Page 25 of Brighter than the Boss
I roared something incoherent, now sprinting towards them. Sunny stumbled back a few steps, her other hand instinctively coming up to block a further attack. Just as I reached them, she kicked out her leg in some sort of fancy swirling move that I'd only seen in the movies. Her foot caught the guy behind the knees and toppled him. He went down right on top of the other guy who looked to be dazed and confused.
Grabbing Sunny, I shifted her behind me, which was just stupid considering her martial arts skills. She could defend herself just fine. Clearly. But lifelong instincts kicked in and all I could think about was making sure she didn't get hit again.
The aggressor was on the ground, moaning, his hands fisted in his hair.
"Get on your bike and get out of here. This is not the time for instigating fights. You got me?" I growled at him, even as Sunny wrestled out of my hold and scrambled around me to help the two men up off the ground. I wanted to bash the guy's head in and he hadn't even hit me. Sunshine over here was helping him off the ground all while likely sporting a bruise the shape of his fist.
Jesus, but she was a good person, through and through. I didn't realize they even made people like her. A heart of gold, always seeing the best in everyone. Her heart made her exquisite. The damn finest woman I'd ever seen. It was my own black heart that was aching in my chest, seeing the goodness in hers.
I stood there, the clock ticking down to potential disaster, just staring at her, immobile and useless, as she got the two men on their way.
"You okay?" She was now standing in front of me, looking at me like I'd lost my mind, which I might have. Or more accurately, my mind was blown. How could someone be like her? How did that come about? How did she do it? Didn't she ever lose her temper? Wish ill will upon someone? Drop an f-bomb?
Her hands came up to rest on my arms, rubbing up and down, trying to break me out of my ill-timed contemplation. But I couldn't let it rest. I just had to know what made my Sunshine tick. Nothing else, including impending natural disaster, seemed nearly as important.
With complete curiosity and no judgement whatsoever fueling my question, I asked, "Don't you ever get tired of being kind all the time? Do you ever just want to bash someone's head in?"
Her hands stopped rubbing, but didn't leave my skin. Her mouth dropped open and I barely resisted the urge to lean forward and taste those lips again. To take some of that light for my own. It dawned on me all that anger and irritation directed at her before was actually plain ol' jealousy. I wanted what she had. I wanted her disposition. I wanted her upbringing, her parents, her outlook. I wanted the peace I could see in her eyes every time she gifted me with her gaze.
I was never jealous. Couldn't remember a time I'd wanted what other people had, or wished for more. I was super practical, accepting my life the way it was and letting my residual anger bubble below the surface, fueling everything I did. I was resigned to that being my life.
Until Sunny crouched down that one day, completely naked, fists raised, ready to fight a grown male, then kissed me with passion, and told me the truth, even though it was the hard thing to do. She'd thoroughly confused me with her sweet nature and positive outlook. She was showing me a different way to live, and goddamnit, I was curious.
She blinked repeatedly. "Well— I— Yes! I do get angry. All the time. But I don't let that ruin my day or run my life. Although I have thought about bashingyourhead in..."
Her lips curved up into a smile, those golden-brown eyes sparkling at me. I liked it when she teased me. I was surprised she still did after my mini meltdown at her apartment.
"Thanks for not being afraid of my tantrums." My hands slid to her waist, pulling her closer, needing to tell her the truth finally too. "I don't understand you. But I want to. Badly."
Her eyes flared brighter and I took the invitation, pulling her body flush with mine. She reached up at the same time I leaned down, our lips meeting and delighting in the reunion. The world ceased to exist. It was just me and Sunny, discovering each other on a level we could both understand. My hands slid over her hips to finally grab onto the backside I was tired of lusting after in that red swimsuit. I'd wanted to grab a handful for weeks now, finally getting my chance when there was a tsunami bearing down on the coast.
She moaned into my mouth and gripped my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin. Her belly rubbed against me, lighting a fire in my pants I couldn't attend to at the moment. The best I could hope for was a quiet moment in the chaos to learn the shape of her mouth, the way her tongue flicked against mine. The way she made these little gasping noises, like she couldn't get enough and yet was shocked just the same with all that she was getting.
Fight Songblared out of her back pocket, right where my hand was, startling me out of the best thirty seconds I'd experienced in years. Maybe ever. I'd kissed her before, twice, but both had been when I didn't know her like I did now. When I hadn't accepted that this was really who she was. When I was scared of who she was and what that meant about me.
We broke apart, my forehead coming to hers, both of us breathing hard and unwilling to let go of each other.
"How does she know?" I whispered, my voice barely escaping my throat.
Sunny gasped out a laugh, her hands loosening on my shoulders. "Moms are like that. They have eyes on the back of their heads and spies all over the world." She pulled back and her eyes were still soft, even as her face held regret. "I gotta get that."
I nodded. "Yeah, probably should while we go back up to Headquarters." I looked around, almost surprised to see the chaos around me. I'd forgotten we were in the middle of a goddamn emergency. Yet again, I'd lost my head around this woman and broken from protocol without a single regret.
13
Sunny
"Mom?" I answered the phone, my lips still tingling from their playtime with Cain. I had to shake my head a bit to refocus on what was happening around me. I swore that boy's kiss had magical powers.
There was no answer for a beat or two, long enough for me to notice and immediately begin to panic.
"Mom? Are you okay?"
A throat clearing made it through the phone speaker. "I'm here, Sunny."
"Gosh, you scared me, Dad," I chuckled into the phone. "I kinda got a situation here though, can I call you and Mom back later?"
"No!" Dad nearly shouted, putting the fear back in my chest. "Your mom collapsed this morning. I called 911 and they took her to the hospital. I'm there with her now. I thought you'd want to know right away."
