Thank goodness for Carlisle! Sometimes we just need advice from someone older and wiser.
One more chapter after this one, as always I love the feedback! Let me know what you think!
Chapter- 7
BPOV
Stepping in line for lunch I spotted Edward at the front paying for his sandwich and lemonade. My eyes followed him though the cafeteria, to the table I was supposed to join. I bounced on my toes and bit my lip.
"I talked to him." Rose cut the line joining me and ignoring the grumbling of the kids behind us.
"Oh no."
"No Bella, I swear it's not bad. He knows he messed up. I guess his dad told him some story about meeting his mom blah blah blah. Anyway, I think he's starting to believe that you might be interested in him."
"Rose I swear to God I'm going to shave your head while you sleep if you are wrong about this," I promised.
"Cross my heart and hope to die." She made an X across her chest.
"Fine. Let's get our lunch and get this over with."
"That's the spirit," she said thick with sarcasm. "At least unbutton another button and push the girls up Bella." I rolled my eyes but listened to her anyway, adjusting my boobs so they were perky and visible.
Edward's eyes met mine as Rose and I approached the table. I couldn't help but laugh when his gaze flicked down to my chest, I did have some impressive bounce happening. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, by the time they reopened I was pulling out the seat next to him.
"Bella." The way his smooth voice said my name did weird things to my belly. I shifted in my seat hoping to ease the pleasant discomfort.
"Hi Edward." I looked up at him from under my lashes.
"We have to figure out this homecoming dress situation soon," Alice said from across the table. "We are going to end up stuck wearing something with a poor fit. Or even worse we'll end up in taffeta!"
"Why don't we go to a couple of store's on Friday before the swim meet?" Rosalie asked.
"Yah but Rosie then what will Jaz and I do before the meet?" Emmet pouted.
"Watch Edward warm up," she suggested with a shrug.
"That's perfect! Bella, you can go with us too, right? Aren't you already going to the meet? Edward told me you are," Alice said.
"Oh, um. Sure, but I don't have a date or anything yet," I answered.
"You will, don't worry!" Alice clapped her hands thrilled to have another shopping partner.
"You can't hold me liable for anything she says or does," Edward said, leaning close.
"If I show up at the meet looking like makeover barbie you'll know why," I laughed.
"Alice, you've got to take it easy on Bella, she's a virgin." I choked on my soda at Rosalie's words. "Oh my God Bella I meant a shopping virgin." She rolled her eyes.
Edward grumbled next to me and poked at a tomato he'd pulled off his sandwich.
"So," he said after a minute, "anymore thought about the refreshment list?"
"Uh, I had an idea, what if we polled some people on their favorite chips? We can't have every type and obviously a lot of them were around back then."
"Just make sure you have Bogles!" Emmet reminded me.
"Bugles," Edward muttered. "I like that idea. So, if you had to choose one, which would be your favorite?"
"Cool Ranch Doritos."
"Really, I have to go with Nacho Cheese." He gave me a lopsided grin that left me completely charmed.
"Yah," I sighed.
"Oh good God," Rosalie muttered as the bell rang saving me from further embarrassment.
"Bella, can I carry your bag for you?" Edward's hand stopped mine as I reached down toward my book bag.
"Oh! Okay, thank you." I grinned up at him.
When had Edward become so chivalrous?
WIGT
Twenty dresses in I was ready to kill Alice. They were all starting to look the same and I couldn't remember which ones I loved and which ones I hated.
"I still don't know what was wrong with the silver one you tried on," Rosalie said, turning so she could check out her ass in the tight red dress she wore.
"Stop! Oh my God Rose that's the one!" Alice squealed. We took a minute to admire Rosalie and the gorgeous dress that fit her like a glove. "And I didn't like the silver dress because it wasn't the right silver. I want more of a gun metal metallic."
"See here's the thing Alice, none of these dresses are picked over. You're just crazy." Rose smiled sweetly then rushed back into her fitting room.
"Oh Bella, try this one on! Edward said he likes you in blue." Alice handed me a tight one shouldered dress.
"Edward hasn't asked me to the dance, Alice," I reminded her. She ignored me and went back into her room. I sighed, shuffling back to mine to try on yet another dress.
Over the past week something changed in Edward. While he'd always been sweet and handsome he was becoming charming and sexy. The way he said my name sent chills down my spine, as if it was sizzling off his tongue. He held his hand against my lower back when he walked with me in the halls, letting it every so often brush against the curve of my ass. The dark look that hooded his eyes when I caught him staring at me drove me insane. It was like someone flipped a switch and they took awkward teenage boy Edward and replaced him with a man who'd been practicing the art of seduction for years. It was shocking to see what he'd been holding back.
I stepped into the hallway and stood in front of the three way mirror to examine myself. Speechless, I spun around checking every angle.
"Wow," Rose said, stepping from her room.
"I know right?" I grinned.
"Wait! Let me see!" Alice rushed out still zipping her dress. "Yes! That's the one Bella!"
"I look hot!"
"You look totally hot!"Alice agreed.
"Edward is gonna die," Rose laughed.
I turned one more time examining every inch of my body. If Edward wanted to play the seduction game I could too. Well… if he ever asked me to the dance.
