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

strays to the enlarged photo. Her cheeks aren’t sunken in. Her eyes are full of a playful spark. This is Mia. Not that girl in the casket.

I grab it off the easel and hold it under my arm. This belongs to me now.

“Nicholas,” my mother calls as I pass down the middle aisle.

Fuck this church.

Fuck all their pity.

Fuck having a dead girlfriend.

“I’m out of here,” I say, not really caring if anyone actually hears me.

I hit the pavement, and the sun beats down on my skin. A quick glance shows no one’s followed me. Not that it would matter if they had. I’m taking this damn photo, and I’m going home. I can’t watch them lower her into the dirt.

With her portrait next to me, I drive through town. It’s like a snapshot of everything that reminds me of her. The diner where we had our first date. The movie theater where we shared our first kiss. The park she ran to after our first big fight. Everything in this damn town reminds me of her.

“Fuck!” I yell, banging my fist against the steering wheel.

I half-ass park my car in the middle of the driveway, race inside with the portrait under my arm, and fall onto the center of my bed. The metal frame bangs against the headboard. I see the edge of her brown hair from where I lie and imagine what it felt like to run my fingers through it.

The sky shifts from clear and blue to dark like the flip of a switch. In my mind, I know it isn’t possible. Not a second has passed where I didn’t watch the time change on the bedside clock. Numbers tick by so slow, and yet, time seems to pass by so quick.

Doors close outside, and I know they’re home. Mia’s parents had held a dinner afterward for those closest to her. There isn’t a world where I would have survived being stuck under the same roof as them.

“We missed you. Everyone did,” my mother says. She’s standing in the doorway, probably too afraid to come in. My actions today scared her I’m sure.

I roll onto my back and catch her eyes shifting down to the portrait of Mia. My Mia.

“It’s not fair, Mom.” I sit up, looking to her for answers I know she doesn’t have. No one does. Not a single person knows what to say to me to make it hurt a little less. “It’s just not fucking fair.”

“You’re right. It’s pretty damn cruel.” She perches on the edge of the mattress, not saying another word, just being with me in the silence.

I’ll no longer hear her goofy laugh, the way it hitches up in the end like she has to gasp for a breath. She won’t be there in the stands at all my hockey games or get to graduate high school. It’s all settling in now. The day leading up to the funeral, I’d had the privilege of ignoring the inevitable, but not anymore.

“She doesn’t get to have a future. She was seventeen years old, and that’s all she’ll ever be.” I fall back, covering my eyes with my forearm.

“No, she doesn’t have a future, but you do, Nicholas. Allow yourself to be sad. Do whatever you feel like you need to do, but at some point, you’ll have to dig yourself out of this hole I know you’ll be in.” She pats me on the leg like she always does when she’s trying to fling some motherly advice on me.

Once she’s gone, I pick up the portrait and lean it against my dresser.

Just outside of my room, my mom cries softly, and my father reassures her I’ll be okay.

Will I be okay, though?

It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it right now.

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Find Nick and Hannah’s story here!

Both titles are in KINDLE UNLIMITED and available now!

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You can find my other titles on my website as well!

Acknowledgement

Bryan... As always, you get the first shout out because you are my literal rock. At this point, it feels like I’m a bit of a broken record with starting my acknowledgements with my insane love for you, but here we are again! Thank you for your endless amount of support!

Katie... This one was a doozy for us. I swear, the next one won’t be so crazy. You hung in with me when I almost wanted to quit because of life and as always, you are my biggest cheerleader and still find ways to push me.

Catherine... Where would I be with you? You are my level head and my sounding board. Thank you for all of the help and love you show me. I can’t thank you enough.

Johnaka and Amber... You read these words when they’re at their ugliest and still ask for more, which still surprises me. Thank you for everything.

Julie... Thank you for double checking my words and making sure it is ready for the world to read! I couldn’t do this without you.

Lindsey’s Savage Queens... We’re a new team, but I LOVE ALL OF YOU! Thank you for helping share all of the things! I can’t wait for us to keep working together!

To the girls of P&BS... Again, this book wouldn’t have been finished if it weren’t for you forcing me to sprint when I didn’t want to, which was more than I care to admit! I love you, girls!

Jennifer (Wildfire Marketing Solutions)... Thank you for all of your help during this release! I can’t tell you what it means to me. You are so easy to talk to and make the whole experience a breeze! Can’t wait to work together more!

Lindsey’s Little Savages... Some of you have been with me since the beginning and some of you are new to my books, but thank you so much for trusting me and reading all of my books early.

To the readers... I literally couldn’t do this without you. All of your excitement for these characters gives me LIFE. Everything that you do means the absolute world to