Wow! seven reviews last chapter!!! Awesome! I'm posting this chapter really quickly while I wait for my roommate to get out of the bathroom so I can go in and get ready for class. While I wait, here are my review responses:
eeyore-ft-tigger-I like your imagination. It's funny. She kinda does love him forever, she just doesn't realize that's what it is. I mean, he's pulled to her and she's pulled to him, that's just how I see imprinting working.
Skyler1510-I LOVE jealous guys! It just shows how much they care about you and how protective they are. We know Paul's protective and he loves Natasha so he's definitely going to be jealous of just about everybody haha.
yellow unicorn- Thanks for reviewing! Glad you're loving the story! Here's an update to keep you happy and coming back for more!
Musik Drache- yeah, you're kinda right haha. You'll see.
FutureOscarWinner94-Thanks. I was worried it was getting worse and worse. Thanks for renewing my confidence.
twilightgal4life-yay! I'm updating AGAIN!! Please don't send a sugar-high Bella after me. Here's another chapter lol.
starlight5577-I like the guys too haha. I love stories with groups of guys because they all banter off of each other and make things interesting. Plus they have no boundaries so you never know what they're gonna say haha. Here's her pov: she's definitely becoming overwhelmed haha.
NATASHA:
Although skating is fun year round, there's something about skating in the wintertime that makes me happy. Maybe it's walking from my car to the rink and having snowflakes land on my nose, or the fact that now the temperature outside is the same as in the rink.
Either way, I limped out of practice Saturday with a bounce in my step, a hard feat when your one ankle is swollen and sore. Or maybe the bounce was because of my perfect date last night.
The kiss had been wonderful bliss. There was no other way to describe it. Wonderful, utter bliss. When Paul had leaned in, I swear my heart had almost stopped beating, I was so nervous. Sure, I had kissed guys before, but Paul was something special, something I wanted to work right.
After the kiss had ended, Paul and I had gotten in the car for the long drive home. As we drove, he reached over and pulled my hand out of my lap, taking hold of it on the arm rest. We hadn't talked, just drove in a content silence. I took the time to try and calm the butterflies in my stomach.
When we had pulled up to my house, Paul had stopped the car and turned to me.
"I don't really want to give your dad a reason to kill me, so I'm going to kiss you goodnight right now, before I walk you to the door," he had told me as he leaned in for a quick kiss. I had barely even registered what he had said before the kiss ended. Then he got out of the car, walked around to open my door, and walked me to the front door. "I had fun," he told me and I nodded.
"I had a lot of fun," I told him, wondering why I suddenly felt shy. He smirked and touched my cheek.
"You're cute when you blush," he told me before letting go of my hand. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?" I shrugged.
"Sure, sounds good," I said before opening my door. "Bye," I had almost whispered before going inside and shutting the door, leaning against it to sigh.
"How was your night Natasha?" my mom's voice had startled me. I had expected everyone to be in bed already. At least the guys were gone. I don't know what I would have done if they had interrogated me about the date.
After assuring my mom that Paul was not my boyfriend, I gave her a brief summary of the night, leaving out the kissing, before heading upstairs to bed.
Saturday's practice had been uneventful. Chris and I were getting more and more comfortable now that we had a set routine to constantly practice.
"Why are you so sluggish today?" Chris had asked while Andre went to put our music in the rink's sound system.
"I was out late last night," I had answered as I adjusted the laces on my skates.
"Ooo hot date?" he asked as he skated around me. I stood up straight and put my hands on my hips.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I went on a date with Paul," Chris had almost tripped over his own skates.
"Paul? You mean ass who ran on the ice last week Paul?" he asked and I frowned.
"No I mean nice guy who ran on the ice to make sure I was okay Paul," I told him as I skated off to the middle of the rink, where we would start our routine.
"There's something I don't like about him," Chris said as he skated up behind me.
"His amazing good looks?" I offered. The music started before Chris could give me a response.
When I pulled into my driveway after practice my phone went off. Heading into the house, I flipped it open, hoping it was Paul. I wasn't disappointed. 'Hey' was all it had said, but it was such a Paul thing it made me smile. I typed a quick response, commenting on how normal guys waited a few days before calling, and then headed into the kitchen.
"Mom I need ice!" I shouted as I sat down at the kitchen table. My mom walked into the kitchen with a towel and went straight to the freezer. She knew the drill.
