Chapter 10

Saturday morning was the first official day of our trip. We had planned to start our trip on Friday right after school but Quil delayed our plans. His dad wouldn't give him the keys to the car until he cleaned up his room. Then I found out that my sister Rachel was visiting for the weekend and she wanted to come with us.

Even with the unexpected delays, we made it to Port Angeles before dinnertime. After checking into our rooms at the Port Angeles Inn – thankfully Rachel was there because the manager wouldn't let us check in without an adult – we all went to Gordy's Pizza for dinner.

Gordy's is our favorite pizza place. They never bother us about our sometimes rowdy behavior. I guess the ten large pizzas we ordered were enough to give us a little privacy.

There were eleven of us on the trip; myself, Quil, Embry, Jordan, Chris, Rachel, Leah, Kim, Rosa, Kim's cousin Monica, and a girl named Tammy from the neighboring Makah reservation that Chris had a thing for. Our parents had insisted that boys were not to room with girls. I had a hunch that was the reason my dad actually allowed Rachel to come. Normally he would have been very irritated that she didn't want to spend the weekend with him since she rarely comes home in the first place. He probably knew that I'd give my right arm for a chance to spend the night with Leah and finish what we'd started in the garage. Not that he knew about that. The parental units were just being rightfully cautious.

We all agreed that we wanted to get an early start on the slopes so we ended the night early. Since there was an uneven number of people, Quil, Embry, and I ended up sharing a room. Leah, Rachel, and Tammy were sharing a room too.

When I woke up on Saturday morning I felt energized and ready to snowboard. Quil and Embry were already up. Embry was dressed and Quil was in the shower. There was a knock on the door and I looked at Embry since he was already dressed. He looked at me.

"You're closer," he said.

"Come on, you're already dressed," I complained.

"It's probably Leah or your sister," he replied after the second impatient knock.

"Get the door!" Quil yelled from the bathroom.

I guess Embry did have a point. Rachel and Leah were the only ones who really had a reason to knock on our door and Rachel has seen me in my boxers before. And if it was Leah...well, I didn't exactly mind if she saw me in my underwear.

I opened the door and was surprised to see Kim on the other side. Her eyes widened when she saw me, bare-chested in my boxer shorts.

"Umm..." she stammered. "Hi Jacob."

"What's up Kim?" I said, trying to use the door as a shield. Kim's lustful look in her eyes was making me uncomfortable. I wondered if she was one of the girls that Leah was talking about who came to school every day just to see me.

"Leah sent me up here to see if you guys were ready. All the girls are getting ready to go downstairs for breakfast."

"Give us ten minutes," I told her.

"Okay," she dragged the word out as her eyes hungrily made their way up and down my body.

What had I missed? When had girls become so forward?

"I'll see you downstairs," she finished.

I closed the door and grabbed my bag out of the closet.

"Looks like you scored another one," Embry laughed.

I rummaged through my bag, pulling out my clothes for the day, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, a pair of thermals, and some jeans.

"What are you talking about?"

"First Leah, now Kim. Not to mention all the other girls at school who stop talking when you walk into the room. You're the man!"

"No, I'm not," I shook my head. "You get more girls than me."

Embry grinned and nodded. "You're right. I am the ladies man in this bunch. You and Quil are lame."

"Hey, Quil's the lame one. I got Leah and Kim, remember?"

"Until you go the distance with either of them, it doesn't count."

I laughed and grabbed my clothes. Quil was coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey, you never know what might happen," I said and shut the bathroom door.

An hour later we were unloading our cars in the Hurricane Ridge Visitors' Center parking lot. The game plan had been decided at breakfast. The girls were hitting the ski trails and the guys were going snowboarding. We'd meet up at noon to go back to Port Angeles for lunch since there weren't any restaurants at Hurricane Ridge. Then we'd ski the harder trails together.

It had been awhile since I snowboarded and I was a bit rusty at first...and still a bit awkward. Since snowboarding requires tremendous balancing skills, I fell a few times before I got used to it again. I wasn't the only one. We all took a few good spills going down the mountain.

