Back In Town

Callie The car slowed as we pulled into the quiet cul-de-sac, and I stared out the window, feeling like the past was rushing back to punch me in the face. The street hadn't changed. Same neat lawns and mailboxes. Time hadn't changed and yet, I was no longer the girl I used to be. Mia’s place was at the end, a cream two-story with blue shutters and a wraparound porch. Her mom had taken off years ago, leaving the house and Mia behind. I remembered the sleepovers on that porch, watching fireflies and sharing secrets we thought the world would never touch. Back when we believed in forever. I opened the car door and stretched, my joints aching from the six-hour drive. The summer heat clung to my skin like a second layer. I grabbed my duffel bag from the back seat just as the front door swung open. “Callie!” Mia squealed, barreling down the steps. I barely had time to drop my bag before she wrapped me in a tight hug. “God, it’s been forever!” I laughed against her shoulder. “Ten m

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

Unrecognizable

Callie With the morning sunlight streaming through the blinds. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling fan spinning in slow, lazy circles, trying to convince myself I hadn’t imagined the night before. But I hadn't. He was real. Grayson Carter was real. The man in the kitchen, a man with rough stubble along a hardened jawline. I sat up, clutching the sheets. My heart had been playing a ridiculous rhythm ever since I stepped into that kitchen. I shouldn’t be this affected. It had been years. I was just a kid the last time he saw me. He was Mia's dad. Her off-limits, twice-my-age dad who had no business looking like he'd stepped out of a damn rugged calendar shoot. I shoved the thoughts away and got up. My suitcase lay half-unpacked at the foot of the bed, clothes spilling out in messy chaos. I tugged on a tank top and shorts, twisted my curls into a messy bun and headed downstairs, determined to act normal. Like my heart hadn't tried to beat its way out of my chest last night

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

Line Crossed At Midnight

Callie The clock read 1:47 AM. I’d been tossing and turning for hours, my thoughts a mess of heat and memory and the way Grayson Carter had looked at me earlier, like he was trying not to look at all. I gave up on sleep and slipped downstairs, sketchbook under my arm, phone in the other. The house was dark and silent, the kind of quietness that settles deep in your bones. The only light came from the dim undercabinet glow in the kitchen. Instead of heading there again, I sank into the living room couch. The air was warm, humming with summer humidity that clung to the skin, and I curled my legs beneath me as I flipped to a blank page. Lines flowed beneath my fingers before I even knew what I was drawing… broad shoulders, calloused hands, a tired gaze. It was like muscle memory took over. I didn’t hear him at first. The soft tread of his steps on the hardwood floor made me freeze. Then his voice, low and rough; "Can’t sleep again?" I turned my head slowly. Grayson stood in t

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

New Boundaries

Grayson I hadn’t meant to touch her.It was instinct. A reflex. The kind of automatic gesture a father might make, only I wasn’t her father and there was nothing paternal about the way I felt when her eyes opened and caught me there, fingers still tangled in her hair.I didn’t sleep that night. I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, pulse heavy in my throat, every second replaying in a loop. The warmth of her skin. The way her lashes fluttered. The slow parting of her lips when she realized how close we were.Stupid.Reckless.Off-limits.By the time the sun rose, I’d made a decision.This couldn’t continue.I needed distance. Rules. Clarity. Before something irreversible happened.The smell of coffee pulled me into the kitchen. Mia had already left. I expected the house to be quiet.But there she was.Callie.Hair in a messy bun. One of Mia’s oversized band tees sliding off her shoulder. Bare legs, smooth and glowing under the fluorescent light.She turned, startled. "Oh—morning."M

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

The Pool Scene

GraysonThe house was too quiet. Mia had gone to meet some friends, texting a rushed goodbye and promising not to be too late. That left the house in a strange limbo of silence and open space. I tried reading, but the words blurred. I tried fixing the loose hinge in the guest bathroom, but my hands kept missing the screws.Finally, I gave up.I stepped outside with a cold drink, more out of habit than desire, and headed for the back porch. The late afternoon sun cast everything in honeyed gold. The trees rustled lazily in the breeze. Birds chirped and then I heard the splash.My steps faltered.There she was.Callie.Alone in the pool.Her head broke the surface, water trailing down her face. She swam to the edge and leaned her arms on the side, tilting her head back to soak in the sun. Her hair slicked against her neck. Her bikini, black, minimal left little to the imagination.I should’ve turned around.I didn’t.Instead, I sat down quietly on the top step of the porch, drink forgo

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

Bad Influence

Callie The sun had barely started to filter through the curtains when I rolled over and checked my phone, 9:14 a.m. Mia was still passed out in her room. Grayson was already gone, his truck was missing from the driveway. The silence in the house settled over me. After everything that happened by the pool, I’d half expected to wake up to a confrontation. Maybe a stern lecture or another round of I-set-the-rules-and-you’ll-follow-them. But nothing. Not a word, not even a single glance when he dropped his coffee mug in the sink before heading out the door earlier. It was like the moment never happened. Only it did and I hadn’t forgotten. I spent the next hour trying to keep myself busy. Cleaned up the kitchen. Sorted my laundry. Scrolled through my phone. None of it worked. His voice, gravel deep looped in my head like a broken record. “Because the thought of something h

Last Updated : 2025-08-06

All Chapters of Off Limits : Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Back In Town

Unrecognizable

Line Crossed At Midnight

New Boundaries

The Pool Scene

Bad Influence