The Truth about Heartbreak (The Truth About #1)

by B. Celeste

Less than twelve hours ago I belonged to the minty eyed boy I’ve loved since I was thirteen. But Everett Tucker isn’t mine to love.

Someone told me a long time ago that trust is like an eraser; it gets smaller and smaller until there’s nothing left. I don’t want it to disappear, so I don’t use it much.

I don’t hide the curve of my downward lips before Everett sees them. His eyes fill with sympathy. “Don’t worry, River. You’re still my number one.”

“Believe me, River, if I had you, I’d have all of you. There’s not one piece of skin that I wouldn’t see, touch, or kiss.”

We haven’t been the same since she asked me to take her virginity, since I punched Asher Wilks for taking it, or since I saw her marred body. We’ll never be the same. After all, there was no peanut butter on her lip.

River James will always be mine, even if she doesn’t want to be. Even if she can’t be.

“Not everything is what it seems, Riv. Everett is a man of his word, and even if it kills him, he keeps it.”

Everett Tucker doesn’t have to break my heart, because I broke it myself by loving him.

The truth about heartbreak is that there is no such thing. It’s your soul that shatters, along with every fiber of your being that screams for another person.

Whoever you truly love needs to wait until you can give her every piece of you. It won’t be fair to you, her, or Isabel if you offer what you have now, because that isn’t much. Love … it’s a precious thing. If you feel like you’ve found the real deal, then I’ll stand behind you in any way possible. Just do me a favor.” Emotion crackles my words. “What?” “Treat her well.”

Stop crossing oceans for people who won’t even jump over puddles for you.”

“Sometimes you meet that one person in your life who holds all of that love for you and then some.” But how could that be Everett to me? “Could those people hurt you?” He taps the edge of the table. “They’re the only ones who have the power to hurt us. But it’s only us who has the power to forgive.”

Promises aren’t what make the foundations of good relationships, commitment is. We can promise people anything, stretch ourselves thin to maintain them, and then waste away from guilt when they can’t be achieved. You can’t promise people anything, son. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment, for failure. Sometimes it takes more than that to prove what you’re willing to do for a person.”

“Remember not to give up on her. Sometimes distance is hope in disguise.”