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Previously on Winner Takes All:

"Her sister Rosalie is pleasant enough, though I don't like that she has set her sights on Emmett. She should be dating someone more within her class. I hate to think that by brother is with a woman that is so clearly using him for his money… And with such a dreadful family! You need to talk to him: he has been making such terrible decisions lately! First buying such a small house and now with some trashy bottle-blonde!"

"The house isn't that bad Tanya; he's never home and he wanted a place that didn't need much work to keep up with. As for his choice in women… We'll have to see about that," Edward said, rolling his eyes at Tanya's inability to find an insult worse than 'trashy' before looking out at his friend and the woman whose company he was enjoying. "I'm sure she'll be like the others, just a flavor of the week."

"I'll make sure of that," Tanya promised, going back to her magazine and plotting the demise of her brother's relationship.

Chapter 7:

I seriously love the beach. It is beautiful and calming; I am almost tempted to skip my flight in a few days and stay behind here…. No one would miss me, right? I could totally see myself living here someday.

After I took off on my own yesterday I spent the night walking the beach, enjoying the sunset as it sparkled on the surface of the ocean. It was so beautiful and peaceful; no picture could ever do it justice. I could feel the exhaustion from the past few days catching up with me as I dragged myself back up to the hotel from the beach after darkness set in.

"Where the hell have you been all day? You didn't take your phone or anything, why would you just walk off like that?" Rosalie yelled when I arrived back in the hotel room, she was bustling around and trying on a few different outfits for tonight.

"Sorry Rose, I just couldn't spend another minute with the gruesome twosome- if I had spent another moment with them I know that I wouldn't have been able to control my mouth… Besides! I got to enjoy the sunset," I explained, hopping into the shower and washing the sand off of my swimsuit and myself. "Why do you look so dressed up? Hot date?"

"Well yeah! We're all going out tonight, remember?" She said, coming into the bathroom in a slinky red dress and fixing the mascara that she had generously applied. When she saw me step out of the shower she pointed to a short black piece of fabric dress hanging on the door. "I picked out a dress for you."

"You want me to wear that? It looks like a skirt!"

"I promise you, that is the most modest thing I could find in Victoria's closet," she explained, dabbing shiny gloss on her lips and looking at me in the mirror.

"That I can believe…" I said as I walked past the offensive piece of fabric and headed for my own suitcase. I wanted something comfy and I wanted it now.

"What on earth are you wearing? Don't tell me you're going to wear your pajamas to dinner…"

"I think I'm going to skip out on dinner tonight if you don't mind. It's been a while since I've actually had a real night's sleep and I am in serious need of some rest," I said through a yawn, stretching back on the bed and welcoming the cool texture of the sheets against my sun-warmed skin.

Rosalie rolled her eyes but she didn't comment any further. "I'll tell them you weren't feeling well but you ARE coming with me to the game tomorrow. No excuses," she told me, giving me a knowing glance as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yes MOM. You look beautiful by the way," I told her, grabbing for the TV remote and flipping to a movie that was playing on HBO. There was a knock on the door and Rosalie jumped up, grabbing her purse.

"Thanks sissy. I might be home late, so get some rest and I'll see you in the morning. Love you!" Rose said said, leaning over and giving me a hug before disappearing out the door with Emmett undoubtedly. It hadn't been five minutes after Rosalie left that I had passed out cold. Sleep never felt so good.

A knock at the door woke me from my dreams at the crack of noon- I opened the door to find a bellboy standing in the hallway with a package and a bouquet of roses for the room. I signed for it and closed the front door, sleepily rubbing my eyes as I began to fully wake up.

"Who was that?" Rosalie said, coming up behind be, yawning and rubbing her own eyes. Girlfriend looked like a hot mess.

"It was the bellboy. I think these are for you," I said, handing her the flowers. She giggled in delight, holding the beautiful roses to her nose. "It looks like you had a good night last night! Or someone did…"

"Emmett is such a gentleman! I have never met someone that just seems to get me before… He totally gets my humor and he is so funny and nice. And hot! Oh my god is he hot! Bella, I think I am falling in love with him," Rosalie said, totally swooning.

"Well he's obviously romantic," I said, grabbing the card from the bouquet and reading it aloud, " 'A rose for my Rose'- corny."

"I think it's sweet!"

"You would think that was sweet…" I muttered as she stuck her tongue out at me. I unwrapped the package to find two Seahawks shirts, one that said 'McCarthy' and one that said 'Mason'. Rosalie immediately snagged the McCarthy shirt, leaving me with Mason. Ick.

"I don't suppose you would want to trade?" I said, looking to her hopefully but Rosalie was shaking her head no. "I didn't think so. Well, I guess I don't have to wear it…"

"Oh no! If those buys went to all of the trouble to get us shirts then you're wearing it and you're going to like it! Now go grab a shower and meet me back here in 30," she said in a tone that left no room for argument. Rolling my eyes I did what she said, not looking forward to missing my day at the beach or wearing a shirt with the name of a guy I couldn't stand…. But I would do anything for my sister so without another word I jumped in the shower and got ready for tonight.

We met up with Tanya and grabbed a cab to the stadium. Rosalie and Tanya were chatting away about some celebrity drama and I nodded along, pretending to listen as I zoned out. I did catch Tanya's glare when she saw the name 'Mason' on the back of my shirt but Rosalie quickly jumped in and told her that Emmett had sent these shirts up to us this morning. Tanya settled back in her seat but continued to send me nasty looks the entire ride. Skank.

