Page 126 of Sterling Fight

“Fuck,” I grumble. I scramble from the grass. As I stand and face the house, Stone is crossing the lawn next.

“What’d I miss?”

“He tried to rush me,” Sebastian states, still sounding petulant. Stone’s brows lift in surprise as he glances at me.

“This about the ring?”

I don’t need to repeat that it’s lost.

Clay is already shaking his head. “We already covered everything.”

How it’s a symbol of Dad’s love for our mother but it was also a reminder of his demise. A reminder that he lost his shit when I took it and nearly beat me to death.

Stone would never say I deserved the beating I got. Never. But he’s staring at me like I should understand. When you lose something precious belonging to someone you love, it can make you go a little crazy. I certainly feel out of my head with this loss.

I feel like . . . my dad. Like I’m coming unhinged. The ring is gone. So is Genie.

I need to get her back, because I can win her back.

“You are not him.” Stone steps closer to me, like I’m a caged animal about to pounce. He cups the back of my neck and squeezes like he does when he wants your attention and repeats himself. He brings his forehead forward, close enough to touch, but we don’t meet. “You are not him.”

Knowing I lunged for Sebastian, I might be more like my father than I thought, and that frightens me more than anything else.

No, losing Genie scares me the most.

“I messed up.”

“Nothing you can’t fix,” Stone says.

“I lost the ring.”

“I’m talking about the girl,” Stone chuckles.

There’s always a girl, Genie once said. And I don’t want to lose mine.

44

[Genie]

My meeting with Greetings Ambassador was amazing. I was taken on a tour of their current in-house creative rooms. They continued to praise Quirky Girl Calendar and loved my preliminary ideas for a future calendar line. I hadn’t been at my best during my presentation, and I was grateful for under eye patches and make-up as I’d cried most of last night. I talked a bit numbly through the interview, but they still made me an offer before I left the building.

It was everything I’d dreamed of happening with them.

And I couldn’t wait to get out of New York.

The city was too loud and crowded. The streets shadowed by tall buildings. A constant chill in the air despite the heat of late May. I only saw a sliver of the sky.

Twenty-four hours has passed with no contact. I’d sent Judd a long text, explaining that I loved him and apologizing again for losing the ring, allowing him the time and space to concentrate on finding the lost item.

He didn’t answer.

And it hurt. Like throat clogging, sternum aching, gut punching hurt.

Losing the ring had been an accident, but Judd made a promise to me, and he reneged on it. And all my insecurities rushed back in. All my reasons not to commit to someone, not to believe in someone, nearly chokes me.

Despite the silence from Judd, I worry about him. I miss him.

Eventually, Vale sent me a text to check on me. She’d already listened to me apologize profusely for losing a family heirloom that was incredibly sentimental and invaluable.