Break You Hard

BREAK YOU HARD MICHELLE HERCULES INFINITE SKY PUBLISHING Break You Hard © 2023 by Michelle Hercules All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Photography: Michelle Lancaster Cover Model: Luke Eisner CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Free novella About the Author CHAPTER 1 RILEY No matter the event, I always get jitters before a performance. Butterflies dance in my belly, and my skin tingles with anticipation. The noise of the crowd creates an electrifying current that makes me feel alive. It’s a full house at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. We’re skating for charity today, which brought figure skaters of different levels from all over the state. As I stand next to Coach Miko on the sideline of the rink, waiting for my solo, I take a deep breath of the cool air, letting the slightly chemical scent of artificial ice fill my lungs. There’s nothing quite like it. If I could pack the smell in a bottle, I would. I look around, searching for familiar faces. I JESSE Shit. I didn’t think it’d take this long to get to Milwaukee from Lakeview. I’m late as hell, and if I miss Em’s solo, she’ll never forgive me. I’ve never met a nine-year-old who can hold a grudge for as long as my little sister. Mom usually goes to her performances, but she wasn’t feeling great after her chemo session yesterday and asked me to fill in. I couldn’t say no, even if I had to cut out of hockey practice early. Coach Manning didn’t complain, not that I expected him to. When Mom got sick again last year—her third time in the span of five years—the entire town went out of their way to make things easy for us. I hate it. It means they