As Bella was falling asleep that night, she snuggled into her mate's side and sighed happily, "Thank you," She mumbled against Kate's neck and the vampire chuckled softly.
"There's no need to thank me, baby," She whispered back as her fingers danced lightly over Bella's back, "No matter what you want or need from me, I'll always be here," She said and pressed her lips against Bella's forehead.
Bella shifted impossibly closer and sighed once again, "Mmm," She mumbled. Then, "Love you." If Kate's heart could've beat in triple time, it would have. She wanted so badly to have Bella repeat herself. To make sure that she'd actually said it and that it wasn't her brain playing tricks on her. She wanted to wake Bella up and tell her over and over again how much that she truly loved her human. But Bella was most definitely asleep now. Her mumbled words had been the last thing she'd said as she succumbed to sleep.
0~0~0
Bella woke to the feeling of fingers weaving gently through her hair and to the faint sound of humming. She sighed as she opened her eyes and shifted impossibly closer to Kate. "Morning," She mumbled against the vampire's neck and felt Kate's answering smile against her forehead.
"Good morning, Bella," The blonde said softly, "I trust you slept well?" She said with a teasing tone. Bella just nodded against her and nuzzled her nose into Kate's neck now. "Who knew Wonder Woman was a snuggler?" She continued in the same tone and Bella just shrugged.
"Only with you," She answered and Kate knew that if she were fully awake, that she probably wouldn't have admitted that. The vampire tightened her hold on the human and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I want breakfast," The human said suddenly and extricated herself from her mate. Kate sat up and watched her lovingly as she sleepily stumbled around her room and to her door. The human left for a few moments and came back with a granola bar in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She already looked more awake than she had just minutes before and brown eyes met gold before Kate was thrown a bright smile.
"I should probably get going. Tanya and Irina will come looking for me if I don't show up on time to hunt," Bella pouted at the thought of Kate leaving, "Wow that thing is lethal," She said as she stood and stepped over to Bella and tapped her on the nose, "I won't be gone all day. What time does JP get back?" The blonde asked as she wound her arms around Bella's waist and pulled the human into her.
Bella laid her cheek down on Kate's shoulder as she snaked an arm around her neck and shrugged, "No clue. She usually crawls in around midnight on Sundays and chugs a Red Bull before practice on Monday," She said and Kate rolled her eyes in response to that confession.
"Of course she does," She heard Bella's answering giggle and shook her head, "So, maybe I come back later?" She asked hesitantly and Bella nodded against her almost immediately, "Alright." She said and pressed a kiss to Bella's forehead before stepping away from the human and towards the door, "Good bye, darling."
Bella caught her hand and tugged. The vampire faced her again before she was being pulled into a kiss and all but melted into it. Bella pulled back a moment later with an impish grin on her face, "Good bye."
0~0~0
Bella wiped her sweaty forehead at practice the next day. Kate had spent a few more hours with her the day before and had left when JP had texted that she might need some help getting the door open because she had shopping bags in her hands.
JP had stayed up for most of the night doing God only knows what and had stuck to her usual tradition of chugging an energy drink this morning to wake up enough to get to practice. She counted on exercise and endorphins to wake her up the rest of the way.
They'd been running drills for an hour or so now and it was beyond hot outside. They were all sweating and most of them had shed their shirts. Kate called for a water break and Bella took her chance to shed her top and pulled it over her head and tossed it into her bag as she grabbed her water bottle.
She turned around after putting her bottle back and met gold eyes. She nearly shivered at the look Kate was giving her. Sure, the woman had seen her in this state of dress plenty of times, but that didn't mean that a show affected her any less. Bella shot her a smirk before joining the girls who were slowly making their way back onto the field.
0~0~0
After practice, Bella was checking her phone as the girls were discussing going to the pool. A text came in while she was standing there and she had to resist the urge to laugh when she saw who it was from.
Kate: Meet me in the locker rooms.
Bella swallowed thickly and attempted to catch Kate's eyes but the coach was too "busy" picking up cones and equipment.
"You in, La-La?" Was thrown her way and she looked up and shook her head and put on what she hoped was a regretful face.
"Sorry, guys. I promised my dad and a few friends from home that we'd Skype today," She said with a shrug and the girls all nodded in understanding and headed off towards the dining hall to grab food before they headed to the pool.
Bella then shouldered her bag and headed off in the direction of the locker rooms leaving Kate on the field behind her where she was still "gathering" things. She smiled when she felt a hand enter her own and entangle their fingers together and glanced up to see Kate smiling down at her.
"That was a pretty convincing excuse you threw out back there," Kate said as they entered the empty locker rooms. Bella dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Kate's waist.
"That's because it's true," She said as Kate's arms wound around her shoulders, "My dad wants to catch up and Jake and the boys wanted to talk too."
"I shouldn't be worried about 'Jake and the boys', should I?" Kate asked playfully and Bella rolled her eyes in response.
"Please, he's been trying for years, if he hasn't gotten the hint yet I don't know what to tell him," Bella said nonchalantly as she stepped away from the blonde and moved to turn a shower on.
"What are you doing?" Kate asked as she watched Bella turn the shower on and test the temperature of the water. The human looked back over her shoulder and shrugged.
"Showering," She said simply. She turned back towards the shower, threw her bra off over her head, and slipped her shorts and underwear off before stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain closed. Kate watched on with her mouth slightly agape and wide eyes, "Are you going to join me or not?" Bella asked from under the spray of water and Kate swallowed thickly.
"Bella, we're in a very public locker room, babe," Kate responded though she knew that her resolve was slipping quickly.
"And you have super vampire hearing," Bella responded easily and stuck her head out of the curtain to shoot Kate a smirk, "Yes or no, Kate?" She asked in a slightly sultry tone and Kate just nodded and stripped her clothes off as she stalked towards the human in the shower. "About time," Bella teased.
"Oh, shut up," Kate breathed out as she captured Bella's face between her hands and brought their lips together fiercely.
"Yes, ma'am," Bella mumbled against her lips.
