Loving the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 2) (5 page)

Monday morning, Sebastian is still asleep on the couch. Mom took off from work to spend another day with us. She and I have an appointment with our therapist later, and then Sebastian and I will fly back to New York early tomorrow. I’m letting my boyfriend sleep in because he looks so comfortable, with his hand slung over his face and his chest rising and falling softly. I want to jump into bed with him.

“Lily?”

I snap out of it. Mom and I are seated at the kitchen table. She’s drinking coffee and I’m playing with my cereal. Her eyes are on Sebastian. We have a good view of him from where we’re sitting. Did she see the way I was gazing at him? Did I look like I was drooling?

“I know you don’t want to talk about this, but we need to,” she says. “You’ve made it clear that you want to live with Sebastian, and I need to accept that.” She tucks some hair behind my ear. “Even though it’s hard for me, I trust you to do what’s right.”

“Thanks.”

She eyes me carefully. “I’m not comfortable with the idea of you having sex, but you’re eighteen—”

“Mom!” I cover my face. I feel like I’m fifteen. “Can we not talk about this?”

“I feel like we need to. You’re eighteen and are old enough to make your own decisions, but we need to talk about protecting your—”

“We’re not. Sebastian and I aren’t…we’re not.” I feel my face heat up. “So you don’t have to worry.”

“He’s sleeping in your bed.”

“Just sleeping, Mom. I don’t think he’s ready to take that next step.”

“Boys are always ready.”

I want to tell her that he’s different. That he doesn’t experience things the way most guys his age do, but I can’t.

“You just make sure you protect yourself all the time.”

“Mom…”

She looks into my eyes. “All the time.”

“Okay,” I mutter. “Got it. Now can we please forget about this? We have another day to spend together. Do you want it to be filled with awkwardness?”

She laughs lightly. “No.”

“Good.”

She takes my hand. “So you haven’t…”

I shake my head.

“With anyone?”

I shake my head again.

She squeezes my hand. “Make sure you do it with someone you truly love.”

I nod. I truly love Sebastian and I’d like to be even closer to him. Maybe not yet, though. I know he and I will never leave each other. We have time. Lots and lots of it.

“And make sure he doesn’t pressure you.”

“Mom…”

“Or hurt you.”

“Mom…”

“If you’re ever uncomfortable, you shouldn’t ignore—”

I put my hand on hers. “Thanks for all of this, but I’m going to be okay. And if or when it happens, I’ll make sure to take all precautions you taught me.”

She smiles sadly. “It’s hard for me to see you grow up, but I know I have to get used to it. Before I know it, you’ll be getting married and having kids.”

“Hold on, you’re thinking a bit too far into the future.”

She laughs. “Yes. You need to finish culinary school first.”

“Definitely.”

I haven’t thought about the whole marriage and kids thing. I feel like I’m not ready, not like Macy and Andy who are getting married in a few months. They’re prepared to take that step, and I’m very happy for them. But I need time. Of course I want to have a lifelong commitment to Sebastian, but it’s weird to think of myself as someone’s wife.

I internally shake my head. Why am I even thinking about this? It’s not like Sebastian and I ever spoke about this. Like I said, we’re going to have many, many, many years together.

I turn to Mom. “What about you?”

“What?”

“Any important men in your life?”

She waves her hand. “Oh, no. Never.”

“But why don’t you want to meet someone? Don’t you want to be happy? Maybe with George? I know he was more than a classmate, Mom.”

She sighs. “You’re right. He and I dated my sophomore and junior years.” I do the math in my head. If Mom dated this guy when she was around sixteen, then it doesn’t seem like he’s my dad. Mom was in her twenties when she had Daisy and me.

I decide to ask anyway. “Is he my dad?”

Her eyes meet mine. “No.”

I wait for her to elaborate, to perhaps tell me who my dad is. But she just sits there, staring at her hands that are wrapped around her coffee mug.

“You never speak about him,” I say, my voice low. I know the subject makes her uncomfortable. Daisy and I used to raise it many times when we were kids and she always got a look in her eyes, and we knew to stop. All she told us was that he walked out on us.

As hard as this is for her, I need to know who my dad is. “Is he alive?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can I have a name?”

She doesn’t respond, her eyes glued to the mug.

I place my hand on hers. “Please, Mom.”

She finally turns to me. “I don’t think contacting your dad is a good idea. He left me alone with two little girls. He hasn’t made an effort to be part of your life.” She plays with my curls. “I just don’t want you to get hurt by his rejection.”

I understand her concern. If I would discover that my father left us and started a new family, it would sting. But not as much, I don’t think. Because I never met the guy. Sure I’d love to have a relationship with him, but if he chooses not to, I’ll be fine with it. I went eighteen years without a dad and I think I turned out okay. “I’m just curious what he looks like. You never showed me pictures.”

