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“Good, because this is the way it’s going to be from now on.” Alex loosens his grip to test the strength of my legs and I stand on my own. “I’ll let you finish cleaning each other up. I’m getting dressed.”
Shane moves to my front to wash his own hair and I’m taken back by how comfortable we’ve become with each other in such a short amount of time.
“Like what you see?” Shane’s husky voice startles me out of my daydream and he winks when I meet his stare. His smile is so wickedly sweet, I wonder for a moment how much effort it will really take to keep him in the shower with me a while longer when—
“Hey, Willow.”—Alex calls from the door—”I noticed your phone lighting up and I think your mother has been trying to reach you. I wasn’t sure if—”
I snap out of my lust-filled trance.
“Oh, thank you.” I fumble for the door and almost slip, naked, into the middle of the bathroom as Alex reaches out for me and admonishes me for not being careful.
My mother rarely calls and the string of urgent messages from my locked screen sends me into a panic.
I don’t waste time reading.
I dial her number.
“Willow, where are you? I’ve been trying to call you all morning. I went by your place and you weren’t there.” Her voice sounds panicked and fear immediately sets in.
“Mom, is Annie okay? What’s wrong?” I grab a towel off the rack and walk into Alex’s bedroom. I already know this can’t be good and I’ll need to head out of here fast.
Alex joins me in the bedroom, and Shane stays just inside of the bathroom door to dry himself off, but I know they are both listening in.
“It’s your ex. He’s here with a lawyer and they are talking to the doctors about taking Annie off of the program they set up for her.”
A wave of nausea crashes into me. “What? He can’t do that. Tell—stop them. Tell the doctors he has no right to do that.”
My strength leaves me in a fresh wave of anxiety and I raise my voice as if I can make it stop from all of the way over here.
“Your doctors are fighting with the lawyer right now. It looks like he won’t get his way but you should be here as her parent. I can’t fight this for you, and it looks bad if you’re not here. Honey, where are you?” The fear in her voice makes me ill.
How could I have taken this time away from her?
My gaze lands on the two men now standing in the room with me and I’m not strong enough to tell my mother the truth.
I take a step toward the corner to place some distance between us.
I’ve been selfish.
“I—I went out with a girlfriend last night. I stayed at her place.” Alex looks away when I lie.
“Which friend? Do I know her?” I hear my mother tell whoever is in the room with her that I’m on my way in before she comes back on the line.
“Um, no. Just a friend. I’m on my way, Mom.” I disconnect and run around the bed to my purse, dropping my phone in and grabbing my clothes from the pile on the floor.
“I’ll drive.” Shane snaps me out of my panic and I jolt, looking between the two.
Alex won’t look directly at me and Shane’s offer feels like more of a challenge.
“Um, it’s okay. I’ve got my car here, and—” Shane crosses his arms in contempt at my pathetic excuse. “You don’t understand. My—my mother wouldn’t understand.”
“No. It’s you who doesn’t understand, Willow.” It’s Alex’s anger that catches me off guard as he squares himself in my direction and stalks toward me. “It’s you who needs to accept this. No one else. Now get dressed. Shane is driving and you’ll tell us what is happening on the way. Then you’re going to march in there with your head held high and we are going to fix this—together.”
ALEX
The fifteen-minute drive to the hospital was a quiet one.
On a normal day, I would have slipped into the backseat with Willow to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay.
