Heartbreak Lover (Broken Hearts Academy #2) - C.R. Jane Page 0,56
cherry-colored petals that were dancing in the wind. “You left me all alone, abandoned me after the single most traumatic event of my life.” My breath hitched. “You should have believed me. I’d just shared this huge part of me with you. And even after that…you didn’t believe me.” I finally dragged my eyes back to his mournful gaze, tears heavy in my voice as I finished. “I’m afraid that if I take this step, all that’s waiting for me is regret. I’m afraid that I’m in love with the ghost of you instead of who you are now. And I’m afraid that once you get to know who I am, who I am really and not who you’ve built up in your head, that you’ll be immeasurably disappointed.”
My confessions were heavy on my tongue, the dark secrets I’d never let see the daylight. For all those years, I’d done my best to give Jackson and Caiden only the highlights. I hid from them the darker parts of my soul, afraid that if I gave them something too honest, they’d run from me when they realized who I really was. Time hadn’t changed who I was at my core, a girl who’d been abandoned by every significant figure in her life. I was damaged, a mirror that had been broken into a million pieces. And no matter how much love Jackson tried to give me, there would always be cracks under my skin that could never be fixed.
“I picked you before I knew the truth,” Jackson replied, and my eyes widened in disbelief.
“Don’t lie to me, Jackson. Not now, not after everything.”
“I’m not lying. I’d decided when you left me in the library that I would do anything to get you back. Even when I found out that Caiden had woken up, I still had decided to pick you, no matter the consequences. I would burn the whole world for you, pick you first every time. You just have to give me the chance to do it.”
I opened my mouth to object, and he laid a finger on my lips before hurrying on.
“If you give me one last chance, I swear on my life I won’t let you down again. I know what I did is unforgivable, but, Everly, my heart is yours. You are what I hold onto. My first thought in the morning, my last thought when I close my eyes to sleep. I’ve dreamed about you every night since the last time I saw you in that hospital room. No matter how much time passed, I couldn’t erase you. I feel like I’ve been carrying an open wound in my chest where I tried to remove you, but it never worked. You can’t erase someone that’s a part of your soul, Everly. Believe me, I’ve tried. You’re meant for me. I’ll protect you, I’ll help you, I’ll care for you, because you’re meant for me. No matter what you say, no matter what you’ve heard. This is meant to be, and I’m not stopping until you give us a chance.”
He leaned forward and pressed the softest, most perfect kiss on my lips. No one would ever think that the heartbreak prince could ever give someone that kind of kiss.
But that was because the heartbreak prince had never tried to give someone his heart.
That kiss, that perfect kiss…it did what his words couldn’t.
My broken heart, the one that I thought could never be fixed?
It started to beat again.
And it beat just for him.
He saw it in my eyes, and a silence followed, the kind of silence that only two people who really understand each other can have. We went back and forth, watching each other and watching the flowers change color under the light of the shifting sun.
The silence stretched between us was broken when Jackson laid me down among the wildflowers. He took a deep breath, like he was breathing in bravery.
“Everly, I love you,” he whispered.
And I believed him.
Tears pooled in my eyes, and I bit my bottom lip, trying to hold back the bigger tears that I wanted to cry. He cradled my face, tipping my head back and brushing a kiss over my forehead and cheeks, my nose and chin. He hovered over my mouth and took a deep breath and then another. Without any protest from me, he slid off my red tank top and jeans. His touch was tender as he caressed my body with the tips of his fingers and his