When Rosalie and I entered the suite behind Tanya we were met with a few cheery women who immediately came over and gave Tanya cheek-kisses and hugs, obviously happy to see their friend (or more likely happy to see someone they knew would stir up the drama in the box). Rosalie was happily smiling, pleased to be introduced to this group of women but I was busy noticing the others in the room. I quickly discovered that the ladies that were essentially being brown-nosers to Tanya were the girlfriends of the players; these girls were dispensable and going out of their way to be in Tanya's good graces. Anyone that Tanya thought was cool the others immediately did as well, putting Rosalie and I in a good position with the girlfriends and a not so good position with everyone else in the suite.

The other women in the room, the wives of the players, discreetly rolled their eyes at Tanya's antics and turned back to the field or to their previous conversations without a glance. I immediately knew that these women were the ones that I would probably most like to be seated with. I didn't want to hang out with them because they seemed to be a more permanent fixture but because they obviously shared my disgust with the rude, bitchy woman that was Tanya.

Rosalie, Tanya and I (followed immediately by Tanya's multitude of worshippers) sat on some of the plush seats near the giant window just in time to see the California players charge out onto the field and hear the crowd go absolutely nuts.

"I know I say this every time, but thank GOD we have the best seats in the house," said one of the women whose name I had already forgotten.

"Yeah, it is pretty loud out there…" I said, referring to the cheering that was muffled by the few inches of glass separating us from the rabid fans sitting out on the stadium seats.

I got a strange look from all of the minions before skank number one apparently put me in my place. "I was referring to all of the trashy people outside. The last thing I need is someone from the trailer park throwing a plate of nachos on my new Louboutins," She said before lifting her foot up and acting surprised when some of the other women began complimenting her sense of style. Someone obviously shared Tanya's dictionary of curse words….

"What's the big deal? They're shoes."

The room went absolutely silent; all of the women had turned to me in shock. The only audible sound was the gentle roar from the crowd outside the window. The minion I had apparently offended leaned forward in her chair before she practically spat, "Excuse me?"

"I just don't get what all the fuss is about. Sorry." I shrugged unapologetically, turning away from her and looking down onto the field to see that the Seahawks had just won the coin toss.

"Well we shouldn't expect BELLA to understand. I mean… Look at what she's wearing," Tanya giggled, turning back to her group of minions and cackling as the others joined in. I looked down at my converse, blue jeans and my pink and white Seattle Seahawks t-shirt before catching Rosalie's eyes and rolling my eyes at the blatant rudeness that Tanya and her minions had displayed.

Rosalie, who was wearing a similar outfit just shrugged off the burn and whispered in my ear, "Don't let them get to you, Bells. They don't know you and they don't know what an amazing person you are. They're probably just having a bad day."

Sighing at Rosalie's ability to only see the best in people, I made some excuse about needing a drink before getting up and moving as far away from those girls as was physically possible in the booth. I could tell that Tanya and the minions were still laughing at me as I passed them but I couldn't care less.

I sat at a stool at the bar and flagged down the bartender. "What can I get for you? May I suggest a light beer? Or maybe a margarita?"

"No. I'll take an IPA, the hoppier the better. Thanks," I said, turning back towards the football field. The bartender looked a bit stunned before snapping out of his stupor and going to grab my drink.

"Someone knows what they're talking about!" Said the woman sitting next to me as she turned to me in surprise. "I'm surprised that someone hanging with Tanya would drink anything other than a Cosmo or something else equally as frivolous."

"Honestly? That's not really my style. Neither is Tanya for that matter," I said as I picked up my beer and enjoyed the smooth flavor with a bit of bite. Delicious. I nodded my thanks to the cute bartender and received an appreciative wink before he turned to make the next drink.

"I can't stand her at all. Back in high school we would have called her a varsity slut," She said flippantly as she turned back to the bar for her cocktail.

"What the hell is a varsity slut?" I asked her, a little taken off guard; I had never heard the term before. I was also a little surprised that this standoffish woman was still talking to me.

"A varsity slut is a girl who sleeps with the entire team and won't date anyone but a pro-baller. The only reason she is tolerated here is because her brother is on the team," the woman said, turning towards me to gauge my reaction.

"Huh. I guess it seems fitting from what I know of her. I've just been calling her the succubus," I said, taking a sip of my drink and watching the players run the ball down field and score a touchdown.

Smirking at me, the woman held out her hand in greeting. "My name is Leah Uley. I'm married to Sam Uley- the running back- and you my friend are way cooler than I thought you would be."

"Uh… Thanks? I'm Bella and that blonde bombshell in the corner is my sister Rosalie," I said, pointing over to my sis who was too busy watching Emmett down on the field to pay attention to anyone else in the box.

"Cool. Well, you should come with me and sit with us 'oldtimers'," Leah joked, motioning to the wives sitting in the opposite corner of the box before heading over there to join them. "Ladies, this is Bella. Bella, these are some of the most fabulous women you will ever meet," Leah joked as the others looked up and smiled at us. The women all seemed very nice, though they thought it was hysterical that I seemed to know absolutely nothing about football. Leah, after teasing me mercilessly, explained all of the plays as they happened.

After a while Rosalie came and joined us (I guess she couldn't handle any more mindless chatter about shoes or nail polish) and we all enjoyed the game together. The game was fun and it was hysterical to see how happy everyone in the box was when we scored the winning touchdown. Outside the box disappointed faces were everywhere, but inside it was like a giant party. I almost couldn't wait for the celebration beach party that Leah and the wives were throwing to celebrate the win- even if it meant I had to deal with the succubus and her minions…

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