But the funniest spill of the morning easily went to Jordan and Quil. Quil has never been able to do anything in a straight line – walk, draw, or snowboard as we quickly learned. We were all well aware of this birth defect and had managed to stay clear of him on the slope...until Jordan spotted a cute redhead in a pink ski outfit barreling down the hill like a professional. She caught his eye as she whizzed past him and no longer paying attention, he started to angle towards Quil, who was already blazing a path down the slope at a graceless angle. When they collided and fell into the snow, we thought that was the funniest fall of the day. Then as they were trying to get up – while we all laughed – they got tangled up and went tumbling down the hill, a tangled ball of ski parkas, gloves, goggles, and snowboards. Me, Chris, and Embry weren't the only ones who had to stop and laugh. Even the redhead had to get out of their way! She was laughing hysterically as the ball of boys rolled past her.

By the time Embry and Chris had reenacted the tumble for the girls at lunch, Jordan and Quil were able to laugh with us but it had been a tense ride back to Port Angeles.

Now we were back at Hurricane Ridge after a short lunch at McDonalds. Mostly everyone had paired off once we got back, totally forgetting about our breakfast plan. Quil, Kim, Embry, Rachel, and Monica had decided to go on a ninety minute snowshoeing tour of the mountain. I was surprised that Rachel had wanted to go. My lazy sister hiking through the snow? I almost wished I was there to witness such an event.

Jordan was teaching Rosa how to snowboard. Chris and Tammy stayed on the bunny trails. Leah and I were the only ones who had the guts to venture off the bunny trails onto the harder intermediate trails. But after a rather chilling close call between herself and a fir tree, Leah decided it was time for a break.

We walked back to the Visitors' Center to warm up and get some hot chocolate. We were both freezing!

"Those guys look familiar," Leah pointed to a group of teenagers standing around sipping their own cups of hot chocolate.

They were bundled up in ski jackets and suits like us. I recognized them from Forks. They were the same group of kids who frequented our beach.

"I know them," I said to Leah. "They're from Forks."

"Yeah, I remember seeing them on the beach. The blonde with the short hair is checking you out." For a second Leah sounded jealous.

"And here she comes," she added and I knew for sure that Leah was jealous as the blonde girl bounded over to us.

"Hey, you're Jacob, right?" she spoke to me.

"The one and only," I answered. "And you are?"

"I'm Lauren," she replied. "And those are my friends...Tyler, Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Ben," she pointed to the others who hadn't left their spot.

"Are you coming or going?" Leah asked.

"We just got here," Lauren said, still looking at me. "I recognized you from the beach. Boy, you've gotten tall!"

"Yeah," I said. I felt Leah's arm wrap around my waist possessively and grinned.

"Is it just you two?" Lauren asked, the jealous look in her eye was unmistakable as she took in Leah's disposition. The blonde girl had every reason to be jealous of Leah, at least I thought so. Lauren was cute, in a wholesome, girl next door kind of way. Leah was gorgeous, plain and simple.

"No," I answered. "There's a bunch of us here. We're spending the weekend...staying at the Inn," I added for Leah's benefit.

"Oh. Well, if you're finished here, you guys can join us on the intermediate trail. The more the merrier." Lauren laughed but it was forced.

"Are you ready to go back out?" I looked at Leah.

She nodded. "Of course. I've forgotten all about that stupid tree. Let's go."

After Lauren introduced us to her friends, we all went back up the lift to the intermediate trail. Lauren and Jessica were the most experienced out of their group but again, they had nothing on Leah, who was the most competitive and tried to outdo them every time.

I took my time going down the slope, not wanting to fall and embarrass myself in front of these strangers. Angela and Ben were right with me. They were skiing slowly and holding hands. Every once in awhile they'd steal a quick glance at each other and giggle. I wondered how long they'd been dating. They seemed like an awfully odd couple, with Angela being so much taller than her little boyfriend.

I remembered Bella telling me that Angela was a really good friend of hers so I wondered why Bella wasn't here. I know she turned down my invitation but I'm sure she wouldn't have turned down an invitation from her best friend. I decided to ask her.

I skied up next to Angela and Ben. "Hey, Angela," I said. "Have you talked to Bella?"

A forlorn expression crossed both Angela and Ben's faces.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know," Angela started.

"You can tell him, Ang," Ben encouraged. "He's a good friend of Bella's, remember? She used to talk about Jacob all the time...when she used to talk, that is."

Angela flashed an angry look at her boyfriend then looked at me.

"Can we sit down and talk about this?" she said.

"Sure, sure."

We slid over to some benches and sat down.

"What is it?" I asked, concerned by the look on Angela's face.

"Jacob, when was the last time you saw Bella?" Angela asked.

