Having Karma show up in my bed as my Christmas present was a surprise I never would have anticipated. Telling her I love her—even though I had been planning on telling heri—slipped out in the heat of the moment.

Also a surprise.

But the biggest surprise of all was the fact that she was still sleeping soundly in my arms.

It's been hours since she magically appeared in my bedroom. Hours since I told her that I loved her and had one of the most mind-blowing sexual experiences of my life. Then afterward, when her eyes became heavy from exhaustion, I offered to drive her home so her mom wouldn't find out she snuck out. God only knew how she would react if she realized Karma and I did a whole lot more than kissing.

Once again, to my surprise, she said no. Convinced she was delirious or something, I pressed the issue. Hell, I even made her sit up in the bed when I made the offer to drive her home a second time. But she gave me another hard no. Then she informed me that before she left her house to come here, she positioned the pillows in her bed to make it look like she was in it.

When she told me that, I couldn't help but chuckle as I imagined her stuffing pillows under her blanket. We both fell asleep not long after that. We did the whole big spoon little spoon thing, too. Just like that night at the beach. And it took my breath away just as much now as it did then. Fuck. I loved holding her curvy body tight against mine while I breathed her in. Best feeling in the goddamn world.

As if there hadn't been enough surprises already, I ended up waking up before she did. Karma was normally the early bird, not me.

Very carefully I slid out from beneath her warm body before throwing on some basketball shorts. I wanted to take advantage of this rare occasion and bring her some breakfast in bed. Without waking her up, I brushed her dark hair back from her face before dropping a kiss on her forehead.

On the way downstairs I heard the sound of humming coming from the kitchen. That paired with the smell of freshly made French toast told me my mom was up and getting the traditional Jenkins family Christmas breakfast ready.

My hunch was confirmed when I rounded the stairs and entered the small space. The sound of Bing Crosby singing White Christmas was playing low on the CD player my dad kept on the island.

My mom smiled at me as she added the finishing touches to her signature French toast with some powdered sugar. "Merry Christmas, Nate. I'm surprised to see you up so early."

"Merry Christmas, mom." My eyes went to the counter and widened at the abundance of food. She had to have gotten up really early to make all this. "That looks incredible. Do you need help with anything?"

Shaking her head, she walked over to the stove and sprinkled a little salt and pepper over the eggs she was scrambling. "No, sweetie, I've got the food under control. What you can do for me is go wake up your sister. Your dad will be back soon with more milk and this breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes."

Well, it didn't look like I was going to be able to sneak any food up to Karma after all. Breakfast in bed was going to have to wait.

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Come on, mom. Can't you wake Lanie up? You know how she is."

My little sister was like the fucking Hulk when she was woken up in the mornings.

My mom wiped her hands on her Christmas themed apron and shot me a knowing look. "Fine. I'll wake up your sister; but you have to wake up someone who snuck in in the middle of the night and isn't supposed to be here."

My whole body froze and my mouth dropped open. "What the...How did you—"

"Come on, son. This is me we're talking about. How many times do I have to remind you that Lanie got her ability to know all from someone in this family—and it isn't your father."

Shaking my head, I took a step back towards the stairs. "Yeah...but your accuracy is still scary accurate, mom. Like...really scary."

Another chucked before she waved me away. "Go on now and wake Karma up. I'll take care of your sister."

I took the stairs two at a time. Was I freaked that my mom always seemed to know when I was doing something I wasn't supposed to? Hell yeah. Was I worried about her calling up Karma's mom and snitching? Nah. I could trust my mom not to do that. Although, by the look in her eyes I could tell that if I allowed Karma to have another unauthorized sleepover in my bed then I was going to end up in Shit Creek without a paddle.

When I got to my room, I ran into another surprise. My bed was empty. No Karma in sight. The sound of water running had my head turning towards the closed bathroom door. Two seconds later, the door opened and there she was.

Holy shit. She was wearing nothing but my fucking Beastie Boys t-shirt. And her hair was all messy and sexy. God. Damn.

"Nathan...You're staring."

Her cheeks were all red with embarrassment—and didn't that just make her all the more fucking sexy.

"Yeah, I am," I said back to her. With slow steps I met her in the middle of my room and wrapped my arms around her waist. "I'd stare at you every minute of every day if I could, gorgeous. You're that irresistible."

Dropping my head to her neck, I started kissing and sucking at the soft skin there.

"Nathan," she warned. "Stop that."

"Why? You don't like it?"

The little moan that slipped past her lips was answer enough.

"But your mom is waiting for us," she said a little breathlessly.

My hands slid beneath my t-shirt she was wearing so I could grip her ass tight and lift her up. Just like I knew she would, she wrapped her legs around my waist. She kissed me hard as I made my way back to the bed and tumbled into it with her still in my arms.

She was straddling me now, passion and need filling her gaze as she looked down at me. "Nathan...we need to get downstairs. Your mom—"

"My mom said we needed to be downstairs in thirty minutes. We still got twenty-five to go." I grabbed the ends of the Beastie Boys shirt and whipped it over her head before rolling both of us over so she was beneath me. I was still dressed, but that was going to change in about two seconds flat.

"Besides," I whispered, stroking her bottom lip with my thumb. "With the way you got me worked up right now, I don't care if we only had five minutes. I told you baby...you're irresistible to me."

***

I used the short time we had wisely. And having sex with Karma was something I was never going to get enough of. It was like I was fucking addicted to her. I always needed a little bit more.

But something happened during this session. Nothing bad, per se. She just...changed. There was something on her mind. I had no idea what it was. I just knew I was probably not going to like it. I could ask her what she was thinking about, but then I might as well get a can opener and open the fucking can of worms myself.

So, I chose not to say anything. Instead, I continued to hold her in my arms and waited until she worked up the nerve to tell me or ask me about whatever it was. Surprisingly, it took a lot less time than I thought.

"How many were there before me, Nathan? How many girls?"

Shit. I knew this one was going to fucking sting. I couldn't blame her, though. It was a fair question. It was just a question I was hoping she would never ask me.

"You don't want me to answer that."

"Yes, I do."

I glanced at the clock. We needed to be downstairs in seven minutes. "Fine," I sighed. "I don't want me to answer it."

When she was quiet for a moment, I thought she was going to drop the subject. Not so much. "I won't think less of you."

Of course she wouldn't. Karma had a fucking heart of gold. Besides, her tone was filled with genuine curiosity. Not accusation. She just wanted to know.

"You might not think less of me, but I do."

Leaning up, she propped her elbow on the bed and looked down at me. "Tell me," she pressed. "Please."

Guilt and shame gripped my chest. The truth was just too fucked up to admit. But I couldn't lie to this girl.

Exhaling a deep breath, I forced the words out. "I can't answer you because I honestly don't know. I have no fucking idea how many girls I've been with."

Her eyes told me she didn't judge me. That I knew for sure. But the truth still hurt her. Even if she wouldn't admit it.

I sat up in my bed and cupped her face with both hands. My voice this time was strong, demanding that she believe what I was saying was the truth.

"I may have fucked a lot of girls, Karma. But I've only made love to one."

When a tear slid down her cheek, I brushed it away and whispered, "I still see me in your eyes, gorgeous. Do you see yourself in mine?"

Instead of answering with a yes or no, she leaned forward to give me a deep kiss. "Always."

***

Thank you again so much for your patience while I was recovering. It means so much to me. I'm happy to say...I'm back!

More chapters coming soon.

I'm also going to be working on new chapters for Running To Him.

🖤