Fuck I was bored.

Today at the beach was a move in the right direction where Karma and I were concerned, but she still basically told me to fuck off when it came to anything more than friendship. The bright side was that I could see her softening up to me.

While Harper went off with that guy she was crushing on, Karma and I spent a few hours talking and laying in the sun. When I answered her question about why I was chasing her, she accused me of using it as pick up line. Then she wondered how many other women I used it with.

I tried to tell her the truth. I explained that she was the only one I ever said anything like that to. Naturally, she didn't believe me. I couldn't really blame her though. In the years she's known me, she's seen me with countless girls. I just needed to figure out a way to prove to her that I wanted her. I didn't want one of those other girls. It was that simple.

Suddenly there was a knock at my bedroom door followed by, "Nate, you awake? It's Harper."

I rolled off my bed with a groan. Being in the sun a lot really sucked out your energy. When I opened the door, Harper was wearing the same dress she wore to the club that night. Her hair was done and she had makeup on, too. Something was going on.

"Hey. What's up?"

She put her hands together like she was praying. "I need a huge favor."

Oh boy. "What is it?"

"Lanie's still holed up in her room with a killer case of the cramps and we we were supposed to do a girls' night thing tonight."

"But?" Where was this going...

"But Jake asked me out on a date and I really, really wanna go." Her eyes were pleading when she asked, "So can you please hang out with Karma tonight? You know, so she isn't alone and pissed that I bailed on her."

Hmmm...Maybe this was an opportunity to be alone with Karma and prove to her that I'm serious about my interest in her.

"Does she know you asked me to do this?" Instinct told me that was a big fat no.

"No. But why would she care? I just don't want to leave her alone the whole night. She's been stressed about something and won't talk to us about it."

So the girls knew she was stressed. Guess Karma wasn't really hiding it that well. I still had no idea why she just didn't tell them. They would be more understanding than hurt regarding the whole college thing. Besides, they would give her way better advice than I would.

"Sure," I said finally. "I'll keep her company. But you owe me, Harper."

She didn't really owe me. I was more than happy to spend some alone time with Karma. I just didn't want Harper to get suspicious of anything. If she and Lanie found out that I was jonesing for their best friend, then the whole thing was game over.

Harper pulled me in for a tight hug and a loud squeal. "Thank you! I really appreciate this, Nate!"

"No problem," I said with a laugh.

I waited until Harper was gone before walking back to my bed. Picking up my phone I called the pizza place we usually ordered from. If I wanted some alone time with Karma, I needed a little insurance.

After placing my order I finally made my way to Karma's room. I knocked on her door softly and waited for a response. When it never came, I tried again. Still nothing. Turning the knob, I opened the door softly.

My eyes found her immediately. She was laying on her bed, cocooned by the blankets as she napped. I quietly stepped further into the room until I got to her side of the bed. My god, she was beautiful.

When I sat down on the mattress softly, Karma's body rolled a little towards mine. She snuggled further into the pillows which caused a strand of her dark hair to fall over her face. My heart was pounding in my chest when I reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Her eyes flipped open and she looked up at me with confusion. "Nathan? What are you..."

"Harper has a date and asked me to keep you company tonight."

She must have still been a little out of it because she didn't shove my hand away when I stroked her hair. Instead, she just stared up at me with those drowsy brown eyes of hers.

"So she bailed on me," Karma said accusingly.

I laughed and shrugged a shoulder. "Her loss is my gain."

"How's that?" With a huff she added quicly, "It doesn't matter, Nathan. You probably have a date or something. You don't have to waste your time babysitting me."

Stretching my arms out behind me, I leaned back on the bed and shot her a wink. "No dates for me. Looks like you got me all to yourself, gorgeous."

"And what if I don't want you all to myself?"

"Ha! Nice one." I got to my feet and started towards the door. "I'll meet you in the kitchen. I ordered your favorite pizza that I'm pretty sure you won't be able to resist, and we're going to play a game after we eat."

"Game? What game?"

When I got to her door I turned towards her with a sly smile. "Truth or Dare."

***

"You were right. I couldn't resist."

I chuckled and pointed to the pizza. "It's the stuffed crust, isn't it? You like all that cheese."

Karma rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, I do. Thanks again for the food. I appreciate it. Do you think we should offer some to Lanie?"

"I wouldn't. Last time I asked her if she needed anything, she threw a shoe at me and told me to beat it and to only return if I had chocolate."

Karma covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. "No, she didn't."

I scoffed. "Oh yeah, she did. I'm sure I'll have a bruise on my back tomorrow to prove it."

"Yeah...she gets kinda testy during that time of the month."

"Like I said before-Bat. Shit. Crazy."

Karma sighed before she slid off the stool. "Well, I guess I'll clean up."

I watched while Karma gathered the trash from our dinner and stuffed it into an empty garbage bag. Once she was done, she tied it and sat it by the front door. When she started to walk past me and back towards the hallway, I jumped off the stool and grabbed her hand.

"No, no, gorgeous. We haven't played our game yet."

Pulling her hand from mine, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Nathan..."

"Don't Nathan me, Karma. We're playing."

History told me she was going to fight me a little more on this-and I was totally ready to throw down. There was no way in hell I was letting her go back to her room before we played truth or dare.

Karma's attempt to stare me down failed and she knew it. She exhaled a heavy sigh before finally muttering, "Fine."

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

"I said fine! Let's play and get this over with."

As excited as I was, I was still a little nervous. I tried so hard to convince her to play that I didn't think about any questions in advance.

"You go first."

"Okay, Nathan. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Karma tapped her foot while contemplating what question to ask me. "Tell me about your most embarrassing moment with a girl."

