Loving the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 2) (3 page)

I don’t mind it either, but I don’t exactly like the idea of other girls staring at him. “It’s possible you’d get kicked out of the mall for indecent display of…um…”

“Oh. So what should I wear?”

“Can you create a shirt for yourself?”

He holds his palm out over his chest and shuts his eyes. Nothing happens. “I guess I’m limited. Do you have an old shirt you don’t wear anymore? Maybe I can manipulate it to make it fit me.”

“Sure, one sec.”

I dash to my room and scoop up some old T-shirts from my drawers. Sebastian’s eyes widen when I set the pile down on the living room couch.

I motion with my hand. “Pick one.”

His forehead wrinkles. “What colors would a guy wear?”

I pick up a light blue shirt and hold it out to him. He takes it, then waves his hand over it. Then he slips it on. It’s a little tight, and I can see all his muscles.

He peers down at himself. “This doesn’t look good.”

“I guess there’s a limit to how much this shirt can stretch.”

He looks from his body to mine. “Am I really that much bigger than you?”

He’s never been educated on human physiology. He never learned biology in school like most kids do. He doesn’t understand the way bodies work, the difference between men and women.

“It’s okay,” I tell him. “We’ll take a cab to the mall and find shirts that you can dress into.” I wish I had enough money to buy a car.

Sebastian smiles. “I’ve always wanted to ride in one of those.”

Sebastian and I enter the mall. His eyes are still filled with intrigue, due to the cab ride. He couldn’t stop marveling at everything and asking the driver a million questions, like how every part of the car works.

“I want to do that one day,” he says to me. “To learn to drive.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “There’s so much to do.”

“So little time, so much to do. A very human concept.”

He lifts his eyebrows. “How do humans have time for everything? Back on Ortarus, we had magic that made things…never mind. It doesn’t matter. I’m on Earth now.”

I slide my hand into his as we continue walking. Many couples pass us, their hands interlocked, too. I’m so glad this is something I can share with Sebastian and the rest of the world. Like I’m telling everyone that he and I are together and nothing can keep us apart. No genie rules, no magical world. We’re going to be together forever.

“Why do men and women hold hands?” Sebastian asks. “It feels nice, but is there some meaning behind it? Like you’re claiming your partner as your own?”

I squeeze his hand. “I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t see it like that, it just feels really good and brings us closer.”

“I don’t want to ever let go.”

I smile. “Me, either.”

As we stroll further into the mall, I catch Sebastian glancing around, a confused look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

He continues looking around, then he scans himself. “Is something wrong with me? They’re staring.”

I follow his gaze and notice a group of college-age girls a few feet away. They’re whispering to one another, their eyes trekking down his body. I don’t know why, but my stomach twists with the thought of losing him to someone else. I shove those worries away. Sebastian is with me. He’ll never leave me. I know it.

“Ignore them.”

He stops walking. “But why are they staring? I’ve never had anyone look at me before, other than when I went for my walk this morning, but that was because I was practically naked.” His eyes widen in wonder.

The girls are still gawking, some waving and bashing their eyelashes.

I tug Sebastian’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“What’s wrong?” He cups my face in his hands. “Why do you look so uncomfortable?”

I sigh. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me, please.”

I peer to my left, then to my right. Two more girls have joined the group and are practically eating up my genie with their eyes. “I just don’t like the way they’re ogling you.”

His eyes flicker to where I’m looking. “Why are they doing that?”

He doesn’t realize how sexy he is. It’s kind of adorable, but it also worries me. I know I’m not the prettiest girl on the planet. Sebastian isn’t my genie anymore and isn’t bound to me. What will stop him from drifting to other, prettier girls?

And the fact that his shirt is practically see-through doesn’t help at all.

“Lily?”

I force these insecure thoughts out of my head. Sebastian loves me. I can see his eyes shine with it each time he looks at me. I trust him completely.

“Never mind,” I say.

He gazes into my eyes. “Something is bothering you. Am I doing something wrong? Please, let’s talk about it.”