"Thanksgiving day," I answered. I wouldn't forget that day, the day she told me she didn't want to see me again.

"Wow, that's a long time," Ben said.

"Well, I see her every day," Angela spoke up. "But I don't think she sees me."

"What do you mean?" although I think I already knew.

"It's like she doesn't see anything. When I talk to her, she barely responds. It's like she's looking right through me. I'm worried about her," Angela sighed.

"She's been like this since the Cullens left town," Ben commented.

"I know. I used to go over there every day after school, but she told me she didn't need me to," I said. "She's really not getting any better?"

Angela shook her head. "You would think she would be, after four months, but she's not. I try to get her to do things with me or with us," she pointed between herself and Ben, "but she won't. We even invited her up here but of course she said no to that too."

"I invited her too," I replied. I shook my head dejectedly. It hurt to hear that Bella wasn't getting any better, even though I could hear it in her voice when I spoke to her. It was worse hearing it from her friends, though.

"Jacob, do you think there's anything that we can do?" Ben asked.

"I can't think of anything. She wants to get through this on her own. You guys know how Bella is. I just wish he would call or something, maybe that would help."

"Maybe," Angela agreed softly.

"Um...I hate to break up this conversation," I looked up at the sound of Leah's voice. When had she come over? How much of our conversation had she heard?

"What's up?"

"Jake, will you come with me to the Visitors' Center? I really have to go to the bathroom."

I stood up. "We'll be back," I said to Angela and Ben and started walking with Leah to the ski lifts to take us down the mountain.

"Your nose is so red," I teased as we sat on the lift. Leah smiled.

"Well, it's freezing out here."

I took off my scarf and wrapped it around her.

"Here you go. You look like you're about to rob the place but at least your face will be warm."

"Thank you," her voice was muffled and we both burst out laughing.

We hopped off the lift and headed to the bench to take off our skis. I carried both pairs as we walked towards the restrooms. Leah stopped walking and I walked right into her. The skis fell out of my hands as I tried to keep them from falling.

"Leah!"

"I can't effing believe this!" she snarled. "What the hell is he trying to do to me?"

I had no idea what she was talking about as I picked up the skis, but then my eyes followed hers and I saw what had stopped her in her path...Sam and Emily, smiling happily at the hot chocolate stand.

"Don't worry about them," I advised. "Just go to the bathroom and we'll go back up. There's enough people here for them not to see you if you don't make a scene."

"Isn't it enough that I agreed to be in their damn wedding? Isn't it enough that I don't slap my cousin every single time I see her? Why do they have to continue to torment me?" Her voice was low with anger and hurt.

I laid the skis on the ground and wrapped her in my arms.

"Come on, Lee-Lee," I said softly. "Don't think about Sam today. You got me here with you. Who do you think is luckier...you or Emily? Wait, don't answer that," I joked. "My ego can't take it."

That brought a slight smile to her face and she began to wiggle in my arms.

"Still gotta pee?" I asked, holding her tighter.

"Come on, Jake," she giggled. "Let me go."

Sam was looking at us, I noticed. Leah was still giggling in my arms, squirming to get away. She didn't notice the hard stare that Sam was giving me.

I loosened my arms around Leah's waist and lowered the scarf around her face. I leaned down and kissed her, softly at first until she pressed her body against mine, kissing me harder...deeper. I pulled away before we reached the point of no return. It was already cold outside. I didn't need my balls to be blue too.

"That'll show him," Leah whispered. So she had seen Sam staring at us. But for a minute, I felt dirty, like she was just kissing me to get back at Sam.

"Hey," Leah noticed the look on my face. "I didn't mean it like that, Jake."

"Sure, sure."

"Really, I didn't, Jacob."

"Okay. Go pee," I ordered.

She started to walk towards the restrooms. She stopped and turned to me.

"Jake," she said.

"What?"

"I am the luckier one," she said and walked off.

I smiled, my confidence returning. I was much better than Sam on any day.

****

Sam and Emily didn't come up again for the rest of the day. We didn't even see them on the slopes. However, I did inform the guys that Sam was at Hurricane Ridge, and like me, they weren't happy. The only good thing about his sudden appearance was that Jared and Paul weren't with him. A rare occurrence, indeed.

Sunday, the group decided to split up again and everybody wanted to do something different. Most of the girls wanted to shop, but Leah said she wasn't feeling well so she stayed behind while Rachel, Kim, Monica, and Rosa made a Girls Day of shopping and getting their nails done.