I cringed at that one before clearing my throat. "Damn. Alright. I was making out with a girl and things were, you know...progressing. And at the very wrong time I called her Jessica."

Karma arched a brow. "And?"

"So...her name was Amanda. Jessica was her sister."

Karma gave a short laugh. "Are you kidding me?"

"I got slapped for that one. Twice." My cheek tingled at the memory. "My turn. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Oh, this was gonna be good. "I dare you to go and face the wrath of PMS-Lanie. Walk in there and tell her we're out of chocolate."

Her mouth dropped open. "I can't do that!"

"That's the dare, Karma. You gotta do it."

Without another word, she started walking towards Lanie's room and I followed behind closely. No way was I missing any of this. Was Lanie going to throw a shoe at her like she did me? Or was it going to be worse?

Karma hesitated outside Lanie's door.

"Open it," I hissed.

"Okay!"

Karma opened the door and we were both surprised by the site in front of us. Lanie was laying on the floor, a pillow under her lower back and her feet propped up against the wall. She clutched a heating pad to her body as she slept. There were also dozens of assorted chocolate candy wrappers scattered around her.

"Like I said," I whispered, "bat shit crazy."

Karma slapped me on the arm lightly before ushering me out of the room. "Let's go before she wakes up. I don't want to anger It."

Once we got back to the kitchen, Karma faced me and gave me a pointed look. "I did my dare. It wasn't my fault she was asleep."

"Yeah, yeah. Alright."

"Truth or dare?"

She was having way too much fun with this. But I'm the one who came up with the idea and I'm the one who pushed her to play.

Me, me, me.

I thought carefully about my options before I replied, "Dare."

"I dare you to tell me a secret."

Secrets. Secrets shouldn't be uttered sometimes. They should be locked away on the fence of a bridge in Paris with the key thrown in to the river. Or they should be written on a piece of paper and burned, so no one else can see it.

It was a fifty/fifty shot. The outcome was going to be one way or the other.

But this was Karma asking and I took the bait.

"I'm crazy about you," I blurted. "I know you think I'm a player with no respect for women, but I care about you, Karma. I really care and I don't give a shit what Lanie or anyone else thinks. I want you."

Karma stared at me with wide eyes. The quick rise and fall of her chest told me her heart was probably beating like a jackhammer right now.

So was mine.

"Say something," I begged.

"Truth," she whispered.

My brows drew into a deep V. "What? I didn't ask-"

"Truth, Nathan."

I ran a hand threw my hair. Fine. If she wanted to beat around the bush, I was going to have to force her to be honest with me. And since Karma wasn't a liar...

"Alright. Truth it is. My question is this: how do you really feel about me?"

A few moments of hesitation...

"I don't know."

"Karma-"

"I don't know, Nathan. A few weeks ago you were Lanie's older brother. That's it."

"And now?" I needed to know. I needed to know exactly how she felt about me. This mattered and I wasn't leaving this kitchen until I found out.

Karma took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. "And now...You drive me crazy, Nathan. I wanted to punch that girl that was hanging all over you right in the face when we were playing volleyball. I can't stop thinking about you and it's driving me crazy. But we don't work. This-" she gestured between the two of us "-wont work."

Everything she said was exactly what I needed to hear. But she was wrong about that last part. I knew for a fact that we would work. I had no idea how I knew that, but I did.

"Say dare, Karma."

She was the one frowning now. "What? Nathan, didn't you hear what I said?"

"Yes. Now say dare."

"But it's your turn."

"Say it."

"Fine! Dare."

With a smile I took a few steps towards her and cupped her face in both hands. "I dare you to kiss me, Karma."

Her eyes dropped to my lips. "Nathan, I don't..."

I wanted to wait and let her make the first move. As much as I wanted to kiss her, I didn't want her to feel like I was taking advantage or anything. But this woman was torturing me right now.

My voice was rough with emotion when I said, "If you don't then I will, gorgeous."

When her eyes met mine again, I could see that she wanted this as much as I did. But she still made no move to kiss me.

"Screw it," I rasped before I pressed my lips against hers.

Soft. Her lips were so incredibly soft. And she melted against me, tilting her head to the side as I deepened the kiss. I felt her hands grip my waist and pull me closer. And the little moans of pleasure she made nearly had me falling to my knees right then and there.

Ever since that night at the club, I'd imagined how this kiss with Karma would be. And I never would have imagined this.

Chills shot down my back when Karma's tongue danced with mine. I buried my hands in her dark hair, so fucking happy that I finally got to feel the silky strands between my fingers.

This is real, I though. This was happening right now. And it's never felt better.

The sudden sound of a door opening had us pulling apart and taking a step back to put some distance between us.

Then Lanie came around the corner. She glanced at the white trash bag by the door that had the empty pizza boxes inside. The name of the restaurant was visible through the bag.

She turned to us with a glower. "I hope you saved some pizza for me!"

Karma and I shared a glance before she walked towards her room. She gave Lanie a quick hug in passing but didn't say much. I waited, hoping that she would turn around and give me some kind of sign that she didn't hate me for what I did.

Turn around, Karma.

Then it happened. She turned around...and smiled at me.

Once she was gone, Lanie snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Nate? Hello! I need pizza! What the hell are you smiling about?"

"Huh?" I shook my head and opened the fridge to grab her some of the leftovers. "Nothing, L. Not smiling at anything."

On the contrary. I was smiling about everything.

***

Eek! I had a different idea for their first kiss and it was a last-minute change. I am so happy that I did it. Please tell me in the comments what you guys thought about this chapter!

Xoxo

🖤