I shake my head. I don’t want to tell him, because I don’t want him to think I don’t trust him. I just know that relationships are complicated and don’t always last. “I’m just being insecure.”

His face is blank. “About?”

I kiss his cheek. “Let’s drop it.”

He nods unsurely. I take his hand and we continue on. We enter a shop and start browsing through the clothes. I suggest we start with T-shirts, since that’s the easiest.

“What about you?” Sebastian asks as he fingers a green-colored shirt. “Are you going to buy anything?”

I shrug. “If I find something I really like, I guess. But today is all about you.”

He holds the shirt over himself. “Do you think your mom will approve of this?”

“Sebastian, don’t worry what my mom will think. I want you to choose clothes that feel right for you. Be yourself, an individual. Don’t be what other people want you to be.”

He doesn’t say anything as he thinks over my words. “I’m not used to doing things for myself. For hundreds of years, it’s always been what my master wanted. And before that, it was what the Ortarian royal family wanted.”

I rest my hand on his arm. “It’s okay to do things for yourself.”

“It’s going to be hard to get used to.” He points to the shirt. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah. Do you?”

“Yeah.”

I take it from him. “Let’s put it in the cart so you can try it on later.”

We resume searching the racks for more things for Sebastian. When we feel like we have enough T-shirts and jeans, we check out the underwear.

“You’re going to have to wear that.” I point.

He takes a pack off the shelf and frowns. “How do I know what size I am?”

Good question. “Um…” Talking about his
underwear
feels very awkward. I mean, it’s one step away from…yeah. I’m not sure he had man parts as a genie, but it’s safe to say he has them as a human. “I guess we can guess based on the size of your jeans.” We gathered a few and will try to see what size he is. “We’ll buy the underwear last.”

He agrees and we head for the dressing room. “Too bad I can’t create private rooms for us,” Sebastian says.

“You sure you can’t?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t create anything, only manipulate. Or so it seems. I’m just as clueless as you.”

“Okay, try on the stuff. I’ll wait for you outside.”

I make myself comfortable on a chair outside the dressing room. A few minutes later, Sebastian emerges, dressed like a regular eighteen-year-old guy, and I can’t stop my eyes from roaming over every inch of him. He’s got on a short-sleeved black shirt and dark jeans. He looks really good in human clothes.

“So?” he asks. “Do I look human?”

If there weren’t any people around, I’d grab him and smash my lips to his. But since I can’t, I play with his hair. “You definitely look human.”

***

Once his shopping is done, we head for the women’s section. “I don’t really need anything,” I tell him. But then I see this beautiful shirt and I run to the rack. Flipping through them, I discover that they don’t have it in my size, only red instead of purple.

“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asks.

“They only have a large in this color. Maybe if they had a medium, I could get away with it, but a large is way too big.”

I turn to go, but he’s still standing there.

“Sebastian?”

He’s gazing at the shirts. “You want this size, but in this color?” he asks, gesturing to the shirts.

I nod. “It happens all the time—stores run out of things. It’s not a big deal. Maybe I can find it online.”

He doesn’t move.

“Sebastian?”

He lifts his hand toward the red in the small size and waves his hand. The shirt changes to purple. I gape at him. He smiles, placing it in my hand. “There you go.”

My eyes are still wide. “Thanks.”

“I hope I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t think so. The shirts all cost the same, regardless of the color.” I hug him. “Thanks so much.”

“Anything for you, my Lily.”

“I think it’s time for that haircut.”

Sebastian is standing in front of the bathroom mirror, inspecting himself like he did at the mall. His hair flows down his shoulders, his bangs touching his eyes. He pulls at them.

“Do you want to go to a professional?” I ask. “They’d do a much better job than me.”

He yanks at his hair some more. “I’d like you to do it, if that’s okay.”

“I would, but I don’t want to screw it up.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “You won’t. I trust you.” He smiles. “You did it perfectly last time.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

He sits down by the sink with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. I step closer to him and place the scissors on the sink. I don’t know why I’m more nervous than the last time. Is it because people can see him now?

