Pushing the Limits

by Katie McGarry

Every muscle in my body clenched when she walked past. I’d tolerated her ignoring me during school, but to flat-out diss me in an empty hallway was beyond cold.

Sometimes when you see the line, you think it’s a good idea to cross it—until you do.

We’d read about sirens in English this fall; Greek mythology bullshit about women so beautiful, their voices so enchanting, that men did anything for them. Turned out that mythology crap was real because every time I saw her, I lost my mind.

A warm, tickling touch crashed me back to earth. Maybe it sent me straight to heaven. Either way, it dragged me out of hell. Echo’s pink fingernails caressed the back of my hand.

Just like she’d said, she’d gone back to her life and, in theory, I’d gone back to mine. Problem? I didn’t like mine, not without her.

I wanted to be her champion. Her cheeks filled with color and her eyes lit like sparklers. “Noah.” She gasped, out of breath. “We did it. We’re going to fix his car. Oh, God, Noah…” She threw her arms around my neck and pressed her head into my shoulder. Everything within me stilled. I wrapped my arms around her warmth and softness, closing my eyes to savor the peace Echo’s presence brought to me. Life would almost be enjoyable if I could feel this way all the time. I nuzzled the top of her hair with my chin, sending Isaiah a glance of gratitude.

Echo was becoming essential, like air.

Her eyes met mine again. “So what does this mean for us?” I lowered my forehead to hers. “It means you’re mine.”

I still had a hard time registering it. Echo Emerson sat in my car, intentionally hanging out with me. Mom would have loved her.

It had been so long since I’d let myself fall for anybody. I gazed into her beautiful green eyes and her fear melted. A shy smile tugged at her lips and at my heart. Fuck me and the rest of the world, I was in love.

“You’d never do anything to harm your brothers.” “Thanks.” He kissed my hair and came close to squeezing the breath out of me. “I needed to hear that.” We stood still for several seconds before he released his death grip.

“Tell me when you last felt safe, Echo. Really, really safe.” “Noah makes me feel safe.”

“Daddy.” My protector. My savior. He convinced my mother to take her medication and she did. For him. She loved him. He made us a family and during those dark moments when my mother’s illness threatened to rip us apart, he held me. Like in the hospital, when I couldn’t sleep, terrified of the first wave of nightmares, he lay with me in bed and held me, whispering over and over again how much he loved me.

A single word tore at my heart…betrayal.

That wasn’t love; that was control. Dad chose Ashley and Aires chose the Marines over me. Noah still hadn’t told me that he loved me even though I’d said the words to him.

Every part of me shook and heat flushed my cheeks and the back of my neck. Had he ever loved me? Had he? “How could you abandon me?” The anger drained out of my father’s face, leaving him pale and old. “I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am.” I sniffed and fought to keep the tears from falling. I would not cry in front of him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d ripped me into a thousand pieces.

She smoothed her hair. “Look, she keeps telling me that you’re this great guy. Do you think you could wow me and keep my best friend together until I can take over after school?” I could do one better. I could take care of her now and after school. “Yeah.” “Tell her I love her, okay?” said Lila. “And I’ll be right there as soon as I can.” “Yeah.” This girl really did care about Echo. “I can do that.”

The worst type of crying wasn’t the kind everyone could see—the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it.

There’s nothing you can do wrong when just breathing makes everything right.”

His hand framed my face and his tone was edged with husky authority. “I want you, but only if you want me.”

I love you. Every part of me ached to say it. I gazed into those beautiful eyes and knew I loved her more than I loved myself.

I didn’t want her to go, ever. I wanted Echo in my bed every night with my arms and legs wrapped around her. But how?

I loved Noah more than I’d ever loved anybody else. I loved him enough to do the thing that hurt me.

I added a fucked-up thought to another fucked-up thought and I created a pile of shit.”

“I love you enough to never make you choose.” She pushed off her toes toward me, guiding my head down, and gently kissed my lips. No. This wouldn’t be goodbye. I’d fill her up and make her realize she’d always be empty without me. I made Echo mine. My hands claimed her hair, her back. My lips claimed her mouth, her tongue. Her body shook against mine and I tasted salty wetness on her skin. She forced her lips away and I latched tighter to her. “No, baby, no,” I whispered into her hair.

Was this breakup killing him as much as it was killing me?

Aires laughed. I should have hugged him then. I should have hugged him and never let go.

Before Echo their claim wasn’t bullshit, but since her, it was.

She launched herself at me. I closed my eyes the moment her arms slipped around my neck. I slid my hands to familiar places and reveled in her delicious smell. For three weeks I’d felt like a puzzle with missing pieces. Her body fit perfectly into mine, making me feel whole again. “I’ve missed you.” I swore Echo clutched me tighter before stepping back.

Once we’re betrayed, we never forgive.”

I tried hard to shove down the pressure building on my chest. Men don’t cry. My parents. Men don’t cry. Fuck. Men don’t cry. I wiped at my eyes. I missed my parents.

I can’t offer them that.” “You’re right.” “I love them,” I said with determination. “I know you do.” And her voice quavered. “I have never doubted that.” “I love Echo, too.” I stared straight into Mrs. Collins’s eyes. “I miss her.”

“Because growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good.”

“What do you want to hear? That I’m exhausted? Terrified? Confused? That all I want to do is rest my head on your chest and sleep for hours, but that’s not going to happen because you’re leaving me?”

His lips curved into a sexy smile and I became lost in him. “I love you, Echo Emerson.” I whispered the words as he brought his lips to mine. “Forever.”

“Alexander Aires Emerson.” A shiver ran through me until the name settled in my heart. Alexander’s little hand broke free from the blanket and grasped my finger. Aires. They named the baby after Aires. Aires would have loved this baby, regardless of who his mother was, regardless of how our father treated him. Why? Because that’s the way he’d loved me. Aires loved me unconditionally. He loved me when I was a scared child. He loved me when I was a bratty preteen. He loved me as a hormonal teenager. When nobody else in this world could love me for being an unsure, self-absorbed, timid scaredy-cat, he loved me. More than once, Aires had sucked up his pride for me. He took crap from my father, my mother and from Ashley to stick up for me.

You’re your own person, Echo, and I’m proud to be your father.”

Echo and Tyler laughed as Isaiah flipped Tyler over his shoulder, grabbed Echo’s hand and ran across the yard to keep Beth from “finding” them. Beth slowly followed, pretending she had no idea where the three of them had gone. My throat swelled at the sight. I finally had a family. “Tyler likes her,” Jacob said as he watched Tyler reach for Echo.

Her siren smile lit up my world.