Crazy Thing (The Brighton Family #5)

Chapter 30

30

ZIGGY

I ’m still trying to catch my breath as I splash water on my cheeks and stare at myself in the narrow mirror.

Oh my god. I just had the best hot sweaty sex. Ever. With Darius Brighton.

I pinch myself to make sure it’s real. Ouch! I flinch at the sharp pain of my fingernails biting into my palm.

The flush staining my clavicle is real. That hickey on my collarbone is real. The deep, satisfying ache between my thighs? Real.

I feel a little grin creeping across my face. Darius Brighton made me see the stars, right here inside my tiny mobile home.

Oh lord—what is wrong with me?

This man is my opposite in every way. We have nothing in common. And I just let him into my home—my sanctuary—and had sex with him.

I look around me for something to cover myself with, but there’s nothing in here. Not even a T-shirt or a bath towel. Shit—now, I have to do the walk of shame across my 28-foot school bus in the buff .

I guess this is my karma for being an idiot.

But on the bright side, Darius is probably already gone. I’d bet he bolted across the yard, back to his mega-mansion, the second I shut myself in the bathroom. He’s gotten his rocks off and now, he’ll go back to looking down on me as the weird hippie girl. We’ll go back to our version of ‘normal’. The strange thing is, I take comfort in that.

For a moment, I was living in a fantasy, with a man like Darius inside of me, on top of me, all over me. But it’s time to face reality. So I grab the door handle and take a steeling breath, ready for the consequences of my poor choices.

But when I step out the bathroom door, sexily tousled hair and sickly sweet honey eyes greet me in the darkness. Darius grins up at me from where he’s sprawled off on my couch-turned-bed that’s only two steps away.

My heart stutters. He’s still here?

Yes, he is.

And the man is oh-so-breathtaking. Especially now, in the moments after sex when he looks disheveled and unguarded and… happy . The dim light emanating from the bathroom pours down over his perfect self. The sight of him makes me all nervous and fluttery.

Without hesitating, Darius clasps onto my hand and pulls me down with him, molding me against his chest.

He’s also still completely and utterly naked.I feel every inch of him against every inch of me. Notes of his delicious cologne linger in the air.

“Whoa…” I mumble, surprised by whatever is happening right now. “What in the world are you doing?”

Looking confused, he blinks at me in the dim light. “Um…”

“Why are you getting all comfy? I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to leave now.” My words sound harsher than I mean for them to.

But I’m just being honest. Men do the sex-ing and then the exit-ing , which rhymed a whole lot better in my head.

That’s how it’s always worked for me in the past. Guys may butter me up to get between my legs but they’re done with me the moment the sex is over. I once had a guy grab his shirt and run outside—pants-less—into a snowstorm to get away from me.

The painful truth is, I’m not the girl who gets cuddled. I’m not the girl who gets a homemade breakfast the next morning. And I’m never going to be the girl who gets a ring and a white picket fence.

I get the dick, and that’s about it. That’s the only thing my past sexual partners have ever been willing to offer. That’s why I eventually embraced my aloneness. The constant rejection was hurting my soul and I was tired of pretending otherwise. And I’ve been okay with that.

Until now.

Dammit. Darius is confusing me. Like always.

Right now, he’s still sprawled out in my little bed with his warm, muscular arm locked around my middle. “You’re kicking me out? It’s a freaking hurricane out there, Ziggy.”

Mother Nature is clearly taking his side on this, because right then, lightning flashes, sending a bolt of daylight into my bus before everything darkens again.

I startle and my arms tighten around him. I instinctively burrow against his naked chest. My actions are completely contradicting the whole I’m-kicking-you-out vibe I’m trying to give off.

“I think you’ll be just fine,” I tell him.

“Oh yeah? And tell me, Ziggy, who’s going to protect you ? ”

At his question, I squeeze my eyes shut. My heart twinges.

I’m trying to keep my emotions out of things but shit—I felt that.

Even still, I can’t tell if Darius is being cute or being literal, so I go with the latter. “I’ve been through all kinds of weather conditions in this bus. Wind. Hail. Tornados. She’s never let me down before.” I shake my head without looking at him. “I don’t need protection.”

As I utter the painful words, I force air into my constricted lungs, trying to ignore how much I want to spend the night pressed up against his naked chest. I don’t want to be alone. I’d rather spend the night with him.

Darius lifts my chin, compelling me to stare directly into his smoldering eyes. He’s so freaking handsome right now. And he’s mastering that sexily disheveled, freshly fucked look.

“I disagree. You deserve to be protected. You deserve to be cherished.” He gently brushes my tangled hair from my face with his fingertips.

My heart squeezes again, almost painfully this time. Why is he saying these things? I’ve given him so many outs. Why won’t Darius spare us both the impending awkwardness and just leave?

My shields and walls and fences close in around me. I feel my body go completely stiff in his arms. “This is confusing,” I rasp. “You’re confusing me. Tell me why you really want to stay here, Darius. Or…or just get out.”

He frowns harshly at me, his voice even deeper than before when he speaks. “You’re going to make me say it?”

“Yes…say it,” I plead.

In this moment, I don’t care how desperate I sound. I might feel differently tomorrow. I might hate myself tomorrow. But right now, I really need to hear it. If I hear his version of the truth from his own lips, maybe then I can decide if I’m ready to trust this man.

He stares at me for so long, before he finally speaks again. “Fine. I like you, Fairy Girl. I like being around you,” he whispers softly, sending goosebumps down the length of my whole body. “You make me…happy. Which is a very unfamiliar feeling for me. But I like it. And I…well, I like being close to you.”

I’m fighting hard not to smile. I can’t help it. I still don’t know if I can trust Darius or his motives, but I like his words. I like his words a lot.

My Aries ego is eating that shit up. Miam-miam-miam. Bon appetit !

“Fine. You can stay.”

With a sigh of relief, he sinks deeper into my bedding, holding me tighter. “So, does that mean you like being close to me, too?” he asks, and I’m almost certain I sense a touch of vulnerability sneaking into his voice.

I lift my bare shoulder. “A tiny, little bit.”

A completely un-Darius-like grin stretches across his handsome face. Ugh. He looks so gorgeous, it hurts. “That’s good enough for me.”

“Stop grinning like that. It’s freaking me out.” I smack at his arm.

Darius grabs the back of my head—matted, wet hair and all—and tucks my face against his bare chest. “You can’t make me.”

I sigh, pretending to be annoyed by his constant bossiness.But in reality, I’m really enjoying this.

I settle back down on my Darius-pillow and let him keep his arms around me. I plan to kick him out soon. As soon as the rain lets up. As soon as I’m not so entranced by his pretty words and his mesmerizing eyes and his soft touch.

But instead I fall asleep with a grin on my face, listening to the sounds of Darius's heart and the rain coming down outside.