Heart Broken (Game of Hearts Series Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Prologue

  HEART BROKEN

  Game of Hearts Series

  Book 1

  SARAH ALABASTER

  Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Alabaster

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Added Touches Publishing. Ebook formatting by Added Touches, LLC. Cover design by Added Touches. Edited by The Formatting Fairies. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The eBook version may not be resold or given away to other people unless this version is part of a lending program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First printing, 2018

  Visit the publisher’s website at www.addedtouches.com.

  Visit the author’s website at www.sarahalabaster.com.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Alabaster

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  About the Author

  HEART’S DESIRE

  Prologue

  Prologue

  “Clara! Jesus, Clara! Stay with me. Stay with me.”

  His hands try to find the source of the blood pooling at her side, but it’s no use.

  Gurgling noises emit from her throat as she struggles to take a breath. Blood seems to be everywhere around her as it drips from her nose and mouth, as well as the wounds that have been inflicted upon her.

  Gasping for much-needed, air she struggles to move, but her body just won’t respond.

  “Clara, don’t move. Stay still. Just stay with me. Listen to my voice.”

  He keeps saying the same things over and over, as though he’s her lifeline, and at the moment, he may just be.

  She coughs as she spits more blood out of her mouth, spraying droplets throughout the area. They land on her chest, as well as the person trying to save her, but he doesn’t seem to notice, or care.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

  He chants the words like a mantra, trying to provide her some nuance of comfort. These are the last words she hears as the blackness finally surrounds her, sucking her in.

  Heavy footsteps approach hastily, but they are too distant, and she can’t make out what direction they are going. As paramedics struggle to keep her heart beating, one hand refuses to let go. It seems like a vice, and she is all but helpless to do anything other than return his squeeze.

  “Stay with me. Don’t go. Stay with me.”

  He says it as though she has a choice. Handheld machines work overtime to steady her heartbeat, which has become stable, but it’s still fairly weak as they try to move her to the rig. She regains consciousness long enough to see her friend, who is soaked in some sort of dark wetness. Oh, God, is that blood? Is he hurt, too?

  It takes a person with no regard for their own well-being to worry more about other people, when they themselves are in such peril. Clara is this sort of person. She exemplifies these qualities, and has always had an overwhelming regard for others’ feelings. She rarely thinks of herself.

  Maybe that’s how this all happened in the first place? Maybe that’s why she was chosen out of all others? Maybe…

  “Stay with us, Clara.” The paramedic leans in close to her ear. “We’re on our way to get you some help.”

  Unable to keep her eyelids open any longer, she unwillingly closes them, but not before she hears his refrain again.

  “Stay with us…”

  It isn’t supposed to be like this. This is supposed to be the happiest time in my life. It can’t end this way. It just can’t.

  Thoughts cross her mind as once again oblivion beckons. Then she is slipping further into the darkness, gone. The sounds of the screams echo throughout the night.

  Chapter One

  I found myself completely in awe as we pulled up to the building that would be my home for the next two years. Student housing, overbooked from the recent run in freshmen admission, had had to utilize their off-campus facilities to accommodate everyone. Normally used for just upper classmen, these affiliate housing facilities were small apartments with oversight student directors who assisted the students when need be. Whether it was maintenance or general facility issues, these student directors oversaw things without coddling. Only a selected few freshmen held the qualifications to receive this kind of freedom, as the responsibility often became too much for many to handle at this stage in their lives.

  I had been at the top of my class at my high school. Not valedictorian, but I had still maintained honors throughout my education. I had applied to SoCal—the University of Southern California—to get my degree in management, with an emphasis on marketing strategies. My interests lay more in the electronics aspect of the program, and my passion was managing virtual environments, as well as social media marketing. It was basically all yada yada for online work over office compounds.

  Since I recognized the direction the Internet was providing for corporations that spanned the globe, I wanted to spend as much as I could in cyber environments. What was confusing to some came simply to me, as I could see patterns in social media exchanges, as well as the environments that harbored them. It was this passion that had gained my admission to SoCal, bringing me here to this place, at this particular time. My desire for the taste of freedom had me choosing the off-campus option. I was just eighteen, and now I was living in my own place.

