Page 124 of Crazy Thing

I roll my eyes, practically climbing over a miserable-looking Felix who’s down on his hands and knees, painting the baseboards. “That’s it. I’m taking a break. Hopefully by the time I get back, you’ll come to your senses and let me hire some professionals.”

The guys protest as I leave but I ignore them. I head upstairs to the bedrooms where the girls aresupposed to becleaning the windows and changing the linens.

Instead, I find them gathered in the middle of the hallway. Music blasts from someone’s portable speakers as they all make a sad attempt to master some new TikTok dance.

Oh boy.

They’re so caught up in their choreography that they don’t notice me. When no-one’s looking, I snatch Ziggy by the waist and yank her into the stairwell.

I press her against the wall and sweep my tongue between her lips. My palm smooths up under the hem of her shirt as my fingertips trail along the underwire of her bra.

I drag my lips down her neck and hiss when she gives my package a quick squeeze. Ziggy starts to moan but the sound abruptly gets cut off in her throat.

“Darius!” she scolds me, her voice low and amused. “You’ve got siblings around every corner.”

“You’re right.” I lick a path up the column of her throat before whispering by her ear. “Wanna get out of here? We could take a walk.”

Her eyes twinkle when she grins. “Why do I have a feeling this won’t be a PG-13 walk?”

I waggle my brows suggestively. “Because it won’t be.”

I sneak Ziggy out of the house, luckily managing to avoid my siblings. She grabs her backpack from the kitchen counter as we go.

“Snacks,” she whispers in explanation as we slip out the back door.

“I like the way you think, Fairy Girl.”

We head through the backyard and I hold her hand, guiding her into the woods. Neither of us spares a glance at theNo Trespassingsigns. Ziggy and I get to the caution tape, taking great pleasure in tearing it all down with our bare hands.

The mayor’s office had these signs and barriers affixed to the trees back when Edison was trying to buy the waterfalls. But Edison lost.

Victory tastes so sweet. The property sale nightmare is behind us and now the future is blindingly bright.

With Ziggy by my side, I take in our surroundings with new eyes. The leaves that are now beginning to turn colors. The twigs crunching under our steps. The water splashing against the rocks.

This place holds a special spot in the fabric of our story. This is the place where I first ‘saw’ her, where I first kissed her, where I firstlovedher. And now, this forest will always be…ours.

We spend the rest of our walk exploring deeper into the woods and gathering raspberries. This reminds me of that fateful day when we shared our first kiss.

“You sure these aren’t poisonous?” I joke, remembering when Ziggy knocked those bad berries right out of my hand.

She laughs. “You gave me a heart attack that day. I thought you were going to die right here in the woods.”

“You would have given me mouth to mouth.” I shrug.

“And you would have liked it.” She smirks, clinging to my arm.

“Hell yes, I would have. I would eat itchy berries every day of my life to get a taste of those lips,” I admit.

She elbows me. “You’re so corny.”

“Anything to make you laugh…”

Her eyes twinkle at me. “You make me so happy, Darius Brighton.” She kisses my cheek.

“Good. That’s the plan.”

We take our pickings to the water’s edge. As we sit in the grass by the river, we sip on herbal tea from her flask and eat the wild raspberries we picked. Somewhat to my dismay, no mouth-to-mouth is required.

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