I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 8

EPOV

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

My mug is completely jacked up, and my eye looks like a huge, purple meatball. I look like some kind of stupid, punk kid from the streets. Someone Bella would never look twice at…

"Hurry up, Ward-o. It's almost time to leave, and I still need to shower," Emmett calls from the other side of the bathroom door.

I secure a towel around my waist, take one last look at my sorry ass, and unlock the door. "It's all yours."

"Thanks, bro," Emmett says, strolling past me, naked as the day he was born.

Could've done without that.

As I make my way to my room to get dressed, my thoughts automatically wander to Bella. Despite getting punched in the face by Sasquatch and despite the throbbing pain of the planet that is now on my face, last night was one of the best nights I've had all year. Spending time with Bella, getting to sit next to her and look at her all night long, seeing her smile, and hearing her laugh ended up being a better painkiller than anything a doctor could prescribe. She's beautiful, of course, but she's also witty, intelligent, and so much cooler than me.

Even though it was Bella's idea to go back to their place after the 'incident,' I still couldn't help feeling unsure about how she really felt about me. I thought about this all night, tossing and turning in my bed.

Is she genuinely interested in me, or does she merely feel sorry for me because of what happened? Turns out, I was worried for nothing.

When she came knocking on our door this morning with some Advil and a cup of steaming hot coffee from the place around the corner, I knew her feelings were more than just pity. Christ, she looked amazing, too, standing at our door in a little yellow sundress. She came over just to see how I was feeling, and although she couldn't stay, she did ask if Emmett and I would be interested in joining them on a sunset dolphin cruise this evening.

I was so excited I practically screamed 'yes' right at her, but Bella only laughed. She said that she and Rosalie were going to do a little shopping and they'd be back here to meet us at six so we could get a bite to eat before the cruise.

It's now 5:45, and I'm a goddam mess.

My palms are sweating as I once again stand in front of the closet trying to figure out how to present myself to her. All I know is I need to look as least like a punk kid as possible tonight. Yanking the towel from around my waist, I pull on a clean pair of boxer briefs along with the only pair of 'nice' jeans I packed.

"Hey, can I come in?" Emmett knocks but doesn't wait for my response before barging into my room, dripping wet and still in his birthday suit.

"Seriously?" I yell and shield my eyes. I think I've seen enough of Emmett's junk today to last three lifetimes.

"Sorry, but I ran out of underwear. Can I borrow a pair of yours?"

What?

"We've been here all of forty-eight hours, Emmett. How the hell did you run out of underwear already?"

"I guess I forgot to pack them. Hey, what about these?" he asks, holding up an expensive pair of Calvin Kleins, and I snatch them out of his hand.

"Hell, no. My supply is limited, too, and there's no way I'm letting you shart all over my good underwear. You can go get your own tomorrow at Walmart or something."

"Well, what am I supposed to do tonight?

I shrug and give him a smirk. "I don't know. Use caution when you zip your fly, I guess?"

"You're a dick. Ooh, what's this?" Emmett asks, helping himself to my nearly-empty bottle of Armani.

"Will you get out of here already and go get dressed? The girls are going to be here any—" Before I can finish my sentence, there's a knock at the door. "Shit! I'm only half-ready, what do we do?"

"Well, you can start by answering the door. In case you haven't noticed, I'm naked. Oh, and my pants are in the dryer. Will you grab them while you're out there?"

"Shit," I say again under my breath, yanking a wife-beater over my head and attempting to smooth down my hair as I head for the sliding glass door. When I open it and see the girls, the world shifts on its axis just a little bit. Rose is beautiful in a typical blonde, hot chick sort of way, but Bella . . .

There are no words for her startling, yet vastly understated perfection.

"Hi," I say, breathless at the sight of her.

Bella's eyes fall to my chest, her mouth slightly agape, and I feel like a tool when I remember I'm not exactly dressed. Wearing nothing but a wife beater and jeans, I'm pretty much the definition of punk idiot right now.

Rose looks at Bella and then at me, breaking into a wide smile. "Hey, looking good. Doesn't he look good, B?" she asks, pulling Bella back from wherever she was.

I smile to myself, knowing she feels toward me at least a smidgen of what I feel when I see her.

"Uh, yeah . . . I mean, yes, you look . . . good," she says, and I can see the blush crawling up her neck as she silently berates herself and her eyes fall to the ground.

"You look beautiful, Bella. Both of you do," I say, and as Bella's blush deepens, Rose gives me another winning smile.

"Thank you, Edward. I knew there was a reason I liked you. You guys ready?"

"Uh, almost. I just need to throw on a shirt, and Emmett—"

Just as I say his name, Rose's eyes go wide, and I glance over my shoulder to see Emmett streaking across the living room with his hands over his junk.

