Page 130 of Crazy Thing

Bracing myself against the shadowy wall, I let it sink in. Darius Brighton has betrayed me—yet again.

A part of me cannotbelieve that he would ever do this. But on the other hand, I should have known.

I should have known that he was up to something. I should have realized that he was constantly trying to shut me out of the waterfall deal over the past few weeks. I should have noticed that he was always acting aloof and shady about the details, conveniently leaving me out of the loop and changing the subject every time I tried to bring it up.

The whole time he was scheming to betray meandthe town. I was such a fool.

IthoughtI could trust him.

Except, IknewI couldn’t. I always knew it.

He’s the same guy who broke my heart sixteen years ago. The guy who put his interests first without caring who’d get hurt in the process.

Since when does a tiger change his stripes?

Darius betrayed me once and if I’d learned my lesson the first time, I wouldn’t be so shocked that he would do it again.

I should have remained true to my instincts. But my stupid heart convinced me otherwise. And while it stings sofreaking bad that I let myself be fooled, that’s not even the worst part.

The worst part is, I let down the whole town. The Starlight Falls locals were all depending on me to protect the waterfall for them. They believed in me and I letthishappen.

I unknowingly aided and abetted Darius’s evildoing. I practically helped him steal the waterfall right out from under the town.

And it’s too late. Darius owns the land now, and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. He’s going to sell it to some greedy developer and get even richer, while the rest of us will lose the heart of our community.

I don’t want to believe it all. I’m still teetering on that first stage of denial, but I know it’s true. I heard his plans for myself.

I brace a hand over my heart and struggle to catch my breath as I realize it was all part of Darius’s devious scheme.

The thoughtful gifts and the quality time. The mind-blowing sex and the fake declarations of love. Ohmigod—the man even asked me to move in with him!

Who the hell does all that? Just for money?!

I’m furious. I’m hurt. I’m shaking.

And if I confront him while I’m in this state, there’s no telling how things might play out.

I need space. I need to cool down.

So I tiptoe back to the bedroom and snatch my belongings in a mad rush. I’m grabbing clothes and whatever else of mine that I can find, stuffing them into my knapsack. Punching them down to get them to fit into the small bag.

Then I scurry back through his house, avoiding the hallway Darius’s office is in. I sneak out the front door, mybus keys in hand. I’m barefoot—I’m not even sure what I did with my shoes—as I run out into the night.

I jump in my bus, roar the engine to life, and take off into the darkness. My heart cracks and shatters on the highway behind me.

52

DARIUS

Istick my head out my driver’s side window and yell. “For crying out loud! Stay in your lane! How many dicks did you have to suck to get your driver’s license, assface?!”

“Excuse me?!” my lawyer barks through my car’s bluetooth system.

Oops!“Sorry. Not you, Frank,” I mumble in response.

I’m on the highway, weaving in and out of traffic, honking at all the slowpokes. It’s fair to say that I’m not in my friendliest mood today, as I focus on my one and only mission.

Operation:Get to Honey Hill as fast as my luxury sedan can take me.

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