Bella POV
"It's for you," Edward called down the hallway. He came into the living room and brought the phone to where I sat reading on the couch.
"If it's Jake, tell him I'm busy," I said.
"I think you should talk to him, Bella. Besides, he can hear you."
I grabbed the phone from him. "What?" I said into the receiver.
"Well hello to you too, Bella," Jacob replied.
Edward smirked, then kissed the top of my head. "I'll be back in a bit," he whispered, then disappeared out the front door.
"Seriously, Jake, what is it?" I didn't feel like hearing his protests right now. I had enough on my mind without worrying about Jacob's mood swings.
"Listen, about the other night…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that," he admitted. "Let me make it up to you."
I noticed he didn't exactly apologize for what he had said, but I really didn't feel like having another argument, and I was seriously bad at holding grudges anyway.
"How do you plan to do that?" I asked.
"The guys are taking me out next week, you know, for my birthday. We're doing laser tag and an arcade. Come with us. Get your mind off of everything for a couple of hours," he offered.
I had completely forgotten about his birthday. I guess that made me a pretty awful friend.
"Aw, I'm no fun, Jake. They're not going to want me to crash the party," I told him. "I probably suck at laser tag anyway."
"Well it's my birthday, and I want you there. Besides, they like you. We all used to have fun together, remember? Bells, when's the last time you actually had fun?"
I paused to think about it. "I actually really enjoyed—"
"—and don't say reading a book. That doesn't count," he interjected.
He knew me too well. It was kind of annoying.
"That's not what I was going to say," I said defensively.
It's totally what I was going to say, and he knew it.
"You know what, fine." I caved. "Just tell me when and where."
"Leave the details to me. I'll run it all past Edward and come pick you up next Friday. Okay?" Jacob asked.
"Okay. Wait…since when do you run things past Edward?" I asked.
"Well, it's kind of a road trip. We're driving up to Tacoma for the day. Wouldn't want him to think I was kidnapping you or something. Let me worry about Edward, Bells. Just say you'll come? Please?"
"Yeah, okay. Why not?" I said.
I hung up the phone, not really sure how I felt about the whole thing. Part of me was still mad at him, but as stubborn as he could be at times, I could never really stay mad at the guy. I knew I wasn't the only one who had been through a hard time recently. And I had to admit, the idea of getting out and doing something that didn't involve making life and death decisions sounded kind of perfect. I just hoped it wouldn't be awkward spending time with the pack again.
Jacob POV
"No vampire talk, okay?" I reminded Seth. "And you're in the back once Bella gets in."
"Aye aye, captain," Seth grinned and saluted me.
What a dork. I punched him playfully in the shoulder.
We were on the way to the Cullens' to pick up Bella. Quil and Embry were driving Quil's old truck separately and meeting us later. Apparently Quil had somehow used my birthday as an excuse to convince Sam that we needed some "boys time" and that a short road trip was the way to go, and Sam had agreed under the condition that half of the pack stay behind to keep an eye on things at home, just in case. It was fine by me. I didn't exactly want to deal with Leah sulking and ragging on Bella the entire time, Paul and Jared had better things to do, and having Sam around was kind of like bringing an overbearing dad along.
I was probably most looking forward to getting a break from Sam, not that he had let us leave without giving us a list of orders. Be aware of your surroundings. Don't get separated. Phase and alert the others back home the moment we noticed anything suspicious. Be back by midnight. Don't have fun, etc. Okay, maybe that last one hadn't been a command, but it might as well have been.
Bella was already stepping out onto the porch wearing a plaid shirt, puffy gray jacket, and green backpack when I pulled the Rabbit into the driveway. I had the decency to look away when Edward gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye at the top of the stairs.
"Be careful," he told her.
"Who, me? When have I ever gotten into any trouble?" Bella teased.
"Don't worry. I won't let her near any sharp objects. Or motorcycles. Or cliffs," I shouted across the driveway. Not that I needed to with Edward's hearing, but I did it for Bella's sake. Where was the fun in teasing her if she didn't know?
Bella shot me a look and headed down the stairs while Seth got out to relocate to the back seat.
"Have fun, sweetheart!" Edward called. "And I'm trusting you to take care of her, Jacob. Hey, Seth!"
"Aye, aye, captain," I answered. I shot Seth an amused look before he climbed back into the car.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her, Edward!" Seth called back through the window.