I was alone in my room. The guys had decided to take a ferry to Victoria. Their plan was to see if they could sneak into Canada and buy some beer. It was a stupid plan. Even though Jordan had a fake ID, they all had to show their real passports to cross the Canadian border and again to get back in the U.S. I told them that even if they were able to buy it in Canada; they wouldn't be able to bring it back into Washington. Embry called me a punk and they refused to listen. I wasn't wasting my money or time on that brainless plan. If they ended up in jail, I would be the only survivor. My plan was to get some well needed sleep and order a pizza. We had all day Monday to get into trouble...in Port Angeles or drive up to Hoquiam and find something to do there.

I heard a soft knock on the door and I shuffled lazily to open it. I knew it was Leah.

"Hey, you wanna go downstairs and see if we can scrounge up some free breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure." I grabbed my room key and we walked downstairs to see what we could find.

The Inn had a great continental breakfast. I grabbed some bacon, a few boxes of cereal, a couple of muffins, some milk, and a large glass of orange juice.

"Jake," Leah looked at me and my tray full of food. "I thought you were trying to eat healthier.

I grabbed an orange and a banana and added it to my tray. "This better?"

She laughed. "For you...yes, it's much better."

They had a fire going in the sitting area so we sat in front of it as we ate.

"I'm having a really good time," Leah commented. "We should make this an annual trip."

"Why didn't you go with the other girls?" I asked.

She stared at the fire. I wondered if it had anything to do with Sam because she didn't answer.

"Leah?" I prompted. "Why didn't you go?"

"I didn't feel like it," but I knew she wasn't telling me the whole truth. It had to be Sam. There wasn't any other logical reason. And it made me mad. Here I was trying to build something with Leah and Sam was ruining it. His presence on the reservation irritated the hell out of me, but he had to bring that crap here. I was livid!

So when I noticed him and Emily walking through the lobby, I got even more upset. I rose from the couch and started to walk towards Sam.

"Jacob, where are you going?" Leah called after me but I didn't answer. I kept walking over to Sam at the Front Desk. I grabbed his arm and he spun around, surprised.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I growled.

Emily looked surprised to see me.

"And maybe you should go over there and apologize to your cousin" – I emphasized the word – "for ruining her weekend."

"What?" Emily frowned at me then glanced at the couch where Leah was looking like she wanted to disappear or at least take off running.

"Oh," Emily said when she saw Leah. She touched Sam on his other arm. "I'll be right back."

"What do you want, Jacob?" Sam's look was menacing. But I wasn't scared. I was pissed.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "You knew we were coming here. Are you trying to kill Leah?"

"How was I supposed to know that you were here?"

"Cut the crap, Sam! Everyone on that damn reservation knew we were coming up here and where we were staying! So, are you trying to kill her? Because that's what happens every time she sees you with her cousin!" I was trying to keep my voice from rising but I couldn't help it. I was that angry.

"She's here with you, isn't she?" Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Why would my being here bother her?"

On their own, my hands balled into fists. The steroids were actually making him stupid...and infuriating.

"Why do you think? Are you that big of an asshole, you can't see that she still cares about you?" I said angrily. "You didn't even properly break up with her. You hurt her bad and just when she's finally starting to get over you, you start popping up wherever she is."

"Look, Jacob," Sam said calmly. "I'm sorry that I hurt Leah. I sure as hell didn't mean to. But she's just going to have to accept that I'm with Emily now. And I'm not trying to pop up wherever she is but she's with you an awful lot..." his voice broke off like he was trying to say something else and physically couldn't.

"You're a coward," I replied. "Stay the hell away from her!"

"It's not her..." his voice broke off again. "Jake..."

"Jacob," I corrected angrily.

"Look, I can't say what I really need to..."

"That's 'cause you're a punk," I interrupted. "You run around with your chest all puffed out like you're the man, and you can't even apologize for breaking her heart!" I reached out and pushed him. He stumbled backwards and glared at me, rage burning in his eyes.

"Jacob, don't ever do that again," he growled, his hand...his entire body was shaking.

"I'm not scared of you!" I fired back and stepped towards him again. All the anger and frustration I felt towards Sam was filling me up, threatening to erupt. I was ready for this fight. At least I thought I was until I saw his eyes.

Sam's eyes had gone wild with anger. And his body was literally vibrating with anger. Emily ran up to us and literally pushed me out of the way.