Chapter-10
EPOV
Port Angeles had a gorgeous pool. I would never admit it out loud but I loved away games against our rival for the facility alone. Wide windows stretched along the top half of the walls letting light in and taking away the dingey feeling most indoor pools had. While our scoreboard was nice theirs was impressive. The digital board ranked swimmers as each race went on showing your time and place after each turn and the final standing.
As Coach Clap blew his whistle for warm ups I pulled my goggles over my eyes and dived in, settling into an easy freestyle. Letting my mind go blank I focused on my form building up the momentum with each lap.
Once my muscles felt loose I hopped out of the pool and grabbed my towel from the team bleachers. I pulled off my swim cap and goggles, I wasn't back in the water until the second heat of event six, a two hundred fly, I had time. Hoping to find my family and friends I wandered toward the raised stands overlooking the pool.
I spotted my parents first. My mother waved frantically while my father chuckled beside her. Shaking my head in amusement I waved back. A wolf whistle pulled my attention toward the end of the pool.
"Shake that sexy ass!" Emmett called, his voice echoing off the walls.
"Rose, keep your pet Gorilla under control please," I said, jogging up in front of them.
"I'm considering returning him to the wild," she replied.
"Hey Edward." Bella grinned at me from a few seats down, I left Rosalie to handle Emmett.
"Hi Bella." I smiled back, over the past week I'd learned it was easy to get a reaction from Bella with the right tone of voice and a smile.
She bit her lip and looked me over. Her gaze lingered on my abs and then slid downward. I swallowed hard hoping she liked what she saw, my swim attire didn't leave much to the imagination. She cocked an eyebrow and sent me a wink. Holy shit.
"Swim, I gotta go... do. Now!" I said, my brain frazzled at the insanely hot look Bella was sending me.
"Yah you should probably go do that," she giggled.
I walked away, before another type of reaction to her sprang up, forcing myself to get my thoughts back on the meet. The national anthem started as soon as I rejoined my team, the end of the song punctuated by a whistle to begin the first event. I stood on the deck cheering for my teammates while I waited. During the girl's two hundred fly I got in line for my lane and stretched my arms above my head.
"You got this Cullen." Garrett, my teammate, slapped me on the back.
"Hell yah I do. Hey is everything set for later?"
"Yah don't worry about it. I talked to the tech guy, it's all under control."
With one less thing to worry about I climbed the block and got ready to dive in. At the whistle I shot out diving smoothly into the water, not pulling back up until I passed the first set of flags. In the back of my mind I registered the cheers of my name as I fell into a quick rhythm of pulls and kicks. I hit the first wall and turned fast. Underwater I noticed the swimmer in the next lane make his turn right behind me. I pushed my legs harder and reached forward. After the second turn I'd gained a split second on him but it wasn't good enough. With two lengths of the pool left I stayed steady until my final turn, that's when I gave it my all. I sprinted hard through the final length, sucking in air the brief moments my head was above water. My muscles burned but I knew the pain was fleeting and more than worth the victory. My hands hit the wall a good two seconds before my competition finished. I looked at the scoreboard to confirm and pumped my fist at the first place ranking listed next to "Cullen."
"Hell yes! That's my bro! We love you Edward!" I congratulated the Port A swimmer who took second and shot a glare at Emmett. I saw Rosalie slap him as the whistle blew for the next event.
"You beat your best time," Coach Clap said as I pulled myself out of the pool.
"What?" I tugged off my cap and shook the extra water from my hair.
"Did you look at your time Edward? you trimmed off fifteen seconds from last year! You just qualified for State in the first race of the season. Keep it up son, whatever you're doing is working."
The day got better with each minute that passed. I won my IM and two hundred free without contest. Waiting for my final event, one hundred back, my nerves started to get the better of me. I stood and rolled out my arms just to have something to do.
"You alright man?" Garrett sat on the bench watching the final heat for breast stroke.
"Starting to get a little jittery, you know?"
"It's your night Edward, don't sweat it. You got this."
Taking a deep breath I repeated Garrett's words of wisdom. I got this. I just needed to make it through the final race...
Jumping in the pool I glanced at Bella one last time. She was smiling and cheering, giving me more incentive to win, for her. I pulled myself up setting for the race and at the sound of the whistle dove backwards. My arms sliced through the water as I glided past both lines of flags. My flip turn was perfect, without losing time I pushed myself toward the finish line. I focused hard trying to keep my heart from racing for a few more seconds. I just had to hit the wall.
Once my hands tagged the wall I instantly turned toward the scoreboard watching as everyone else's places filled in after mine. Taking off my cap and goggles and I glanced back toward Emmett praying he remembered to do his job. A collected gasp and murmur through the crowd let me know it was go time. On the scoreboard in bright eighties style neon letters it said, "Bella will you go to homecoming with me?"
"Hey Bella, can you see the scoreboard? Did Edward win?" For once I was thankful for Emmett's absurdly loud voice.
My heart pounded as I pulled myself out of the water and walked down the deck toward my friends.
"Oh my God! See I told you Bella!" Alice squealed.
"I will hurt you if you don't say yes, just fair warning." I chuckled at Rosalie's threat.
"So what do you say Bella? Will you go to homecoming with me?"
"Hell yes!" She yelled loud enough for the entire pool to hear.
Cheers and whistles surrounded us as I pulled myself over the short railing separating us. My grin couldn't be contained as I took her cheeks in my hands and leaned down, pressing my lips against hers.
A/N: Finally! Last chapter is going to get a little steamy ;) You ready?