As she was filling the towel with ice, my phone went off, signaling another text from Paul. His smartass comment stated that technically he hadn't called. Then he asked how training had been.
"Who are you talking to?" my mom asked as she handed me the towel.
"No one," I told her as I wrapped it around my ankle. She just sighed as she walked out of the room.
"You know, you used to tell me everything," she ranted as she left. I rolled my eyes before responding to him.
'Call. Text. What's the difference? Training was fine. I'm icing my ankle, we worked really hard'
I turned to look out the window as I waited for his response. It didn't take long and of course it was a worried question. I quickly responded, telling him it was okay so he wouldn't worry. Did he really care about me that much? I tagged on a question about his day so we could stray away from my foot and then hit send.
'Haha sleep. I just woke up' was his response. I sighed as I stood up and walked up to my room, carrying the towel with me. When I was settled in my room I sent him a text calling him lazy and trying to guilt him by telling him how early I had been up.
"Hey Tash, can you put this shirt on Stacy?" Natalie asked me, walking into my room with a doll in one hand and a shirt in the other.
"Sure, come here," I told her as I took the doll and slid the shirt on, velcroing it shut. "There ya go. Are you playing dolls? Or just dress up?" I asked and she smiled.
"Dolls. Becky's over and she brought her dolls with her," she told me as she headed towards my door.
"Cool," I told her as my phone beeped again. When I read the text about Quil complaining, I instantly felt bad. Was this his way of telling me I was texting him too much? His responses had seemed animated enough, but maybe he had just meant to leave the texting with his one worded 'hey.'
Just as I was debating what to text in response, my phone suddenly rang.
"Hey I was just responding to your text. Is Quil really upset?" I asked, realizing it was Paul. He laughed.
"No, he's not really upset. Actually, he's the one that suggested..." he suddenly cut off and I pushed the phone closer to my ear, waiting to hear what Quil had suggested. "I mean, do you want to maybe come over? Catch the Seahawks' game on TV and meet a couple of the guys? Jared's girlfriend Kim will be here so you won't be the only girl and you said you wanted to meet them all so..." he stopped talking and I resisted the urge to giggle. His rambling was adorable.
"Sure, that'd be great. Let me just check with my parents," I told him as I set the phone down and walked out of my room. Going over to Paul's!? I was finally going to get to meet his friends! Did this mean he felt I was worthy to meet his friends, as in I was worthy to become a part of the group, as in I was worthy to be with him?
I found my mom in her room, right next to mine.
"Hey mom, can I go over to Paul's to watch the Seahawks' game with him and his friends?" I asked and she frowned at me.
"Hunny you don't like football," she said and I shrugged. "Well alright. Are you driving or is he picking you up?"
"I'm going to drive. I don't want to make him miss any of the game to get me. I don't mind missing some of it so it makes more sense. Besides, he shouldn't have to leave to get me, just to have to take me back again."
"Okay, be back by midnight," she told me and I smiled and thanked her before hurrying back to my room and picking up the phone.
"Paul?" I said into the phone as I held it back to my ear.
"Yeah?" he asked quickly. Obviously he had been waiting impatiently.
"They said I can come so I'll be over there in a little bit," I told him as I began to go through my closet, picking my outfit.
"Oh I can come get you," Paul said but I shook my head, then stopped when I realized he couldn't see me.
"No it's okay. The game's almost starting and I don't want to make you miss any of it. I have to get ready and then I'll be over. Twenty minutes," I said as I hurried into the bathroom to turn on my straightener and check my makeup.
"Twenty minutes," he repeated and we hung up. That gave me twenty minutes to get ready and get to his house, a twenty minute drive in itself.
I was screwed.
By some miracle of God, twenty minutes later I was pulling into Paul's drive. I really don't know how it happened because the weather was making the roads extremely bad but I was there, completely dressed and ready. Okay, I may have sped a little, but the point was that I was there, and I was decent-looking.
After parking I got out of my car and jogged to the door, the door that Paul now had open.
"Come on in," he told me, moving aside so I could walk through. "I'll take your coat," he told me so I took it off and handed it to him, all while taking him in.
He was dressed in cut-off jean shorts and a white t-shirt. It shocked me how he could still be warm in this weather. We stood there awkwardly for a minute before I felt the silence needed to be broken.
"It's snowy out there," I said. Wow, that was impressive Natasha. Keep it up. Despite my stupid comment, he laughed.
