Crazy Thing (The Brighton Family #5)

Chapter 56

56

ZIGGY

T here’s a homeless billionaire living in my front yard.

I thought for sure Darius would bail on the very first night and go home to his fancy bed in his fancy house.

But nope. He’s been in his ancient, crumbling caravan beside me and my bus every night.

Other than when he leaves for a few hours each day—when I assume he’s going to work—he’s here. Always.

I promised myself that I would never ever, in a million years, give Darius another chance at my heart. But now I see that this heart of mine is his. It always has been.

That’s why I’m hurtling through the forest this morning, in a rush to get to him. Last night, after bridal gown shopping, I was in no condition to drive. So, I stayed with Daphne to sleep off my alcohol haze and clear my mind.

But now, it’s time to go get my man.

As I approach my usual Honey Hill camp site, I’m watching Darius swing an ax on the edge of the wooded clearing. No doubt, he’s chopping more firewood for me.

I press harder on the gas. I’ve got to talk to him. I’ve got to tell him that I still love him. I’m tired of playing tough. I’m ready to crack and confess my feelings to him.

Through the front windshield, I see him suddenly tossing his ax into the woods in frustration.I gasp, taken by surprise.

His head swings in the direction of my bus as I pull Lady Tourmaline to a haphazard stop. Now he’s stomping across the clearing, storming straight over to my vehicle.

I leap out of my seat and take two steps toward my bus’s door, my hand almost to the handle.

But before I do anything, he flings open the door. I startle, nearly stumbling backward. With an angry huff, Darius stomps just inside my doorway.

“This isn’t working,” he barks, his chest heaving from all the chopping. “Being here, waiting for you to take me back isn’t working. You know what insanity is? Insanity is doing the same damn thing over and over, and expecting a different result. So that’s why I’m leaving.”

At his words, my heart capsizes into my stomach. He’s leaving?

“I’m giving you space to work out whatever it is that you need to work out,” Darius goes on. “But I will be back. Soon. Because I can’t be away from you for too long. So I’m begging you. Just hurry up and figure this out, because I fucking miss you, Ziggy.”

I shuffle forward. My pulse hammering away as I try to speak. My mouth flaps open several times, but he’s caught me off guard, and I can’t find the right words.

My brain overloads with frantic, competing thoughts and my body freezes in place. Telling him to stay should be easy, but with the way my mind is churning right now, speaking a coherent sentence suddenly feels impossible. Terrible time to be having a panic attack, Ziggy.

Lips pinched together, Darius turns and leaves.

Still struggling to get my body to cooperate, I watch as he throws his gear into the caravan and hops into his car. My heart is begging me to run outside. To stop him. To tell him I don’t need any space.To tell him I don’t want him to leave.

But my feet aren’t working.

Darius’s sudden departure has thrown me for a loop.

I can’t look away as he drives off. Dirt and gravel fly all around as his tires peel out. He’s going too fast. Shit.

My mouth finally opens to shout out to him. But he can’t hear me.

He takes the first curve way too fast, and I watch in horror as his sedan spins out, bumps off the road, and disappears out of sight.

“ Darius!!! ” My bloodcurdling scream splits my chest apart.

I take off in a sprint. My heart is pounding. My head races, worried about what I’m going to find at the end of the road.

“Please be okay. Please be okay,” I mutter as I run.

I nearly collapse in relief when I catch up to Darius’s car. It’s in the bushes off the beaten path, and while it’s wearing a few new scratches, it looks okay otherwise. The caravan didn’t fare so well, though. It’s flipped over, lying on its side in the ditch.

“Darius! Oh my God. Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”

He’s already climbing out of his car. I rush over, helping him shove the door open wider, as it’s blocked by a thorny bush.

“I’m good,” he finally says, letting me grab onto his hand as he climbs out onto solid ground. “I’m okay. ”

Doubtful, I look him over for bruises. Thankfully, I don’t find any visible injuries.

And I don’t waste another second. I start pouring out my soul. “I love you so much, Darius.” I throw myself against his chest. “I’m so sorry for—”

“You don’t have shoes on,” he interrupts.

I look down, shaking my head. “It’s fine. I’m trying to tell you that I’m sorry for being so stubborn and—”

“But your feet are bleeding,” he urges, pointing at the blood pooling between my toes.

“It doesn’t matter.” I reach out, gripping his face and making him look me in the eye. “No interrupting. Darius, listen please.”

A weak smile touches his lips. “I’m listening.”

I continue. “I need you to know that I’m sorry. I’ve been such a fucking asshole. I hurt you when all you were trying to do was love me. I can’t let my fear win anymore. I can’t continue to hide behind it as a shield. I’m willing to let go of my excuses so I can be with you. I can’t live without you anymore. Do you…? Can you forgive me? Can you still love me?”

He’s fallen silent now. He keeps slowly shaking his head, and it’s making me nervous.

Then his hands come up to cover my own and he searches my gaze. “Of course I still love you.”

“You do?” I ask, my voice cracking.

“Yes, I love you. I am spellbound. Enchanted. Bewitched.” Darius kisses my palm and then my cheek and then the tip of my nose. “I hope you’re happy, Ziggy Beaumont, because I’m all fucked up over you. And you know what the worst part is?”

I bite my lip. “What?”

“I don’t want to break the curse. I am so fucking in love with you. Tie me up and toss me in your dungeon. I’m yours.”

A shaky giggle breaks free from my chest. “I don’t have a dungeon. I live in a school bus.”

His palm smacks the curve of my behind. He’s fighting a grin, I can tell. “Can you not be a smartass right now? I’m pouring my guts out here, and my chest is pounding so hard, I think I’m gonna be sick.”

I laugh, shaking my head and cupping his face. “Go ahead.”

“I need you to forgive me too,” he commands me, “for how I handled the waterfall thing. I’m sorry. I just wanted you to trust me and I went about it in the worst possible way. I’m a complete idiot.”

My eyebrows furrow. “Are you serious? I’m in the wrong here. And you’ve been so patient with me. And all I did was put up walls. In trying to protect myself, all I did was hurt you over and over again. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.”

He strokes my cheekbones with his thumbs. “Please stop apologizing, Fairy Girl. I’m just sorry about all the bad decisions I made that caused you to doubt whether you could trust me to begin with.”

“I want us to move past it all.” My gaze drops to his chest. I hesitate. “But can I be honest?”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “Be honest.”

“I’m still fucking terrified,” I admit. “Sometimes my insecurities get the best of me and it’s hard to believe all this is real. Plus, my horoscope says—”

He shuts me up, smacking his lips against mine. “I don’t care what your horoscope says. I say you’re mine. End of story.”

I giggle. “Even though I’m an alien weirdo human? ”

“You’re a beautiful alien weirdo human. And yup—you’re mine.”

“I want to be yours.” I wrap my arms around him, pressing my cheek to his collarbone.

“And all I want is for you to let me love you.” He kisses my forehead. “Do you have any idea how much I want you to let me love you, Ziggy? It would be the honor of a lifetime.”

“Love me, Darius Brighton. Go right ahead and love me.”

He grins so wide it makes his eyes crinkle at the corners. “My beautiful alien fairy goddess human. I love you. I’m all in.”

I smile.

Then he kisses me right here in the woods, next to his wrecked car. And I make the commitment to him once and for all. “I’m all in. No matter what happens next. I’m all in. I love you.”