All Chapters of Forbidden Fruit: Craving My Best Friend's Brother : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Chapter 1Aria“You actually did it!” Sage nearly bounced in her seat, grinning as she raised her glass. We tapped them together and each took a slow sip of the dark red wine.“I still can’t believe it,” I said, my voice a little unsteady. “It’s really mine.”After months of searching, I had finally signed the lease on the apartment I’d wanted for so long—completely on my own. Sage and I had been close since high school in Portland. When I moved to Chicago she was already living between cities, building her career as a stylist. She only visited a few times a year now, but every time felt like no time had passed. People had always measured us against each other. If I was being honest, they still did. Sage had always moved through life with a kind of ease I never quite matched.It showed in the way rooms shifted when she entered them. Getting this place without anyone’s help had been something I needed to prove—to myself most of all.The apartment wasn’t the only thing that was new. I

Chapter 3AriaI stood outside Cole’s building with my bags at my feet, trying to talk myself into walking through the entrance.There was no logical reason for the tightness in my chest over the idea of living under the same roof as Cole Carter after Sage had already convinced me everything would be fine.Except there was a reason. There was always a reason where Cole was concerned. Something buried deep enough that I refused to dig it up.I exhaled, shook the thought off before it could take root, and picked up my bags.Sage buzzed me in before I even reached the intercom, like she’d been watching the street the entire time.“You made it!” She pulled the door open before I could knock, already reaching for one of my suitcases. “Don’t worry, Cole isn’t home yet. Come in.”I hesitated on the doorstep, grip tightening on the other bag. “Wait. Does he actually know I’m coming? I don’t want him being shocked to see me or something.”“Sure, sure, he knows.” Sage laughed softly, already dr

Chapter 5Cole Aria laughed, loud and slurred. “And who are you to ask me that, Cole? Tell me—who are you to me to be asking me that?”I sighed. “Are you at Murphy’s?”“I hate you so much, Cole.” A pause, then a hiccup. “I wish you would just leave me alone. Go to hell.”I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair, frustration and worry tangling together in my chest.I grabbed my car keys off the counter. “Don’t make me come looking for you, Aria.”She blew a raspberry into the phone in response, followed by the unmistakable sound of her taking another drink, then a loud, unbothered belch.I closed my eyes for a second, counting to five before I lost my patience completely.Then a voice cut in on her end—male, way too close to the phone. “Hey, pretty.”My eyes went wide, every ounce of frustration snapping instantly into something sharper.“Aria. Do not answer anyone.” My voice came out harder than I meant it to. “I’m on my way.”She hung up without another word.I didn’t waste tim