"Yeah, that tends to happen here in the winter," he told me with a smirk. Then the awkwardness ensued. I really wanted him to pull me into his arms and kiss me again. I was dying to know if it would become usual for us or if it was a one-time-thing.
On the drive over I had decided that tonight would play a big part in our...relationship. You can tell a lot about a guy when you see him around his friends. You can also tell a lot about how a guy feels about you from how he acts toward you while with his friends. So this was it, this would hopefully tell me everything, answer all my questions.
"Well come on in," he told me, breaking the silence, "Quil and Embry are watching the game. Jared and Kim'll be here any second." As he said that, a truck pulled into the driveway. "Actually, that's probably them." He said as he led me into the living room. The TV was on, showing a view of the football game. On the couch sat a tall guy with scruffy black hair. On the chair opposite him sat a guy I recognized as Quil. "Guys, this is Natasha, Natasha that's Embry, and that's Quil," he told me, pointing to each of them.
"Hi," I said softly, wondering why I sounded so shy. Yeah this was a big deal, but I needed to relax or it would be worse. Both guys raised their hands in greeting before turning back to the TV.
"We bring food!" a guy called as he walked through the door behind us. The speaker soon walked into the room, followed by a girl. When the boy caught sight of me, he paused and then grinned. "Well hello," he said in an attempt to be smooth. In response, his girlfriend slapped him on the shoulder. "Ow woman!" he exclaimed and I held in my laughter. Even though that exchange had just gone down, you could still see the love in both of their eyes.
"Natasha, that's Jared and that's Kim," Paul told me as he nodded at each. I was surprised when Kim strode forward and pulled me into a hug.
"Oh it's so nice to finally meet you. Paul's said a lot about you and I think we're going to be good friends," she told me. I looked over her shoulder at Paul, questioning what the heck was going on. I didn't even know this girl! In response to my look, Paul just shrugged. Obviously it wasn't that strange to him, and he knew Kim.
"Come watch the game before we miss all of it!" Quil shouted as Kim finally let go of me. Jared shoved both of us as he ran over to jump on top of Embry on the couch. As the two guys argued and punched each other, Paul turned to Kim and me.
"Do you two want anything?" he asked. I shook my head and looked over to see Kim do the same thing. Before Paul or I could say anything else, Kim turned to me.
"So tell me all about figure skating," she said excitedly, pulling me down to sit with her on the floor.
"Uh, well it's a lot of fun..." I said, not entirely sure what she was asking. She laughed.
"Oh I bet. How long have you been skating?" she asked and I knew I was in for a drilling.
Just as I had expected, Kim asked me question after question. When skating had been wrung dry, we turned to talking about the fact that I was home schooled."It's cool and all, but I couldn't stand not hearing school gossip," Kim had said.
After that we moved onto clothes, then books, movies, what we did in our spare time, and what music we were currently listening to.
It was fun to talk to Kim but I was starting to feel a little down. I had come here to visit Paul and he was ignoring me. This was not how I planned the night going.
"You know," Kim said suddenly. "Paul is going to be so pissed at me for hogging you," she told me and I looked at her with a frown.
"Huh?" I asked very unattractively and Kim laughed.
"Paul really likes you. Believe me, he does. I'm sure right now he's running ideas through his head on how to get you away from me," I laughed unbelievingly as I glanced over at Paul. "He deserves to suffer a little bit. He shouldn't be allowed to get whatever he wants whenever he wants it. Make him suffer," she told me and I instantly knew Kim and I would be good friends.
"How do you know Paul likes me? I mean, I know he's interested and everything but...I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into things," and I launched into the story of our kiss and how we hadn't kissed since and how I didn't know where we were going from here.
"Natasha, listen to me. I know Paul. Jared knows Paul. We both have been talking about the two of you. I can see the way he looks at you, and you should hear the way he talks about you. He likes you, believe me," although she was saying in sincerely, I felt like she was leaving something out, as if there was more to it than what she had said.
"But what about the kiss?"
"Have you thought that maybe he's wondering the same thing? What if he's over there worrying that he can't kiss you again because you may not feel as strongly about him as he does?"
Her question caught me off guard. I had been so busy thinking about myself and worrying about what I was thinking that I hadn't stopped to think about what Paul was going through in this situation. Maybe he was as stuck as I was. What if he was stuck worse?
"Hey Kim, baby, my shoulders are sore," Jared suddenly called out, pouting. Next to me, Kim sighed.
