Heartbreak Lover (Broken Hearts Academy #2) - C.R. Jane Page 0,34

but the truth was right here, practically streaming out of every one of my pores as I held him tightly.

Love for me had always been dark and ugly, only seen in those shadowed places that no one wanted to speak about.

That’s why it was so easy to deny. Because I wanted to believe in the happily ever after, in the prince who charged in on the white knight and saved me.

But I was a fool.

I knew that now.

So, I waited. It took seven days. For seven days, I warded off every nightmare with my heart pressed naked against his. For seven days, I chased away every doubt-induced fever. For seven days, my body was Jackson’s salvation when his soul needed safety.

I was fucked raw, emotionally exhausted. Jackson took everything from me. Just like he always had.

Then he opened his eyes.

And I cried when I saw that my favorite shade of blue had once again returned.

But I also cried because despite the fact that Jackson now knew the past, it couldn’t change the present. It didn’t change the fact that Jackson hadn’t been there for me all those years when I needed him the most.

I cried because those eyes of his told me that Jackson Parker loved me.

I cried because it was too late.

12

Jackson

The problem with being bipolar was that when I went into those truly black cycles, I couldn’t remember much…if anything when I emerged.

But this one was different.

Because for the first time, I hadn’t been alone.

Everly had stayed.

When I came to, I saw my marks on her body, I could recall flashes of using her body over and over again as an outlet for my pain. I remembered her tears as she cried for me, the demon who didn’t deserve her grief.

Unlike the other times, where I’d woke up to piles of trash and regrets, my body felt sated and satisfied. Like it had been loved over and over again, brought back to life by her touch.

“Hi,” I murmured.

She smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

If I was thinking that me knowing the truth was going to bring her back to me, I’d been wrong. That much was clear.

She stayed with me for the rest of the day but we didn’t talk about it. We didn’t mention anything dark or heavy, even though I was bursting to beg her for forgiveness, to beg her to love me again.

She left with a muted goodbye, my thanks echoing after her. I’d used her body for days, yet we didn’t even part with a hug, much less a kiss.

She waved goodbye before limping her way out the door. She’d stayed with me for so long that her leg had healed enough that she didn’t need crutches anymore.

The sun faded away as I watched Lane pull up to the house. Lane asked Everly something when she opened the door, and she just shook her head. She looked exhausted and pale as she got in.

Like always, I’d taken something from Everly without giving her anything in return. That she wanted that is.

Everly had my entire heart and soul.

But I didn’t think there was a piece of her that wanted that.

So I sat there as Lane pulled away. And I was furious at myself, yes. But my anger soon drifted towards the person whose real sins this all was.

The Judas who’d kissed me on the cheek while stabbing me in the back.

My brother, who hadn’t even sent one text message in the seven fucking days I’d been out.

My fury towards Caiden built while I sat there, until I no longer could see the sunset. All I could see was his face and how much I wanted to destroy it.

The betrayal was so thick that I could taste it. I had to rethink everything, look back on our whole lives together in a different light, examining everything to see just how far his manipulation had gone.

And I didn’t just want revenge because of what he’d done to me, how he’d ripped the love of my life away from me and convinced me to cast her aside like yesterday’s used goods.

I wanted revenge for her. There wasn’t anything I could do to truly give back to Everly what she’d lost, but I could at least make Caiden pay.

I got into my truck, and I headed towards campus.

I wasn’t a violent person. I kept my crazy side locked in tight so that it could only escape when I went black. This was the first time that I