"Just getting my pants—don't mind me!" he shouts, prompting the girls to snicker at his idiocy.

I close my eyes and sigh. "Sorry about that. Come on in; we'll only be a couple minutes."

As I step aside to let the girls in, I notice that Bella is no longer the only one blushing, and this surprises me. Though I love and adore Bella's pink cheeks, I've already grown to expect it from her. But Rose doesn't strike me as the type to be easily embarrassed about anything.

Interesting.

"Make yourselves at home. We'll be right out," I say, gesturing to the couch. I turn and sprint back to my room, nearly colliding with Emmett, who's now jean-clad, streaking back across the bungalow toward his own room. I can hear the girls giggling some more.

It boggles my mind that they would even want to hang out with us. We can't even get dressed without it turning into an absolute shit-show.

Back in my room, I yank the nearest button up out of the closet and throw it on. After running a comb and some product through my hair, I'm finally ready. I stuff my wallet into my back pocket, and Emmett and I step out of our rooms at the same time. He's fully dress this time, thank God.

"Hey," he says with a hand on my arm, his voice quiet and his eyes serious. "Good luck tonight, all right? You've got this."

"I've got what?" I ask, shrugging his hand off my shoulder. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You and Bella. She's totally into you, dude. You can totally phone this one in. And I'm pretty sure Rosalie—"

"Hey, hold on just a minute," I say with a finger in his face. He smacks it away. "I won't do this to them, Emmett. I don't want to treat this like any other night out. I like Bella. A lot. I'm not phone anything in with her. And be careful with Rosalie. Don't do or say anything to piss her off; I mean it. Please, Emmett, don't ruin this for the both of us," I say, pleading for dear life. I can't let him ruin this one for me. I won't.

"Relax, Edward. Jesus, I'm not going to 'mess' anything up for anyone. I like Rose just as much as you like Bella." When I give him a wry look, he shrugs. "You don't have to believe me; I really don't care what you think. All I'm saying is your stupid rule about not banging the neighbors is stupid. You've got her if you want her, and it looks like you do. That's all. Now, let's go."

"You're stupid," I mutter as I follow behind him.

"Your mom's stupid," he whispers back over his shoulder and then immediately turns on the charm. "Hey, ladies! Wow, you both look incredible! Who's ready to go see some dolphins?"

~~V~~

Two hours later, we're making our way through the Santa Rosa Sound on a sixty-three-foot catamaran, and I feel just like a kid at Christmas. Aside from the four of us, there are only a handful of other people on the boat, and the captain even lets Emmett and me take turns tightening the leech line to adjust the mainsail. During the first portion of the cruise, we're all too excited to sit down and relax. But after nearly an hour of exploring the boat and watching the dolphins jumping and playing and racing alongside us, Bella and I leave Rose and Em on the starboard side and take our complimentary drinks to the head of the boat.

The sun continues to set in spectacular fashion, leaving behind nearly every color of the rainbow in its wake, and Bella is just as much in awe of God's beauty, as I am of hers.

"It's so incredibly beautiful," she says, staring out at the open sea.

And as I stare at her, watching the reflection of the sun in her bottomless brown eyes, I can't help but agree. "Yes, you are." I don't realize my slip-up until Bella looks at me, first, with startled eyes, and then a shy smile. "I meant it. It is beautiful, not you. Dammit, wait! Not that I don't think you're beautiful, too, because you are! God, are you ever beautiful. Oh, crap, I'm making you really uncomfortable now. I'm so sorry. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. Hey, here's a good idea: Why don't I shut the hell up for a while?" I say, rubbing my forehead.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Instead of losing interest the way any other beautiful woman would at this point, Bella smiles and shakes her head, grabbing my hand. She leads me to the nearest bench, and we have a seat.

"You don't have to be nervous around me, Edward," she says, pinning me with her gaze, looking straight into my soul. I swear her eyes—and her hand—are the only things keeping me from floating away.

"I don't?" I ask all cracking voice and sweaty palms.

Bella bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. I'm frozen in place as she leans in and ever so softly places a kiss on my lips. Before I can respond as I'd like, she gives me one last shy smile and turns back toward the sunset, leaning her head against my chest.

Unable to believe what just happened, unable to fathom what all this might mean, I put my arm around her warm, sun-kissed shoulders, securing her to my side where I now know she belongs.

As Bella watches the last of the sunset, I watch her, and just like that, I forget every little thing I thought I knew before this girl came into my life.

00000

As always, thank you for reading! And thanks to Fran for betaing. She's off on some fabulous vacation right now, and I hope she has an incredible, wonderful trip!

I hope all of you have a fun and SAFE Memorial Day weekend!

XOXO,

AshesAshes