Chapter 30
Are we just a backseat, tryna get it while we can?
Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number on a hand?
Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing
With each other for the next forty years?
Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand? —Written in the Sand, Old Dominion
Bella
When he at last surfaced, Jasper sauntered toward us, grinning. "Jacob, dude. It's good to see you finally home."
"Jabbing Jazz Swan." Jacob greeted Jasper the way guys do, with a handshake and a fist bump and some other gestures, ending just shy of a hug. He tipped his chin at Jasper. "Where've you been hiding yourself?"
Jasper made a sour expression, suggesting he didn't want to talk about it. "What the hell they feeding you guys in Chemawa? Seth, too. He gained at least another inch on me."
"Ah, you're coming along fine... Except for this..." Jacob said, reaching out and ruffling Jasper's golden-brown locks. "Better be careful or soon you won't be able to fit that mop into your headgear."
Jasper laughed and shrugged. "Guess I'll just have to braid it then."
When the pause in their conversation came, Jasper asked me, "Where's Emmett? I'm checking on him to make sure he's sobering himself up by now."
"I don't know where he went." I had searched the crowd for Jasper and Emmett throughout the evening. When I didn't see either of them, I worried maybe Emmett got angry because Jacob and I were together, and maybe Jasper was somewhere with him, trying to keep him calm. I mentioned it to Jacob, but he pointed out that if Emmett saw us together and got upset about it, we'd know it. No holds barred. Jasper wouldn't be able to calm anything down. "We saw him, earlier, with Quil and Embry from a distance. But we haven't seen him since," I said.
"Embry? I just saw him." Jasper pivoted and pointed. "He's in that car over there."
Using one of his arms, Jacob made slow, wide waves at the vehicle. The door swung open and Embry climbed out. He stalked over to us.
"Where did Emmett go?" Jacob asked.
"He and Quil headed out with some girls we met. They looked for you before they left. They wanted you to go with them. They tried to take me, but I had my eyes on someone else already." Embry glanced over at the car he came from. "He said he'd catch up with you later."
"Did they say where they were going?" I asked.
"Nope. Those girls weren't from around here. I think they have a boathouse or a rental cabin or... a tent or something." He shrugged.
Tent? Gross. It baffled me how strangers, a lot of them being girls, found their ways to our local gatherings.
"Hopefully, he shows up soon,"Jasper said.
The air stayed gentle and warm, and the clear sky sparkled. Most of the party-crowd dispersed, leaving a nice quiet ambiance.
Emmett still hadn't resurfaced, and he had the truck keys. We were sitting on the ground with a few other groups, near the fire pit, waiting for him.
A ring of boulders surrounded the fire for protection. The bright pyramid had lessened to the size of a well-contained campfire. Low rolling flames lifted and slithered, licking at the dark remains.
Jacob caressed little designs into the palm of my hand while we chatted and laughed with Leah.
Quiet and slouching, Jasper rested on a stump, barely smiling if someone said something funny. "Emmett better show up soon. I'm tired. I'm ready to go. I should have taken the keys from him," he said, and chucked a rock into the fire, affecting the flaming bundle hard enough to cause a puff of glowing red embers to scatter into the air.
Jacob wrapped his arm around my hips, nudging me with a tip of his shoulder. I turned my head, and he placed a subtle, mouth-watering kiss on my lips, raising my temperature, and making me wish we were alone. Opening my eyes to the high in his his eyes, I said, "Emmett knows we're out here. He won't forget us."
"Yeah, well, he was drunk. Dummy!" Jasper's snappish reply caught me by surprise. He'd been in a cranky mood since he appeared. Only Maria could affect my outgoing, even-tempered brother that way. The controlling type. She didn't like when Jasper showed he had a mind of his own. I was betting she didn't appreciate him attending a party without her and, presumably, did her best to make sure he didn't enjoy it.
I was about to tell him to shut up and stop taking his miserable relationship out on us when Jacob tightened his grasp around me and said, "So, he met a girl. He'll be back. He's probably parked somewhere nearby or held up in one of those hotel rooms on First Beach."
"Passed out," Leah said. "I say we find another ride to Uncle Billy's before it's too late, and everyone we know leaves. I didn't even recognize half of the people here tonight."
She had a point; I saw only few familiar faces left.
"Emmett will have a freaking heart attack if we abandon his baby," Jasper said, sulky sounding.
Leah's eyes narrowed. "So what? He abandoned us, and his truck is a piece of crap!"
Emmett drove a used older-model extended-cab pickup truck. Because of its rough exterior, the body wasn't much in appearance. But it was his first vehicle. There was room for six, and he paid for it by himself.
Mike Newton and Tyler, another guy from school, collected empty beer cans and bottles littering the ground, placing them into a pile for an easy morning-cleanup, a sign the party was over. More motors revved to life.
"I'll have Embry take you guys back to La Push, but I'm staying," Jacob said, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
Recognizing the invitation, I said, "I'll stay too. I'm sure he'll come back soon. His truck is nothing special, but Jasper's right. It's his baby."