"And this is what it's like every day," she said in a tone that told me she may be annoyed, but she still loved Jared more than anything. At some point Embry had relocated to the floor, giving Jared the couch all to himself. Kim walked over and sat down on it behind him, beginning to massage his shoulders. I smiled. They were so cute together. That was what I wanted.
I looked over at Paul, only to blush when I found him looking back at me. He grinned and got up from where he was sitting to walk over.
"It's a commercial, want a tour of the place?" He asked me as he held out his hand. I took it, pulling myself up from the ground.
"Sure," I told him as he turned and walked out of the room, still holding onto my hand. I turned around to look at Kim. She grinned and gave me a wink and a thumbs up.
"This is the kitchen," Paul told me as we walked through it. It was simple. Simple, plain, and it suited the bachelor in Paul just fine. I laughed at the idea of him spending any amount of time in here. Any amount that took longer than taking something out of the fridge.
"Nice," I said, still looking around. "So I take it you do a lot of cooking in here?" I asked him and he laughed.
"If by cooking you mean warming up old pizza and leftovers, then yes," he told me as he pulled my hand down a hallway. "This is the dining room, and over there's the bathroom," he continued the tour as we walked past the places.
When we got to the end of the hallway we came to two doors. He opened the one on the left first, practically shoving it open because of everything jammed in behind it.
"This is a guest bedroom. Right now I just use it to store stuff," he told me and I laughed.
"You sure do," I said as I peeked around the door to see all the random stuff he had stored inside. He smirked at my comment before shutting the door and opening the one on the right.
"And this is the master bedroom," he stated, leading me inside. I let go of his hand as I walked into the middle of the room, doing a 360 to take it all in.
It was nice and comfortable and it fit Paul well. All the colors had an Earthy, manly feel to them, definitely a Paul thing. Standing there, I suddenly felt at ease. As if this room was able to confirm just how good Paul was for me.
Realizing that Paul was watching me intently, I turned to him with a smile.
"I like it," I told him, smiling wider as he suddenly looked relieved and happy. He walked forward and pulled me into a hug, holding me tight and resting his chin on the top of my head.
"Good, because I like you," he told me and it took all of my strength to hold in a shriek of joy. I am such a preteen. A guy tells me he likes me, likes not loves, and I practically have to hold myself in from exploding.
"Well that's probably a good thing," I said, laughing my shy, awkward laugh. Way to go Natasha, I thought to myself. Paul pulled away from my slightly and I internally freaked. Was it too much for him?
He caught my eyes with his, giving a soft smile.
"Probably," he said, repeating the word I had just stated. Then he leaned down and kissed me.
This kiss was even better than last night, better now that he had told me he liked me, now that Kim had confirmed it was true. I didn't feel any hesitation as I took his shirt in my hands, pulling me closer to him. He chuckled against my mouth as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer as well.
There's something intimate about kissing in a bedroom with a bed right next to you, even if you're not kissing on the bed. Just knowing that we were so close to where intimate things usually occurred made the kiss so much more.
"How long can you stay?" Paul asked as he broke away from my and leaned down even farther to kiss my jaw line.
"Uh, I have to be home by midnight so I guess 11:40ish," I told him, trying to concentrate on what I was saying over what he was doing.
"Good. The game'll be over by ten so I can kick everybody out. I want some alone time for us," he told me and I giggled.
"Isn't that what we're getting right now?" I asked him and he pulled away, giving me an unamused look. "Sorry," I said, unable to hide my smile.
"I really shouldn't have invited Jared and Kim," he told me as we stood there holding each other.
"Why not? I like Kim," I told him and he sighed.
"Yeah I know, and Kim likes you. That's the problem. She hogged you the whole first half of the game," he said and now I laughed.
"Are you jealous of a girl?" I asked and now it was his turn to blush. It was probably the cutest thing I had ever seen and it made me want to hug him tighter.
"No," he said in a tone that told me he was lying.
"Oh okay, then I'm gonna head back out there. Maybe she's done giving Jared a back massage and we can chat more," I let go of him and started for the door but he growled and pulled me back. The growl scared me so I didn't fight him and instead of stopping where he was I fell back on the bed.
I lay there, staring at him with wide eyes. He had growled. Was he really that mad? As I watched him, his whole body shook and his fists clenched tight.
"Paul," I said softly, ready to apologize for my bad joke. He closed his eyes and stood there, as if he was meditating. Slowly, his shaking subsided and he unclenched his fists. "Paul?" I questioned again, wondering if I should even be talking at all.
