Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended and in order to keep it that way, No reproduction, copying, reposting, downloading, or any kind of redistribution of this story is allowed. This is to cover my arse as much as yours! And finally, the Original characters, plot, names, nicknames, songs, poems—anything I created from my very own brain—are all the property of the author of this fanfic, My-Bella. Unauthorized use of the material is plagiarism so please be kind and don't steal my creations.
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Last Chapter:
It was as Bella entered the room and started to tell him which room she'd picked that the radio deejay's voice caught Masen's ear.
"Hang on," he said to her as he turned up the volume on the radio.
"That's right! You heard it here first. Right off the coast of Kauai. Drop everything and go get a glimpse because as we all know, this hardly ever happens and should not be missed."
The deejay's words had Masen smiling and rearing to go. "We gotta go now," he said as he turned off the radio. He reached for one of the smaller camera bags from the shelf on the wall and he could feel the excitement and anticipation building up inside of him as his hand closed around the strap. He was so excited that he nearly ran right over Bella—then again, he hadn't been expecting her to still be standing in the doorway.
"We've gotta go," he said, twirling his finger to get her to turn around and start moving.
"Why? Where?"
He couldn't help looking impatient with her so he made up for it by not physically moving her out of the room. "Just trust me, you're going to love this. But we have to go right now."
Chapter 5 – Another Side
Masen was extremely pleased to see Bella moving quickly down the hallway and not talking. He grabbed his keys and sunglasses from the kitchen counter where he'd left them earlier and then locked up Galeos.
"Back to the car?" Bella asked as he hopped off the boat to the wooden dock below.
"Not yet." He set the camera bag down with his sunglasses on top before turning and holding his hands out to her. She hesitated for a moment before taking them and letting him help her down to the dock.
He passed her the bag while he put his sunglasses on and they walked to the front of his boat. A small skiff was tied up and he helped her aboard before unknotting the rope at the back of the boat and throwing it in without rolling it up like he usually would have. He quickly hopped aboard and then climbed up to the front to free the other rope. He actually wrapped that one up but it was done quickly and messily. With the boat free, he used one foot to push it away from the dock and give it some clearance.
He quickly moved behind the steering wheel and after storing his camera bag between his feet, he shoved the key in the ignition and turned it. He was in such a hurry to get going that he almost flooded the engine when he started it up. Bella must have known what he'd done because she started laughing. He decided to get back at her and as soon as he was sure she wasn't paying attention, he shot out of the slip and sent her grabbing for the nearest fixed surface while squealing loudly. It was his turn to laugh and he did it until she came up beside him and glared at him.
He smirked and said, "Oops."
She turned her head away and he assumed it meant she was ignoring him. However, it wasn't long before her curiosity got the best of her, forcing her to look over at him. "So why the rush to lock up your boat and get on this thing? Where are we going?" She had to stand close and yell to be heard over the wind and engine sounds and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Whenever she got this close to him, he felt an urge to pull her closer.
He tried to get his mind off of touching her by focusing on their destination and tightening his hands on the boat's steering wheel. "We're going to head over to Kauai to see something special." He could tell she had immediately assumed it was shark-related because her face paled and she stopped breathing.
"No sharks," he promised, looking her straight in the eyes so she would believe him. It was Elizabeth who had first taught him to always look a person in the eyes when he was being serious so that he would be taken seriously. It was Esme who had made sure he followed that advice as he grew older.
Bella gave a shaky nod and started breathing again. It wasn't much but it would at least keep her from passing out. The last thing he needed was to have to tell his mom that the intern had fainted.
Of course, her reaction did bring up a question he'd wanted to ask her from the moment Esme had pointed it out to him. "Bella, why did you apply for the internship if you're afraid of sharks?"
"It's not … Okay, I am afraid of some of them, but … I can handle it a lot better if I know I'm going to see them."
"So if I told you we might see tiger sharks on the way to Africa, what you would say to that?"
She shrugged but it didn't cover up her slight flinch. "Great. As long as I'm watching from the boat."
"Let's say you watch them from the boat and they aren't doing anything more than swimming around. Would you attempt to get in the water?"
"By myself?" she sounded as horrified of the thought as she looked.
He tried not to but he couldn't help laughing at her expression.
"Scaring me amuses you?" she accused, tightening her brown eyes in a glare.
He shook his head while still smiling. "No, I'm amused that you act like you came here to be fed to the sharks instead of study them." He waited to see if she would disagree before adding, "We're not going to do anything that risks your safety, Bella. You'll never be in the water by yourself. If you decide to get in, you'll be with me."
"Somehow I don't think that would be much safer." Her teasing comment shocked him and made him laugh. He got along much better with people who had a sense of humor, unless they had too much like Gopher.
"So what exactly is that supposed to mean, Guppy?" he asked.
She only smiled in response.
He really wanted her to answer his question but he didn't want her to know that and refused to ask again. Instead he focused on guiding the boat toward the spot he knew would be best for viewing. And he might have also stolen the occasional glance at her from behind the safety of his dark sunglasses.
The wind on the water was strong today and it kept her hair swirling all around her head. He waited for her to get annoyed with it the way Lee often did and sit down to get out of the wind but Bella stayed where she was, smiling with her eyes closed. Her different reaction to the wind immediately had him thinking of how differently she'd reacted last night to his scruff against her soft skin, pulling him closer where others had pushed him away. Had it really only been last night?
With a deep breath and a hard shake of his head, Masen cleared away those thoughts and once again focused on his destination. He was getting close so he slowed the boat just in case what they'd come to see had moved faster than he'd expected. The last thing he wanted to do was scare them off before Bella had a chance to see them. Plus he really wanted to get some shots with the camera to show the family in case they had missed out.
Bella opened her eyes as soon as the boat started to slow and looked around. "Are we at your secret destination?"
"Yep." Masen shut the engine off completely and reached into the cabinet beneath the steering wheel for the binoculars kept there. He moved to the back left of the boat and with his sunglasses pushed on top of his head he scanned the direction he knew they would be coming from. He didn't see anything but he wasn't worried; he knew they would be here soon enough.
"Do you see whatever it is?" Bella asked from right beside him.
"Not yet," he said as he lowered the binoculars to look at her.
"Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"I know we are."
"What if we're not?"
"We are."
She shrugged as if to say "we'll see" and the movement called attention to her shoulders.
"You're getting pink. How strong of a sunscreen did you put on?"
