This was my chance. Right here, right now. I needed to make things right with Karma. 

I climbed into the tub and sat across from her—just like the day of my accident. This time she didn't hesitate to slide forward and straddle my thighs. She grabbed the sponge and added soap and water before she started running it over my chest.

When I couldn't stand the silence anymore, I said, "I want to tell you about...that night."

She continued to run the sponge over my body; not even stopping to look at me. "You seemed pretty adamant about not telling me. What's changed?"

My shoulders rose and fell as I exhaled a heavy breath. "I love you, Karma. More than anything. I made the mistake of leaving you—well, I was going to say once but it was twice—and I want to fix it. I don't want to live without you. I can't live without you." I squeezed her thigh gently. "I know there might be more issues when I tell you the truth, but you're more than worth it."

When I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to finally tell her the truth, she put her finger to my lips.

"Don't," she whispered, "I already know."

My brows formed a deep V. "You—you know? How do you know? When did you..." I rolled my eyes. "It was Lanie, wasn't it?"

She smoothed her finger across my brow. "One question at a time, baby."

The endearment caught me off-guard. She hasn't called me anything other than Nathan since we first split. She was probably avoiding it to protect herself from getting hurt. Great job, Nate, you fucking asshole.

"Yes," she breathed. "I know that my mother told you about my scholarship. I know that she forced you to breakup with me." Her eyes fell to the silver chain I had around my neck. Ever since she gave it back to me, I refused to take it off. "It wasn't Lanie who told me, Nathan." Her eyes flicked back to mine. "It was my mom."

My eyes went wide with surprise. I never in a million years expected Mrs. M to tell her the truth. "She told you? When?"

"Today, actually." Her mouth quirked into a sad smile. "I was bawling over ice cream and The Notebook when she called me. She could tell I was upset and insisted that I tell her what was wrong." She exhaled a deep breath. "And I did. I told her that you and I've been trying to make it work and that, even though we still loved each other, you couldn't be with me if you couldn't tell me the truth."

"And then?"

"Then," she continued, "she told me everything. She told me she came by your place and that she basically forced you to end it. She told me how she and my father just wanted the best for me." Her voice dropped lower and her bottom lip quivered a little. "She said that you rather I hated you...than them. Did you really say that?"

This is what I was trying to avoid. "Yes. I knew how close you were to them." I closed my eyes tight before I said the next part. "It was the way I was with my parents before they died. But yours were still here. That's why I kept it a secret. I didn't want to give you a reason to hate them, Karma."

She shook her head. "That's the problem, Nathan. I am so angry about what happened. But it was my parents who decided to make adult decisions for me and try to control me. Not you."

"But I—"

"Let me finish." I nodded and she continued. "I'm angry with you, too. Because you chose to do what they said and broke my heart. You gave up on us. Then you never told me. All this time...and you never told me the truth." She licked her lips nervously. "I can't help but think that if told me sooner, we could have gotten back together sooner."

"I know, baby. I'm so sorry." I cupped her face with my hands. "My decision all those years ago is my biggest regret. I though leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done, but staying away was even harder. There were so many times I thought about getting on a plane and coming to to Florida." Shame and regret ran through me. "But I didn't."

She continued to fiddle with the silver chain. "What did you do after you left me that night?" When I hesitated, she placed her hands on either side of my neck, forcing me to look up at her. "If we're going to work this out, we need to be honest with each other." 

It took me a few minutes before I could admit that I was a coward. "I ran." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I ran away." 

Her expression told me she wasn't expecting that answer. "Where?" 

"I had money saved up, so I found a cabin upstate that was in the middle of nowhere and rented it for a month." 

"A month?" 

I nodded. "I couldn't be at my place. If I stayed there, I wouldn't have been able to look at you and stay away. I would have told you everything. Lanie would have killed me, probably." I ran my hand over my face. "I drank. Barely ate. I screamed. Cried. Missed you more than I thought possible. I didn't listen to your voicemails right away. I turned my phone off. I was just...lost. Without you, I was lost." 

