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As I drive to Leo’s, I think of Vick’s words and the thoughts they conjured. I’ve been fully aware that I wouldn’t be attending Clare’s wedding with Willow, and I’ve been fine with it. I told Willow, when we first got together weeks ago, that I’m willing to keep this relationship a secret for as long as she wants us to. There is no solid timeline, but I know we’ll be keeping things private until the season is over and she knows for a fact she has a lock on the head reporter position. The last thing I want to do is get in the way of her career.
But, still, despite myself, I find myself thinking of other events that we wouldn’t be able to attend together or be seen too closely together at. With our jobs, we end up at the same events, and I wouldn’t be able to hold her, touch her, kiss her at them because of our deal. I wouldn’t do anything she doesn’t want me to do, but fuck, there will be a new level of self-control I will need to practice whenever she shows up to those parties and I can’t tell every single person in the room that she’s mine and mine only.
Those thoughts stay with me even as I arrive at Leo’s and the guys and I are in his home gym. For the first little while, I work on cardio, hopping on the treadmill, but my time to myself, unsurprisingly, doesn’t last long as JJ gets on the treadmill next to mine and asks, “How’re things going with Willow?”
“Good,” I grunt out, focusing on the inclined jog I’m in the middle of. “She’s great. I’m just thinking about some things.”
“Uh-oh,” Leo frowns, looking over at me from where he’s spotting Caden on the bench press. “What things?”
I don’t slow my pace. “Keeping things a secret in the long term,” I confess with a frown of my own. “I told her I’m fine with it—and I am—but, I don’t know. Willow’s not a woman you hide.”
“You’re nothidingher,” JJ says from next to me. “You both have a mutual agreement on keeping your relationship private. There’s a difference.”
I huff out a breath. “I fucking know that.”
Leo, sensing my rising aggravation, speaks up. “Okay, look—you said long term. So, be honest: do you see yourself with her a year from now? A few years from now?”
“Yes.” My answer is instant, zero hesitation, and it not only takes the guys by surprise, but me too, a little, as Caden also sits up to look at me. I’ve known that Willow is different, that what we have is different from anything I’ve ever felt before or have had with anyone. With her, I feel all of my worries disappear, the tension in my body slipping away. She’s brought a kind of calmness in my life I didn’t know I was looking for, but now that I have found it, I have no intention of letting it go. We have only known each other for a few months, and have been in a relationship for much shorter than that, but I can’t help what I feel. And it all feelsright.
“Alright, well,” Caden’s gruff voice breaks the stunned silence that follows my words. “If you want to be with her, long term, you’ll have to accept that she wouldn’t want the relationship to be in the spotlight until she’s made a solid career for herself.”
“And I know you already promised her that,” Leo jumps in, throwing me a pointed look as I keep jogging. “And I know you believe it, but if you want this to work, you can’t start doubting it, man. That’s how resentment will grow, and I know you don’t want to hurt her. Because otherwise, you would’ve waited until the season was over and she had more solid standing in her job.”
He’s right—they both are. I let my want and feelings for Willow push me, fueled by my impatience. But I don’t regret it. Being with her is like a breath of fresh air, and I don’t want things to go back to before. Being all about football has been nice; I don’t mind being career driven. But being with Willow is what I want even more, which shocks no one else more than it does me, given my lack of relationships in recent years. But I like this. I like what I have with Willow.
I like where things are now—a lot. And my friends’ words make me realize something I already know—at the end of the day, I’m fine with waiting. My career has always come first for me, why would I expect anything different from her? She’s younger than me, fresh faced in the industry, and she’s moving forward fast. Everyone can see that. I’m proud of her for it, and I sure as hell won’t be standing in her way.
Like I told Willow, in the grand scheme of things, hiding my personal life from the public won’t be difficult. I barely let them in, in the first place. At this point, they have stopped trying to speculate about my personal life unless there’s hard-hitting proof about it, and even that’s rare because of how tight-lipped I am, as well as everyone I’m close to.
At the end of the day, all I want is Willow and to play football. Fuck everything else.
Chapter 14
Willow
Ialmostcrashmycar when my phone rings and I see that Vivian is calling me. I haven’t spoken to her since before she left for the family emergency that had me stepping into her place, and my throat suddenly dries. All of the joy and elation I had felt during Clare’s wedding evaporates as I wonder why Vivian is calling me. I swear, goosebumps break out across my skin under the jacket I’m wearing, since the satin bridesmaid dress would do nothing to protect me from the cold.
With a calming breath, I answer the call via Bluetooth. “Hello?”
“Willow! It’s Vivian,” my old boss-slash-mentor greets, sounding far more enthusiastic than I think I’ve ever heard her as her voice comes through the speakers of my car. “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”
She’s catching me driving to my NFL star boyfriend’s house on my way back from my best friend’s wedding, but she doesn’t need to know that. “No, no, you’re not. How are you? Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything is wonderful,” she says. “I wish we could do this in person, but I haven’t been leaving my house much. But I wanted to let you know that I just got off the phone with Kenny and the show’s executives, and I wanted to be the one to tell you this news.”
I pull up at a red light, my heart pounding and eyes widening. “What news?”
Vivian chuckles. “Well, there are going to be some changes on the channel. I’ll be returning later on in the year as a producer for Front Runner, and because of how well you have been doing and the potential you have shown so far, you’re being promoted to head journalist. Effective immediately.”
Thank fucking God the car is stopped because I swear I would have crashed it upon hearing Vivian’s words. “I’mwhat?” I squeak out in disbelief, my grip on the steering wheel deathly tight as I stare, wide eyed, out the windshield.
She laughs. “I don’t know why you’re so surprised. You’ve been doing an excellent job, Willow. I’ve been watching your segments, and the way you engage with the athletes is natural and charming in a way many journalists have forgotten to be. You belong on the camera. Congratulations. I’m very proud of you.”
“Oh, wow,” I stutter out, my chest squeezing tightly as the light turns green. “Thank you so much, Vivian. That means a lot.” I blow out a breath, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’ve learned a lot from you, so thank you.”
“Please, don’t thank me. You earned it. You’re—oh!”
Her gasp has me sitting up. “Vivian? Are you okay?”
