Chapter 3
Jacob
Some loony juice polluted the water at the Swan residence. The house almost shook from the hard bang of the door when Bella ran back inside. But Emmett's craziness didn't stop there. "What's going on with you and my sister, Jake?" His eyes screamed murder, and if I didn't know him better, I would have sworn he wanted to fight me.
"What?" The accusation shocked me.
One minute, we were laughing and joking, same old, same old, and the next minute, he was ripping into me.
"I saw that look you gave her!"
"What look? You mean my look of relief that she didn't get hurt? She almost hit her head on the cement. People die that way!" My blood started boiling, and I pointed at him. "And you did a shitty job scraping the ice from the steps. Someone could get hurt!"
I'm sure my words sunk in because his mad-as-hell expression faded, and he took a few deep breaths. "You're right, man. I'm sorry."
Pissed off, I stalked back over to the dirt bike, and we both yanked the jammed plate off, exposing the battery, trying to ignore the heavy tension that gathered around us like a cloud of flammable fumes.
Emmett gave a loud sigh; I wondered if he was about to light a match. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Jake, tell me one thing. Do you like her?"
Maybe I do, I felt like saying. But his unrestrained glower told me he was insanely serious, and that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Of course not. She's your little sister. She's not even my type. Does she resemble the girls I go out with?"
That was both the truth and a lie. She wasn't the typical girl who caught my attention. She was too short and not curvy. But the honest truth was; I could totally see myself with her. She caught my attention the first time I'd knocked on their door. She answered so sweet and innocent, and just the way she stared at me that day made me notice her.
Scrutinizing me like he was probing deep into my soul, he seemed satisfied with my answer and said, "She's never had a boyfriend before, and you've been out with all kinds of girls."
I knew what he meant. I let him believe I had way more experience than I did. Guys laid it on thick at times. It seemed harmless, but now I wished I didn't insinuate so much.
"I get what you're saying, Emmett, because I could sure do without you constantly checking Leah out!" I snapped, just to get the focus off me and give him a taste of his own medicine. I never saw him checking Leah out. Then again, I had never paid attention before.
I guess I hit the nail on the head, because he didn't deny it. Instead, after his shocked eyes sunk back into his skull, he cracked a big grin. "Fair enough, she'll remain off-limits to me, too."
That statement said it all. Bella was off-limits to me. I decided that I could live with that for now. She did seem a little young for me.
Besides, Emmett was my boy, and I loved hanging out with him and his family.
My parents divorced. My sisters had moved to California with my mom, and I stayed behind with Dad because someone needed to take care of him. He sort of lost it when Mom left and started drinking a lot. I spent quite a bit of time with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Harry because of his partying. Still, a functional family was a rare commodity around La Push.
The Swans were like no family I'd ever known. They did all sorts of family activities, but the simplest things made the biggest impressions on me. Like turning the television off during dinner, just so everyone paid attention to one another for at least an hour out of the day. That was new to me. I sat in the living room in front of the television when I ate. Sometimes, Billy was there, but most times, he wasn't.
Charlie and Renee treated me, Leah, and Seth, like their kids. And Harry and Sue loved Emmett, Bella, and Jasper the same.
I saw no reason to become Emmett's enemy when Bella had never shown an interest in me in the first place. Sure, we may have shared a moment from her fall, but I doubted it meant more than that. As far as I could ever tell, she only liked me as a friend.
With me, girl, is where you belong
Just stay right here
I promise my dear I'll put nothing above you —Love Me, JB
Seth
I was trying to remove side plate covering the motorcycle's battery when suddenly, Jake was lifting Bella from the ground. My eyes landed on her face, and it felt like someone cracked me on the head with a crowbar. I swear I even heard music coming from the sky. The stars shined from her eyes as she lifted her head. Her rose-colored blush matched her soft red lips to perfection. Bella Swan was beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off her.
When I came back to reality, Emmett was being spastic about some Cokes she brought outside for us. With the way he yelled at her, you'd have thought she destroyed his favorite football.
Bella frowned. Half of me wanted to hug her. The other half of me wanted to hook him. "I'll have one. I'm thirsty," I said, to help her out.
She ignored me and started screaming at Emmett and glaring at Jake. Jake appeared surprised, and Emmett looked madder, if possible. Neither of them realized how hurt she was before she ran back inside and slammed the door.
Then they got into this stupid conversation about Jake liking Bella, which I knew wasn't true. At least, I hoped not. I waited for his answer, and once he admitted he didn't like her, I zoned back out. My only concern was how sad she was, standing there with a head full of matted leaves. I hoped she was okay.
They finally settled down and into working on the dirt bike, talking, and acting like nothing had happened, as if the first twenty minutes of our visit never occurred.
Jake said he needed to replace the spark plug wires on Emmett's bike. They had somehow rubbed against the exhaust pipe and melted clean through. We had some wires in the junk lying around our garage, so he and I headed home to find some. I needed a break from Emmett's drama, anyway.
As we revved our motors, Jake turned and stared up at Bella's window. She was standing by it, as beautiful as ever. We waved, and she smiled and waved back before closing the curtains.
I remembered what Emmett had said to Jake. I saw that look you gave her. I wondered if it was true. I didn't see how he'd looked at her because his back was toward me, and I was too busy staring at her. So, when we parked outside the garage, I asked, "Did you really mean what you said to Emmett about Bella?"
Jake's eyebrow rose. "You mean when I told him I didn't like her? Sure."
"Good," I said, straight out, startling myself because I only meant to think it.
Jake grinned. "So, I'm not the guy Emmett should be worrying about, huh?"
I always could tell him anything. We couldn't be closer had we been born brothers. "Did that go for me, too, Jake?"
"Nah... but keep it under wraps for now. Besides, it's not up to Emmett. It's up to Bella." He scowled. "At least, it should be. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, but I better try to get an idea of how Jasper might react. He might not care. He's mellower than Emmett."
"Just don't go spreading any rumors about yourself and other girls to him. Trust me. It's a lesson I learned the hard way." He elbowed me in the shoulder as if I should know what he meant. I would have asked, but he said, "Tell you what. I'll get your ATV working, and you can take her for a ride. I bet she'd appreciate some cheering up. Take Leah with you, and nobody will think anything of it."