I didn't know I was crying until she wiped at my eyes. I looked up at her and I saw the same emotion in hers. God, I was a fucking idiot. 

Every single feeling I've been trying to bury over the past twelve years hit me like a tidal wave. An overwhelming grief over the lost of my soulmate. The white hot rage at being forced to abandon her. The bottomless guilt for not being honest.

"I'm so sorry, baby," I said again, my voice breaking. I didn't care how many times she needed to hear it. I wanted her to know that I meant every fucking word. 

"Shh," she said quietly as she stroked my cheek. "I'm not going to lie and say that's it's okay—because it's not. But I do forgive you, Nathan. Even though we have all this water under the thingy, I want to get past it and make it work between us." 

I pulled her lips to mine—giving her a hard kiss that made me dizzy. "I want that, too. I want to be with you again." 

Her expression was uneasy. "There's more, Nathan." 

Fuck me. "What?" 

"You and my parents aren't the only ones in the wrong." She averted her eyes before she finally spoke. "I should have told you about my acceptance to USF. I shouldn't have hid it from you. If I had just told you, we would have talked it out. I don't know if I would have still gone, but we may not have had to end it."

She shrugged her shoulders and glanced away. "In a way, I had a hand in what happened between us, too." Her eyes flicked back to mine. Full of love and hope. "Can you forgive me, Nathan?" 

Was she serious? "Of course I forgive you, gorgeous. I love you." 

"No more secrets?"

I got lost in the chocolate of her eyes. I cupped her cheek with my hand. "No more secrets," I vowed. 

When I went to kiss her, her face paled and she pulled away.

"What is it?"

"Um, I know I said no secrets, but there's something I need to tell you." 

Oh, fuck. What was it now? "Okay..."

She closed her eyes briefly before she started rambling. "The night of your birthday—when we hooked up—the zipper broke on my dress and I needed some clothes. I was looking for something of yours to wear. I found a shirt and a pair of boxers in your drawer. When I pulled them out...um, something fell on the floor." 

As soon as she said she needed clothes, I knew what it was. She found the promise ring. I leaned over the tub and grabbed my jeans. I reached into the pocket and pulled out the small black box.

Her eyes met mine and she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. "You—you have it?" 

I chuckled. "Of course, I do. I told you I wanted to fight for you. I was supposed to give this to you twelve years ago." I opened the box and my heart ached with the amount of love I felt for this woman. "What do you say, gorgeous? Want to go on an adventure with me?" 

"Yes," she said with a laugh that was mixed with a sob. "I'm in. I'm so in." 

I slipped the ring on her index finger and threw the box to the side. I kissed her deeply, my tongue licking into her mouth.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss. I couldn't fucking believe it. Karma Fitzgerald was mine again. We were officially back together. I didn't care what I had to do, I was never letting her go again. 

As the kiss turned heated, she rubbed her slit against my hard length. I groaned into her mouth as she sucked on my tongue. My hands that were gripping her thighs went to her hips. I lifted her up and lowered her onto my dick. 

She broke the kiss with a gasp before taking her bottom lip between her teeth. Our eyes met and she started to ride me slowly.

"So," she breathed, "it's been twelve years. Do we pick up where we left off?" 

I took her hard nipple into my mouth, flicking the bud with my tongue. Her hands fisted the hair at the nape of my neck as she let out a low moan. 

I looked up at her, cupping her cheek with my hand and giving her a mischievous smile. "Karma Fitzgerald, would you do me the great pleasure...of going to dinner with me tomorrow night?" 

"A date?" She giggled and continued the torturous sway of her hips as she fucked me. 

"Yes," I hissed. If she kept this up, I was going to come very soon. 

She picked up the tempo, taking me deeper inside her than before. "That depends," she panted, "are you going to kiss me goodbye on my front porch after dinner, or will you come inside?" 

A deep chuckle ripped through me as I watched Karma climax in my arms. I took possession on her mouth as my own release peaked. "Oh, gorgeous. I'm definitely going to come inside."