Bella's features hardened and she hissed out a "shit" as she grabbed for the small backpack she'd brought along with her. "Whit was telling me about his parents and their shop and I forgot all about it. But I have a bottle with me," she explained. Once she pulled it out, she tried to give the bottle of sunscreen to him.
"Can't you just put a shirt on? They do make shirts in Florida, right?"
"They make shirts everywhere, Edward. Just like jackasses."
He grunted and snatched the bottle from her. "Fine. Turn around and lift your hair up."
She pulled a hair band from the pocket of her jean shorts and used it to twist her hair up into a bun and secure it against her head. He didn't like being this close to her or having a view of her long neck but he liked the idea of her being burnt and hurt even less, especially since it would make it difficult to have her doing any work outside until she was healed. With a sigh, he squeezed the sunscreen into his hands and then rubbed them together to warm the lotion a little before he started to work it into her shoulders.
His hands were honestly being completely innocent with the sunscreen application but his mind … That dark corner of the bar was replaying in his head in vivid detail. She had been so close to him, pressed so tightly that he'd been able to feel her heart beating through her dress and his shirt. His mouth had seemed to fit perfectly wherever he'd placed it on her body … her lips … her ear … her neck. Damn, her lips. Her kisses had left him feeling light-headed, as if he'd had a few too many beers. But unlike with the beers, he had never gotten his fill of her. He'd wanted another kiss and another and another until he'd started to wonder if she was some kind of drug, infecting every part of him and turning him into an addict.
And when she'd put her hands on his face and started to rub his scruff while they kissed … He could remember thinking that if kissing her felt so good then sleeping with her was going to be one hell of an adventure, a belief that had only increased the more his large hands had explored her small curves.
"Do you ever plan on telling me why we're floating out in the middle of the water like this?" Her question gave him something other than her body to focus on, especially since he wanted to keep their reason for being here a surprise.
After quickly racking his brain for a good reason and not coming up with anything great, he decided to tease her. "Consider this your very first lesson."
She turned her head and looked back at him. "What am I learning?"
"Patience." He smiled and winked at her just to be playful; he was completely unprepared for her blush and the shockwave it sent ripping through him. He couldn't remember ever wanting a woman the way he wanted her right then—the same way he'd wanted her last night.
He kept his hands on the bottle of sunscreen and dipped his head forward enough to make his glasses fall over his eyes and hide the hungry look that had to be in them. He forced himself to talk to her to help hide his struggle and the slight tremor in his hands.
"I don't know how often you wear sunscreen in Florida but you're going to have to be sure you put it on here and on the water. The sun is stronger and if you aren't careful, you'll get a burn bad enough to make you sick and keep you from working and learning."
"I always wear a little just to be safe but I got distracted listening to Whit talk about his parents," she told him.
"Distraction is something you are going to be faced with every day with us and you're going to have to overcome it."
She turned her head away, but not before he'd seen her frown and the confusion in her eyes.
"I'm not trying to come off like a jerk. I'm just being honest with you," he said. And to prove his point, he gave her an example of a situation she would definitely encounter. "We do a lot of group tasks that require concentration and focus. If you're distracted by the group next to you, then it puts your own group at risk."
Masen smoothed the lotion over the last uncovered section of skin and very nearly yelled out the "finally" sitting on the tip of his tongue. He managed to keep his mouth shut and to hand the sunscreen to her instead of tossing it like he wanted to do. "Make sure you get your arms and face really well," he warned as he passed her the bottle of sunscreen.
While she took his advice, he rubbed the sunscreen residue from his hands onto his shorts, not wanting to risk getting any on his camera or having it slip from his slick hands. Once he was sure his hands were dry, he pulled his camera from its bag and started to set it up for the types of shots he hoped to get. He compensated for the sun and the wind and the fact that he would need to shoot each frame quickly. He also made sure to turn the image stabilizer on to compensate for the rocking of the boat.
He pushed his glasses back up onto his head and then aimed the viewfinder and took a few test shots to set the zoom. It was on the last shot that he saw the first sign of what they'd come here for—a spray of water suddenly shooting upward into the air.
Masen came up behind Bella and after turning her slightly to the left he extended his arm over her shoulder and pointed while speaking into her ear. "Look there."
They didn't have long to wait before the head of an orca broke the surface and sprayed water into the air. Seconds after it disappeared, a larger orca barely broke the surface before wiggling its tail and disappearing. A third and a fourth where seen curving through the water together, both of them sending up spray.
"Orcas," Bella squealed. "It's a pod of orcas."
"Keep watching. They'll pass fast," he warned. He had already stepped away from her and was pressing the shutter button as quickly as he could. He'd managed to line the boat up just right and the pod would pass on their left, getting within a couple hundred feet of the boat. He hadn't wanted to get too close, knowing the waves made by the passing pod would quickly throw the boat off course and he didn't want to risk needing to run the engine and possibly scaring them.
"Look at them! They are so beautiful," Bella gushed.
He looked up just in time to see her gripping one of the poles for the canopy that extended over the steering wheel. She used the pole to help lift herself up onto the rim of the boat. "Careful," he warned.
"I just want a better look. Can we get closer?"
"Not with this boat. Any closer would make the waves too strong and we'd get rocked off course."
"I count five."
"Four."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure. Looks like three mature adults and one smaller adult."
"I think there's a young calf between the two mature ones leading the way."
"We might be able to tell with my pictures later," he said as he continued to snap photos.
"Look how they curve through the water so gracefully. It looks like glossy black hills gliding through the water to break up all the blue."
"One at the back has his tail coming up," he called out, wanting to make sure she didn't miss it.
"I see it! It looks so huge, even from here."
He stopped photographing long enough to move to the front of the boat and once he was sure his footing was secure, he brought his camera back into alignment with the pod. It only took a couple shots before he saw what Bella had seen earlier.
"You were right. There's a calf. Looks like they're being protective of it. The only sign was a much smaller fin breaking the water and then going under again."
"I hope we can see it better in your pictures. Oh, hey! Do you want me to take some so you can get to watch too?"
"Trust me, I'm definitely watching." He had a lot of practice in watching through the viewfinder. Besides, he loved getting to compare what he saw while taking the pictures to what he managed to capture in his images.
"Edward! I can hear them, Edward!" Bella's excitement was so palpable and the feel of it had him smiling behind the lens. This was the payoff of the anticipation created by being surprised and it was a feeling he had always enjoyed. He was glad she was enjoying it as well.
