Willow
It took all but 30 minutes, and now we were departing the Grayson private jet. Aspen was beautiful in Mid November, with flurries of snow hiding the hills and mountainside. I’ve always wanted to come here, but I never had the chance because I threw myself into my work. But now I’m here, with Reid Grayson, no less. I smile and hug my coat closer to my body as a bone-chilling shiver goes up my spine.
“Chop, chop, Miss Creed, These bags won’t carry themselves,” I roll my eyes at my asshole of a ‘boyfriend’ and pick up my luggage.
“You’re such a gentleman, Reid. The best, ever!” I say, giving him the finger and sliding my luggage across the runway only to hear a giggle behind me. I turn around to see Sasha and River waiting for us. Leaving my bag, I stroll towards them and give them both a hug, lingering on Sasha the longest.
“It’s lovely to see you again, Sasha,” I look at River and grin.
“Well, I see the man with your fac
Willow The front door of the cabin opens, and in walks Sylvia and Ridge. Sasha and I get up to greet them with hugs and kisses. “Ah, Willow! It is lovely to see you again, my dear,” Sylvia gushes, and a big smile crosses my face. “Lovely to see you as well, Sylvia. And you, Mr Grayson,” I greet them both. Ridge Grayson would always be Mr Grayson to me since he is my superior at work. Sasha leads them by the arms. “I have a full day planned starting tomorrow, especially for us girls. Since this is basically a bachelor and bachelorette getaway, we’ll most likely split up when we have things scheduled that do not require the men, like spa days or pamper sessions.” Sasha explains with a naughty smile on her face. Hmm, maybe this week away wouldn’t be so bad, then? Ridge clears his throat and excuses himself, knowing that his sons would be waiting for him in the study, it seems. I look at Sasha. “Do you have an itin
Willow I wake up with an aching body and look at the time on my phone: 4 am. Gosh, I was out like a log last night. When I look over at the space next to me, I notice that it was empty. Not just that, but it seems as if Reid never came to bed last night. That’s weird. Didn’t he say we had to act like a couple etc.? I throw on my soft, warm black tights, a t-shirt, pullover and warm jacket and boots. Yes, even though my body is aching right now, I wanted to go skiing again! Walking downstairs as quietly as I can, I write out a note for Sasha saying that I would be borrowing the rental to go skiing for two hours or so, but I would be back for breakfast. I stick the note on the refrigerator, but I hear a voice coming from the lounge area as I reach for the car keys. When I take a peek around the corner, I see Reid on his cell phone. He was trying not to shout, but he looked utterly pissed off. It seems like he’s been up all night
Reid Everything would have been okay if Willow didn't hand me that fucking watch. Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone? I didn't ask for this; all I wanted was to make my mother smile, not for some woman to get close to me like this. Why did she have to go and give me that fucking watch?! I sit down on the couch and let out a deep breath before my eyes fall on the broken timepiece lying on the floor. I had stepped on it out of frustration, but now guilt was setting in my heart as I picked it up. Perhaps Willow didn't mean anything nefarious by it? I doubt she knew what would happen, but why would she give me this if she didn't? A groan of annoyance escapes my throat, and I sit back in my chair. The sun was starting to rise now, so my family would be coming down for breakfast any time soon. Getting up from the couch, I pocket the watch and walk toward the kitchen. I didn't feel like facing my family now, not after my a
Reid It’s been a few hours now, and Willow hasn’t woken up yet. Her fingers were slightly frostbitten, but nothing severe and her ankle had a mild sprain that should heal in a few days if she rests enough. What worried the doctors were the fact that Willow is asthmatic, but she was out in the cold for over 5 hours. Her lungs were healing, and she was breathing independently, but she still hadn’t woken up. So here I was, sitting next to her hospital bed with her hand in mine and praying that she would wake up soon. “Nothing yet?” I turn around when I hear River entering the hospital room and shake my head. He sighs and walks over to me. “I should have gone out to look for her sooner, or else she wouldn’t be like this right now,” I say, holding her hand against my forehead. River places a hand on my shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself, Reid. There’s no way we could have known she had an accident, and to be fair, as soon
Willow “I can walk on my own, you know,” I say for the fourth time as Reid carries me inside the cabin. River shakes his head at the scene in front of him while Sasha continues to stare daggers at Reid. She still hasn’t forgiven him for fighting with me, even though she didn’t even know what the fight was about. Oh, well, I could use someone in my corner right about now. We reach the landing and turn left into our shared bedroom, where Reid carefully lays me down on the bed. “I’m not made of glass, Reid,” I say, already frustrated at being treated like this. “I know that,” he starts, laying a blanket over me. “But it is my fault you’re like this, so prepared to be annoyed at my constant care.” I breathe out a sigh of resignation, then turn on my side as I suddenly feel exhausted. The burning in my chest hasn’t eased up at all, and not even the humidifier was helping. I wasn’t about to admit this weakness to him
