TWENTY-NINE Willow
TWENTY-NINE
Willow
Iwake up tangled in my sheets with my phone wedged under my hip and the overwhelming realization that my life has officially become ridiculous.
And out of control.
Daisy lifts her head from the end of the bed as I groan into my pillow.
“I know,” I mumble. “I’m judging me, too.”
Sunlight filters through the curtains, warm and cheerful. Outside, Redemption Falls is waking up slowly, birds chirping, trucks rumbling down Main Street, the familiar activity of a town that has stayed the same my entire life.
Everything feels normal.
Except me.
Because normal girls don’t accidentally fall into whatever this is.
My stomach twists as flashes from the last few weeks replay in my head like some cruel montage.
Xander in the lake, soaked and intense and looking at me like I was the answer to a question he’d been asking for years.
Gabe kissing me outside Bennett’s with enough force to make my knees weak.
Us in his office, losing our damn minds.
Julian grinning at me in the delivery car before ruining my life with that stupidly perfect mouth.
That night it was all of us, together, when spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven got way out of control.
I press my hands over my face.
I’m losing myself in them. In their attention, their intensity, the way they make me feel seen, and if I keep letting this happen, I’m going to get hurt.
Maybe catastrophically.
Because men like them don’t stay in places like Redemption Falls forever.
Eventually, they’ll get bored. Or leave. Or realize they could have literally anyone else.
And I’ll still be here. Still serving coffee. Still trying to pretend my heart isn’t in pieces.
“Nope,” I tell myself firmly, throwing the blankets off. “Not happening.”
Daisy watches me with deep concern as I start pacing the bedroom.
“I’m serious this time.”
By the time I shower and pull on jeans and an oversized sweater, I’ve made my decision.
I need to end this before it gets worse. Before I get worse.
My stomach knots as I grab my phone.
I open a group chat and stare at it for a full five seconds before typing.
Willow: We need to talk.
Three dots appear immediately.
Julian: That sounds terrifying.
Gabe: Are you okay?
Xander: Where are you?
Even their texts have personalities. I rub the back of my neck hard enough to ache.
Willow: At home. Can you all meet me at the bridge in an hour?
Xander: We’ll be there.
The Old Mill Bridge is quieter than usual when I get there.
The river rushes below in a blur of white water and early autumn leaves. It smells like pine and cold stone and the faint promise of rain.
I lean against the wooden railing, arms folded tightly across my chest.
You can do this. You have to do this.
A black SUV pulls up near the trail first.
Gabe steps out wearing jeans and a charcoal coat, phone still in one hand like he was probably handling twelve business deals on the drive over.
Julian follows, sunglasses pushed into his dark hair and concern written all over his face beneath the usual charm.
Xander comes last. Black jacket, dark jeans, hands shoved into his pockets.
His blue eyes lock onto mine.
The three of them walk toward me together, and this feels much harder than it did in my bedroom an hour ago.
Julian reaches me first. “You’re scaring me a little, Willow.”
Xander stops beside him. “What happened?”
I swallow.
Nothing happened. That’s the problem.
I look between all three of them and my chest tightens painfully.
Damn, they’re beautiful, which is inconvenient.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
The words come out faster than I mean them to.
Silence.
The river crashes below us.
Julian blinks first. “Do what?”
“This.” I gesture vaguely between us. “Whatever this is.”
Gabe studies me carefully, now, green eyes far too observant. “Talk to us.”
“I am talking.”
“No,” he says calmly. “You’re panicking.”
“I’m not panicking.”
“You called a meeting at a bridge like you’re about to fake your own death,” Julian interjects. “Honestly, the location choice was dramatic.”
I glare at him. “This is serious.”
Xander steps closer. “Then tell us.”
I exhale shakily. “I can’t keep getting pulled into your lives like this. It’s too much.” No one interrupts me this time. “You’re all…” I wave a hand helplessly. “You’re famous and rich and intense and completely insane, and I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore.”
Julian opens his mouth.
I point at him. “No. You especially.”
He looks offended. “I’ve been delightful.”
“You invited yourself on my delivery route and seduced me in a parking lot.”
“That’s not a lie.”
I look away before I accidentally laugh. Focus, Willow.
“I mean it,” I say. “This has gotten out of hand.”
Xander’s jaw tightens. “So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I can’t come to the compound anymore. I can’t keep hanging around with you. I can’t…” My voice catches stupidly. “I can’t keep letting myself get attached.”
Xander’s entire body stills.
Gabe is the first to recover. “Willow,” he says gently, “no one’s asking you to lose yourself.”
“Aren’t you?”
His brow furrows.
I shake my head before he can answer. “I barely recognize myself lately. I’m sneaking around with three men I barely know—”
“You know us,” Julian says.
I look at him. “I know pieces of you.”
“Then let us give you the rest.”
That shouldn’t work, but warmth twists painfully in my chest anyway.
Xander turns to look at me. “If this is about the other night—”
“It’s about all of it.”
His eyes narrow. “You regret us?”
The truthful answer is terrifying. “No,” I whisper. “But I’m a waitress from a tiny town. You guys own a record label and a giant estate and probably islands somewhere.”
Julian raises a hand. “I don’t own an island.”
Xander looks at him. “You looked into buying one near Greece.”
“That was one time.”
I stare at them in disbelief. “This is exactly what I mean!”
Julian winces. “Okay, bad timing.”
Despite myself, a laugh escapes me.
Xander’s expression softens almost imperceptibly. “I see you, Willow.”
The roughness in his voice nearly destroys my remaining willpower.
I step backward. “No.”
His eyes flash. “No?”
“You don’t get to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look at me like that when I’m trying to make responsible choices.”
Julian snorts. Gabe presses his lips together like he’s hiding a smile.
Impossible.
All of them.
Xander moves closer again. “You think walking away fixes this?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t.”
“That’s because you’re used to getting what you want.”
“No,” he says. “I’m used to losing the things I care about.”
The words hit me square in the chest, and I understand why this feels impossible. Because every single one of them knows exactly how to get past my defenses now.
Julian with humor. Gabe with patience. Xander with brutal honesty.
It’s unfair.
“I can’t be what you want,” I whisper.
Gabe’s gaze doesn’t leave mine. “You don’t even know what we want yet.”
My heart pounds so hard it hurts, because a part of me wants to stay. A dangerous part. The part that felt warm sitting between them at the compound. The part that liked waking up thinking about them. The part that already misses them before I’ve even left.
Which is exactly why I need to go.
I shake my head hard and step back again. “I have to stop this before it gets worse.”
Julian looks wrecked by that sentence, though he tries to hide it behind a crooked smile. “Bit late for that, sweetheart.”
I hate him a little. Mostly because I don’t actually want to leave.
But I force my feet backward anyway.
Xander watches me carefully. “Willow.”
I hold up a hand. “No. Don’t make this harder.”
His jaw flexes. Gabe looks like he wants to argue. Julian looks like he wants to chase after me already. And maybe that’s the final thing that gives me the strength to do this. Because if I stay another minute, I’ll fold.
I’ll let them talk me into another dinner. Another night. Another kiss. Another reason not to walk away.
So, before my courage disappears completely, I turn around and force myself toward my car.
My chest aches with every step. Behind me, nobody calls out, which hurts most of all.
I climb inside, hands shaking as I shove the key into the ignition. Then I make the mistake of looking up. All three of them are still standing on the bridge watching me leave. Like they already know this isn’t over.
And the worst part?
I think they might be right.