As many pictures as Masen took, the pod still seemed to move out of range too fast for his liking. He hoped most of the pictures would come out and that he'd have a couple really impressive shots. He put away his camera and dropped his sunglasses over his eyes, noticing at the same time that Bella was still standing on the edge of the boat, trying her best to catch a few last glimpses of the orcas.
He smiled and said, "Come on down, Guppy. There's nothing more to see."
He only had enough time to register the smile on her face before she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said, punctuating the words with giggles and squeals.
He swallowed thickly and then wrapped his own arms tight around her while breathing her in. She smelled of sunshine and fake coconuts, a scent that should have been disgusting but somehow wasn't.
"That was so great. Thank you so much." Her voice made him realize exactly where she was and he quickly set her down. He had also planned on letting her go—what he hadn't expected was to feel her fingers wrapped around his wrists, barely holding on and yet burning him all the same. "I mean it, Edward. Thank you."
Looking into her sincere brown eyes and feeling her body brush against his with each breath she took … He could feel his blood pumping faster through him and his body temperature rising for every second he spent standing so close to her. He was nearly salivating with the urge to kiss her and watching her lips part wasn't helping.
It would be easy; he wouldn't even have to do anything but bring his head down to hers. Just a few inches and he would be touching his lips to hers and tasting the sweetness of her mouth.
"Are you hungry?" It was the first thing that had come into his head and he jumped all over it while backing away from her. "We'll head back to Galeos and I'll throw lunch together. We can sit and eat on the upper deck and look through the pictures. And then I'll finish up what I need to do on the boat."
"Oh. Okay. Sure."
He turned away and made sure to secure his camera bag before starting up the boat. If only it was as easy to secure away this crazy urge to kiss the intern. He needed to get his head straight and do it quickly because once they set sail for Africa he really wouldn't be able to avoid her.
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"Do you want help in the kitchen?" Bella asked as she followed Edward through the living room into the dining area of the boat.
"No, it'll just be sandwiches. Nothing fancy. Besides you're a guest until Saturday."
For some reason, she felt his refusal had more to do with wanting to be away from her than wanting to treat her like a guest. It amazed her how fast and often he could switch from hot to cold—and she was only counting the switches she'd experienced today! Men should come with a temperature switch so you can permanently put them on warm, she thought as she climbed the stairs to the upper deck.
She wondered if his change in demeanor was because of the hug she'd given him. Maybe if she explained she couldn't have helped herself even if she'd tried then he might relax and go back to behind the gentler version of himself. She could tell him how it was a family trait thing, an odd quirk passed down to her and her sister from their mother. When any of them were overly excited, they just reached out and grabbed the person closest and gave them an enthusiastic hug. Her dad had always teased her about it since she was otherwise reserved around strangers.
Thinking about her parents made her think of Alice and Carlisle and sent the first wave of homesickness coursing through her and Bella couldn't dig her phone out of her pocket fast enough. When the housekeeper answered, she made it very clear she wanted to talk to Carlisle first. If she let Alice get the phone first she'd never get the chance to talk to her uncle.
She had planned for her first words to be a happy greeting and reassurances that she was fine but the honest truth flew out instead. "I miss you, Uncle Carlisle."
"Going that well, huh?" he asked with a quiet laugh.
She smiled and closed her eyes, picturing him sitting at his desk in his study. "It's actually going okay so far. I just suddenly realized that I'm about to go three whole months without seeing you or Alice. That's never happened before."
"You're at an age when it's time for you to carve your own path in the world, Bella. The thing to remember is that no matter how winding or bumpy that path becomes, the way home will always be there for you."
"Thanks, Uncle Carlisle. I really needed to hear that."
"So, tell me. What have you learned so far? Dazzle me with your newfound knowledge."
Bella's eyes opened as she laughed at his teasing. "I haven't learned anything yet but I did get to see a pod of orca. It was so different to see them swimming in the ocean like that. I know they can move all kinds of ways from my time at Sea World, but I'd never really thought of them as graceful swimmers until I saw them today."
"Any chance you'll send a picture in your email to Alice?"
"I'm sure Edward won't have a problem with that."
"Edward Masen? You're already working with the head of MMR?"
"It's not working yet. More like getting acquainted."
"Still, I just assumed you would work your way up for a week or two before getting one-on-one time with him."
"It's not that kind of company from what I've seen so far. It's really a team effort."
"I'm proud of you, Bella. I know you left here still having some doubts but it sounds like you're over that now."
"At least until we actually board for Africa on Saturday," she admitted.
"You'll do fine, Bug. You always do. And now I'm going to tell you I love you and pass the phone to your sister who is doing her patented 'patiently waiting' dance that always looks more like a 'hand it over now' dance."
She could hear him laughing while her sister swore she had been the picture of patience; the exchange was one she'd personally witnessed many times and hearing it now made her feel less homesick.
After clearing his throat and promising her sister he was almost done, he said, "I love you, Bella."
"Love you too, Uncle Carlisle."
With the way Alice immediately started rattling off in her ear, Bella wasn't sure her uncle had heard her at all. Apparently her little sister had been under the mistaken impression that there would be a phone call as soon as Bella woke this morning so Alice had set her alarm and gotten up extra early. There hadn't been a call but there had been a few too many coffee cups drained by her little sister while waiting for the phone to finally ring.
Bella pictured her sister pacing with the phone pressed to her ear, and waited for a break in the chatter so she could speak. "Ali, I can't give you a minute by minute accounting of my day over the phone. I did call at the first opportunity, though. And I plan to write you an email tonight to fill you in on my first full day here."
"So you're working with the Edward guy already?"
"No, not yet. He just brought me on a tour of the boat. I need to pick what room I want to stay in so they can load my things up tomorrow."
"They have enough rooms that you can pick one? How big is this boat?"
"Pretty big. I'm standing on the upper deck right now and I've got a nice view of all the boats in the harbor."
"Take a picture for me, okay? I want to see everything!"
"Sure thing." Bella hoped her response had sounded convincing. While she hated to lie, even by omission, there was no way she was sending an account of everything they did and saw. Alice needed to be focused on her college courses, not worrying about her big sister.
Bella's skin suddenly began to tingle; she knew what was causing it and did her best to ignore it while also trying to listen to her sister.
"Bella, isn't that great?" Alice asked.
She had no idea what her sister had been talking about but she agreed anyway. "If you think it's great, then it's great."
"Anyway, they're on their way over to pick me up now. I really wish you would have called earlier so we could talk more."