"Sorry," he finally said as he opened his eyes and walked forward, collapsing next to me face down. He put his arm out and pulled me to him, resting his head on my stomach. I didn't exactly know what to do so I just lay there, letting him nuzzle his face into my stomach. "Natasha?" he said suddenly, lifting his head up to look at me.
"Yeah?" I asked, still trying to calm my nerves.
"Sorry," he said again. "I didn't mean to scare you...or hurt you. God did I hurt you?" I shook my head. "Okay. You'd tell me right? If I ever hurt you, or scare you, or anything; you'll tell me?" I nodded my head and he lowered his head back to my stomach in a way that seemed like he was relieved. "I told you I have anger management issues," he said, muffled into my stomach. I smiled, lifting my hands to run my fingers through his hair. He moaned and pulled me tighter to him.
"It's okay," I told him, knowing those two words would help ease him slightly. He sighed and pulled me even closer.
"This is nice," he said. Then I felt his mouth turn into a grin as he lifted his face to look me in the eyes. "Hey Natasha, baby, my shoulders are sore," he said, quoting what Jared had said to Kim earlier. I rolled my eyes and shoved him, smiling. In response he pulled me closer, beginning to tickle my sides.
"No, no, NO! Stop! Paul stop! No!" I shrieked as I laughed uncontrollably. I am probably one of the most ticklish people ever and his fingers were able to find all my most ticklish spots. "Paul!" I shrieked as we both rolled and fell off the bed. He immediately stopped and looked at me.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly and I nodded, still laughing. "Good," he said as he leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. After a couple minutes though, he broke the kiss. "We should probably get back out there before they wonder what happened to us," he told me as he helped me up. "Of course, they probably all can take a good guess anyway." I blushed at his comment.
"Well that's embarrassing," I said softly and he laughed.
"Nah, I tease them about it all the time. About time I got some beef for it too I guess," he said as he took my hand and lead me back out of his room, down the hall, and through the kitchen into the living room where everyone was still sitting, watching the game.
"There you guys are," Quil said as we walked into the room.
"Yeah, about time you two showed up. We were about to send the dogs out looking," Embry stated and all four guys (including Paul) laughed at his statement. Everyone was where we had left them, except now Kim was snuggled into Jared's lap. Paul walked over to the foot of the couch and sat down, leaning his back up against it and pulling me down with it. I settled to sit on the ground between his legs and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer.
"How are we doing?" Paul asked as we turned our attention to the game.
"Seahawks are up 20 to 14," Embry said. His comment was drowned out, however, by a cheer from Jared and Quil. Apparently the Seahawks had done something good.
"Intercepted!" Jared shouted as Quil and Embry high-fived.
"We are definitely winning this game," Quil stated as he stood up and went into the kitchen. "Hey Paul! Do you have and Diet Coke?" he asked.
"Why don't you go drink your own damn Coke?" Paul shouted back and Quil laughed as he walked back in the room, opening a can of Diet Pepsi as he did.
"Because yours are so much closer," he stated and I felt Paul begin to shake again. Taking hold of his arms, I began to draw soft circles on them, leaning back more against his chest. His shaking slowed down and he nestled his face into my hair, kissing me on the shoulder.
"Aw man, Natasha you're gonna take the fun out of everything!" Embry stated and I looked up at him with a frown. "We love making Paul angry. We can't do that if you're gonna go and calm him down every time," he stated and I felt Paul begin to shake, this time not as much as before. I continued to draw the circles on his arms, rubbing my hands up and down them.
"Sorry," I told Embry and I felt Paul chuckle.
"Eh, whatever. You won't be around him all the time," Embry stated as he sat down. Quil looked at us with a smirk.
"Or will she?" he asked and I felt Paul sigh.
"Can we go back to watching the game?" he asked harshly, shutting both Quil and Embry up. Then he tightened his arms around me, snuggling his face closer to mine. "Sorry," he whispered in my ear before kissing me on the neck. Unable to voice a response, I just nodded and settled deeper into his embrace.
Ta-Da!!!!! Hope you all liked it! Hey, I've got 35 people who've alerted this story. I'm just making a random statement but if all of those 35 alert-ers (haha) reviewed, that would be a TON of reviews. Wouldn't that be cool!? Just sayin.
Hope this chapter was good! You got to see a little of what she thought of all the guys! Hopefully she doesn't get too overwhelmed by everything!! I'll update soon but until then, read and review!!!