Willow On the flight back to Denver, we sat in silence. Reid sat next to me, but I knew he wanted to get as far away from me as humanly possible. The only thing I did differently was calling this thing off before he had a chance to. I didn’t want him to know how hard I had already fallen for him, and I wasn’t sure how much of it showed. But I would be damned if he hurt me again. Last night I met the woman I kept seeing him with, but she seemed happy to meet me. Was she not his lover? What exactly was going on? Ugh, I shake the thought from my head because it made no difference now. Getting together with Reid as his fake girlfriend might have been the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Why didn’t anyone try to stop me? Getting involved with him like that has proved to be the biggest mistake of my life. So much for “I’ll never fall for an asshole like Reid Grayson.” We landed back home in less than half an hour. He offered to drive
Willow Michael looks at the paperwork, then back up at me with a confused look on his face. “Are you sure about this, Willow?” he asks me as if I didn’t think this through enough. “I am,” I say with a nod. “I think it’s time for me to spread my wings. Writing has always been my first love, and now that I know that I have loyal fans and followers, I think it is unfair that I don’t pour my heart and soul into my art. It’s not that I hate working here; you know that I love all of you. But I think it’s the right time now to go off on my own.” I thought this through in Aspen already, through the pain and tears and decided that it would be best for me to leave the firm. This place used to bring me joy and contentment, but now thanks to my stupid decision to get involved with Reid, I know that it would be useless for me to stay any longer. It’s not that I am running away, okay, maybe it is, but as I said, I need to give my writing m
Reid “You’re a fucking selfish asshole!” Yes, I am, and you need to start seeing it. Don’t fall in love with me; you’ll only end up getting hurt. Ah, but I suppose it’s too late to say things like that because we’ve both fallen in love with one another. I replay our first kiss over and over again and wish that I hadn’t made the first move. She was so close that I could feel her breath on my cheek and see the throbbing of her pulse at her neck. I couldn’t resist Willow Creed any longer - at that moment, I had to have her. The complete ecstasy as I felt her lips on mine was overwhelming, her scent clouded my mind, and her moans made me see stars. Only to be filled with guilt the next moment. It was a stupid thing to do; I should never have kissed her and overstepped my boundaries. But now, I have proven to myself that what I felt for her wasn’t just pure lust for something I couldn’t have. I sit back in my chair and scoff; what
Willow Building an empire alone is one thing, but building an empire with someone you loved was something else entirely. You strive for the other’s success and knowing you had them in the corner with you meant so much more. A year after his surgery and chemo, we decided to add more rooms to the lake house; two studies and two guest rooms for when the family visits. It cost us a pretty penny, but with the success of my romance novels, and Reid selling the shares in his father’s law firm, we were good for it. I managed to open my own editorial house as well, so now I manage myself and at least four other new authors. My success was growing and so was Reid’s, who had a knack for the business world. Soon after he joined one of the largest marketing firms in Denver did they see a rise in their price on the stock market. Reid started being known as ‘Golden Thumbs’, whatever he touched seemed to multiply in success. I’m so proud of him and e
Willow My head whips to the door, and I take in the sight of the man I deemed my brother before running straight into his arms. Noah knew all the right things to say, and when I told him about what would happen today, he said he would be here for me until I decided to chase him away. “Noah!” I exclaim, wrapping my arms around his neck and taking in the familiar scent of him. I heard the low chuckle in his chest as he held me close, knowing words couldn’t express what I was feeling right now. When he lets go of me, we walk over to the bed I would be sleeping in and sit down, where Noah places his hand over mine. “I thought I used to be a fucking tough rockstar, fighting depression while performing in front of thousands, but what you’re doing blows all that away. You’re an amazing person and an even tougher bird, Specs. I take my hat off to you for what you’re doing, but since I am the only one that can currently see through your bullsh
Willow Okay, I knew this would come; I didn’t know it would come so soon after we just made love. Reid looks at me and cups my cheek, wiping away the tears that had formed even before he told me. T hey discovered another tumour and had no idea if it was cancerous or not, but River would get back to him with the results in a day. If all goes well, they will remove the new tumour and proceed with chemo to eliminate the parts they couldn’t remove. But for now, they didn’t know if it was malignant or benign… the test would reveal that. “I didn’t want to ruin our first Christmas together, especially not after what you did for me. But it felt wrong to hide this from you,” he says while his bottom lip trembled. This was more difficult for him than it was for me, knowing that he just got this happiness and it might be taken away just as quickly. “I understand. Thank you for telling me. I’ll still be by your side, no matter the outcome