"We'll have time later. And I promise to email you tonight."
"I can't wait. I have to go. I miss you and I love you and I want you to be safe. And don't forget to send some paper letters too. Bye!"
Alice hung up without waiting for a response but Bella didn't close her phone right away. She kept it pressed to her ear, pretending there was still a tornado of talk swirling out of her phone and into her head while trying to get control of herself before she faced the eyes—and the man—making her skin tingle and her body warm.
She'd told Edward she would put last night behind her, act like it had never happened, but it seemed the harder she tried to do that, the more it refused to be forgotten. It had just been so … so intense. But even that wasn't the right word for it. She'd had passion and intensity with her last boyfriend but not on the scale of what she'd felt last night. No, last night had been something else … something different … something powerful.
And at least some of that same power was still there because she'd had the hardest time remembering to breathe when his hands had been on her, rubbing her sunscreen into her back. His touch had been purely innocent but the thoughts in her head and the desire pulsing through her had been anything but. There had been a voice whispering in her head to just turn and kiss him, and when he'd winked at her … That wink had made her lips tingle, her palms itch, and her body warm. She'd wanted to be back in the dark corner of that bar covered by his body, drunk from his kisses, and anchored to reality only by the prick of his stubble on her palms.
Now she stood here on his boat pretending to be on a call because she could feel that power again and she wasn't even looking at him. She knew instinctively it would only get worse once she turned to face him. Or better. She wasn't sure which she meant or wanted. And she also wondered if his reaction to her hug might be because he was feeling all the same things she was experiencing.
Bella decided it didn't matter because he had made it very clear he only wanted a professional, working relationship with her. She took a deep breath to clear her head and then pretended to speak into her phone. "Okay. Love you too. Talk to you later. Bye."
When she turned, she found Edward sitting across from her with his feet up on the small table and half his food already gone from his plate. He had his sunglasses on again so she had no idea if he was really looking at her or not.
She tried to see through his dark lenses to the eyes behind them while slipping her phone into her pocket, but all she saw was her own reflection.
"Family?" he asked as he grabbed for the bottle of water next to his foot.
"Yeah. I was excited to share my view of the orcas with them." She sat down in the chair beside her and picked her sandwich plate up from the table.
She lifted one of the sandwich halves and after deciding it looked like it was chicken salad she took a big bite. Her eyes widened at the amazing taste and as much as she wanted another bite, she waited long enough to thank him for the sandwich first. "This is really, really good. Thank you."
He shrugged. "I just cut up Esme's leftover chicken, tossed in some pickles and onions, and added a little spicy mustard and mayo."
Her brown eyes grew even wider. "You made this?"
He nodded while swallowing down some of his water.
"You don't really seem the type to spend your time in the kitchen. More like you would grab something already made and eat it while working on something for your company."
His shoulders lifted in a shrug. "My mom is a firm believer in teaching a person to fend for himself. She taught me to cook, wash dishes, do laundry, grocery shop, pay bills, balance a checkbook, all those kinds of things. I'm better at some than others."
"I took a cooking class once with my sister but she was a lot better at it than me."
"A sister, huh?"
"Yeah." Bella started smiling as soon as she pictured her sister. "Alice. She's a few years younger than me."
"If you had to pick one word to describe her?"
Bella didn't even need to think about it. "Bubbly."
Edward snorted. "Bubbly. I haven't heard that term used in a long time. So on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most, how annoying is she?"
Bella gasped, which wasn't the best thing to do at the moment because she had a mouthful of chicken sandwich. Her predicament had Edward laughing loudly and nearly dumping the last corner of his sandwich into his lap.
"Come on," he urged, swirling the water around in his bottle. "Be honest. What does she score?"
After forcing herself to swallow her food and drink some of her water, Bella answered him. "She's not annoying at all."
His grin turned from amused to full-on cocky. "So are you lying to me or yourself, Guppy?"
"I'm not lying at all. She's really not annoying. Honest."
He just continued smiling in that same cocky way.
And that smile was really starting to get on her nerves; he couldn't smile at her like that and expect her to feel professional towards him. It just wasn't possible. "Like you can even judge what constitutes annoying. You're little tantrum this morning on the beach was way more annoying than anything my sister's done lately."
He tipped his bottle of water at her, smile still firmly in place. "Notice how you said lately." Before she could respond he added, "And just for the record, I'm not annoying."
"Ha!" she yelled. "I dare you to say that with a straight face." She quickly added, "Without the sunglasses."
"What do my shades have to do with anything?"
"I've found it's harder for people to deceive me if I can see their eyes when they're speaking."
At first, he didn't move or speak. Then he sat up, pushed his glasses onto his head, and leaned so far forward that his face was suddenly just a few inches from hers. "I'm not annoying."
She didn't hear what he said because she was too busy blurting out a single word. "Blue."
"What?" he asked, pulling away and sitting up straight.
"I … uh …"
His head cocked to the right a little. "You okay?"
While her lips said "yes", her headshake said "no". She didn't even notice she'd given two different answers because all she could focus on was how he'd licked his lower lip before hiding his mouth behind his hand to keep from laughing at her.
Bella needed an immediate way out of this conversation and she decided her lunch was the way to go. "This sandwich is really good." As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, a huge bite of chicken salad went into it.
They're blue. But how can they be blue? she asked herself while slowly chewing her food. She was certain last night they had been a gorgeous shade of green with the power to compel her to follow him wherever he led. Not that this shade of blue was any less commanding. Maybe the green had somehow been a trick of the lighting in the bar. Or maybe he wore contacts. Or maybe you need to focus and not notice anything personal about your boss, she chastised herself.
A beeping sound had her looking up; Edward had put his empty plate and bottle on the table and now had his camera bag in his lap. His face was hidden behind his camera and she assumed the beeping sound was coming from him scrolling through the pictures.
Thinking of the orcas had her curiosity going strongly enough to get her to talk. "Did you get a shot of the baby?"
"Maybe after I moved. I'm still on the ones I took from the back of the boat."
She set her plate down on the table and came around to stand behind him and get a look at the pictures. She watched him click through a couple pictures and noticed quickly he'd taken the pictures so fast that seeing them reminded her of one of those flip books she'd played with as a kid where each page had a drawing and when flipped through quickly, the drawings seemed to move and tell a story.
"How do you do that? Do you have a special camera?" she asked.
"Do what?"
"Take them so fast?"
