Until You (Off-Limits)

I pause in front of Aria’s apartment, dreading the dinner I’m about to be forced to sit through. Even after all these years, I can’t deny her anything. She’s no longer the teenager she was when I first met her, but I still want her to have everything her heart desires. Even if that means sitting through an evening of Sleazy sucking up to me.

I inhale deeply and raise my hand to knock. The door swings open a second later, and I can’t tell whether I’m amused or annoyed to find Brad standing in front of me. I glance at his hair, suppressing my frown. How? How does it stay like that? Seriously, what does he put in it?

“Grayson, my man,” he says, taking a step closer to me. I take a step back. The fuck does he want to do? Hug me? I barely even know the guy.

His expression falls, and he straightens awkwardly as he opens the door wider. “Please, come in.”

I nod and follow him in, my eyes taking in every detail. The place is small, and it’s old, but it’s got character. Aria’s signature touch is all over the place. There’s color everywhere, but somehow, she makes it work. Where I’m all black and white, Aria is everything in between. She always has been.

“Ah, this shabby little place probably isn’t what you’re used to,” Brad says. “I told Aria it’d be better to eat out, but she was being stubborn tonight. I’m sorry. I’m afraid you’ll have to suffer through one of Aria’s meals.”

I clench my jaw. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Does this guy not realize how lucky he is that she makes him food at all? That she spends time and effort, putting endless love and care in every dish he has the honor to eat? Fucking asshole.

“I insisted.”

He blinks, confused, and I sigh. Of course he’s a fucking dumbass, unable to comprehend a simple response.

Relief washes over me when I hear Aria’s laughter. I turn to find her standing in the kitchen doorway, an apron tied around her waist, her hair in a bun and her feet bare. She looks cute, and those eyes of hers are twinkling with that expression that’s uniquely hers: mischief and provocation.

“Gray,” she admonishes. “Full sentences, please.”

She walks up to me, and I hold my arm out for her. She walks into my embrace and I lift her off the floor with one arm, side hugging her. She’s so fucking small, and I’ve always loved that about her. Aria giggles when I put her down, and the sound of it puts me at ease. It melts away the annoyance I felt at seeing Sleazy’s face.

“Gray meant he insisted on me cooking for him,” she explains, and I shake my head. She acts like I don’t speak, but I do. Just not to people that aren’t worth my time. I speak just fine to Noah and her.

Brad nods, his expression guarded. There’s just something about him I don’t like, and it’s more than his dumb hair. I should’ve done what my instincts told me to do, and hacked into his phone. The operating system is likely one my company created, after all. I didn’t, because Aria would never forgive me if she found out, and I don’t want to intrude on her privacy like that.

She pulls on the edge of my sleeve and leads me to the dining table, where a stunning meal has been laid out already. “Ta-da,” she says, grinning and gesturing at the food. Her eyes are filled with warmth, an intimate smile on her lips.

Brad looks horrified and he clenches his jaw as he turns toward her. “Darling,” he says through gritted teeth. “You made scrambled eggs? As the main dish?”

I pat the top of her head and slide my hand down to her neck until my hand is resting on her shoulder. “Thank you, Ari,” I say, unable to wipe the grin off my face.

Her eyes aren’t on me, though. They’re on Brad, and her expression is filled with shame and sorrow. I pull her closer to me, the top of her head hitting my bicep. She looks up at me. I hate seeing this sadness in her eyes.

“Thank you for making my favorite food,” I tell her. She stares into my eyes, and slowly but surely, the tension in her shoulders eases. She smiles, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Of course, Gray,” she says, grinning.

Back when Noah and I first met, in our first year of college, eggs were the most nutritious and filling food we could afford. He and I both attended a college we couldn’t really pay for, and the fees were too high for us to bear. Noah had the additional responsibility of taking care of Aria, and from what I understand, they spent most of their parents’ life insurance paying for the mortgage of their house and legal fees related to their parents’ case.

Similarly, I worked my ass off just to be able to pay the school fees and my rent in a tiny shared flat. There often wasn’t much left for food, so Noah and I would split grocery bills and eat together. Aria’s creativeness saved us. She learned to whip up eggs in ten different ways, making us feel like we were having something else every day. It wasn’t just that, though. I doubt she knows it, but Aria is the first person who’s ever wanted to cook for me. Her scrambled egg dish was the first meal I ever had that was made with care and affection. It’s been my favorite food ever since, and I still can’t have eggs without thinking of her.

“Come on,” she says, her voice soft. She pulls out my seat for me, and I chuckle, shaking my head.

“No way, Ari,” I tell her, placing my hand on her shoulder. “You sit.”

She sighs in mock exasperation as she sits down, but I see the appreciation in her eyes, and I hate that. For her to look at me that way can only mean one thing: she’s not being treated chivalrous enough, she’s not used to this.

Brad clears his throat awkwardly as I sit down next to Aria. “I didn’t know eggs were your favorite,” he says.

I stare him down as Aria fills up my plate. “Why would you?” I ask him.

Brad blinks, clearly uncomfortable, and Aria taps my thigh underneath the table, sending me a pleading look before pulling her hand away.

I sigh and remind myself to be nice to Brad, when all I can think about is what would happen if I cracked an egg on his head. Would it stick in his hair gel, or would it run down his head like it’s supposed to? I don’t know, but I’d like to find out.

“So, Aria told me she’s seriously considering accepting your job offer.”

I see Aria stiffen from my peripheral vision and instantly gather she told him no such thing. I lean back in my seat and stare at Brad, wondering what other crap will come out of his mouth.

“We’d love to move to Cali together, and honestly, we’d both love to work for Aequitas. If there’s anything you can do, we’d really appreciate it.”

He’s smart. He’s capitalizing on my affection for Aria. I glance at her and find her staring at her plate, her entire body tense. She seems uncomfortable, and I don’t know what to make of the situation. He’s using her, and she seems to realize it, yet she’s letting it happen.

“She’s already in,” I tell Brad, tipping my head toward Aria. “But you… you’ll have to prove yourself.”

He sits up, his eyes filled with determination. “Test me any way you want. I’m a great developer. Anything you need, I can probably do it.”

I smile at him. Moron. “Have you ever heard of the Nemesis Platform?”

He frowns at me, and I’ve got my answer. Fucking noob. He works in tech and hasn’t heard of the Nemesis Platform? He stands no chance in my company. Probably wouldn’t even make it through the first round of interviews.

“It’s a vigilante platform, for a lack of a better explanation. It’s all the rage with my developers and engineers right now. Find a weakness in their systems. If you do, I’ll hire you on the spot.”

Brad looks excited, but Aria looks disappointed. She probably knows as well as I do that I’ve just given Brad an impossible task, and the fact he doesn’t even know it doesn’t bode well for him.

She wears that same sad expression throughout the rest of dinner, and I feel fucking awful. I did this. I did this to her. Would it really kill me to hire Sleazy? Truthfully, he likely wouldn’t last long, anyway. He’d be fired after his first performance review. Yet I still can’t budge on this. I can’t sit here and let him capitalize on my affection for Aria. I won’t let him use her this way. If he wants to apply the regular way, he’s welcome to do so, but I’m not handing him a job.

The atmosphere between Aria and me is tense as she walks me to the door, but Brad barely notices. He’s already got his laptop out, ready to meet the challenge I set.

“Why?” Aria asks as we reach the door, hurt flashing through her eyes.

I turn to look at her and gently brush her long hair out of her face. “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.”

She stares at me and then nods, crestfallen.

The look in her eyes haunts me the entire way home, and I can’t help but second-guess myself. Did I just make the wrong decision?