Still no beta. All errors are mine. Thank you to everybody that reviewed. I truly appreciate every one of them. Hope you enjoy.
Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyers.
Chapter Three
Bella spent the morning and early afternoon with Charlie. They ate a late breakfast together and after some cleaning up, they watched a game on TV. Bella enjoyed sports almost as much as Charlie, but her ability to trip over absolutely nothing kept her from participating in anything athletic. Being an observer was the next best thing and it kept her from feeling as if she was missing out. A couple years back, she had started jogging a few days a week to help stay in shape. She had hoped that it would also help with her clumsiness. It had taken several scraped knees and skinned palms before she saw some improvement. Hurting herself while jogging was a rare occurrence now, but she still wasn't brave enough to partake in any other physical activities. In reality, Bella was still as clumsy as ever. She didn't mind so much. There wasn't anything she could do about it anyway.
"Hey dad…you going to the bonfire later?" She asked.
"Yeah Bells…are you going?" Charlie replied.
"Yeah…thought we might ride down there together." She answered and Charlie nodded his response.
She enjoyed spending time with her dad. She had always hated that she only got to spend summers and a few holidays with him. Charlie was one of the best men she knew. Bella never had understood why a woman hadn't snatched him up yet. In fact, she didn't think her father ever even dated. He could be quiet at times and sometimes a little awkward. She was much like him in that way and suspected that was the reason for his absence of dates. Bella herself, had never had a boyfriend. At the age of eighteen, that was pretty much unheard of. It wasn't that she hadn't received any offers, she just didn't see the point in dating someone she didn't have any interest in. And so far, she hadn't met anybody that appealed to her in that way. Until last night. Paul. Paul had appealed to her. Oh crap. Was she interested in Paul? No, she couldn't be. She didn't even know him. Her mind was going haywire. This had never happened to her before. Finally she decided it was because he had answered the door with no shirt on. It had zapped her brain. She was a teenage girl after all and she had 20/20 vision. And there was no denying that Paul was an attractive man. She giggled softly at her thoughts, but stopped quickly when she noticed Charlie looking at her curiously. She waved him off.
"It's nothing dad…Just got lost in my head for a minute." She said heading upstairs to get ready for the bonfire.
Just as Bella made it to her room, her phone rang. It was jake.
"Hey Jake! Couldn't wait another hour to talk to me?" She joked in greeting.
"Ha!Ha! Very funny. That's actually why I'm calling. I forgot to mention it last night so I wasn't sure if you were coming." He answered.
"Oh..well…That's ok. Paul asked me about it last night and Charlie had already told me about it anyway. I was just about to jump in the shower actually." She told him.
Jake didn't respond for several moments and Bella started to think maybe she had misunderstood. Maybe he didn't want her to come. She knew they often told old stories about the tribe's history and outsiders were not allowed to be present when they did. But that didn't make sense, she thought. Paul would not have asked her if that was true.
"They're not telling those old wolf stories that us pale faces aren't supposed to know about, are they?" she asked.
Jacob almost choked on his tongue. He had told Bella all the stories when they were little. Back when that's all they had been…stories. He never thought they were true. This past year had proven him wrong.
"No. Nothing like that…Uh…listen Bells, I gotta go. I'll see you when you get here." He coughed.
"Ok. See you soon. Bye Jake."
They hung up and she went to take a shower. She didn't understand what had caused Jake to get so weird on the phone. Bella knew Jacob well enough to know when something was bothering him.
The truth was, Jacob had been surprised. It had stunned him that Paul had asked her about the bonfire. Paul wasn't known for spending time with girls. It was just one more thing telling him he was going to have to give up on the idea of them being together. And Jacob was completely devastated. It was foolish, he knew that. He didn't know if he had ever even had a chance with Bella. She had never given him any hints. They had always been just friends. Besides, she lived in Phoenix. It wasn't like they could be together anyway. Not for the first time since last night, he wondered how that was going to play out with Bella and Paul. He had always hoped that she would move in with her dad after she graduated. His plan had been to wait until then and he would confess his feelings to her. That wouldn't be happening now. She wasn't meant to be with him. Her place was with Paul. And it broke Jacob's heart.