"I modified the shutter speed to handle action shots better. I didn't really need to use that mode for the orcas, but it's so rare to see them here that I wanted to document it rather than just photograph it."
"Is that camera fast enough to capture the animals in Africa?"
"The seals, sure." He turned his head to look at her and the smile on his face had her rolling her eyes before he even spoke. "But the sharks have a special camera."
"See that right there was annoying," she told him.
He was still smiling as he turned his eyes back to his camera. "Don't worry, Guppy. The word's not gonna bite."
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
"Really?" Edward asked. He was standing on his side of the car with his arms on the roof and his chin on his arms. Bella couldn't see his eyes behind his dark glasses but that didn't stop her from being certain he was glaring at her. Once again she wished for a switch for his moods because he'd been nothing but pleasant the entire time she'd sat on the arm of his chair going through the pictures on his camera with him and pointing out which ones she'd liked best.
He must have grown impatient waiting for her to answer because he suddenly stood up straight and shook his head at her. "Clearly you don't know the meaning of 'annoying'."
"Why?" She glanced at him for a second before turning her eyes back to the buttons of the shirt she'd put on over her bikini top. "Because I put a shirt on when I wanted to and not when you wanted?"
He didn't answer and when she looked up she saw that he'd left her there and gone to stand in the long line in front of the gray building. She pulled a plain, dark blue baseball cap out of her bag and threaded her ponytail through the back before joining him in the line.
The sign over the order window said "Waiola's Shave Ice" and four colorful placards listed all of the available flavors. Bella glanced around and took in the size of the line and all the customers milling about with their treats in their hands; it certainly seemed to be a popular place.
"What flavor do you want?" Edward asked as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket.
"Uh … Grape, I guess."
He had been poking around in his wallet for cash but he looked up at her answer. "Grape? That's it? Grape?"
Since he was looking at her as if she'd grown a second head, she gave him that same look as she answered him. "Yeah, grape."
"I'm beginning to believe that you lack a sense of adventure, Guppy. And it just makes me wonder all over again why you signed up for the internship."
"What does the flavor of my shaved ice have to do with whether or not I have a sense of adventure? And I'll have you know, I have a great sense of adventure. I try new things all the time."
One eyebrow lifted above the frame of his sunglasses at the same time one side of his mouth curled upward. "Guess your list of new things doesn't include shaved ice flavors."
She laughed more at his expression than his words. "Alright, Mr. Adventure. What are you having?"
"You'll see."
It was at least fifteen minutes of standing in the hot sun before they made it into the shade of the order window. Edward asked for her grape ice first and then he ordered his own treat, a rainbow ice with condensed milk and ice cream. It was certainly the most colorful shaved ice order Bella had ever seen but she doubted that translated well in the taste department. Edward seemed to enjoy it, though, with the way he was practically sticking his nose in the concoction each time he leaned in for a bite off the top.
They didn't stick around Waiola's to eat; Edward drove to one of the greenest parks she'd ever seen; it was such a stark contrast to the sandy beach and blue waters yet just as gorgeous. He led her over to a section with rocks perfect for leaning against and then he kicked off his shoes and planted his feet in the green grass. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he sat there with his back against a rock, poking around in his cup with his spoon.
Bella let the silence spin out between them for a moment, enjoying the feel of the grass on her own bare feet, before interrupting with a question. "Are you going to tell me why we're here? Or would you rather ignore me?"
Despite his mumbling and low tone of voice, she still heard him. "Ignore my ass."
She could have let him know she'd heard but she decided instead to try to get back that comfortable place they'd found while going through his pictures on the boat. "That picture you got with the baby's head coming out of the water, could I send that one to my sister?"
"I've got to put the MMR watermark on it first, but yeah."
"Is that in case you want to use the picture later in your research?"
"It's really more in case I decide to sell the picture. One of the ways I raise funds for MMR is to sell some of the pictures to magazines."
"Have you sold a lot of pictures?"
He had just shoved a large spoonful of his treat into his mouth and instead of waiting to answer after he'd finished, he just pushed it all to one side instead. "I think I'm up to two dozen now."
Bella couldn't help laughing at him. "You looked like a chipmunk just now with your cheek puffed out that way."
He shrugged. "Didn't want to swallow all at once and get brain freeze."
"You know earlier when you said you modified the shutter speed? Did you mean you had it done somewhere? I know you have a degree in Engineering but I don't think cameras when I hear that term. I think engines."
"A shutter is part of the camera's engine."
"Right, but it … It's just that it's really delicate."
"It is," he agreed with a nod. "It requires a lot of focus and steady hands. It's actually not that difficult but maybe that's only because I've been taking things apart and putting them back together since I was a little kid."
"Did you ever take anything apart that you couldn't fix?"
He snorted and then swirled his spoon around in his cup for a while before answering. "When I was eight, I took my mom's favorite music box apart. I wanted to see what I was winding up and how it created the sound. I learned two really important things that day … First, always diagram what you remove and where it belongs. Second, moms are a lot more forgiving than we deserve."
He'd seemed sad when he'd said the forgiving part and Bella wondered how much trouble he'd gotten into for breaking the music box. She couldn't remember ever having broken anything that belonged to her parents, but she had backed her uncle's car into the garage door during her very first driving lesson. She'd been mortified while Uncle Carlisle had laughed and said he hadn't liked the door that much anyway. It seemed to her that uncles could be just as forgiving.
She didn't share her memory with Edward, deciding he most probably didn't want to know. "Thanks for the shaved ice."
"Alright, Guppy. Enough's enough," he said, holding his spoon out to her. "Take a bite of a real shaved ice dessert."
"What? Why?"
"Because if I let you off this island without trying one of the best reasons to visit Waiola's, then I'll have failed in my duty to show you the local cuisine. And I don't fail at anything if I can help it."
She laughed and leaned away from the offered spoon. "What if you have cooties?"
He sighed but it was in direct contrast with the huge, cocky grin on his face. He lifted his glasses up, placing them in his hair and leaving her to guess at the exact shade of blue his eyes were right now. They weren't the deep blue of the sky or the almost-turquoise of the water. They were more like the steel blue of her favorite sleep shirt; it was the only shirt she'd ever bought just because she'd loved the color of it. The color had the best of both worlds in her opinion, the cooling comfort of blue mixed with the soothing powers of a soft gray. Only Edward's eyes didn't leave her feeling cool, or comfortable, or soothed. No, his eyes made her feel hot, jittery, and anxious.
