로그인WILLOWI’ve got my meeting with my creative writing professor this morning. After my morning class, I head to her office. Of course, she’s expecting me.“Willow… take a seat.” She offers me the chair across her desk. “I graded your paper last night.”“Oh.” The paper she’s referring to is a short story I had turned in for mid terms. Granted, it’s not going to win any literary prizes anytime soon, regardless, I had poured a lot of hours into the piece. It deserves nothing less than an A.Right?Surely, that’s what she’s called me to discuss.“Honestly, the piece you turned in, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”My heart sinks at those words. Shit. I can’t afford for my GPA to drop on top of everything else. “Oh. Wow. Sorry.” I shake my head numbly. “Um, so what’s wrong with the piece? What do I need to correct?”“What? No.” Professor Delaney is smiling at me. “There’s nothing wrong with your piece miss Thompson. I was actually just about to tell you that you got the highest score
WILLOWI wake up to the sound of my phone buzzing. At first, I think it’s just my alarm but it’s not. Tate Mccrae blasts at full volume and Violet groans in her sleep.“Ugh! Willow. Will you answer that already?” She grunts. “Some of us are trying to sleep here.”Blindly, I search for my phone, disrupting random objects on my desk. Once I have it, I swipe left without bothering to check who the caller is.“Who’s this?” I growl, impatiently. I’ve never been a morning person and do not intend to start now.“Wow. Is that any way to greet your new boyfriend?” Aiden’s chuckle is a low rumble but it’s enough to rouse me awake. “Aiden,” I check the time. 6:50 a.m. “Do you have any idea what time it is? Why are you calling me so early?”“It’s almost seven.” He snickers on the other end of the phone, like it’s amusing to have disrupted my beauty sleep. “Er, is there any specific reason why you’re calling? Is this about the basketball tickets?”“What? No.” Again, he snorts. “You already promis
WILLOWThe last time I had spoken to Aiden was at an Omega party. He had smiled at me flirtatiously, pouring me a beer. That was a year ago, few weeks after I’d started dating Theo.And because I knew how hostile both brothers were towards each other, I didn’t let myself linger at the alcohol stand. I had accepted my beer and made my excuse.Since then, we’ve avoided each other, even though we run in the same social circles.I never thought I would get so entangled with a guy like Aiden until today. And now, he’s sitting on my porch, shit eating grin in place, eyeing me speculatively as I approach.“What the hell was that about today?” he asks, once I’m close enough. “The ice rink. The public kiss. That nasty little fight with Theo.”“I’m sorry,” I blurt, hating the timing of this conversation. My plan was to talk to him tomorrow, once I had perfected the details of my apology. I guess I’ll just have to wing it. “I know I took you by surprise with that kiss. I never meant for it to ha
WILLOWI grew up in an orphanage. Poor. Never having enough. Always depending on the goodwill of the state system. Because I believed I’d been dealt the short end of the stick, I made sure to do everything the state expected of me.I poured all my energy into school. Got straight As. Scored a scholarship for college. My life seemed to be going exactly as I wanted it to go, unraveling on my own terms.But then, everything changed when Cary Thompson showed up one day, DNA test in hand.***“Willow,” he kisses both my cheeks, eyes brightening as he takes in my cocktail dress. “You look lovely honey.”“Thanks,” I mumble, allowing him to lead me into the hall.“So, how was the hockey game?” He picks two champagne flutes off a valet’s tray and hands one over to me.“It was fine. We won.” I take a huge sip. “Exactly how long do I have to be here for, dad?”“Oh come on honey. You only just got here and now, you’re talking about leaving? Relax.” He chuckles. “Invites to events like this do not
WILLOWThe crowd is still cheering. Aiden is still waiting for me to say something.“I’m guessing this is about my… brother.” He whispers the words right beneath my ear, running his fingers along my butt cheeks.What the hell is he doing? I guess I put myself in this situation— to be groped and fondled. It’s why he’s taking full advantage of it.He squeezes my cheeks roughly and that’s when my brain comes back to life.“Aiden,” I squirm in his arms, untangling my legs from around his waist. My feet have barely touched the ice when Theo is suddenly in front of us.He’s seething, glaring at me and then Aiden.“What the fuck is this?” He asks, pointing at the both of us. “Since when are you two an item?”“Why the fuck do you care? What does it matter to you?” I’m doing a good job, pretending that his fury doesn’t affect me.Theo laughs sarcastically. “So, this is new then? I cheat on you and the next thing you do is move on to my brother?”“Who said I just moved on to him?”“So, you’ve b
WILLOWToday is regionals. Northwestern University’s hockey team is facing off against California’s Omega hockey team.It’s a freaking bloodbath out there on the ice rink. Both teams are already an hour into the game and after three solid intermission periods, the Omegas are in the lead.Theo is in the lead, supporting the offense squad to get the puck into the goal post. Every time our team scores, the cheerleading squad cheers loudly. But my heart is not in it, not when Theo’s out there, shining and dominating on the rink after he humiliated me.Every time I raise my pom poms, I feel like I’m going to be sick. I even flunk a few steps in our cheer routine. Thankfully, no one notices. No one except Violet.“Are you okay?” she asks me, raising her voice to be heard above the noise of loud cheers. “If you’re thinking about that asshole right now, better get him out of your mind. He’s not worth it.”“I’m not thinking about him.” Just as I say it, Theo comes barreling towards the cheerle







