Until You (Off-Limits, #1)

by Catharina Maura

“Because he doesn’t deserve you, and you should never let a man hold you back from chasing your dreams. Not Noah, not me, and certainly not Brad. Follow your dreams, Aria, and if he’s the one, he’ll follow you.”

I can lose myself in some fictional story, a story that’ll allow me to experience moments of happiness that elude me in my own life.

“Brad was a fool to mess with you,” he tells me, his thumb stroking the edge of my lips. “A fucking fool. When I saw those tears in your eyes… there’s no way he was going to get away with what he did. No fucking way. No one hurts you and gets away with it. No one. Not on my fucking watch. I will never sit there and watch your heart break, Ari.”

I’m done for. The way she makes me feel… yeah. There’s no point in fooling myself any longer. I’m falling for my best friend’s little sister.

“Tell me you’re mine, Aria. Tell me that from this day forward, I get to call you mine.”

I’m fucking crazy about you, and I have been for months. Hell… I’m pretty sure I love you.”

“I’m in love with you, Aria Grant. Head over heels. Butterflies and all that shit. I’ll wait a lifetime for you if you want me to. So tell me, baby… do you want to stop? We can stop right here if you want to.”

“You’re it for me, baby. I want a whole life with you. I want your clothes next to mine, your makeup in my bathroom. I want you to have your own side of the bed, and I want to wake up to you completely disregarding that and lying on top of me instead, driving me insane.”

“Take it,” she tells me. “I’m yours. Every broken, damaged piece of me. Take it all.”

“The next time you feel even an ounce of relief, the smallest sense of justice… remember who you owe it to. Remember what it cost. Grayson paid for your happiness by sacrificing his own. Every smile on your face for the rest of your life, is one you took from him. He might have been born as a result of a crime, but it doesn’t compare to the sins you committed against the one person who stood by you even when you turned your back on him. He didn’t choose to be born the way he did, but you chose to give him up. You chose to turn your back on him when he came to find you, his heart filled with hope. You looked him in the eye and destroyed him. You might be enjoying a sense of freedom now, but you’d better remember what it cost.” I rise to my feet and turn to walk away, a tear rolling down my cheek as I walk out the door. My heart aches for everything Grayson went through, everything we went through. I hope it was worth it.

HELL YEAH!!! Cooked her!! I love Aria for it!

But here’s the thing about that… just because he’s the love of my life doesn’t mean I’m his.

But you arrrrreeeeee!!!!! FUCK!!!

“Aria?” The sound echoes through every speaker, and my jaw drops. All around me people stare up at the screen, most of them as shocked as I am. What’s going on? Grayson pulls on his tie and stabilizes the camera. The video seems to be streaming from a mobile device. “Don’t get on that plane. I’m begging you, Aria. I’m begging you to stay. I’m on my way to the airport right now,” he says, glancing at his watch. “I know you’ll start boarding within the next ten minutes, but I beg of you, don’t get on that plane.”

OMG MY HEART!!!