He brought his eyes and his spoon closer to her. "If I had cooties, you'd already know it."
Her mouth fell open at the meaning behind his comment and he took that as permission, sliding his spoon between her lips and resting it on her tongue. After tipping the spoon up to make sure the bite stayed in her mouth, he scooped up more of his treat and slid his spoon into his own mouth.
Bella still had the bite in her mouth so she put her hand in front of her lips to speak. "Really cold."
"Yeah, but how's it taste? Great, right?"
She rolled the bite around on her tongue, trying to warm it up and dissolve some of it before swallowing it down. She was also busy trying to reconcile an Edward who wanted to share his favorite treat with the one from earlier who'd seemed annoyed with everything she did. Maybe they put some kind of mood altering drug in his shaved ice, she thought. Or maybe the sun has melted his brain and made him forget he's annoyed with me.
She could feel his eyes on her and knew he was waiting for her answer. "It's really sweet. I wouldn't say it's bad because it's not, but I wouldn't do both the ice cream and milk on my own."
"Too sweet," he scoffed. "That's like saying the grass is too green or the water's too wet."
She giggled at his offended tone. "You really don't like it when someone disagrees with you, huh?"
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. "What do you think of the park?"
"I like it." She looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes between the soft blades of grass. "I especially like the green of it. Some days it seems like there's no green places left in Orlando with all the buildings and the roads and on-ramps. If I had a place like this back home, I'd go every day. Do you come here a lot when you're home?"
Edward nodded and Bella realized she was seeing his first real, content smile since she'd met him. "Usually just Lizzy and me come but sometimes Whit tags along and we'll play Frisbee with Lizzy. She likes to roll around in the grass until the white fur on her starts to turn green. She doesn't care for the bath that comes after but that never stops her from rolling around the next time we come."
"How long have you had her?"
"Almost a year now."
"Are you going to celebrate when she hits a year old?"
He snorted. "Oh, yeah. Hats and streamers. A dog food cake. I'd get a clown but she always tries to eat balloons when she sees them."
She laughed and pressed her elbow into his upper arm. "I didn't mean it quite like that. I just meant that she seems to mean a lot to you. Maybe you were planning to get her a new chew-toy or something."
He didn't comment, choosing instead to just smile and swirl his spoon around his cup.
"Where did you get her? A Boston Terrier doesn't seem like it would be a local pet."
"I rescued her when we were down in Australia last summer."
"Really? Rescued how?" she asked, shifting her position so she could see his face.
"Whit and I had gone surfing together early one morning. We were walking up the beach heading back to where we'd parked and I heard this little whimpering sound. I followed it to this broken down car that you could tell had been in the lot a long time and when I looked under the car, there was this tiny little black ball pressed against the inside of the tire and shivering. I pulled her out and I could see right away she was sick. So Whit and I asked around for a vet and took her in.
"She was dehydrated and malnourished but otherwise okay. She was so young the vet figured she'd gotten lost from her mom and had gotten scared and hid under the car. At first I left her there, figuring she belonged to somebody and they'd come and get her. But when I called to check on her a couple days later and nobody had called about her, I went and got her." Edward shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal but the soft look in his eyes gave him away. "She needed a home."
There didn't really seem to be anything for Bella to say to that so she stayed silent. But just because she didn't have anything worth saying didn't mean she wasn't thinking. She wondered if one person could get whiplash from seeing so many sides of another person. In one day, she'd seen bossy, annoying, excited, professional and relaxed. And now she'd just seen sweet and caring. The last was definitely the best, she thought as she smiled around a spoonful of her plain grape shaved ice.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
"We're so late," Bella squealed, holding tight to Masen's hand as they ran across the parking lot together.
"We're not that late."
"We so are," she argued with a soft laugh. "Esme's called you three times already. I bet she's gonna ground you."
"I'll tell her it's your fault," he said, smiling as he opened the restaurant door and ushered her in ahead of him. His hand stayed at the small of her back, guiding her around the crowded restaurant and to the booth containing his family.
Lee was sandwiched in between Whit on the end and Gopher against the wall on one side, the three of them laughing their heads off about something. Esme was sitting at the edge of her side of the booth but when she spotted Masen and Bella, she scooted over to make room for them.
As soon as Masen was seated, he snagged a couple of calamari strips, tilted his head back, and dropped them into his mouth.
"Seriously, do you have a tapeworm?" It was the second time Bella had asked him that today. The first had been in the kitchen of his home before they'd changed for dinner. She'd told him she couldn't understand how he was hungry after the huge breakfast, the filling lunch, and the shaved ice. She'd also channeled his mother perfectly and told him not to fill up on junk right before dinner.
He decided to answer her the same way he had in the kitchen. "I have a high metabolism."
Her reaction was identical to earlier; she snorted and rolled her eyes which made him grin. And then she picked up a menu, using it as a shield to hide her face and the blush creeping up her cheeks. She didn't seem to realize the menu only blocked her from the people sitting across from her and not right beside.
Rather than pointing out the flaw in her master plan, Masen picked up his own menu. "Mom, will you split Kim Chee with me?"
"Split hell," Whit said, yanking the menu from Masen's hand. "You give the woman like two spoonfuls and then devour the rest. I think Guppy's on to something with this tapeworm idea."
"Mom, tell him that's not true," Masen ordered while struggling to get his menu out of Whit's hand.
Esme's initial response was to laugh. "I would, Kid, but he's right. And stop with the horsing around. We've been waiting for you to show up and we want to get dinner ordered."
"Yeah, some of us are starving," Gopher added, rubbing a hand over his stomach.
"What's wrong, Gopher? You skip fifth breakfast?" Masen teased, showing of a toothy grin. "Or was it third lunch?"
"Masen! Focus!" Lee ordered, pointing at the menu in his hands. "What do you want to eat?"
"I'm still waiting on Mom to answer me. Are you splitting the rice with me?"
"Not this time. Why don't you ask Bella to split with you?" Esme suggested.
"Yeah, right," he scoffed. "She'll probably end up ordering plain chicken fingers. She has no sense of adventure when it comes to food, which is really gonna suck for her once we're on the boat and subjected to Gopher's cooking."
"Actually," Bella said as she finally lowered her menu. "I'm debating between the Yakisoba with Kim Chee and the Farmer's Salad." She gave Masen a sideways glance and a smile. "My metabolism can't handle both."
"There you go, Edward. Perfect solution. Share with Bella," Esme suggested.
