There’s a soft knock on the door and I glance around Hudson to see Ziggy lingering there. I have no idea when he showed up since the man drifts in like a ghost, but a smile splits my face at the sight of him.
No matter what Hart and Hudson say about him, I enjoy his company. He’s the kind of calm I’ve never had in my life and something about that is really goddamn appealing. I can be myself with him in a way I can’t with anyone else.
Not even my brothers.
I feel the shift almost immediately, though. Ziggy’s guard is up with Hudson here, and my brothers still aren’t sure they trust anyone in this town. Even with Hudson dating Wilde, I have no clue what they really think about each other.
Hudson isn’t a talk about your feelings guy.
It only takes one glance between the three of them before I make up my mind.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off.”
Ziggy’s eyes widen with alarm and Hudson’s expression morphs into concern.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“But …” He glances at Hart who ignores us both. “You never take the day off.”
“All the more reason to do it today.”
“I’m not arguing with you, just surprised.”
I pat his shoulder on the way past. “We’ll be fine.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’m taking Ziggy with me.”
That gets Hart involved. “But we need him.”
“And you’ll still need him tomorrow.” I turn to Ziggy. “Wanna play hooky with me?”
His warm brown gaze slowly moves from me to my brothers and back again. Then he turns on his heel and walks away.
“I guess that’s a yes.”
I hurry to catch up, but Ziggy doesn’t slow until he reaches the road out the front. It’s the only paved road in and out of Wilde’s End and leads to a dirt one that runs through the trees to … who the fuck knows where. I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t explored anywhere outside of the one-street town, even though our land extends for miles. Land that Ziggy, Wilde, and who the hell else lives on.
“Can you show me around?” I call after him.
He tilts his head, chunks of longish black hair slipping from his headband to fall over his sweet face. He’s pale, with big eyes and the prettiest pink lips I’ve ever seen. Underneath the bottom one he has snake bite piercings, which are two of the six facial piercings he has. I’ve counted them a few times just to make sure I’m remembering correctly, and I know why Hart’s curious about him.
Because Ziggy makes me so, so curious as well.
I wish I could break him open and sift through everything about him, but I have to trust that if he ever wants to share with me, he will.
For an oversharer like me, patience makes me want to scratch off my skin.
Ziggy leaves me to walk along the side of the house and when he’s back a moment later, he’s no longer carrying his toolbox. He motions for me to follow him.
“This is cool,” I say, adding extra excitement into my voice so he knows I mean it. “I love exploring, and I’ve wanted to do this for a while now, but I had no idea where to start. At least if I’m with you, I won’t get lost.”
He gives me a sly smile from the corner of his eye.
“Ooh that looked evil. Don’t you dare run off and leave me.”
His shrug doesn’t fill me with confidence.
“I’m serious!”
He actually laughs and the sound sweeps over me and strikes me dumb. Just like every time I hear his voice, it’s like I’ve witnessed something special.
And I use every moment I have to try and make it happen again.
