Confession time. I'm not that great at soccer. I'm not bad, but I'm not great either. In fact, before I joined our rec league, the last time I'd played was eighth grade. I try hard, though, and I've improved a lot over the few months I've been playing with our team.

So imagine my utter delight and gratitude when Jessica brings her superstar cousin to practice. Lauren played in college, which included a year in England. She's twenty-two—God, I was ten years old when she was born—and blonde and blue-eyed and tan and a fucking ace at soccer. Except she calls it football, as though that one year in England made her English. She's all smiles and giggles for the boys, but she barely says two words to me for the whole two hours. Even though she's on my scrimmage team, I can't help rolling my eyes every time she scores a goal. Can't help grinding my teeth when she talks trash to Cullen, who's playing keeper as always. I cheer silently when he stops her attempt at a goal, but my grin turns to a scowl when she compliments him.

"Nice save, Cully," she says, flashing him a ridiculously dazzling smile.

"Cully?" I repeat with a snort. Lauren doesn't acknowledge my little outburst, even though I know it was loud enough for her to hear.

Cullen grins at her before his eyes flick over to me. I swallow hard when he winks at me, and I suddenly feel very…possessive. It's just too she's on my team.

Otherwise, I'd be all over her ass.

My plan was to go straight home after practice. I have to catch a flight at six in the morning, a thought that makes me want to vomit. Wait. Maybe if I think about it hard enough, I will vomit. I can spew in the general direction of Lauren's face, and she'll have to go home, and I'll be all, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Nah. I would never.

Apologize, that is.

Anyway, my plans changed the moment I saw Little Miss Football 2015 turn her eyes toward my—toward Cullen. Now I'm definitely going to the bar. Just long enough to make a point.

Something tickles the back of my arm as I'm putting my gear in the trunk of my car.

"Swan," a very welcome voice says into my ear. Cullen's fingers reach my wrist and tug so I'll turn to face him. God, he's gorgeous. He smiles softly at me and glances around before taking a step closer. It's only been a couple of weeks since our first kiss. Our first date. We've been out a few times since then, and while we haven't exactly hidden it from anyone, we haven't made things public yet either. He twines his fingers with mine and squeezes my hand. "You still going straight home?"

I bite my lip to discourage myself from launching at him and kissing the hell out of him right here in front of God and everybody. And Lauren. Especially Lauren. He just looks so damn good. All sweaty and red-cheeked and hot in every sense of the word.

"Actually," I say oh-so-casually, "I thought I'd drop by for just one. It'd be rude not to go with Jessica's cousin here."

He lifts an eyebrow and does that lip-pursing thing he does when he's about to be sarcastic, but I cut him off.

"Wouldn't want her thinking we're not, you know, hospitable and shit."

"Oh, sure." Cullen chuckles and releases me. "I'm glad you're going, though."

My demeanor thaws slightly. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I'll have an excuse to walk you home and give you a proper goodbye."

If he's trying to make me tackle him right here and now, he's on the right path. "Oh," I say. "Good. I like proper goodbyes."

He laughs again. "I'll see you in a few."

I duck down into my car, casting a glare in Lauren's direction to find her eyeing Cullen's retreating backside. Oh, hell no, I tell her telepathically.

"I wouldn't have a problem with this bitch if she didn't keep casting googly eyes at Cullen," I mutter to Alice, whom I called as soon as I drove away from the field.

"B, I've never seen you so catty!" she says, clapping her hands together. "I love it. You really like him, don't you?"

"That's it," I mutter as I watch Lauren put her hand on Cullen's chest again. I hop down off my stool, and Alice giggles and grabs my arm.

"Chill," she says. "Just watch. Trust."

I do. I watch him laugh at whatever she's saying. Jealousy starts to flare inside me, but then he takes a casual step back so that her hand falls away. He says something then and nods in my direction. Lauren's eyes follow his lead and find me staring—possibly glaring—at her. She gives me a wave and a half-smile and then says something to Cullen before he turns to walk my way. I try like hell not to let him know that I was watching, but there's really no way to do it. Looking away quickly would just be a dead giveaway. So I hold his gaze as he makes his way over.

"What's up?" he asks. "You about ready?"

I nod. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"I'll probably come back later," he says with a shrug.

A small part of me doesn't want to hear that, but the rest of me is really happy that he told me. I'd love it if he didn't come back. I'd love it if he stayed with me. All night. But we're just not ready for that. I'm just feeling insecure about leaving. I won't see him for a week. I could kick my past self for agreeing to go on this stupid family reunion cruise thing. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the sun and the sand and the clear blue water, but I'd much rather share them with Cullen. The thought of being half naked with him in the water is almost too much to bare when he's pressing his hand against my back to guide me through the crowd and out the door. I make a mental note to plan a beach date when I get back. How have we never been to the beach together?

"Will you miss me?" Cullen asks. My lips feel as puffy and red as his look. If that look is only half as good on me as it is on him, I'm doing well. I try to pull his face back down to mine, but he presses me harder into the column of my front porch, smiling lazily as he repeats his question.

"Yeah," I murmur. "Will you miss me?"

He shrugs. "It's just a week."

My heart plummets, and I hit my head on the column when I pull away quickly. "Ow!"

"Shit, Bella, are you okay?" His hand cradles the back of my head gently. "I'm sorry. I was only joking."

"Of course you were," I mutter.

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing."

"No," he says, his eyebrows pulling together. "Not nothing. What?"

"It's just…sometimes it's hard to know."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's habit." Cullen runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "For what it's worth, I will miss you."

And I'm a puddle of goo again. "You will?"

"Yeah," he whispers before putting his lips to mine. I know he's serious now by the way he's kissing me. It's soft and hard and slow and urgent all at the same time, and I hope he's strong enough to give the right answer, because I'm not strong enough not to ask the question.

"Want to come in?" I whisper against his mouth.

He groans, but his answer is instantaneous. "Uh-uh."

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He pulls back just enough to look me in the eye. "If I go inside with you right now, you know what's going to happen. And when that happens, I'm taking my time. You have to be up in a few hours, and I'm not going to be the one who makes you late for your flight."

It doesn't escape my notice that he said when and not if.

A/N: A zillion apologizes for the huge gap in updates. Moving, unpacking, living in limbo while waiting for the kitchen counters and sink to be installed (among other things), repainting and repairing the old house to get it ready to put on the market, doing my actual freelance work...all of this took up every bit of my time. We did everything on our own, with the exception of hiring someone to do the sheetrock. So I'm proud of us. It's rewarding to live in a place that we made our own, not a cookie cutter in the suburbs like our last house! I won't abandon this story, and I don't foresee anything that will keep me from updating for that long again. Thanks for your patience and understanding (IF you were patient and understanding...some weren't...), and thanks to everyone who congratulated us on *finally* moving into the new house. Much love!