Crazy Thing (The Brighton Family #5)

Chapter 42

42

DARIUS

W hen I open my eyes, I’m clinging to the edge of my own bed at home in Starlight Falls.

Pulling myself back onto the mattress, I wipe the sleep from my eyes and spot Ziggy. She’s spread out like a snoring starfish, smack dab in the middle. Her pink hair fans out across my pillows. Her little suitcase sits next to my dresser, all packed for our trip to the city later this morning.

I can’t help but smile.

Last night was the first night in a long time that I’ve slept in my own king-sized bed, in my own house. Now here Ziggy is, taking over the space like it’s her own.I like it way too much.

While I’ve grown fond of her tiny bus and tiny bed and tiny bathroom, there is just no match to having central air and a mattress I can actually roll over on. If that makes me a wimp, so be it, dammit.

Now that I think about it, maybe I can figure out a way to mesh our two worlds together. If I could get my air conditioning and wake up in the middle of the forest, I’d be a happy man. I search my mind for a satisfying compromise. I make a mental note to look into having one of those luxury tree houses built. I bet Ziggy would get a kick out of that.

I check the time on my phone. It’s not even six o’clock yet. That gives me a bit more time to lie here and watch her sleep. I take great pleasure in seeing her sprawled out in my bed. Yet, I’m shocked that she’s still sleeping and hasn’t already snuck out to meditate in the front yard.I’m taking credit for thoroughly wearing her out last night.

This is the best feeling, waking up to her here. Even in the silence, her body communicates with mine. I want to keep this. I’d do whatever just to make sure I can have her in the long run. Because my soul feels at home whenever her body is lying next to mine.

When she finally stirs, I roll up behind her, placing my mouth next to her ear. “It would probably be weird to ask you to move in with me, right?”

I’m an asshole for initiating this conversation when she’s still halfway asleep. But I have the upper hand here and I’ll take whatever advantage I can get.

Ziggy is wearing nothing but a pair of white cotton panties. She arches her curvy ass against my morning wood.

“Yes, it would be weird,” she says in a husky, sleep-drunk voice. But I see the way her cheeks swell with a poorly hidden smile. And I’m hopeful that she may be open to a compromise.

“Well, at the very least, can you keep your bus parked in my yard? I don’t like it when you’re too far from me,” I add, wrapping my arms around her half-naked body, still afraid that she’s going to disappear at any moment.

Ziggy turns over, rubbing her eyes as she fully re-enters the land of the living. “You want my bus parked in your yard? In front of your fancy mansion? ”

“Yes.”

“Permanently?”

“Yes.”

She pauses, blinking until she can see me clearly. “Aren’t you the same man who once said that my bus was an eyesore?”

I grin. Hell. She’ll never let me live that down, will she?

The bus is an eyesore. But the bus driver is the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on. “Yes, I accept the bus in my yard, if I get to have you in my bed.”

A sleepy smile passes over her features. “You’re a charmer, Brighton.”

I lean in closer, kissing the crown of her head. “Is that a ‘yes’, Fairy Girl?”

She buries her face in my chest, mumbling her response. I can’t make out her words, but she’s nodding her pretty head and I feel her grin against my skin.

For now, that’s enough.