"Get away from him, Jacob," she said as she stepped in between us.

"Sam," she spoke calmly but forcefully. "Look at me. Look at me, Sam." She put her hand on his shoulder. It shook along with the rest of his body.

"Breathe Sam," she urged. "Not here, honey. You have to calm down."

Sam stared at her blankly, taking deep breaths. Soon the vibrating slowed to a quiver.

"Jacob," he said slowly. "One day, you'll understand that what you just did was a very dangerous thing and you'll see how extremely lucky you were to have her here."

He grabbed Emily's hand and they practically ran out of the Inn. I stood staring at their exit, flabbergasted at what just happened. I took a few deep breaths of my own, trying to calm myself down. My heart was pounding in my chest and I didn't know if it was fear or adrenaline.

"Jake!" Leah came running over to me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"What the hell was that all about?"

I hesitated, trying to find my voice. "I'm going to my room." I walked away but I heard Leah following behind me, trying to keep up with my long strides.

When I got to my room, I fumbled with the magnetic door key and threw open the door.

"Jacob!" Leah yelled as she burst into the room before the door closed. "Talk to me!"

"What do you want me to say?" I yelled. "That I'm sick of him? That I can't stand the sight of that asshole or what he's doing to you?"

"Please, Jacob," Leah pleaded. "Calm down."

"I don't want to calm down! I want to punch him!"

Leah laughed. "You almost did."

"Leah, this is not funny."

"Yes it is," she argued, still laughing. "Sam was actually a little scared of you when you pushed him. I bet he wasn't expecting that."

"Shut up," I mumbled and sat on the edge of the bed. Leah climbed on the bed behind me and started to rub my shoulders. Her hands were comforting and I started to breathe more evenly and my heart rate slowed to normal.

"I have to say it, Jacob Black, but I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be the one standing up for me."

"Well, be happy that I did," I replied. "I'm sure he won't be popping up wherever you are now that he knows that I'm not afraid of him. I will kick his ass the next time he chooses to ruin something for you."

Leah leaned over and kissed my neck. Her lips were soft and warm.

"My hero," she whispered in my ear. "And Jake, the reason I didn't go with the girls is because..." she paused until I turned around. Then she laid back on the bed, one hand behind her head while the other played with the string on her sweatpants.

"Because..." I prompted.

"Because I knew you weren't going with the guys."

"You wanted to be alone with me?" I guessed.

"And I can't stop thinking about the other day in the garage," she finished.

She smiled, a flirtatious little grin, and I just about lost all composure but I wasn't falling for it this time. I laid down next to her, pulling her close to me.

"You are such a tease," I informed her.

"Why do you say that?" She placed her head on my chest and began to play with the string on the waistband of my sweatpants.

"Because...you do this to me all the time. You already told me that you're not ready."

Leah's hands slid under my t-shirt and her fingernails trailed up and down my chest.

"Just because I'm not ready to go...there...doesn't mean that I don't want to be alone with you. It doesn't mean that I don't think about it, Jake."

I closed my eyes as she lifted my shirt a little, revealing a small area of my navel. I tried to imagine what Leah did while she was thinking about that day in the garage. Immediately I felt that familiar stirring and my blood rushing to my nether region. I groaned.

"Leah, you are killing me."

"Jacob, shut up," she whispered. "You're ruining this for me."

Gently I eased her off of me and looked her in the eyes. But not for long as her eyes migrated to the bulge in my sweats.

"Do you see?" I said, my voice a lot huskier than a few minutes ago. "You're going to make me have to take a cold shower. And it's too damn cold outside for that."

"You are incredibly dumb, Jacob," Leah replied. "Most guys would kill for a hand job. You, on the other hand, want it all or nothing, huh?"

"Since when have I been like most guys?" I said and kissed her. Her body practically melted into mine, eager for my touch. I placed my hands on her backside and squeezed. Leah let out a soft purr against my lips.

"Most guys," I said between planting kisses on her lips, cheeks, forehead, and neck, "don't give a damn about what the girl wants or when she's ready. I do. Don't compare me to most guys, Leah."

"I won't," she whispered as I let my tongue make a trail from her lips to her neck. "You're not most guys. You're my Jacob."

"Sure, sure," I whispered in her ear and continued to kiss her. "This will do for now."

Until she's ready, I thought. And when that time came...well, I couldn't think of any words to describe what it would be like.