by Lindsey Iler
There are no winners in this game. All that will remain are broken bones and spirits.
My fist beats down on the window again.
“He’s not going to let you out, you know?” one of Tripp’s little minions says from the driver’s side.
I reach for the lock, but as soon as I mash the button, he locks it again. I glare at the asshole in the driver’s seat, while planning to bash his skull when he focuses on the windshield.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warns.
“Are you a fucking mind reader or something?” I huff, slouching on the seat, complete hopelessness settling in.
“Let’s say I’ve pissed off enough girls to know when to expect a punch.”
“Charming.” I roll my eyes, not caring if he sees it or not.
With every passing minute, the crowd grows larger. Cars line both sides of the bridge, their headlights pointing towards Tripp. He’s entertaining the mob.
I check my phone, hoping for news from Dixon. No messages. No emails. Every time I ask, his reply is that he’s working on it. The boy is thorough, but I can’t keep playing the role of Tripp’s doting admirer. He has buried skeletons, and I need to know what they are and what part I play in their burial.
“Trouble in paradise?” the driver asks, grinning at me through the rearview mirror.
“What’s your name?” I lean forward.
“Will,” he answers, staring at me. His eyes drop to my lips. My guess is he isn’t as loyal as Tripp thinks.
“I’m—”
“I know who you are,” he blurts. “Delaney Chambers. Daughter of Gary Chambers. Net worth well over seven hundred million.”
He then delivers a full run down of my family story. While he’s talking, movement draws my attention outside the foggy window. A familiar vehicle is at the edge of the bridge. Palmer, Marek, and Dixon flank Breaker as he strides straight to Tripp. Within seconds, their conversation shifts. Their body language is in defense mode, preparing for a fight.
My eyes stick to Breaker as he walks to the bridge railing.
Will stops speaking, and I know he’s reached the end of his internet search.
“There’s one thing you don’t know about me,” I say.
“Oh, and what’s that?” He grins, thinking he’s in full control.
“You see those people beside Tripp?” I lean towards him, placing my face next to his.
“Yeah,” he scoffs, not understanding the threat about to come his way.
“Those are my people,” I warn, unzipping my purse and wrapping my hand around the cool metal canister. “Do you know what I do when you mess with my people?”
“You stay put and shut the fuck up. At least, that’s what you’re going to do.”
“Wrong.” I lift the mace and spray him in the eyes. He cries out a satisfying wail. Before he can grab me, I open the door and kick my way out, running the second my feet hit the ground.
The commotion draws the spotlight to me. Tripp’s head swivels between me and my other half. Palmer’s eyes plead with me for something I don’t quite grasp. Marek hasn’t left Breaker’s side. Dixon and Reagan hold onto each other.
“Stop!” I yell.
Tripp intercepts my path, gripping my jacket to keep me from going forward.
“Let him be,” Tripp whisper-yells in my ear.
“No!” I fight him. “Let me go.”
Breaker is on the ledge, holding onto the cold metal railing, unmoved and unwavering.
“Delaney, stop!” Tripp yells, tossing me to one of his guys. “This is part of the game.”
“The game?” My eyes widen, burning with anger. “The fucking game? You’ve got to be kidding me.” I jerk my arm free and spin to knee the guy in the balls. He crumples to the ground. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I scream at Tripp.
Tripp has the nerve to move closer to me but suddenly jerks away. The blanket of heat behind me explains his cowardly reaction.
“You heard her.” Marek’s gravely strength rattles in my chest.
The crowd parts as I rush forward. For a split second, the world is quiet and fearless. I grab the railing and carefully climb over. I face forward to see what he’s seeing, but nothingness greets me. His eyes are shut, but his hand shows his emotions.
I cover his cold, trembling fingers with mine.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“There’s nothing to say.”
“I’m sorry that you’re living this moment, whatever it means to you, over again. It isn’t fair. There’re a million other things I could say, but mostly, I need you to know you aren’t in this alone. You never have been.”
“I am alone.” Turmoil isn’t something I expect to hear from the mouth of the joker. It’s hard to bear witness to the pure life being wrenched from someone.
“Delaney, get off the ledge right now!” Tripp shouts.
“You should listen to him, you know?” Breaker glances at me, a serious expression settled on his face.
“I’ve never been good at listening, though.”
“Then listen to me, Delaney.” His eyes dart below us to the swirling water. “I need you to get off this ledge. I can’t do this with you here.”
“I can’t do that, Breaker.” I shift my weight, securing my feet on the wet edge.
“And why not?”
“Because . . .” Tears prick at my eyes. “Because, Breaker, if you’re here, then so am I.”
“Why’d she have to do it?” He whispers the question. “Why couldn’t she, I don’t know, freeze time and give herself a moment of relief?”
He’s asking questions I don’t have the answers to. I don’t know the truth behind them. Whatever haunts Breaker Davenport lives on this bridge. Fear and anguish radiate off him, wrapping harshly around my heart.
“Delaney, get down. This isn’t your battle,” Tripp commands again.
“You’re wrong there.” I glance over my shoulder. Seeing Palmer and Marek holding each other reminds me that this is my family. She nods, tears rolling down her face. Marek folds her into his chest, shielding her from the pain of watching Breaker losing a battle he has no idea he’s fighting.
“Delaney, get off because I can’t hold on much longer,” Breaker demands, sliding his hand out from under mine.