Jasper made a disgruntled groan. "Me, too... I'll be in the truck, though." He stood up, stretching, and yawned. "I'm tired as hell."
"I guess we're waiting then," Leah said. Moping, she rose to her feet and followed Jasper away. "I stayed sober for this?"
Several vehicles formed a mini caravan back to the highway, and the area emptied of people and cars. I watched Jasper and Leah climb into Emmett's truck, parked on a bank only about half the length of a football-field away. It appeared a lot nearer now that there was nothing left between it and us.
Mike brought out a shovel from the back of his truck and threw dirt on the fire to smother it. The fire crackled and sizzled, letting off hefty clouds of smoke.
"Do you know that guy?" Jacob asked, getting to his feet.
I stood up beside him, dusting off my rear. "His name is Mike Newton. He's one of the recent High School graduates."
Jacob lifted his voice. "Hey ah, Mike?"
Mike quit shoveling and approached us. "Yeah?"
"We'll be here for a while longer. If you don't mind, we'll put the fire out before we leave."
Mike gave Jacob a distrustful glare without answering.
Jacob added, "We're waiting for Emmett to come back. You know him, right?"
Mike ran his hand over his mouth and turned his head, glancing over his shoulder at Tyler and a few others still standing around. He glanced at me, then back at Jacob. "Yeah, I know who Emmett is," he said in a patronizing manner.
A corner of Jacob's mouth lifted, conflicting with the anger that appeared in his eyes. Relaxed mostly, I noted a vague tightening of his posture. "So, you know we'll put the fire out when he gets back then?"
Mike let out an artificial chuckle and asked, "Have you been drinking, dude?"
"Have I been drinking?" Offended, Jacob's irritation unmistakably surfaced. "Hey, man, is this even your property?"
I didn't know why Mike was acting like an asshole, but if he kept it up, I intended on asking him just that.
"It's not my property, but it is my home a few miles from here. And I'm not about to trust some half-shot guy I don't even know, who probably doesn't give a rat's ass what happens beyond the reservation line. I don't care how many fights you've had."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jacob said, straightening up to his full height. He was so tall and broad and built compared to Mike. Since Mike was the State's Senior Football Athlete of the year, that said a lot about Jacob's body. It was very nice.
Mike directed my attention to the shovel when he slightly lifted it. If Jacob's facial reaction to the provocative movement didn't frighten him, it should have. I hopped in front of Jacob, confronting Mike in anger, raising my voice. "We'll take care of it!" He lowered his eyes to me. Neutralizing my voice, I said, "I'll make sure the fire is out. It's already dying by itself, anyway. You know me, Mike, and you know my family, and you know you can trust us."
Mike stared at me long enough to make me think he knew better than to make eye contact with Jacob again.
"All right, Bella. I'll leave the shovel here for you." He released the shovel, letting it thump on the ground, and stomped away.
"Fucking douche." Jacob sneered as Mike, Tyler, and the last of the partiers piled into the jeep, spotlighting areas of the night when they backed around to find the dirt path that led to the road. "Way to protect him, though," he said out of nowhere.
I couldn't decide if he was being serious or sarcastic or what he even meant by his remark.
"Mike Newton. Now, let me see... Didn't you go out with him before?"
The question was irrelevant, so I ignored it. "I wasn't protecting him, Jake. I was protecting you."
"Me?" He smirked. "Oh yeah, the shovel." He drew out the word, "Right", lowering himself to the ground and getting comfortable in the trampled grass beneath our feet.
I sat down beside him. "Not because of the shovel. I was keeping you from getting into trouble if you like... broke his face or something."
Guys like Mike ran their mouths sometimes, yet when they couldn't back themselves up, they were the first to complain to the authorities. It was unquestionable Mike was about to bite off more than he could chew.
"Wow, fighting over me and protecting me all in one night." He gave me a teasing grin. "I should be flattered."
"Aren't you?"
His eyes traced my features. I leaned to kiss him, seizing the moment. "Enormously flattered," he said against my lips.
Sinking deep into the kiss, I pressed against him, a little self-conscious as I felt us reclining. Leah and Jasper might have been watching. Jacob removed one of his arms from around me to keep us propped up, so I gathered it hadn't been the intention. After a moment, I sensed a tightness in his lips, his mouth less giving than at first. Something was wrong. I knew it before the kiss waned and we parted. Concerned, I stared at him as we adjusted ourselves upright.
"I've got to tell you something important, Bella, and I hope you'll understand."
That sounded terrible. Worry made my heart speed up. We didn't need to waste more time on the past, and I didn't want to hear something bad. "Don't ruin it, Jacob." I shrunk away from him, turning to see the fire when I noticed the amount of dread exhibited in his expression and in his body language.
"I'm not trying to ruin it, but I've got to get this out tonight. Better late than never." Sensing something awful, I kept glaring at the fire. "Would you look at me, please?"
Hooding my eyes as my head rotated toward him, I asked. "What is it?"
"All it is, is that... I won't be around here for the rest of the summer. And I thought I better tell you now."
Is it time to hit him with that shovel? 😳
