Free Crossing The Line by Katie McGarry

darkness of night? Without her past, Echo would never have met Noah, and without her losing Aires, I would never have met you. So, yeah, I do mean what I said in the last letter. You are like a sunrise in my life.
~ Lila
    Stretched out on her stomach with her face toward me, Lila sleeps. Her tousled hair falls over her shoulder, onto her cheek. I’ve been awake for an hour, watching her. She smiles when she dreams. Twice, little lines formed between her eyebrows and I had to stop myself from smoothing them out. She’s too beautiful to wear worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure her happiness.
    Birds begin to chirp outside Lila’s window—a warning of the impending moment. Soon, I’ll have to say goodbye.
    I’ve got a long drive and a lot of work in front of me in order to catch up with Lila. After spending time with her, going back to letters will be difficult, but we also agreed to phone calls and Skype and weekend visits.
    I skim my finger against the soft skin of her cheek, and her head angles toward my touch. Her eyes flutter open and her lips edge up when she sees me. “Hi.”
    “Hi,” I respond.
    Someday I’ll teach her how to climb a rock wall, I’ll introduce her to my parents, let her hold my nephew and I’ll confess my love.
    Lila reaches up and smooths the hair near my ear. “I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
    “Same here.”
    “I really like you,” she says in a low, sexy tone. And I recognize it, the spark in her eyes. It’s more than like, more than attraction.
    “Me too.”
    Her hand glides down to my chest and pauses over my heart. When our eyes meet, I know she notices the spark within me too. I capture her hand and keep it against my chest as I lean in for a kiss.
    “I still expect two letters a week,” she whispers.
    Our lips move against each other’s, and in between breaths I say to her, “I’ll send you three.”
    *
    Read on for an excerpt from Echo and Noah’s unforgettable story,
PUSHING THE LIMITS (available now), and an exclusive sneak preview
of Noah’s friend Beth’s story, DARE YOU TO,
coming soon from Katie McGarry and Harlequin TEEN!

Pushing the Limits

NOAH
    I’d told Mrs. Collins the truth. I didn’t have time for tutoring or counseling. In June, I would turn eighteen and graduate from foster care. That meant I’d need a place of my own, and rent meant a job. But Mrs. Collins had played me like a street hustler. An occasional supervised visit with my brothers wasn’t enough. She dangled them in front of me like a damn needle to a heroin addict.
    My shift at the Malt and Burger started at five. I glanced at the clock hanging over the reference librarian’s desk. What part of “meet the guy you’re tutoring directly after school at the public library” did my know-it-all misunderstand? Mrs. Collins might have mentioned who would be tutoring me, but I’d stopped listening after a few minutes. The lady talked too much.
    I focused on the double doors. Five more minutes and I could happily call this session a failure, a fact I would be thrilled to throw in Mrs. Collins’s face.
    One door opened and cold air swept in, causing goose bumps to rise on my arms. Ah , hell . I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest. Echo Emerson glided into the library.
    Her eyes swept the room while her gloved hands rubbed her arms. Like the cold could penetrate that fancy-ass brown leather coat. A light, sunshine smile rested on her face. It appeared Mrs. Collins had kept us both in the dark. The moment she saw me, her smile faded and her green eyes erupted with thunderclouds. Join the fucking club .
    From under the table, I kicked out the chair opposite me. “You’re late.”
    She set her book bag on the table and scooted the chair in as she sat. “I had to go to the office and find out testing dates. I could have gotten the information this morning, but some jerk
    got in my way.”
    Advantage Echo, but I smiled at her like I had the upper hand.