Page 75 of Crazy Thing

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’resupposed to leave now.” My words sound harsher than I mean for them to.

But I’m just being honest. Men do thesex-ingand then theexit-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 protectyou?”

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 manyouts.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?”

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