Secret Heart: Other Realm, Frost Family Series, Book 3

Lock 23

Willow worried that the next morning, when she woke up and came downstairs, would be incredibly awkward. She and Aiden hadn't been alone together since he'd walked out after she rejected him. Surprisingly, she found that the only awkwardness-and what little there was of that-came from herself.

And, even though she felt guilty about it, she was really relieved. It was crazy enough that he'd developed feelings for her, as well as confessing them. But if he was going to constantly be sulking because she didn't return them, she'd start going crazy. Especially when she remembered Aiden had roughly a month, maybe even a month and a half left before he'd be leaving. Seeing him everyday, acting like that, would have completely ruined any good mood she might have woken up in.

He bumped into her on his way down the stairs. While she started to sway unsteadily, he reached out and steadied her, his hands at her shoulders. "Whoa," he murmured sleepily. "You okay there, honey?" he asked. "Sorry about that, I didn't realize you were already on your way down the stairs." He'd been coming down and hadn't seen her, nearly stepping on her, actually.

Willow blinked up at him, shocked. "Uh...Did you just call me 'honey'?"

He nodded, yawning, running the fingers of his left hand through his long blonde hair as a lazy form of brushing it out. "Yeah, I did," he confirmed.

"Um...b-but we aren't-"

"No, we aren't," he agreed casually. "But I love you and that's it. That's how it is, how it's going to be. I'm not going to hide it from you or anyone. So if I want to call you honey, I will," he grumbled as he started down the rest of the stairs. "Don't worry, I won't do anything crazy like sweep you off your feet and kiss you. Though...eh, maybe it's just how early it is, but that actually sounds really fun," he chuckled huskily.

Willow stared after him, very cautiously following him down, keeping about ten feet between them. "But, anyway, I thought I should just warn you how it's going to be. Oh, and I'm not going to hide it from your boyfriend either. As far as I'm concerned, he's not worth your time of day. But I won't do anything crazy around him...Unless he's basically begging for it," he admonished after a second.

He reached his normal chair he sat down in at this time of the morning, yawning again, covering his mouth. "I'm not going to stop you from having a relationship with the guy," he continued, stretching. "I will let you know I can't stand him, though. But, if he's the guy you feel like you can be with, I won't stop you," he muttered. His dark green eyes brooded at her over the hand he'd been mumbling through after sitting down. After a second, he sighed. "Do you mind if I take out these contacts, for now? You have no idea how annoying it is to wear them, especially when I first wake up."

Swallowing, Willow nodded, slowly moving into the kitchen to get her morning cup of coffee. When she came back and pulled out her chair from the table to sit down, Aiden was very carefully placing his contacts into a small case he'd apparently pulled out of his pajama shorts pocket. She placed her cup on the table and scooted the chair forward, wrapping her hands around the cup to soak in some of it's warmth. She turned her head and froze, taking in the sight of Aiden's brilliant, turquoise eyes. "Holy shit..."

He blinked rapidly a few times, squinting and widening his eyes before settling down. "So much better...." he sighed in relief. His gaze turned to Willow and a grin began to fill his face. "Wow...you have a 'Is this guy even real?!' expression right now. Thank you...that's quite the compliment, honey," he chuckled. He shifted so that his head was propped up on his hand. "Hmm, this is the first time you've seen my true eye color, isn't it? Now you know where Prophecy got her own unique eyes," he smiled.

Willow let out a tiny breath. "They're beautiful..."

His smile softened, as did the light in his dazzling eyes. "Maybe...but nothing's a beautiful as you," he murmured.