  Freedom felt so good. It couldn’t get any better than this.

  Taking four classes a semester, I was obsessed with working hard and earning my degree. It helped that I really didn’t need to work, but I still took a part-time job at the local flower company, assisting in marketing and managing social media campaigns. Since the position closely related to my degree, the experiences gained from a few hours here and there were well worth the effort. Not to mention, it also helped to have some extra pocket money.

  After the first month in the apartment, I began to build a routine—school, work, and occasional school events. At one of these events I met my neighbor, who it turned out was living just down the hall from me on the same floor. It took only one conversation to realize that the tw
o of us would become fast friends. We just seemed to click, with the same interests in music, movies, and boys.

  Bethany and I met each morning to grab a coffee prior to our first class. Even though we had to run across campus to get there, our morning routine combined the coffee pick up with a bit of exercise: we had to jog to make it to their classes on time.

  The classes required for management with an emphasis on marketing and social media strategy consisted of economics, human resources, management math, and marketing basics. All of these came easily to me, and by midsession, the instructors had asked that I take on tutoring as a means of assisting other students who were struggling. Though my schedule was full, taking on a few hours here and there was worth the praise I received from my professors, as well as the recommendation letters that would help in my future career. Always thinking ahead, I was persistent in my pursuit of the best possible outcome for my goals.

  ***

  It was mid-October when I took on dog walking. It was not something that seemed to work well with my plans at first, but the people that had asked had been friends of the flower shop owner. Taking this as a much-needed means of exercise—as well as another source of income—it was really no hardship to take the two puppies out a few times a week. We went to the park for some games of fetch, then back to the house. It was simple enough, I thought, the first time I had met the Hendersons and their dogs.

  ***

  “Bethany, what’s on the agenda tonight?”

  Fridays were when we both made sure our schedules were clear to spend time away from work and school. Both workaholics, Bethany and I found out pretty early on that without planning for some much-needed girl time, we might never take any time off for ourselves.

  Girls need to stick together, even if just to ensure that they take a break to party on Friday nights.

  I laughed as I recalled those words we had spoken, clarifying our intentions from the start.

  Now I waited for Bethany to sift through her mail before she answered.

  “How about we stay in? Movie, pizza, and facials? Sound good?”

  “Heck, yeah! Let’s do it!”

  “Which movie?”

  “Whatever’s on pay-per-view. Then my parents will cover the expense.”

  “Smart. I like it. Hopefully something good is out, otherwise we’ll need to check streaming for something.”

  “We’ll find something, don’t worry. And either way sounds like the perfect night.”

  Under the rules of housing, freshmen and sophomores were not allowed to have alcohol on the premises. Checks occurred on the second Monday of the month, as well as random spot inspections. Thankfully, we never got into drinking. Our focus was too much on our careers to fumble everything for some partying, so we just avoided all those frat parties and opted to stick together for our girls’ nights. In the future, we would partake of a few just for the college experience, but for now, it wasn’t really something we considered all that important.

  ***

  “This movie sucks.”

  “Tell me about it. Well, we could get something else. What’ll it be?”

  “Isn’t there anything with hot guys in it? They don’t even need to talk much, they just need to look good—and shirtless, preferably.”

  “Bethany!”

  “What? Just sayin’. I am so in the mood for some half-naked men.”

  “Bethany!”

  “Oh, come on. You know you feel the same way! After all, we’re in our prime! And we have these great apartments. Why not put them to good use?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I don’t want to be a mom anytime soon?”

  “Oh, quit being such a downer. It’s just some hot action. No one said anything about sex.”

  “Bethany!”

  “What? We can talk about sex. This is girls’ night, right? Quit being a prude.”

  “Fine. I’ll take the half-naked men movie, please, for two hundred, Alex.”

  Busting out laughing with green masks on our faces, we both shook the couch with our fits of giggles, which echoed throughout the room.

  “Stop, stop! You’re making my face crack.”

  “Your face is already cracked.”

  Laughing even harder, we were having the time of their lives as we enjoyed each other’s company in our pajamas on the couch. We were watching some god-awful movie we’d rented over the Internet.

  “We seriously need to find better movies.”

  “I know, right?! These are horrible! What is wrong with Hollywood?”

