Page 43 of Sterling Fight

I’m struggling to have friendly thoughts with my hands on her hips and her body gently swaying closer to mine underneath the surface.

“There should be a National Judd Day,” I state.

Genie tilts her head, smiling at the inventiveness. “And what would National Judd Day involve?”

“Doing whatever Judd says.”

“Like the game Simon Says?”

I hum. “Something like that.”

“And what is it Judd would demand on National Judd Day?”

I dig my teeth into my lower lip and roam my gaze over her face. Then I lower my eyes to take in the column of her throat and the curve of her shoulders.

“I’ll come up with a list of bylaws and get back to you.”

“You do that.” She swallows, as her gaze drops to my lips, then along my neck and to my shoulders. “And I’ll come up with a National Genie Day.”

“You mean there isn’t one already?”

“That’s National Make a Wish Day on April twenty-ninth, but that celebrates the beginning of the Make-a-Wish foundation. So nope. No official Genie Day, and if you get a day, I want a day.”

“Deal.” I hold up my hand to high-five her in agreement. Genie’s gaze catches on my forearm a moment before she slaps my hand in response, but then I capture her fingers. Without thinking, I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss her palm.

Genie’s eyes widen. The water on her eyelashes glitters. Her lips are wet.

Damn, I want to kiss her. Instead, I ask, “Tell me how you get Genie out of Virginia.”

“My dad gave me the nickname. He said he’d made a wish for a beautiful daughter and there I was.” Genie wiggles her head and smiles wide, batting her eyelashes, like she was the answer to such a request. “We even had this golden lamp looking thing, that my mother later told me was just a gold-colored gravy boat, and my dad would rub the side of it to show me how he wished for me.”

Genie’s expression slowly sobers, and she squints toward the distant trees to the side of us. “He said I was his wish-granter.”

“Huh. Your dad might have been onto something.” It feels too soon to tell her how many wishes I’d had pertaining to her, and how getting this second chance feels like one come true.

If a genie only grants three wishes, though, I’ve already used one and I better be cautious what I ask for next.

“Of course, my dad used to warn me to be careful what I wished for. Sometimes you can have negative wishes, and those might come true as well. Or you might wish for something that doesn’t quite turn out as you’d hoped.”

I understand that one. I’d wished not to be alone any longer and stumbled into a relationship that wasn’t quite how I’d envisioned ending my solitude.

“What would you wish for, Judd?” Her gaze falls to my mouth again and her body drifts closer to me.

I risk bending my arms and allowing her body to fill the distance I’d been carefully keeping between us. Her pelvis taps mine and Genie’s breath hitches.

“Do you mean right now or just in general?” My voice drops, my focus falling to her mouth as well.

“Either one you want to share.”

“Hmm.” I don’t want to lose a wish.

Genie wraps both arms around my shoulders. Her gaze is still aimed at my lips. I slide my hands from her hips to her lower back, pressing her to me. Her mouth opens and I lean in.

“Wait.” Her hands slip to my shoulders and her body tenses against mine.

Fuck. “What?” I whisper choke.

“I . . . This probably . . .” Genie swallows and pushes back from me, and I let her go. “I’m cold.” She moves further away from me, and I spin only to watch her swim to the ladder on the side of the dock. Then she’s scrambling up the metal rungs like the water has caught fire.