Cameron "I think my dad left," Kara said, gluing her ear against the closet door. "That's the sound of his truck." I didn't even question how she knew the sound of her dad's truck. It just seemed natural in her family. The word close-knit was made for the Hawthornes. When we emerged from the closet, she turned to me, frowning. "You know, I was in a Cameron sex haze earlier, but I'm almost sure you locked the door." "I did." I watched as she clutched her sweater in front of her, hiding her breasts from my gaze. "Come here." "Again?" She blinked up at me, looking exactly like what we'd been doing. Like she'd just been thoroughly fucked. I enjoyed her looking like this. "Already?" "I need recovery time, but yeah, if you wanna go again. Or I can just make you come." She bit her lip, and I could tell she was thinking about it. "I think," she said, breathless, "that someone will catch us this time if we do it again. Here." "Wanna bet?" She blew out a breath. "I don't know how you do this to me every time, Cam. I feel like a sex addict around you." "I can handle that." "I bet." Then she shook her head, went inside the closet again, closed the doors. I heard her moving around. When she came out, her top was back on. I felt a little disappointed. "Do you think that maybe you didn't do it properly?" "What?" She rolled her eyes. "Concentrate, Cameron. I'm talking about the door. The door." "Yeah, yeah." I hiked my jeans up, zipped up. Opening the door, I poked my head out and looked in the hallway just to make sure no one was around, closed the door, pushed the lock, tested the doorknob. It worked fine. "Let me try something," I said. "Lock the door behind me." "You're going to try to open it from the outside?" "No, from Disney Land," I teased. She stuck her tongue out at me. "I see you remember my text from this morning," she said as I closed the door behind me. I heard her click the lock. "I definitely remember more than your text." When I tried the door this time, it opened. "I think you need to change your locks." "Why?" I fiddled with it. "This one's broken." "What? You sure?" She tried it herself, then let out a sigh. "Maybe we should change all the locks in this place," I suggested. I was planning on doing them anyway if she'd let me. "That would cost me. I'll get the crew to check them. By the way, Cam." "Yeah?" "What are you doing to—" My phone rang. I ignored it, still looking at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence. "Aren't you going to answer that?" she asked, gesturing at my phone in my pocket. "What were you going to ask me?" "Answer it." "Fine. Yeah?" "Cameron." My eyes shot to Kara. I had no idea what look I had on my face, but her brow furrowed with concern as she stared at me. "Yeah." There was hesitation on the other end of the line. I heard my father take a deep breath before he spoke. "I was wondering if you have any plans tomorrow." "Why?" "It's Christmas eve. I'd like to...invite you to dinner. If you don't have any plans, that is." Shocked, I couldn't talk for a moment. Was this a trick? What was he planning? He had never once invited me for a Christmas dinner. I couldn't even remember the last time we had dinner together. "Cameron?" "I'm here." I looked at Kara, and without a word, stepped out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind me. "I know we haven't been on good terms," he said. "But I'd like to share a meal with you." "You'll excuse me if I find this suspicious." "Shouldn't I have called?" "You tell me." "I know you hate me, son." I could hear my father breathing hard, hear the nervousness in his tone. "If you don't want to meet me, I understand." "I'll meet you," I said. Fuck me. What am I doing? I heard him sigh in relief. "I'll have my secretary send you the details." "Right." "I'll see you then." I heard ice clinking in a glass on the other end of the line, heard him take a gulp. He was drinking again. "Take care of yourself, Cameron." I hung up and leaned against the wall. Raking my hands in my hair, I took a moment to gather my shit together before stepping inside Kara's bedroom. I found her standing by the window, looking outside with a worried look on her face. She turned when I opened the door and walked to her. The sun was gone. The sunlight that lit up the room, that caressed her skin and hair had disappeared. "Everything all right?" she asked. "Yeah." "You don't look all right." "I am. Now tell me what you were going to ask me earlier." She looked at me for a moment, waiting, but when I didn't respond to her unspoken questions, she relented. I knew what she wanted to ask, but I didn't want to spoil this day. I just wanted to be with her, forget all the shit in my life, and concentrate on the only good thing. And that was her. "I was going to ask what you were going to do tomorrow," she said. "Why?" "Why else do you think? I'm going to ask if you can do my laundry." I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood. I gave her a small smile. She let out a sigh. "Fine. I'd like you to spend it with me and my family. It's not until six in the evening. We have this big dinner deal, eat until you burst, watch Christmas movies, wait until midnight to open presents..." Her face fell. "You already have plans, don't you?" "I'll cancel them." "No, don't. It's all right. I was just..." "I'll take care of it, Kara. I'll be there." "I don't want you to cancel your plans if you already made them." "There's no one I'd rather be with than you." Her face softened. She stepped forward, rested her head on my chest, and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Were you going to have dinner with Rick?" "No." If I started talking about my father, she was going to ask for more details, and I didn't want to talk about him. At all. Her body tensed, waiting, but again she didn't push. I had no reason to think that my father wanted to have dinner with me because he wanted to spend time with me. He probably wanted something from me to make his life easier, like he usually did. If I had a feeling that it was something else this time, I pushed it away. Why would it be any different? I hated this part of me that expected that there could be more. Some part of me that...longed for my father, especially when I thought I didn't. I fucking hated it. "Do you want to stay the night?" She looked up at me, hopeful. "I think I should leave." "I see." I was in a dark mood and I didn't want her to see me like this. "I'll walk you to the door," she said. She pulled away, but I held on. "Listen," I said. "Kara." "I am. I'm trying my best right now." "I know." I lifted her chin with my fingers so that her eyes met mine. "Nothing is more important to me than you." She closed her eyes for a moment, exhaling softly. I leaned down and kissed her lips. "That's better," she said. "Let's leave it at that for now. You're working tomorrow, right?" "They're predicting a lot of snow tomorrow, so I'd probably be in the loader during the day. Rick needs my help." "Rick. That reminds me, you know the other day, on my way home, I saw his crazy friend—" The knock on the door interrupted us. "Kara?" "Joe?" "We're done here. I'd like to run over a few things with you." "Sure, I'll meet you in the kitchen, Joe." "All right." Frustrated, annoyed, itchy, I pushed my sleeves up over my forearms. I didn't want to leave her, but I couldn't stay in this room. I needed to get out, get some air. Be alone. "Cam, I'll be right— What's that?" "What?" "Your wrist." She reached out, but I backed away before she could touch it. "What happened?" I pulled my sleeves down. "I broke a glass." "It's bleeding." "It's fine." "Let me change the dressing. Stay here." I gripped her hand before she could walk away. "It's fine. I'll walk myself out." "But—" "I can't wait to see you tomorrow." Her hazel eyes studied me for a moment, looking for answers I couldn't give her. "You can always sleepover." "Not tonight." She blew out a breath. "Okay. I know whoever phoned you made you upset, but I won't push you. You know where to find me." I nodded. "Let me know when you get home?" "Yeah." I kissed her forehead, headed to the door. I looked back at her, expecting her to come to me, but she stood where she was, watching me with sad, worried eyes. I couldn't take it. I walked out.