Glass Heart Hero: A Dark High School Romance by Lindsey Iler (read with me .TXT) 📗

one of the most peaceful moments of my short life. They’re scared of what will happen, while I lie here, lifeless with so much life left in me. I can feel it, like blood pumping through my veins.

Silence takes over the SUV. Dixon tries to warm my body, but no one talks. I imagine they’re greeted with numbness, unsure of what will happen as they drive us to the house. They’re scared, while I’m certain I’ll be okay.

My body has seen trauma, experienced the unrelenting pain the world is so eager to dish out. This is nothing. This is easy. Stillness is simple. It’s when that first full breath leaves my lungs, clawing its way up my throat, that it becomes complicated.

The weight leaves my chest, and I’m once again lifted and carried, the blanket wrapped tight around me. For the first time, my body shivers, and when my eyes flutter open, Dixon is grinning at me. He races inside and lays me on the couch. The water I’ve swallowed escapes my lungs, burning with an ache far more horrendous than breaking the surface of the river.

Dixon forces my head to the side, ensuring I don’t choke. “There you go. Get it out.”

My vision starts to clear. Palmer is across the room, tears streaming down her face and a mixture of happy and frightened wails escaping.

Breaker is on the floor, curled up tightly in his wet clothes. His body rocks as he whispers something over and over again.

I roll off the couch, clutching the blanket around my naked body and attempt to stand. Dixon helps me stumble over to Breaker to hear his words.

“You can have anything but her. Take it. Leave her,” he says. “You can have anything but her. Take it all. Leave her. You can have anything but her.”

“Who are you talking to?” I whisper, the words raspy from vomiting river water.

Breaker jerks, covering his face. Cries shake his body. I push his hands away, wrapping my own behind his neck. Without a second thought, he picks me up, pinning me against the window.

“I thought I lost you,” he sighs, brushing my messy hair out of my face.

“I’m right here.” I cup his cheek, loving the way he leans into my touch.

“You stupid girl. You could have died.” He shakes his head at the thought.

“You saved me once,” I say. “I thought I’d return the favor. Plus, you said it was up to me if I wanted to be considered your family. When I say there’s nothing in the world, other than to be loved by you, that would ease the pain in my heart, I mean it, but I need you to be you for that to happen.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I climbed up there because I felt you losing yourself, submitting yourself to the blackness that waited for you. That will never happen. I will not allow it.”

“That bridge . . .”

“You don’t need to tell me. I know everything I need to know.”

“My mom killed herself on that bridge. The only difference between her and us is we were far enough in the middle that we didn’t get caught on the rocks.”

I bite down on my tongue, murderously angry that Tripp knew damn well what he had planned for tonight. How cruel could one human being be? Frustrated and unable to even look at Breaker, I drop my chin and force my eyes to the floor.

“Don’t worry about him right now.” Breaker forces my eyes to him. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I want you to carry me to bed.” My fingers intertwine behind his neck, holding on as he grips my hips and pushes us off the glass.

“And then what?” As he makes his way through the living room, his lips find a place on my neck. They linger on my skin until he releases them to kick open his bedroom door.

I wiggle until he sets me on my feet outside the bathroom. With a comfort Breaker alone brings me, I let the thick, warm blanket fall to the floor. Breaker watches me through the mirror. The shower starts, and steam quickly billows out.

“Come here.” He takes my hand and leads me to the shower. When I step in, I tighten my grip and refuse to let go of Breaker. “I guess I’m joining you then.” He smiles, climbing in behind me and covering me with his body.

“Everything we’ve been through . . .” I start to say.

“Has changed us but has never once changed the way I feel about you.” He gathers my hair and slides it to the side, exposing my neck.

“How do you feel about me?” I face him, allowing him to barricade me against the shower wall.

“The reason I’ve forced you away is because I’m afraid of you not loving me. I’m in constant fear that our past will derail anything that we could become. I’m afraid I’m not enough.”

“Not enough?”

“I’m not well-polished and soft around the edges. I’m never going to be a suit-wearing kind of guy. I’ll disappoint you more times than you can count, and I’ll probably say the wrong thing every other day because that’s who I am. I’m smart enough to know you deserve the boy you can take home to your mom and dad because that’s the life that’s been created for you.”

“You think I give a flying fuck about any of that?”

“Tripp DuPont?” he says, solidifying his worries with a single name.

“Is a mistake.” I shake my head, frustrated with myself for allowing Tripp’s shiny exterior to derail me for months. “He happened to be there when I was lost. Some mornings I could barely get out of bed, but one morning there was a boy, the complete opposite of you, and I somehow convinced myself that’s what I needed.”

“What do you need now?” Breaker combs his hands through the crown of my hair, gently massaging as the shower streams down.

“Something real.” I grab his hands and hold them in