Page 47 of Marriage is a Shore Thing
“Can you admit that I’ve been dreaming of your lips since the night we met?”
Geneva’s spine straightens, the corner of her mouth slipping up slightly.Thisis something she can accept. That I’d be attracted to her. That I’d want to kiss her. Just not that my chest aches watching the sweet way she snuggles with Hank, or when her eyes brighten when she laughs, or seeing how fiercely kind she is with Joanna.
“Good things come to those who wait?” she asks with an eyebrow quirk.
I don’t tell her that it feels like I’ve waited my whole life for this, knowing she’ll shut down. Instead, I lift my chin slightly and settle my flirtiest smile across my lips.
“So I’ve heard.”
Geneva hums, closing the distance between us at a teasing pace. When her nose brushes mine, we both draw a sharp inhalethrough parted lips. My palm slides from over her hand on my chest to her neck, my thumb settling on her frantic pulse point.
At least in this, I’m not alone.
When her lips come over mine again, my hands tighten reflexively. I grip the satiny fabric over her waist at the same time my other hand palms the back of her head, immediately deepening the kiss. Geneva meets me touch for touch, fisting my shirt and clutching my shoulder—the soft sound in her throat in direct opposition to her grip strength.
Then her nails scratch down the back of my neck to grab the collar of my shirt and tug me closer, and I can’t restrain the groan vibrating through me. Everything is explosive in a matter of seconds. Our chests press firm, our breaths tattered puffs through exploring lips. Hungry kisses trail over my jaw before she nips my earlobe, and tiny beams of light shoot across my closed eyes.
Forget what I said earlier,thismight be the fever dream—the elaborate hallucination—because if this is reality, I am one ridiculously lucky man. Because Geneva is everything I want—fiery, complex, inexplicably beautiful. But there’s also this deep sense of peace that I feel whenever we’re bantering. Those two things shouldn’t coincide, but the sensation of wholeness I feel in her presence is nearly incomprehensible, making me doubt reality.
It’s foolish, especially since I have Geneva in my arms, but I untangle one hand from her gorgeous hair to pinch myself in the ribs.
Geneva sets a hot kiss over my collarbone before glancing down. “Did you just…pinch yourself?”
I hold my breath, hoping she’ll get distracted by the swell of my chest, of how my shirt gapes a little with the action, and not how my fingers are frozen at my ribs. But Geneva continues to hover, waiting.
“Van?” She sits down hard, pinning me with a stare. “Did you?”
All the blood in my body concentrates in my ears. They’re on fire, but hopefully with the dim light from the kitchen, Geneva can’t see the shade of crimson.
“I was just checking.”
Her jaw tightens. “Checking what?”
A sigh gusts out of me. “That this is really happening because…”
…it’s uneven…because I like you so much more than you like me, and after kissing you, I don’t know what I’ll do if…when…
I’ve already lost so much. Having Taylor stolen from me has been like losing a limb. I keep waking up, expecting to find new voice notes from her on my phone, to be able to call her when something funny or annoying or amazing happens, to be able to hear her too-loud laugh again. I don’t think I can handle losing Geneva too.
Pain ripples through my muscles at the thought. I move to drop my chin to my chest, but Geneva catches my jaw in her palm. Her eyes dance between mine for three excruciating heartbeats before she leans forward to press a soft kiss on my lips.
Every cell in my body hovers, weightless, when Geneva exhales, rocking her forehead into mine. When her lips dip again to press against mine with aching tenderness, I surrender. I’ll have to take whatever agony is coming my way later because right now my self-protective instincts are as solid as a Jenga tower in an earthquake.
All I want is more—now, tomorrow, forever. All I can think about is her.
“Gen.”
I feel her smiling lips against mine. “Only you call me that.”
But then Geneva is kissing me again, and I set my answer aside, following her down a series of slowly deepening kisses and not thinking about how tonight might be my undoing.
twenty
Geneva
Though I’m more excited than I expected to see my regulars at my boxing class the following night, I try to keep my face impassive. Because if I walk up to Vivian and her boyfriend, Finn, and say hi like I want to, they’d probably think I’m still sick and insist I go home.
Instead, I nod at Finn and give Vivian a small smile as they wrap their hands. Finn helps Vivian with her gloves even though she’s been coming every Monday for weeks. It took me a few classes to figure out that she lets him because sheenjoysbeing cared for. It’d been a baffling realization. One I couldn’t quite comprehend until Van brushed the tangles out of my hair. I’ve been so staunchly independent for so long that I hadn’t considered how nice it is having someone be there for you.