Reid How is everything so perfect and yet so devastatingly painful? I sat down opposite the woman who has come to mean so much to me, and she’s chatting away while we’re having lunch as if yesterday’s events didn’t loom over us. She’s decorated my home for Christmas to welcome me back, and she’s cooked for me - how could fate be so cruel as to give me someone like Willow Creed, knowing that I wouldn’t be long for this world? When River came to me this morning, I didn’t expect him to deliver the news he did since they gave me the all-clear on the operation. But he received a call this morning to say that there was an error in one of my MRI scans, and what do you know? They discovered another tumour and is clearly inoperable at this stage. He took some tissue samples this morning and would let me know if it was malignant or benign. But there is an out if it is cancerous, and it comes with radiation treatment and chemo, so that means man
Willow As soon as Reid was out, I left the hospital and made my way back to my condo while driving his car. As much as I wished to stay at his side, I was pretty drained and would do him no good by feeling this way. When I arrive at my condo, I grab a few more items I would need and head back to Reid’s lake house. Yeah, this was my home and all, but the lake house has come to be an important place for me as well. Within the hour, I was back at the lake house and didn’t even bother to shower as I headed straight for the bed. The pillowcases still smelled like him, and before I knew it, I had passed out with nothing but thoughts of Reid on my mind. When I open my eyes the following morning, I reach over to the spot where Reid should be, only to find it unoccupied. I had such a wonderful dream before I woke up, and to not see him beside me crushed my heart a bit. No worries, I suppose; he’s in the hospital and would probably get released
Reid My father is standing in front of me, sobbing his heart out because apparently, he blamed himself for my stroke. River said the same thing, even after I told them it was okay. What’s the point in whining over a death that would have ultimately come? Yes, they pissed me off with what they said, but that didn’t mean that I hated them for it. “You’re not a defective son, Reid. Please don’t ever think that about yourself! I am proud of what you’ve accomplished with your life, but I don’t want you to live your life to please me anymore. When you’re 100%, we can go over what you want to do from now on, okay?” My dad says while gripping my shoulder. I nod and give him a wan smile before he walks away again. My meningioma has grown no larger than my last check-up, so they have prepped me for an operation on the 30th, which was a few days away. I have to admit that I am terrified; even though everything still seems a bit hazy to me, I am still aw
Willow I watch Reid slump against the car door and wrench the steering wheel from his hands, with my heart beating right out of my chest. Thank God that this is an automatic, or I probably would be dead right now. After I bring the car to a stop, I check Reid’s pulse and breathing, then pull out my cell phone to call River. Fuck their differences right now. I have no idea how I am remaining so calm, but I have a feeling that this will all probably hit me once the adrenaline leaves my body. I exhale, then dial River’s number, who answers on the first ring. “Willow! Hey, listen,-” “No, I don’t have time for that now, River. There’s been an accident and Reid has passed out.” I say and go on to tell him where we were currently before putting the phone down and actually calling an ambulance. When my eyes fall on Reid, I notice the side of his mouth is a bit turned down and realise what could have happened. He was so angry, so pissed off at his fami
Reid My father watches me with a glare, and before he even opens his mouth, I know what is coming. “Do you know how you’ve made your mother feel with this stunt you’ve pulled, Reid?” He says, the fake smile dropping from his face as promptly as he put it there. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose before straightening my back to answer him. “And I have apologised to her profusely for going MIA on all of you, have I not?” I say, leaning against the kitchen counter. River shakes his head. “That’s not what dad means, Reid.” He says, the joy in his eyes earlier replaced by disappointment. “Don’t think for one minute that we’re not happy you’ve decided to live. But how do you think mom feels knowing that she wasn’t the one to make you change your mind?” I look at both of them, dumbfounded that this would be the conclusion they would come to after all this time. “So you guys are happy that I’ve chosen to live, but not that
Willow I’m watching Reid from the passenger seat and noting how completely calm he looks. Instead of the rigid lawyer now sat a man with his mind made up and chatting happily while sitting slightly slumped in his seat. I can’t help but think how much his decision weighed on him, knowing he could die at any given moment. Allowing myself to smile a little, I take in this different side of him with a happy heart. “My mom is looking forward to seeing you, as usual,” he says with a snicker, his eyes flickering towards me, then back to the road. “I’m a bit nervous about seeing your family after all this time,” I admit while fidgeting in my seat a bit. Yeah, it was all good and well that Reid had changed his mind about the surgery, but I had literally cut them all out of my life since we ‘broke up’ after Aspen. Would they still hold a grudge? Reid looks over at me and grins. “I can promise you now that you have nothing to be