Page 102 of Sterling Fight

He’s been many firsts for me as well.

That tongue is on the list.

But I’m certain the overwhelming possibility that I love him is at the tippy-top.

Our celebrate-the-day doesn’t end with ice cream.

At night, Judd grills us a steak dinner with fresh asparagus, and we open another bottle of sweet red wine. Judd and I hang out on his deck, sitting in lounge chairs that he pulled next to each other. I’m leaning on my side looking at him, while he sits with his back pressed into the cushion. And we talk for hours, sharing more stories about growing up in Sterling Falls. I mention my limited adventures as an only child and Judd tells me a hilarious story about his brothers and sister when they were younger.

Eventually, the sun sets, and Judd says, “You should put on that dress again.”

“What? Why?” I giggle. My birthday hangover is long gone, but getting drunk is the last thing I want to do tonight. However, I am relaxed and full to bursting on a rich dinner, good wine, and excellent company.

“I just want to see you in it one more time.”

Slowly, he turns his head to look at me, and everything rushes to my belly.

He really wants to see me in the dress one more time, so . . . what the heck. I stand while keeping my eyes on him and drain the remainder of my wine.

“I’ll be back in a sec.”

Judd stares back at me as if he can’t believe I’m going to put on a dress for five minutes, but then he gives me that half-smile. The crooked one that makes my heart go thud-thud-thud, and I race off to change.

I’m giddy as I step into the guest room and slip into the silky fabric. I fluff up my hair, reapply my lipstick and even spritz myself with perfume just for fun. As I don’t have the right shoes for this kind of dress, I skip footwear and walk out to the great room barefoot. From the middle of the room, I can see Judd is no longer seated on the deck and I spin in a slow circle wondering where he went.

“Judd?” I call out.

“I’ll be right out,” he hollers from his side of the house.

I wait until he calls again. “Firefly, meet me in the library.”

For a half a second, I think I’ve heard him from the wrong direction of the house, and I practically skip toward the library expecting Judd to be inside.

Instead, I see the flowers from earlier have been moved to the desk in the room. The lights are dim, and music plays over a hidden speaker. The song is familiar, very 1990s, but I cannot place it because Judd enters the room . . . wearing a tux.

My mouth drops as I stare at the man who was once a boy intended to be my prom date. Now, he’s dressed in a stunning, fitted black tux with a circa 1990s cummerbund and bow tie in royal blue.

A perfect match to the dress I’m wearing.

35

[Judd]

“Judd.” Genie’s breathless whisper of my name causes me to look up at her. She is beautiful in that dress which accentuates her curves and emphasizes her breasts. A thousand percent better than the yellow contraption she wore at the garden party.

She leaves me breathless.

And yet the way she’s looking at me, I’m not certain she’s breathing either.

“I was a hell of a lot thinner the last time I put this on.” I smooth a hand over the silky cummerbund I found in the back of a closet years after moving out of the house. A specialty dry cleaner was able to restore it.

My comment is meant to break the crackle of anxiety around us. I’m recreating our failed prom night, and I’m suddenly nervous.

“Which was when?” Genie whispers, her voice lower than the music.

“When I was eighteen.”

“And you kept it all this time?”