“Because I threw them out. I didn’t want you girls to see what a jerk your dad was.”

“Was he really that bad?”

She sighs, shaking her head. “He wasn’t like that when we first met. I had just finished college and was working in an office. We had a party and he delivered the food. We caught each other’s eyes. He had such a nice smile.” She smiles sadly. “I was hoping he’d talk to me, maybe ask for my number, but he left and I never saw him again. Until we had another party and he once again delivered the food. This time, before he left, he asked me for my number. A year and a half later, we got married, and a year after that, Daisy was born.”

I wait for her to go on, but she doesn’t.

“Then what? Did something go wrong?”

“No. Things were great. He was a good husband and a good father. But after you were born, he left. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

From the look in her eyes, I can tell she loved my dad very much. Maybe she never got over him.

“You never looked him up online?” I ask.

“I tried, but nothing came up. It’s like he doesn’t exist.” She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I spent many nights crying over him until one day I decided that was it. I had two little girls who needed me to be strong for them. I didn’t need a man in my life. I was fine on my own.”

I rub her arm. “But maybe you can use a man in your life now. I don’t know anything about this George guy, but if he’s interested in you, don’t you want to see if it can turn into something?” Maybe she can find happiness, too.

“I don’t know, Lily.”

“Just think about it, okay?”

She nods and is about to say something when footsteps sound from the doorway. Our heads snap up. Sebastian is there, his hair disheveled and eyes sleepy. He looks really hot, and all I want to do is jump into his arms and run my hands through his messy hair.

“Good morning,” he greets.

“Good morning,” Mom says. “Did you sleep well?”

He rubs his eyes. “Sleeping on the couch is very different from sleeping on a bed, but yes, I slept well. Thank you.” He looks at us, then at the time. “Did I oversleep?”

“No, that’s okay,” Mom says. “Lily and I were just having a heart to heart.” She pulls out a chair. “Please sit down and eat something.”

He lowers himself in the chair next to me and gives me a warm smile. I’ve missed him, even though we’ve only been apart for a few hours. Last night in my childhood bedroom, I felt odd. Being back home and remembering everything that happened here. I don’t know how Mom manages it. Daisy’s room is across the hall from mine, the door always shut. I used to peek in after her death to see if anything had changed, but everything was the same. Mom has kept it as it was, as though Daisy would come home any minute.

After we’ve eaten, we spend the rest of the day together, squeezing in as much time as possible. Sebastian and Mom are getting to know each other well, and I can tell she’s pleased with the guy I’ve chosen as my boyfriend. Not that I really chose him. Fate brought us together. Anyone could have fished his lamp out of the dumpster that day, but it was me. And after he was sent back home, I thought I’d never see him again. I never dreamed there was a way for him to return. And now he’s human and we can have a future. It’s like the world wants us to be together.

Forever.

My therapy session with Mom yesterday went well. Now Sebastian and I are back at my apartment, lying on the couch. He’s on top of me, propped on his elbows so he won’t crush me to death. “Finally.” He presses kisses on my neck. “Alone.”

My eyes flutter as I moan softly. His lips move down my neck, then back up to my ear where he whispers, “You’re my world, Lily. My life is incomplete without you.”

My fingers dig into his hair, forcing his mouth back to mine. Our kiss is hard, yet soft at the same time. I feel like I’m being shot into space with fireworks exploding all around me. I push myself closer, practically fusing our bodies into one.

Sebastian’s hands rest at the back of my head. Though he’s kissing me intensely, with everything he has, his touch is light, almost featherlike.

“I can kiss your forever,” I say when we take a break to catch our breaths. “And I’ll never get bored of it.”

He beams. “I’ve seen it done countless times over the years and I wondered what the big deal is. It seemed a bit disgusting, to be honest.”

I laugh.

He fingers my bottom lip. “But now I see how wrong I was. It’s anything but gross.” He bends forward and closes his mouth over mine. “And I can do it for hours, too.”

I frown. “Except we really can’t. I have work tomorrow.” And if I don’t get at least eight hours of sleep, I’ll fall over and all the food I’m carrying will crash to the floor. I slept a little on the plane ride home, but I was too engrossed in the movie I was watching. It was a romance, one I hadn’t seen. Sebastian was even more into it than I was.

He frowns, too. “I wish I could work and help support us. Do they need someone to wash the dishes there?”

I shake my head. “Either way, my boss doesn’t allow girlfriends and boyfriends to work together.”

“Why?”

“Apparently they’d be too busy making out or sending kissy faces to each other and won’t focus on the customers.” I roll my eyes.

He laughs and pecks my lips. “Maybe he’s right. I’d definitely want to grab you and kiss you. Every second we’re apart is torture.”