“If you fall, I’m going with you.” I grab his hand again, but this time, he doesn’t fight me. Instead, he grips tighter, as if he needs me here to keep him present.
“I won’t survive this.” Breaker’s eyes dart between me and the water.
“Yes, you will,” I say with a certainty I know he does not feel.
This very second, I know what Palmer has been talking about this whole time. It’s taken seeing Breaker on the bridge, feeling his pain, to understand the phenomenon of unrelentless love. A single flash of memories makes everything so clear.
“Don’t be fucking reckless, Laney.” Tripp tugs on my shirt, forcing me to grab Breaker’s.
My feet slip first, and off we go.
“I love you,” I whisper as we fall.
Silence meets us, wrapping us in her embrace to protect us from what’s to come. Breaker holds tight to me, shifting his body beneath mine, shielding me as our bodies plummet.
Shock comes first, followed by a quick realization that we are fully submerged.
Within the chilly water, warm arms wraps around me. Arms so strong and a broad chest bring me to the surface. Gasping for air, I’m struggling to tread water when everything goes dark. I’m carried to the shore, and the body behind me makes me forget about the harsh rocks under me.
“You’re okay. You’re okay, baby.” The voice is hollowed, as if he’s screaming into oblivion, muffling the words.
My eyes are clenched tight, too afraid of what I’ll see. Am I dead? Am I barely alive? Fear has a chokehold on me, stealing the very thing that will prove I’m alive. Breathe.
“What did you do?” is whispered in my ear. “What have you done?”
Breaker.
I’m lifted off the ground, my eyes frozen shut, and carried away from the scene. Car doors shut and tires squeal. Controlled chaos surrounds me, and the only thing I can do is lie lifeless in his arms, too weak and too overcome by the river to take away our pain.
“Is she okay? Breaker, is she okay?” someone yells.
“Come on, Delaney. Wake up.” The quiver in the muted voice worries me.
I am awake. Aren’t I?
“There’s blankets in the far back. Warm her up.”
My body is placed on a flat, soft surface. Leather.
“Get her clothes off. They’re too cold and wet to warm her up,” someone instructs.
My clothes are stripped from my body, and a warm body hovers over mine, like a second blanket. Body heat.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” Marek bellows.
“Get us home!” Breaker yells, his voice unsteady. “Now.”
Who’s on top of me?
“I need you to hold on,” Dixon whispers in my ear. “Hell, I need you to hold on for all of us because we can’t take care of him like you can, okay? So, find enough strength in that little body to speed up that too big heart of yours, okay? You can do it. I promise I will make Tripp pay for what he did tonight, but I need you to be around to witness it.”
How do I fight a losing battle? It hurts too much. It’s too cold. Giving in to the dark would be so much easier.
“Drive faster!” Palmer shrieks. “Is she breathing?”
“There’s a pulse,” Dixon explains.
“We should take her to the hospital!” Breaker shouts. “Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital?”
Turmoil surrounds 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 my own. “Something that tells you to walk towards the one thing that could kill you, but you do it anyway because knowing the other person is struggling alone isn’t acceptable. I want a rough and angry kind of love with doses of softness. I want the kind of love you fight for but never settle for. I want more, and I want it with you.”
“I don’t know if I can love you like you deserve,” Breaker admits, glancing away.
“If you can love me with whatever you have, that will always be enough.” At my proclamation, his eyes dart to mine.
“I heard you on the way down,” he says, cupping my face. His lips dance across mine, and too quickly, they’re gone. “This was the second time I thought
I may lose you, and if I wasn’t certain before, I am now.” He kisses me again and slowly eases away. “I love you, too.”
“I love you,” I repeat the words. A surprised and thrilled smile slips into place.
We trace our hands over each other as if we are proving the person in front of us is real.
“You sure you’re good that this is what you’ll be looking at for the rest of your life?” Breaker makes a show of displaying his body.
I run my hand over his abs and the perfect dip on his hips. “Yeah, I think this is something I can work with, but who said anything about forever?” I joke as I get out, dripping wet.
Breaker jerks me, catching me before I slide on the tile. His lips press harshly onto my mouth. “You think you’re cute, huh?” He passes by me and tugs on a pair of gray sweatpants, sans a shirt. Not that I’m arguing.
I walk into his room. “I’m going to need some clothes,” I request, holding my arms out to show that I’m naked and soaking wet.
His eyes skim down my body, admiring every inch of my skin. He leans against his dresser. His legs cross at his ankles, proving he’s a god in his own right.
He opens his top drawer, reaching in to grab a white t-shirt, then stalks over to me, slipping the shirt over my head and gently guiding my arms into the sleeves. His gaze at me in his oversized shirt makes me feel revered and worshipped.
“I’m exhausted,” I yawn, overcome with what today has brought on.
“Get into bed, baby.” He lifts the covers and watches me climb in.
“You’re coming, too, right?” There’s no undertone to the question. Just a girl, needing a boy next to her.
Breaker bends down to kiss the top of my head. “Don’t go anywhere. I need to handle some things.”
“Don’t be too long.” I cuddle into the oversized duvet.
Breaker’s hand snakes under the blanket. I bask in the attention his eyes and hands are showing me.
“It’s not going to be tonight,”—he gently runs his finger over my slit—“but I’m going to bury myself inside your tight pussy, Delaney.” He kisses me, then walks to the door.