the pain. “Seems he was biding his time before retaliating against me for our little stunt.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,” I hiss. Madison isn’t mine, but I’ll be damned if her getting involved with my bullshit will get her or any of them hurt.

“Don’t worry. I paid him a visit,” Byron announces. Every one of us gapes at him, shock and awe on our faces. “If you’re wondering, I kept him