I shut Bella's car door for her and walked around to the driver's seat. I wasn't paying close attention, but I could've sworn I saw Edward salute Seth and grin out of the corner of my eye.
"Hey Jake, happy birthday! Seth, it's good to see you again," Bella said with a smile.
She pulled the seat all the way forward to accommodate Seth's legs before buckling herself in.
"It's good to see you too, Bella."
I hoped she wouldn't mind that I had brought Seth with us. It would've been pretty cramped for the three of them in Quil's truck, and truthfully I thought she might like Seth's company. Sure, he could feel like the annoying little brother I never had sometimes, but he also had this kind of contagious happiness about him. He was an instant mood lightener.
"So what's on the itinerary?" Bella asked.
"We're going to this laser tag place up in Tacoma that Quil went to once as a kid. Apparently there's an arcade and stuff there too. Should be a good time," I explained.
"Have you ever played before, Bella?" Seth asked.
"What, laser tag? No. You guys will have to draw straws to see who gets stuck with me on their team," she joked. "So who all is going to be there?"
"Just the three of us, Quil, and Embry. They're meeting us there. Sam wanted to make sure we were still able to have the patrols at home covered," I told her. "Can't say I'm sad I won't have to hear Leah's bitching the whole time. No offense," I glanced at Seth in the rearview mirror.
"It's okay. I'm sure she's not exactly torn up about it." Seth laughed.
"Are you sure everyone's okay with me coming? I don't want to crash your, I don't know, guy time or whatever. And we've got an odd number now that I'm here," she pointed out. "Not that I'll be an advantage to anyone's team. In fact, I'm probably more of a liability."
"Bella, trust me, we get plenty of 'guy time.' We're not trying to have some sort of boys' night out; we just want to have fun. Which clearly you need some more of too. Or did you need to stay home and re-read Pride and Prejudice for the fifteenth time instead?" I teased.
"Hey, I'll have you know that Pride and Prejudice is a classic," Bella said defensively.
"Classic is just a polite way of saying old and outdated," I argued.
"Pretty sure Bella kind of has an eye for, um, classics," Seth piped up.
I laughed at the unexpected dig from Seth and reached my arm into the backseat for a low-five without taking my eyes off the road.
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, Seth!" Bella cried.
"I'm just teasing. You know I like Edward," said Seth. "He's definitely a classic kind of guy." He grinned.
"He is. I think I'll keep him," Bella agreed.
"Hey, speaking of classics, how's your grandma doing, Seth? Maybe I could take her out on a double date some time," I teased.
Bella shot me a look, or tried to, at least. She was obviously trying to look stern but also trying not to smile. It came across more cute than intimidating.
"Leave my grandma out of this."
"I hope you imprint on her. It would serve you right," Bella joked.
"Ew, please no. Jake, is that even possible? Like, has that ever happened before? Imprinting on someone way older?" Seth asked.
"God, that is so messed up to even think about. Not that I know of, but thanks to you, now I'm never going to be able to look anyone over 30 in the eye again as a precaution," I said.
What a fucked up thought. Not that Quil imprinting on a toddler was exactly normal, but man. I sure hoped my future held something better than Grandma Clearwater.
We pulled into the laser tag place a little after noon. It was in this shady looking strip mall sandwiched in between a hole in the wall pizza joint and a big empty space that must have been a grocery store during its better days. I parked next to Quil's rusty blue Chevy and counted three or four other cars, but it mostly looked dead.
Inside, Quil and Embry were already deeply involved in a serious game of Mortal Kombat.
"Take that!" Embry shouted.
"Argh, no!" Quil wailed. "BAM! Payback."
"Damn it!" Embry swore.
They were too focused to notice our presence.
"My money's on Embry" Seth muttered to Bella and me.
"I don't know, Quil seems like the type that hates to lose," she replied.
"He does. And that's why when Embry wins, he'll claim something went wrong. Technical difficulties," I guessed.
It was anybody's game, but years of friendship with the two knuckleheads meant I knew their ways. When we were younger, Quil was always the first one to accuse the banker of shorting him money in Monopoly whenever he went bankrupt. Of course if Embry was the banker, there was a 50/50 chance the accusation was true. One time he got caught red-handed stealing from the bank. He just shrugged and said, "Hey, that's how the real world works. The big guys with the monopolies are totally taking some for themselves. I'm just doing my job." I smirked at the memory.
