Alle Kapitel von Santa's Dirty Obsession: Kapitel 11 – Kapitel 20

I walked into my room and shut the door behind me, leaning against it as I tried to steady my breathing.It wwas then I heard the unmistakable sound of Grayson throwing up in the bathroom down the hall.Violent, wrenching sounds that made my stomach twist.A part of me felt guilty. A small, traitorous part that whispered maybe I'd been too harsh, maybe I should check on him, maybe he was genuinely sick with remorse.Stop it, Eva! I scolded myself mentally. Do not be fucking weak.Grayson was a monster. Whatever redemption he might have gone through over the past few years could never atone for what I'd lost because of his cruelty. He'd destroyed my life, my family, my sense of self. He'd taken everything from me and left me with nothing but shame and pain and scars that would never fully heal.I didn't owe him sympathy.I didn't owe him anything.I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled out my diary—a leather-bound notebook I'd been keeping since I left Willow Creek. Writing has a

GRAYSONHow the fuck was I supposed to stay just friends with a lady I was totally obsessed with?How was I supposed to pretend that I didn't want her, didn't yearn for her every single second of every single day?But I'd given my word, and I had every intention of keeping it.I knew how difficult it would be for her to trust me, so it was better not to rush her. Better to lean in slowly, to make her trust me—even just a little bit. To show her through actions, not words, that I'd changed.I would be just her friend. No matter how much my heart yearned for her. No matter how hard I got whenever she stood before me in those silk pajamas that showed the perfect outline of her breasts and hips. No matter how much I wanted to pin her against the wall and fuck her brains out until she screamed my name and forgot every reason she had to hate me.We would just be friends.For now.Because I had no intentions of letting Eva go. Not now. Not ever. Never again.It had been real work getting her

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Truce and TruthsEVAI woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee, and for a moment, I let myself just lie there and breathe it in.This was becoming a pattern. Grayson cooking breakfast while I pretended I wasn’t getting used to it. While I pretended it didn’t make something warm and dangerous unfurl in my chest every time I walked downstairs to find him at the stove.I got dressed slowly, pulling on jeans and one of the soft cashmere sweaters from the closet, and made my way to the kitchen.Grayson stood at the stove with his back to me, wearing dark jeans and a gray henley that clung to his shoulders in ways I absolutely was not noticing. His hair was slightly damp, like he’d just showered, and he was humming something under his breath.The whole scene was so domestic, so normal, that it made my throat tight.“Morning,” I said.He turned, and a smile spread across his face—genuine and unguarded in a way that made my heart skip. “Morning. I made pancakes. And bacon. A

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Return to Willow CreekEVAThe closer we got to Willow Creek, the harder it became to breathe.I watched the landscape change through the car window—the mountains giving way to rolling hills, the pine trees thinning out to reveal familiar roads I’d thought I’d never see again. Every mile marker felt like a countdown to my own execution.Grayson’s hand found mine somewhere around the halfway point.He didn’t say anything. Didn’t ask if I was okay or try to reassure me with empty platitudes. He just laced his fingers through mine and held on, his thumb tracing slow circles across my knuckles.I held on back like he was the only thing keeping me tethered to earth.“We can turn around,” he said quietly when we were about twenty minutes out. “If you want. We can turn around right now and go back to the cabin, and I’ll handle the board meeting remotely.”“No,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I said I’d come with you. I meant it.”His hand tightened around mine.Wh

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Return to Willow CreekEVAThe closer we got to Willow Creek, the harder it became to breathe.I watched the landscape change through the car window—the mountains giving way to rolling hills, the pine trees thinning out to reveal familiar roads I’d thought I’d never see again. Every mile marker felt like a countdown to my own execution.Grayson’s hand found mine somewhere around the halfway point.He didn’t say anything. Didn’t ask if I was okay or try to reassure me with empty platitudes. He just laced his fingers through mine and held on, his thumb tracing slow circles across my knuckles.I held on back like he was the only thing keeping me tethered to earth.“We can turn around,” he said quietly when we were about twenty minutes out. “If you want. We can turn around right now and go back to the cabin, and I’ll handle the board meeting remotely.”“No,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I said I’d come with you. I meant it.”His hand tightened around mine.Wh