Masen didn't hear her, though; he was too busy staring at Bella. "From grape to Yakisoba? You sure about that, Guppy?"
Bella nodded and whatever thought she had in her head made her face turn red from the effort she was putting forth not to laugh. Finally she couldn't hold it anymore and she let out her laugh and her thought, "They're just noodles. They won't bite."
Masen gave a dramatic groan and shifted his body away from her to block her and her laughter out. The effect was ruined by the fact that he was laughing under his breath.
Whit leaned across the table and flicked Masen's forearm to get his attention. "Inside jokes, huh?"
Masen snorted at his friend's ridiculous grin. "One joke. And only because she made such a big deal out of not saying 'shark'."
"Uh, no. That was the second. The first was the thing about going from grape to the noodles."
A thump to the back of his head had Masen turning away from Whit and looking at his mom. "What?"
"Focus, please. What have you decided on?"
"I'll split the noodles and salad with Bella."
"Good. Now get the waiter's attention so we can order our food."
Masen did as he was told and as soon as he'd given the order he was splitting with Bella to the waiter, he dove into the plate of calamari, earning himself a slap from Lee for hogging the appetizer.
While he was busy rubbing the red spot on the back of his hand, he noticed Whit was once again leaning across the table. "What?"
"Nothing. Just wondering if you decided to take my advice after all."
"No." He was positive he'd said it with just the right amount of force to make it clear to Whit that nothing was going on, but the grin on his friend's face said otherwise.
"What room did she pick?"
Masen lifted a finger and started scratching the bridge of his nose; it was a tell that Whit knew well and that had him laughing.
"So if you didn't take her on a tour of the boat, what did you do with her all day long that made you late for dinner?"
Masen considered answering his friend. And then he considered how much fun it would be to let Whit's mind spin with all kinds of crazy ideas and then let him down with the truth. They'd toured the boat, seen a pod of orcas, viewed some pictures, and then spent the afternoon playing Frisbee in the park where they'd lost track of time. Nothing exciting or intriguing at all about that. Except for that one tiny little detail about it having been the best time he'd spent with a female, other than Lee and Esme, in a long time.
Masen's silence earned him a single raised eyebrow from Whit. "That eyebrow thing doesn't work on me. I don't have the requisite equipment," he told his friend.
"You only say that shit because you can't do it."
"You only say that because you have a man-crush on The Rock."
Whit pulled in a breath and then did something truly scary—he smiled. "Mase, let's go get some beers at the bar."
"Get them from our waiter."
"Our waiter is busy."
"Okay, what about that waiter?" Masen asked, discretely pointing to a server two booths over.
"That guy's not our waiter. It would be irresponsible—nay immoral and ineffectual—to have him serve beers at a table not his own, for then he will be deprived of his rightly due compensation."
Masen snorted at his friend's rant. "Practicing for the blog, huh? And just how would it be feeble to ask a different waiter for help?"
Whit got to his feet as he said, "I'll tell you at the bar."
He groaned but got up to go with his friend; he knew refusing to go was only going to put off the inevitable. He always confessed to Whit sooner or later and usually sooner was the better choice. "We're getting beers. Anyone else want one?"
No one seemed to even notice he had spoken; Gopher and Lee were looking at something on his phone while Esme and Bella were busy laughing at whatever they'd been telling each other for the last few minutes.
"I'm buying," Whit said as they settled onto stools at the far end of the bar.
"Bribery? Really, Whit? I expected so much better from you."
"No, the beer's to loosen your tongue up. The bribery is that if you don't tell me, I'll ask Bella. And I probably won't be all that great at not giving away why I'm asking."
"Mother f-er," Masen growled.
His friend's reply was instant and crude but it also had him laughing and relaxing since both of them knew it wasn't true. "Only if it's yours."
Once they'd each enjoyed a few sips of their beers, Masen started talking without furthering prompting. "I gave her the tour of the boat and then left her to pick out her room while I went up to look over the charts. I had the radio on and—"
"You heard about the pod," Whit interrupted. "Which means you grabbed a camera and hopped on the skiff. Had Bella seen a pod in the wild before?"
"No. And she really enjoyed it."
"So is that when you started warming up to calling her Guppy?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You hated that name this morning but you just used it at the table to tease her."
Masen grinned at him. "You're reaching, Whit. It's not pretty, man."
Whit lifted his one eyebrow again and then said something that had Masen struggling not to spit out the beer he'd just filled his mouth with. "You're right, Mase. It's not nearly as pretty as that smile on your face when you first walked up with your hand on her back."
Whit laughed at the effect of his words while patting a coughing Masen on the back until he got his hand shoved away. "So what else did you do with Guppy today, Mase?"
He shrugged. "We had lunch on the boat and looked through the pictures I took. Then I wanted shaved ice after so I took her to Waiola's and then we went to the park to eat them. We ended up sticking around and playing Frisbee and lost track of time. It was nothing."
"Except you shared your photos and your snack and your park with her."
Masen tried to stop his hand but his finger was already scratching at the bridge of his nose and Whit noticed immediately.
"Spit it out, Mase."
"She noticed my eyes were different today."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Whit said, tipping his beer bottle toward him. "Did they stay blue all day?"
"Don't know. Wasn't looking in the mirror to see."
"Did it feel like they were blue all day?"
"Look, let's not make a big deal out of this, okay? I spent the day with her, she wasn't completely annoying, and it was … nice."
"Well then, here's to a nice day," Whit said, holding his beer bottle up to toast.
Masen clinked bottles with him; he also tried to use drinking from his bottle to hide his smile. He didn't want to give Whit anymore ammunition against him than he already had tonight and his friend had a way of weaseling more information out of him than he wanted to give.
And he damn sure didn't want to give up the fact that he was hoping to have another nice afternoon tomorrow with Bella once the final check was complete on the boat. He had plans to take her to the aquarium to find out under safe, controlled circumstances just how afraid she was of sharks so he could tailor his lessons to her needs. And if Whit had anything else smart-ass to say, Masen would just point out that he wasn't doing anything more than being a good boss and mentor. Not one damn thing.
"Come on," Whit said as he stood and patted Masen's shoulder. "Waiter's dropping off our food."
"Good because I'm starving."
"Worked up an appetite today, did ya?"
"Whit, I swear I will beat the shit out of you if you don't stop."
He gave a low, menacing chuckle. "Mighty touchy for it not being a big deal, Mase."
"Seriously, man, be a friend and shut the fuck up."