“I know, it’s torture for me, too. I feel so alone when you’re not here.”

“Really? But you have other people in your life, your mother, your friends.”

I take his hand. “Yeah, I do. But they’re not you.”

He smiles.

“You’re going to have friends, too, you know,” I tell him.

“I’ve never had friends before.”

“Not the other servants?”

He shakes his head. “We weren’t really allowed to talk with one another. It was hard for me to speak to Renaya. We didn’t cross paths often. Maybe if we had, I could have stopped the prince…” His voice trails off and he fists his hands. “I hope that scoundrel is suffering in the next world for what he did to her.”

I clutch him close and bury my face in his chest. I don’t want to think about all the horrors that go on at the palace, all the pain that Sebastian and his sister have been through. I wish I could have gotten the chance to save her, too. I would have helped provide her with a good life on Earth.

Sebastian’s arms come around me and he holds me tight, pressing his face in my hair and breathing softly.

“Is there any way to get to Ortarus?” I ask him.

He looks at me, confused. “Why would you go there?”

“To free everyone suffering there.”

His arms tighten around me. “You’re very kind, Lily, but we wouldn’t stand a chance. The king and his army have powerful magic. It would be suicide.”

“We could try.”

“It’s not possible for us to be sent there. I’m sorry.”

I know Ortarus has problems, just like Earth does. They have a system there, a system that has been around for years. I can’t just drop by and tell them how to live their lives, as horrendous it is. It’d be like aliens coming to Earth and pointing out our flaws, telling us how to live.

But I still feel like I need to do something. “Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing we can do?” I ask Sebastian.

He rests his forehead on mine. “I wish there was. You have no idea what a dreadful place it is. I don’t want you anywhere near there. Please. I couldn’t bear it if something were to happen to you.”

“I just feel terrible for all those people still living there.”

His lips graze my cheek. “I do, too, but we can’t change Ortarus, Lily. As much as I want to help, there’s nothing I could do. If we do manage to somehow find a way to my world, they’d kill us.”

He’s right. I know he is. It just sucks.

***

“What are you doing?” Sebastian asks as he places a can of Coke and plate of cookies near me. I told him he doesn’t have to wait on me, but he said I do so much for him that he doesn’t mind treating me like a queen. He even cleaned the kitchen after dinner. I tried to help, but he wouldn’t hear it. I love him like crazy, but I don’t want him to spoil me.

“Searching for my dad,” I say. Before we left my mom’s house, she gave me a paper with his name scribbled on it, and wished me good luck in searching for him. I guess she must have realized just how curious I am to learn about him.

He pulls over a chair and sits down near me. After biting into a cookie, he asks, “I never thought…I mean of course you have a father, but you’ve never mentioned him.”

“That’s because I never met him. He left when I was a baby.”

“Why would he do that?”

I shrug. “I was always curious who he was, but I didn’t drive my mom crazy about it because I knew it made her uneasy. But then this George guy entered her life and I know he’s not my dad, but I’m very curious now. I mean, shouldn’t he know one of his daughters is dead? Maybe he’d like to have a relationship with the only one he has left. Assuming he doesn’t have any more kids.”

Sebastian rubs my arm. “How can I help?”

I stare at the screen. No matter how many times I type it in, there are no results for Harry Martin Warden. “I don’t think you can. Google shows nothing. It’s like my mom said—he doesn’t exist.” I wonder if that’s his real name. Or if everything about him was fake. Maybe he was a spy.

Sebastian bends forward to study the screen. He rubs his chin. “What if I use my magic to try to locate him?”

“That’s a good idea. Thanks.”

He leans back, shutting his eyes. I watch him for what feels like minutes but are only seconds. I don’t know why my heart is hammering against my ribcage. Maybe because I’m nervous to learn what he’ll discover.

His eyes open. They flash yellow for a second before returning to their natural blue color.

“What did you find?” I ask, unable to contain the curiosity bursting inside me.

His eyes look apologetic. “Nothing.”

My heart sinks. “Nothing?”

“All I have is a name, nothing more. Maybe if I had an image…”

I shake my head. “Mom threw everything out. She was really hurt and upset when he left.”

“I don’t blame her.”

I shut the laptop. “Okay, enough of this. Let’s do something else.” I grab the remote and flick on the TV. Flipping through the channels, I can’t find anything interesting.

Sebastian scoots closer and wraps his arm around me. “Are you disappointed that we weren’t able to find your father? Maybe we can try harder.”

I push some hair off his forehead. “That’s okay. I’ve lived eighteen years without him.” I shrug. “Clearly he doesn’t want to be found, and that’s okay.” I slide my hand into his. “I have enough good things in my life.”

He smiles and lifts my hand to his lips, kissing it gently. “As the humans say, you bet your ass you do.”

I giggle and press my mouth to his.