  “Didn’t you hear?”

  “I know. They’re out of ideas, and taking on books now.”

  We were laughing so hard we practically peed our pants. The thought of some of the books we had read actually becoming movies was so far-fetched it was unbelievable.

  Setting the remote down to find something better to watch, I grabbed my laptop to flip through its offerings.

  “How about something funny? I heard this one is supposed to be good.”

  “Nah, saw it last week. Kinda sucked bad.”

  “Where was I?”

  “You were busy studying for an econ exam.”

  “Oh, good, well at least I wasn’t wasting my time ignoring you.”

  “Real funny. Laugh it up.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  Laughing at Bethany’s impression of my seriousness made me laugh in return.

  “Oh, hush. Let’s find something to do then.”

  “How about we get you someone to date?”

  “What are you talking about? I’m perfectly happy just like this. I don’t need anyone to date. Not right now, especially during midterms.”

  “Oh, come on, what harm could it do? Let’s just look and see what we find.”

  Signing up for online dating through the campus’s new Meet-A-Friend program wasn’t something that I had ever thought I would do, but Bethany seemed sure that she would find me a man, so we decided to give it a shot. It might not turn out to be a permanent man, but hey, I was still just a freshman after all.

  Student Welfare on campus had found that several students were looking outside the university for companionship, and it was taking them away from their classes when things became more serious. When a lot of students complained that they were finding it difficult to meet someone due to their extensive focus on their classes and study habits, Student Welfare had decided to intervene.

  With the presence of social media, the campus advisers felt that the Meet-A-Friend program had the potential create the viral response the university could use for great press, as well as self-preservation. It would also hopefully increase admissions for future students as they learned about the offerings the campus provided. Virtual environments outside of classes were not so prevalent in other institutions, but at SoCal, the offering plus possible credits for those that took an interest made the university very up to date compared to those throughout the country.

  This had put the university at the top of my list when I had applied. They seemed to take an interest in being current with what interested the students, and I liked that. Virtual environments were just on the cusp of breaking through in the corporate world, so this step seemed inevitable.

  The young man at the helm of the program was Roger Gentry. He was in his early twenties and already a computer genius in his own regard. He had spent the last several semesters working with the school to solidify the program, as well as finishing his first degree in computer engineering.

  Roger was someone the school showcased as one of their greatest accomplishments. To the girls in the student population, he was also the hottest man on campus. His sense of humor, looks, and the overall way he carried himself left nothing to the imagination. It seemed he had figured out who he was early on in life, and he had just pretty much owned it ever since. This self-assurance made him seem so sexy to almost everyone—no matter what age they were. Bethany was one of his many admirers.

  I watched as my frien
d logged herself into the program to help set up an account for me. It seemed that if you were a student, you were already given login access through your student number, but the rest was up to the student—including what you were looking for in a partner. Some called it a sanctioned booty-call network, but to others who took it seriously, they testified that it worked, and worked well. Bethany was one those that was in between when it came to the success of the program, but she had gone on some great dates because of it, and was happy with how well everything had worked out—even if the relationships didn’t last.

  “How about we say you’re looking for some fun with someone with a sense of humor?”

  “That sounds like a booty call.”

  “You could use a booty call.”

  Throwing my pillow at her, I found myself realizing how long it had been since I was even on a date. God, way before I’d ended up at school. My last boyfriend hadn’t lasted. It seemed he was more interested in getting “together” than I was. It had also been annoying getting pawed in public all the time. But that had ended after we had slept together a few times.

  “Hobbies? How about we put down ‘enjoys parties and fun in the sun’?”

  I laughed so hard at how stupid that sounded. Aside from laying on the beach, my idea of fun in the sun consisted of an umbrella and a towel—not so much the beach activities and sand.

  “How about we say ‘enjoys reading, writing, and arithmetic too’? That sounds just as lame.”

  Bethany was sticking her tongue out at me, knowing full well that I really had no say in this.

  I resigned myself to whatever she decided to put down.

  “We’ll go in between, with ‘enjoys laughing with friends and the occasional outings whenever not studying.’ How about that?”

  “Perfect! And so true, too. Thank you, Bethany.”

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and actually find you someone to play with outside of class.”