When I look into the mirror, I catch Sebastian watching me. His eyes are filled with trust and confidence in me. I don’t want to let him down. Shoving my nerves aside, I grab his hair and let the strands spill through my fingers. They’re just as silky as they used to be. “Ready?” I ask.

He nods.

I bring the scissors to his hair, then stop when I catch his gaze pasted on mine. “You can’t watch me.”

He pouts.

“It’ll distract me. I need to concentrate if I’m going to do this right.”

“But you’re so cute when you’re concentrating.”

I give him a look.

He raises his hands. “Okay, okay. I won’t look.”

“Thanks.”

A few minutes later, Sebastian and I are examining my work. Not bad, if I may say so myself. His hair reaches just above his shoulders and his bangs are perfect. We stand there for a bit, as if we’re waiting for the hair to grow back. That doesn’t happen. Sebastian lets out a sigh of relief.

He pulls me to his lap. “Thank you, Lily.”

I stand up as an idea enters my head. “Be right back.”

After grabbing my phone from my room, I return to the bathroom. Sebastian is still sitting in his seat. He looks at my phone, confused. Then recognition flashes across his face. “For photos.”

I nod. The last time I tried to take a picture of him, it didn’t come out.

He smiles and gets to his feet. “I’ve always wondered how I would look in pictures.”

“Hot,” I say.

He laughs lightly. “Sure.”

I punch his arm playfully. “You seriously have no idea how sexy you are.”

His face blanches. “No, I’m not.”

To prove a point, I snap a picture when he’s not ready.

“Hey!”

I shove my phone in his face. “See?”

He gazes at the picture. “It’s weird seeing myself like that. It’s like I have a twin in there…but it’s me.” He smiles and lifts the phone to me.

I cover my face. “I look like crap!” My curly, auburn hair is a mess and some of Sebastian’s hair got in it. My shirt is covered in black fluff, too.

He shows me the picture. “You seriously have no idea how sexy
you
are.”

I snort. “Why do you think those girls were staring at you at the mall?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I want to take them back. I should have just dropped the subject. I don’t want to be insecure.

His eyebrows furrow like he has no idea what I’m talking about, but then he seems to grasp it. “Is that why you were so uncomfortable? Because of those girls?”

I sink down on the chair. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. Can we forget about it?”

He sits down on the floor and interlocks his fingers through mine. “You’re worried I’ll be interested in other girls.”

He says it with so much pain and disbelief that I shut my eyes, wishing I could go back in time and undo the last few minutes. I don’t want him to think I have doubts about our relationship.

“Lily?”

I open my eyes. His are so big and blue and sincere. I pull my hand out of his. “You’ve never been human. You haven’t been with other girls. How are you sure that you and I are meant for each other?”

“Because I love you. Don’t you…love me?”

Tears fill my eyes. “Of course I do.”

He places his hands on either side of my face. “Then what’s wrong?”

I blink, causing the tears to spill down my face. “I don’t know. I guess I just feel like nothing works out for me. Especially when it comes to guys.”

“But I love you.”

“What if you stop?”

He shakes his head. “Never.”

“You don’t know that.”

He doesn’t say anything as he pushes away from me and leans his back against the wall. He looks so sad and hurt. Why did I have to mess everything up with my insecurities? Because I haven’t had a good track record when it comes to relationships. I’ve had two boyfriends in high school, and I dated Max a few weeks ago. None of that ended well. But so what? That can change with Sebastian. I love him more than anything. I shouldn’t worry about something that may not happen.

I crouch down next to him and rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Can we forget I said anything?”

He presses his lips to my temple. “I love
you
, Lily. You and only you. Forever. Other girls can stare all they want, but there’s only one girl who has my heart and she’s the most wonderful person in the world.” He pecks my lips.

I haul him closer, smiling against his mouth. I don’t know why I even thought for a second that Sebastian would leave me for another girl. He and I are going to be together forever. I can feel it.

“We’d better get to bed early tonight,” I say. “We have an early flight tomorrow.”