"Not another word during dinner," Whit promised, pretending to button his lips shut.
Masen didn't trust that pledge at all and if there had been any way to discretely sucker punch Whit in the side without Esme's eagle-eye seeing it, he would have done it in a heartbeat.
"It's about time you two return," Lee said as they sat down.
"We needed beers and the bar had them," Whit told her. "If you'd have had them, I never would've left your pretty face alone."
"That's gorgeous face to you, butthead," Lee said, grinning as she pinched Whit's shoulder. "As a matter of fact, a guy mistook me for Kate Beckinsale just this morning."
Masen snorted and his lips pulled up into the cocky grin that always pissed her off more than his words. Although this time, it was going to be a close race. "Did you give a biscuit to his guide dog?" he asked.
Lee gasped while Whit and Gopher guffawed laughter on either side of her; Masen's smile widened knowing they would pay for that laughter later on and probably more than he would for making the joke.
Lee recovered quickly, her own sinister smile gracing her face as she leaned in toward him. "He might have been blind, but I bet he still surfs better than you."
"Oh, shit!" Whit and Gopher had not only spoken at the same time, they'd slid as far away from Lee as they could get.
Masen's elbow hit the table with enough force to rattle the plate of noodles next to his arm. He pointed a finger at Lee and looked at her with narrowed eyes. And then his entire face relaxed and a huge smile filled his face. "You win this round."
"Oh my gosh," Bella gushed, holding both of her hands over her mouth. "I thought you guys were serious." The paleness of her face mixed with the twitch in her hands showed just how worried she'd been and it took everything in him not to laugh at her reaction.
"Edward, shame on you," Esme said, swatting him in the back of the head. "You nearly gave poor Bella a heart attack."
"Hey, guppies are supposed to be sturdier fish than that," he joked, grinning down at Bella as he watched the color return to her face.
"We'll explore that theory more later," Esme said as she pulled her plate closer to her. "Right now, it's time to eat."
With that, they busied themselves with sharing food and filling their stomachs. They were about half-way through the meal before anyone started talking again. "Edward, is it safe to assume you saw the pod?" Esme asked.
He nodded his head, busy with a huge piece of steak he'd scored from Lee's plate.
"There was a pod? How did I not know this?" Lee asked.
"Well when you spend all day holed up in bed with Gopher there," Whit offered up as an answer.
She poked him in the side with her elbow. "We were with my parents, you ass. Did you know about the pod?"
"Not until it had already come and gone. I was busy stacking shelves with my dad while my mom talked the ears off the customers."
"Please tell me you got pictures," Lee pleaded, looking over at Masen.
"Yeah, I got a few."
"Ha," Bella scoffed before clamping both hands over her mouth. Her brown eyes were wide and her face was beet red; her reaction had everyone at the table laughing.
"Don't be afraid to speak your mind," Esme told her as she gave her a hug. "We appreciate honesty around here. Especially when it's directed at Edward over there."
"Mom, stop picking on me. You're going to make me cry," he dead-panned.
Bella put her hands down and let out a breath. "It's just … He took a ton of pictures. It was like watching a flipbook when he went through them."
"A phone call would have been nice, you know," Lee said, once again directing her gaze to Masen.
"I was on the boat. You know I don't take my phone with me on the boat."
"Lee, you know Mase and phones don't mix well," Whit joked.
"Shut up," Masen replied, pointing his fork at his friend. He was not in the mood to discuss how he'd forgotten his phone was in his pocket when he'd jumped into the water a couple of weeks ago. Or how that hadn't been the first time.
"What? We're all getting acquainted here and I think it's important for Bella to know that cellphones have a tendency to meet an untimely death around you," he continued.
"Oh, well then that gives us something in common," Bella said, her brown eyes darting between Whit and Masen. "Phones don't live long around me either."
Masen snorted. "You probably kill them on purpose to get a break from your bubbly sister."
Bella was too busy gasping over his comment to notice that Whit had kicked Masen under the table. He almost cursed him but then realized it was meant to make him look at Whit's hand on his beer bottle and the three fingers it was showing him. Three fingers meant to signify three inside jokes.
"Remember our conversation about annoying?" Bella asked, digging her elbow into Masen's arm. As much as he wanted to see the look on her face at that moment, he couldn't help watching as Whit curled a fourth finger around his beer bottle.
"When we get back to the house, I want to see the pictures." Lee's comment was a good excuse to look away from Whit and Masen gladly took it.
"Yeah, I'll plug the camera into the laptop and we'll throw it up on the projector," he told her.
"Start with the one with the tail out of the water and the splash all up in the air, like a fountain in the middle of the ocean," Bella suggested.
"Sounds as though watching the pod was a beautiful sight," Esme ventured, her gray eyes locked on Masen's face.
He turned away from her probing gaze but that just left him looking at Whit's shitty grin and his fingers around his beer bottle. Masen rolled his eyes, not sure if it was at himself or his friend, and took a long drink from his own beer.
"Well I for one can't wait to hear all about your day, Mase," Lee said, giving him a grin that mirrored the one on Whit's face.
For the first time since the food had arrived Gopher spoke up and Masen couldn't ever remember wishing so hard that the man had kept his mouth shut. "So how come you two were late getting here? Did the pod stay in the area that long?"
Whit was of course all too happy to join in and pretend he didn't already know the reason. "Yeah, Mase. Why so late?"
It was Esme who answered their questions and she looked just a little too pleased to be doing it for Masen's taste. "Edward was busy losing to Bella at Frisbee in the park."
"I was not losing," he argued, glaring first at Bella and then at his mom. "We weren't even playing for points."
"That doesn't mean I didn't notice how many times you didn't catch the thing," Bella told him.
"I was at a disadvantage with the sun in my face."
"You had sunglasses on," she argued.
"You had a hat on, blocking way more sunlight."
Bella shifted her body and turned her head toward Esme. "Was he always such a sore loser?"
Esme started the laughter off and the entire table followed right after—all but Masen who was shaking his head and hiding his smile behind his beer bottle. If tomorrow afternoon at the aquarium with Bella turned out to be half as good as today had been, then … Well, he really wasn't sure what that would mean and he didn't care to figure it out. He focused instead on finishing his dinner and listening to the laughter and jokes floating around the table.
A/N: We are trying to get onto a more regular posting schedule but Real Life has not been cooperating with that goal. Seriously, not even when bribed with Godiva Chocolates! We hope to have another chapter for you in two weeks but it might be three. Thanks for reading!