Page 50 of Unwrapped

“Mona,” Dad warns.

“Mom, I love you, but you don’t decide for me who I’m with. I’m not breaking up with him. You forget that I’m an adult.” My voice wavers at my last sentence, and for the first time since this happened, I find myself fighting tears.

“Adult? What kind of adult sneaks around? If you’re so confident in this relationship, why hide it?” she asks, looking from me to Nick.

“That’s a fair question. I’d like to know the reason myself,” my dad says.

“We were waiting for the right time to tell you,” Nick says as he pulls me closer.

“That was my choice. Nick wanted to tell you right away. He wanted to come over here and tell you we were dating, but I’m the one who wanted to wait. I wanted to find the right time.”

“I guess me seeing his bare ass on top of you was the perfect time.”

“Mom!” I yell, embarrassed at her words. My dad finally reaches for her. Like every time my mom gets upset, Dad rubs between her shoulders to calm her.

“That was unfortunate, and I’m sorry about that, but can we please be rational? We’re together. I love your daughter more than I love anyone or anything on earth. All we ask is that you accept that.” The room goes silent after Nick’s words. He lays a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezes it, and I feel some of the tension leave my body.

“Don’t you call my wife irrational,” Dad says to Nick.

“I did no such thing,” Nick says to my dad.

“I can’t do this.” Mom abruptly pulls away from Dad and takes a step away from us all. “My daughter has betrayed me. How many times did you listen to me complain about him? All this time I was telling you about Pretty Girl, you never said a word. You had so many opportunities to tell me. You two take me for a fool. How stupid you must think I am. Hell, I caught you two at the mall together and I was too stupid to put it all together. I bet you had a good laugh. You want to be with him? Fine! I’m sure he’s the reason you’ve been crying but go ahead! You,” she says, pointing at Nick. “I quit! I want you out of my house.”

“Mom, it wasn’t like that!” I yell, but she doesn’t acknowledge my words. “We don’t think you’re a fool. Please, don’t blame Nick. I’m the one who wanted to wait to tell you.”

She walks out of the room, the sound of the front door opening and slamming behind her. We all stand there, stunned at the turn of events.

“Why the hell didn’t you come to me with this, gal? We could have come up with a way to avoid this disaster,” my dad says as he opens the coat closet and pulls out two winter coats.

“That was the plan, Dad.” I run a hand through my mangled hair, fighting back tears. “I don’t want to have to choose between my mother and my boyfriend.”

“It won’t come to that, sweets. I’m going to fix this. I promise.” Nick turns me around and kisses my forehead. I open my arms and wrap them around him, taking solace in his embrace.

“I’m going to go after her.” That’s all my dad says before he too leaves the house, slamming the door with more force than ever before.

“It will be okay. I promise.” Nick kisses my forehead, and for a few seconds I believe him. “I’m going to fix it.”

“It’s not for you to fix. I’ll give her a few days before I approach her again, but this might be the first Christmas I don’t spend with my family. This is new territory. We’ve never fought like that before. It’s all my fault. We should have told her weeks ago like you wanted. I fucked it all up.” For the first time today, the tears I’ve been fighting fall.

“It’s no one’s fault. I understand why you wanted to wait. If we’re going to blame anybody, we can blame me. If I didn’t act like a child, I wouldn’t have had to come to your house. You wouldn’t have been upset, and she would not have come home to check on you. It all starts with me.” He wipes my tears and when I close my eyes, he kisses me on both eyelids.

“No, it doesn’t. I should have known she’d show up. Mom can’t handle it when anyone she loves is upset. She’s a fixer, and I should have remembered that, but enough about her. There is nothing we can do about it tonight. Let’s just be together. Make love to me.”

He kisses me and rubs his erection on my pussy, but the sound of my stomach growling interrupts our foreplay. He breaks the kiss and smiles at me.

“Food first.”

I wrap my arms around him and hold him tight. “Don’t go.”

“Okay, pretty girl. Take out it is.”

CHAPTER 32

NICK

After nearly freezing my balls off walking Sadie, I slide my now naked body in the bed and pull Miranda’s back into my chest. I squeeze her nipple and kiss the back of her neck, but she doesn’t so much as stir from the feel of my touch.

I should leave her alone and let her rest but feeling her bare skin has turned me from semi to rock-hard. I grab her hand and put it on my cock. That finally gets me a stir and a moan. Encouraged, I pull down the sheet to find her stiff nipples. My mouth waters at the sight, and just as I’m about to put one in my mouth, her phone vibrates on the nightstand on her side of the bed.

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