They continued to jam the buttons at an insane speed, and I momentarily wondered if it had been a good idea after all to bring a couple of overly competitive werewolves to a bunch of games that involved pounding on things.
"NOOOOO!" Quil shouted.
"YES! Dude, I smoked you," Embry bragged.
"Yeah, well you wouldn't have if my joystick was working right. Stupid thing was unresponsive at the end. Kept sending me the wrong way," Quil argued.
"Whatever, man." Embry laughed.
"Told you," I said to Bella and Seth.
Embry and Quil heard and finally noticed our presence.
"Hey! Bella, welcome back," Quil grinned and held his hand out for some kind of gesture that Bella totally fumbled and made into a weird handshake.
"Thanks for letting me crash the party," she said.
"Glad you could make it, Bella. We've missed seeing you around," said Embry.
"Hey, what about us? Don't we get a hello?" I gestured between myself and Seth.
"Nah, we see you mutts every day. It's nice to see a fresh face once in a while," Quil joked.
"Speaking of fresh faces…why don't we go ask the salesgirl about getting us set up for laser tag. She's a total hottie, if you like the bookworm type," Embry gestured towards the counter on the other side of the room. "Naughty librarian works for me."
He led the way with a grin, followed by Quil, who was always up for playing wingman even if his bond with Claire meant he had no real interest in dating. Seth joined, and Bella and I brought up the rear.
The girl behind the counter looked about Bella's age. She had platinum blonde hair in a ponytail and wore bright red lipstick and a nose ring. She wore a somewhat revealing white tank top, and I prayed Embry was making eye contact instead of staring down her shirt like I suspected he was doing right about now. When we got closer, I saw that her nose was buried in—and I'm not even making this up—Pride and Prejudice. And she looked completely disinterested in the pack of giant dudes walking her way.
She put the book down on the glass case of cheap looking prizes while Embry leaned casually against the counter.
"Are you guys looking to play laser tag?" She asked.
"Sure are," Embry answered.
"How many?"
"We've got five. But you know, we could really use an extra player to make it even, if you want to join us," he offered with a grin.
"Can't. I've got work to do," she told him.
"That's too bad. Well, if you get bored later, just let us know. We'll be around for a bit."
She ignored his advances and kept doing her job.
"You'll each need a wristband."
While Embry flirted some more and faked idiocy to get her to help him put his on, we all shuffled closer in somewhat of a line to wait our turns. That's when I noticed Seth's face. I clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Dude, ease up on the staring. You're gonna freak her out," I said, quietly enough that she couldn't hear. "Just play it cool."
"Right. Sorry," Seth said. He looked down for a moment, but he was already staring again as Quil stepped up to the counter.
I took another look at her, and yeah, she was hot. I could see why the others were practically drooling, but overall just not my type. I glanced at Bella and suddenly wished that blonde and busty and not married to a vampire was exactly my type. No such luck.
Quil behaved himself, but he grinned the entire time and kept grinning even after he walked away from the counter.
Seth stammered out a quiet "Hi," when it was his turn, and I felt for the guy. I remembered what it was like to approach the hot older woman that's out of your league, and deep down you KNOW you have no shot, but your body betrays you and turns your stomach into hopeful knots anyway.
"I—I'm Seth," he added.
Oh this was going to be painful.
"Anna," she told him, and smiled an actual warm smile back at him.
"It's nice to meet you," he said as he held his wrist out to her. His hand was visibly shaking as she held it up to secure the band for him. She just smiled and didn't comment on it.
He finally stepped out of the way to creepily stare from a safer distance across the room as Bella made her way to the counter.
"Great choice." Bella gestured to the book. "Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites."
"I know, right? It's a classic," Anna agreed.
Bella turned and grinned at me with the biggest "told you so" look on her face. Seriously, what was it with girls and that book?
I made it through my turn like the only normal human being in the group, and she showed the five of us into a small dark room with neon lights to get suited up. After a quick rundown of the rules, she left and shut the door behind her so we could start the game.
I had my gear on and was helping Bella adjust the straps on hers when I realized Seth hadn't even picked up his equipment yet. He was just standing there, staring at the door like it might catch fire.
"Hello, earth to Seth. What's the matter with you?" I asked.
He looked around the room at all of us as if he was just starting to register our presence, and then he said the last words I expected to come out of his mouth.
"I think I just imprinted."