"Alice, I'm still not sure I want to wear this. Don't you think it's just a tad bit revealing?" I asked, readjusting the top of the black and gold two-piece I had bought only yesterday. It looked like a reasonable size when I picked it out but now it was barely covering the major points of my body, something I was certainly not comfortable about, especially with Jacob coming today.
"Just enjoy what the Lord gave you. I sure as hell do," Edward was leaning against the doorframe in his dark blue board shorts. I jumped when I saw him. He could be as quiet as a church mouse when he wanted to be. "Come on, you two. Everyone else is already downstairs, all except Bella's little buddy. Maybe he won't show up."
Once Alice heard Jasper was downstairs, she bolted past the both of us.
"Oh no, he will. He already told me he couldn't wait to see me in a bathing suit. I picked this out especially for him. Do you like it?" Of course Jacob hadn't actually said that but Edward sure believed it, and the jealous look on his face was certainly good enough for me.
He cocked his head back and smirked. "I like the view but I don't like you putting what's mine on showcase for another man."
I rolled my eyes at his cocky statement. I wasn't even going to defend my independence today. That was exactly what he wanted, to get a rise out of me. Edward got off on me yelling at him constantly.
"Very cute, Edward. Your possessive side isn't very attractive." In a twisted way, it actually was, but then I remembered it was Edward and the heat died down entirely. I patted him on the shoulder as I walked past him, through the bedroom door and down the mahogany staircase. The rest of the guys were outside throwing a beach ball around, Jacob nowhere in sight.
The doorbell chirped and I jogged to the door but returned to a normal pace when I got there, trying not to seem too eager.
"Hey, Bella," Jacob said in the slightly gruff voice of his. I smiled up at his big, brown eyes and pecked him softly on the lips, knowing Edward was watching from the stairs.
"Come on in," I said and grabbed his rough—callused from his bike—hand and led him to the back, passing right by Edward and his fuming self.
Alice saw me hand-in-hand with Jacob through the sliding glass doors and immediately lit up. It was good to have someone that accepted Edward and I were not going to be together as long as he carried on his Doucheward ways. I chuckled silently at the nickname Alice and I had presented him with last year.
The sun was shining exceptionally bright today, so Jacob peeled off the motorcycle jacket and forest green undershirt he was wearing, leaving him clad in green board shorts, a bit brighter than the color of his shirt that was now lying on the ground, revealing the wonderful muscle-toned stomach he sported proudly.
I stopped staring before he even noticed. "So, who lives here? This place is awesome," Jacob admired, looking at the saltwater pool, connected with a hot tub and diving board.
"That would be me," Edward said with two longneck bottles of chilled beer in his hands. He used his teeth to pull off the cap on one, threw it in the bushes—where Esme and Carlisle would most likely find it when they got back—and handed me the bottle. I wiped the beads of water rolling down the neck and took a long sip of the amazingly refreshing drink.
"So, where are your parents?" Jacob asked innocently. He was much taller than Edward, but the glare he was getting from Edward was more than threatening.
"They're going to be in Nevada for some conference for two more weeks. I've got the house all to myself," he said, eyeing me greedily and even suggestively.
"And instead of throwing parties or even having friends over, he decides to whore himself out to the town," I snapped. His eyes stopped lingering on my ass and went straight to my eyes.
"Don't be jealous that Jessica Stanley is more…sexually talented than you, Swan," Edward snapped at me. The irony of him calling me jealous was absolutely delicious. I just snickered, not letting his pathetic attempt at an insult bother me. I grabbed the baseball hat off of Jacob's head and smirked.
"Come on, Jake. Let's jump in. It's really hot out here," My suggestiveness was pouring from my words, and I'm sure Edward noticed.
We sat on the diving board with our feet in the water. After a few minutes, Emmett cannonballed into the water, causing an eruptive swell of waves to fly on everyone. We leapt into the icy cold water and splashed each other playfully. Before I knew it, my fingers started to wrinkle so I got out of the pool and into one of the long lounge chairs Esme had placed around the perimeter of the pool.
My skin was already a healthy, glowing tan, but I sprawled out onto the chair anyway, pointing my toes lazily into the air, pretending to stretch. From the corner of my eye, I saw Edward's eyes darting from his drink to me, trying not to appear like he was staring. Jacob was walking over to me, a sly smile spreading quickly across his wonderfully tan skin. I realized I was still wearing his hat.
Rosalie and Emmett were drying off on the patio and Alice was sitting in the hot tub with Jasper. I honestly didn't want to know what they were doing under all those bubbles.
"You want this?" I asked, waving the hat in the air like a flag. He nodded slightly and I put the hat in front of me and stood up. He started to jog toward me and I ran backwards toward the house. He caught up to me and reached for the hat but I pulled it behind my head and leaned in to connect or lips. He put my bottom lip between both of his and tugged, and I ran my tongue over the roof of his mouth before pulling away.
He still had his eyes closed so I ran straight past him, but he quickly caught up. Jacob grabbed my waist and softly tackled me to the ground, rolling around with me in the grass. I pecked his cheek and stood up, shaking the grass off of my stomach.
"Shit," Jacob muttered when he saw the clock on the wall of the patio. "I have to go drive Billy to an appointment. I'll call you later, Bells." He threw on the clothes lying in the grass and jumped the gate, waving on his way out.
Edward was still sitting in the chair with two empty bottles next to him. He had his bathing suit on but he wasn't wet. "May I sit?" I asked, pulling out the chair next to him. He didn't answer me for a second.
He took a long draw from his bottle. "Bella?" he asked. His tone was flat and scared, like he had just built up the courage to say something.
"Yeah, Edward?" I responded, grabbing a beer off the table.
"Why not me?"