Charlie parked the car before he and Bella made their way to the beach. It looked as if most of the pack was already there and quite a few others.
"I can't believe how big they've all gotten." She said turning her head and looking up at her father. Jacob and the rest of them looked completely different than they had last summer.
"They must be feeding them good." She continued.
"It must be genetics." he stated. Charlie knew just how accurate that statement was.
Charlie had found out about the wolves not long after Jake phased for the first time. He and Billy had spent the day fishing before going back to Billy's house to fry up their catch. Jacob and Quil were in the kitchen when they returned. At the time, Charlie didn't know why Billy asked Quil to leave, but he later found out that Jacob wasn't supposed to be hanging out with Quil since he hadn't joined the pack yet. Jacob had become so angry that he phased right there in Billy's kitchen. Billy had no choice but to tell Charlie the truth. To say he was shocked would have been a gross understatement. To be honest, it had scared the shit out of him and he was the chief of police. He was okay with it now that he knew all the facts, but it had taken him some time. Charlie didn't like keeping things from Bella. However, in this situation, he felt she was probably better off not knowing. You just can't take something like that back. Once you knew about it, you would never forget. Charlie knew from first hand experience. Furthermore, he was sworn to secrecy. And once Charlie Swan gave you his word, his lips were sealed. He'd take it to his grave.
"Bella!" Emily called running up to Bella. "It's so good to see you!"
"You too Emily" Bella said giving her a quick hug.
"Come on…Jake and Quil are over by the food table. I have to stand guard or we won't have anything left." She said reaching for Bella's hand.
Bella sent a questioning look to Charlie.
"I'm just gonna go find Billy. I know he's around here somewhere." He told her.
"Ok. I'll find you later." She said turning to follow Emily.
Emily hadn't been joking about Quil and Jacob. They were steady stuffing their faces when the girls arrived at the food table.
"Busted" said Quil when he realized they had been caught and Jacob gave them a sheepish smile.
"You guys are pigs. You can't be trusted around food." Emily scolded.
"Aw…Em…We're growing boys." Jacob said to her.
"More like ravenous wolves" She said. Bella didn't miss the way their eyes widened at Emily statement, but then they just laughed it off.
Suddenly, Bella felt like the air around her changed and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She looked around as discreetly as possible, but didn't see anything. Seconds later, she heard her name being called from behind her. She knew that voice and exactly who it belonged to. Paul. Turning to face him, her breath caught when her eyes met his. They were beautiful. Dark brown surrounded by thick lashes that girls would kill for.
"Paul?" she said in question.
"I just wanted to thank you again for last night." He said. The truth was, he couldn't stay away any longer. He had tried so very hard to keep his distance, but it was a battle he wasn't able to win. Paul couldn't be certain that he even wanted to.
"I really enjoyed it. I can't remember the last time I had a home cooked meal." He continued. It was true. The meal had been delicious. His girl definitely knew her way around the kitchen, he thought.
"It was no problem…really. I'm glad you liked it." She said with a warm smile. She couldn't help feeling sad for Paul. He seemed exceedingly thankful for something as simple as food. She wondered what he normally ate. Did anybody ever cook for him?
Neither of them could think of anything further to say, but both were reluctant to leave the other's company.
Before things could become uncomfortable, Bella excused herself with the excuse that she needed to help Emily finish getting the food ready.