***

If Sebastian’s eyes get any wider, they’ll turn inside out. Each step we take getting ready to board the plane excites him. Our hands are clasped together as we sit at the gate, and I can sense just how nervous he is to fly. He’s clutching so tight I’ll lose all the blood flow soon.

“You’ve flown before,” I tell him. When he was a genie, he had magic to do anything as long as it benefited his master. He took me flying over New York City. It was spectacular, the greatest thing I’ve ever done.

Sebastian presses his lips together before saying, “I had control then. I don’t understand how such a huge, heavy object can fly.”

I laugh and give him a quick kiss. “You’re so cute.”

His face pales as he watches other planes taking off. “How are you so sure we won’t die?”

I can’t be a hundred percent sure. Plane crashes happen. I’m not going to tell him that, though.

“I’m not powerful enough to save your life,” he says. “As a genie, I could, but now…” His voice trails off.

I squeeze his hand. “People fly every second of every day. We’re going to be okay, Sebastian. Trust me.”

He shakes his head. “If I had magic, I’d take us to your mother’s house like I did the other time.” His eyes light up. “Maybe I can still grant you wishes!”

“Sebastian.”

“Try it, please.”

“Sebastian…”

He grabs my hand, desperation showing on his face. “Lily, please.”

I’m pretty sure it won’t work, but because he’s so terrified of flying, I’ll do it for him. “Sebastian, I wish for you to take us to my mother’s house in California.”

Nothing happens. He just sits there.

“Okay,” he breathes. “I guess that doesn’t work.”

“You’ll be okay.”

He nods unsurely. “I’m sorry for being such a pain.”

“You’re not. You’re just new to everything. Many people are terrified of flying, so it’s okay.” I pat his hand. “It’s only six hours. We’ll be there before you know it.”

“How many times have you flown?”

“This would be my second.”

“Was your first time hard?”

I nod, biting my lip. “Yeah, but I was thinking more about Daisy’s death and everything that happened. Worrying about a flight seemed…less important to me.”

“I wish I could have been there for you.”

I smile. “We’re here for each other now.”

He returns the smile.

Our gate is finally called and we board the plane. Sebastian’s eyes shine with delight. “This is amazing.”

I laugh, and we find our seats. I offer Sebastian the window because I want him to have the full experience. He squints at the TV screens. “What’s this?”

“Entertainment.”

“They have TVs here?”

“You’ve never seen the inside of a plane before? Not in a movie your masters may have watched?”

He shakes his head. “Many didn’t let me out of my lamp for more than they needed me. They’d wish and I’d move on.” He touches the screen. “I’m glad I’m here with you.”

“I’m glad, too.”

The plane is a little delayed, and Sebastian and I talk about many different things. Once we move, I expect him to shut his eyes and clutch my arm, but he does none of that. He’s watching the activity going on outside. He’s in awe. “This is like magic,” he tells me. “I never expected it to be like this.”

“What did you expect?”

He shifts in his seat. “I thought it was like chairs and cages.” He laughs. “I don’t know, but not this.”

We busy ourselves with talking, watching TV, reading. Two hours into the flight, Sebastian looks at the seat across the aisle. “They’re sleeping.”

“Yep, people sometimes sleep on planes.”

“Will you?”

I shrug. “I’m not really tired.” Even though we woke up at three in the morning to catch our flight. We should be at my mother’s house around eight or nine, pacific time. We’re going to stay for a couple of days. I wish we could spend more time with my mother, but I can’t take too many days off from work.

Mom and I discussed the idea of living closer to one another, but she really loves her job and isn’t sure she can get another. And I want to live in New York. I guess we’re still figuring it all out.

After a little while, my eyes feel heavy. When I peer over at my genie, I find his head drooping toward his chest. Trying to be as quiet and gentle as possible, I cover him with his blanket and slip a pillow under his head. His eyes flutter before they open. “Sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He yawns, then wraps his arm around me, tucking me close to his body. I cover us with our blankets and cuddle up against him.