Paul had seen Bella the moment she stepped out of the cruiser. Even if he hadn't, he was certain he would have known she was there by scent alone. She smelled like strawberries and vanilla and it made his mouth water. But he HAD seen her. He almost wished he hadn't, but only because of the affect she was having on his body. She stepped out of her father's car wearing a white, strapless tube style sundress that stopped at her ankles. Her hair was down and hanging down to the middle of her back. As soon as she was out of the car, she slipped her sandals off and walked barefoot to the beach. She looked so fucking beautiful. Paul was convinced she was sent straight from heaven to torture him. He was instantly rock hard and was unable to stop his hand from reaching down and palming his dick. Remembering where he was at, he quickly adjusted himself before looking around. His eyes landed on the two assholes he had been talking to when Bella arrived. Judging by the smirks on both of their faces, Paul hadn't been very discreet. Paul mouthed a quick "fuck you" before walking away. He needed to get himself under control before he did something embarrassing.
After a short walk, Paul returned and saw Bella talking with Jacob, Emily and Quil. His wolf was demanding that he go talk to her, but he had no idea what to talk to her about. Paul wished he knew her as well as the others did. At the very least, that would give him an excuse to talk to her. Finally, he decided that he would go and thank her again. When Bella excused herself to go help Emily, he grabbed a couple of burgers and walked a little further down the beach. Paul was somewhat of a loner and he needed time to think.
After helping Emily, Bella made her way over to where Jake and Embry were sitting by the fire. Jake was still stuffing his face. She didn't know how he was holding all of it. The three of them talked while they ate and once Bella was finished, she noticed Jacob had one hot dog left on his plate. Jacob was turned towards Embry discussing a part he needed for his car. Being the sneak she is, she snatched the hot dog quickly and took off running down the beach. She looked back just as Jacob realized it was missing. He looked confused until he spotted her. Jacob jumped up quickly chasing after her. Bella and Jacob had been doing this since they were kids. They loved teasing and playing jokes on each other. Despite Bella's head start, Jake was quickly gaining on her. She was running as fast as she could when she saw a figure ahead of her. Thinking it was Sam or Quil. She called out to them.
"Help! Help! Please!" She yelled.
Paul had just finished his burgers when he heard her. At first, his heart almost gave out until it registered that she was laughing. He looked up to see her running towards him with a hot dog in her hand and Jacob not too far behind. Her pretty little legs were going as fast as they could. He almost laughed. This little girl thought she could out run a werewolf. Of course, he had to give her some credit. She didn't know that's what they were.
He turned and squatted motioning with his hands for her to jump on. Bella never even slowed down before leaping onto his back. He caught her easily and took off. Paul had no problem running with Bella, but it did slow him down enough that Jake was eventually able to catch up with them. Jacob took the squished hot dog from Bella's hand and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Bella threw her head back and laughed. Her laughter was like a shot of sweet whiskey to Paul. It made his entire body warm and tingly.
"You're disgusting, Jake." She told him trying to get her laughter under control. The others caught up quickly and joined in the laughter.
It was then that Paul's mind caught on to the fact that Bella was pressed against his back with her arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist which had caused her dress to be pushed up. His hands were wrapped around her thighs just below her ass. Only a thin pair of panties were separating his back from that sweet pussy. Fucking hell, he was hard again. And then, as if he wasn't being tortured enough, Bella rested her head on his shoulder and started drawing little figures on his chest with her fingertips. He didn't think she was even aware she was doing it.
"Good catch by the way." She whispered in his ear with a soft giggle. Paul couldn't stop the groan that escaped his throat as her warm sweet breath washed over him and he couldn't handle any more tonight. He had reached his limit.
"Are you okay?" she asked leaving no doubt as to whether she had heard him or not. Paul had to think quickly.
"Yeah…There's just something I really need to do." It wasn't a lie. He slowly loosened his grip and made sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her.
"Ok…well thanks for your help…maybe we can beat him next time." She said. The smile he gave her was breathtaking.
"See you later, Bella." He replied before turning and walking away.
He heard the others snickering no doubt knowing exactly what Paul needed to do.
Poor Paul. LOL! Let me know if you like it.
