The house was packed this time with hungry boys it seemed like. I felt my cheeks go red this time though; every one of them was without a shirt.
I felt like I had been thrown into a pit of muscled men, all skin and beauty.
"Hey it's Lilah our new friend. Hey Natty." I heard Quil say as they noticed us.
"Hey you gonna show us some moves girl. I bet we would be a good batch of students to teach." Paul said his eyebrow raised and a smile on his mouth as he joked with me.
I laughed; I was feeling more comfortable around them.
"Hmm maybe next time you guys. So what's with the whole no shirt thing by the way? I feel like I just fell onto a weird runway show." I said pushing aside my nervousness, and hoping I could make them laugh.
I heard Emily's sweet musical laugh as she emerged from the kitchen.
"Oh, don't fuel their ego's. They are way to big as it is." She said laughing.
I smiled back and Natalia moved over and gave her a big hug.
They both moved back into the kitchen to chat and I made my way to the table in an empty seat next to Embry.
"So no one answered my question, are you guys just super comfortable with yourselves or something?" I said laughing slightly.
"Maybe, its just warm to us. I guess, its just something we don't think about I guess, we have always done it around each other." Embry said next to me.
I could feel my gaze drawn to someone that had just entered the room.
I looked up to feel my heart skip as I recognized Jacob as he stepped into the room. My cheeks began to heat up as I realized he too was without a shirt. His chest was ridiculous, it was perfectly sculpted, and the dull rays of sunlight that glinted through the clouds brought out the reddish brown hue to his skin.
My face was growing warmer by the minute every part of the foolish girl in me wanting to run my hands across his flawless and no doubt soft skin.
I tried to tear my eyes away but I was finding it exceedingly difficult.
Finally with a lot of effort I moved my eyes to his and smiled.
He looked back, that same odd emotion running through his eyes.
I noticed the room had become quiet, all of them looking between us two. Even Emily and Natalia had peeked their heads into the room to watch the two of us interact like…well blubbering idiots it seemed.
"Wow two times in an hour we are really setting a record here." I said laughing and patting the empty chair next to me for him to sit.
It was the only one open and part of me was squirming with nerves but the other part of me was hoping with every fiber that he could be closer.
He looked at me awkwardly for a minute, before slowly smiling and moving to sit next to me.
"Two times eh? Where else did you guys see each other?" Seth asked across the table from us his eyes dripping with curiosity. He was truly grinning like a little kid waiting for a sweet that seemed to be the juicy bit of information that I held.
I laughed at his excitement.
"Oh, I was taking pictures earlier and kind of wandered. When I looked up I had his little sister demanding to know whom I was. Him and his dad came out a bit later, and we said hi before I had to leave…to come here, as it seems. Not super interesting really."
I looked down a little embarrassed.
"Nah, that's totally exciting. Pshhh." I heard Paul mock from my left. I looked at him and stuck out my tongue, stunned at my confidence.
Back home I would have never had the guts to talk to guys like this. I felt incredible.
"That's cool that you take pictures. Could we see them?" Seth asked smiling.
Natalia and Emily came back into the room just at that moment bringing in a mountain of sandwiches with them.
"Actually you guys can see them tomorrow night. We are hosting a dinner at our house and some of her pictures are already up. I think you guys will really like them actually. When I met her she was taking photos of Wolves in the enclosure at the zoo. A couple of those photos are on the walls actually." Natty said looking around the room and raising her eyebrow slightly.
I looked at her slightly confused by the expression she was giving them.
"Awww don't make them think I'm some sort of geek, the people back home already thought I was some weird freak obsessed with wolves, I would like to seem at least a little less like a geek now that I'm starting over." I said giving her a laugh as I quickly reached for a sandwich before the boys grabbed them all.
The guys around me looked like they really did know something I didn't. It felt so weird; each one of them was looking at Jacob as if willing him to talk, raising their eyebrows in some unknown suggestion.
"That's not weird at all. I don't think anyone here will take you for some abnormal person for having a fondness for wolves." I jumped a little as Jacobs husky voice spoke. I looked at him and smiled.
He looked less confused, slightly surprised and clearly annoyed by the looks he was getting from the gang around us.
"Well I'm thankful for that." I said taking a bite into my sandwich.
The talking suddenly ceased as a ton of muscled brown arms grabbed sandwich after sandwich.
I still couldn't get used to how much these guys ate it was crazy.
Natty and I would really have our work cut out for us tomorrow when everyone was over.
I ate my sandwich and finished by the time that many of the other boys seemed to eat 4 or 5 of their sandwiches.
"Did you have enough to eat, if not you can have one of my sandwiches." I heard Jacob whisper to me in his lovely deep voice.
The hairs on the back of my neck responded despite my brain raising themselves as I felt a tingling run through my skin. I looked over at him smiling as I connected with his eyes.
"Thank you but don't worry. I'm really quite full." I said my heart leaping with joy despite myself at the fact that he was talking to me without a look of pain in his eyes.
"Really, I mean you barely ate anything. Don't be afraid to say if you are it bets it kind of weird for you girls to get used to how we eat. And probably harder to grab enough food before we grab it all." Embry was saying laughing as he spoke.
I shook my head earnestly.
"No really, I'm full. I guess my appetite is still a little off." I said partly to myself.
I felt curious gazes on me as I realized what I had said. My appetite had been really off after the hospital and the beating.
My body just didn't seem to want to eat as much.
I wasn't sure how many people knew, or how many knew about everything if any. I didn't want to hide it though, nor did I want to say anything without being asked. I don't want to be a pity case.
"How are you feeling by the way? Did the cream help?" Emily asked seeming to sense my confusion of what else to say.
I looked at her thankfully.
"I'm doing really good actually. I feel more like myself. And that cream is incredible, it really works fast." I said.
I could feel everyone looking at me with the same question. What happened? I wasn't sure how to answer it or how to respond to their looks so I stayed quiet.
Natalia sensed my unsure ness and came to my rescue, without my even asking it.
I smiled as she excused Emily, herself, and I to go for shopping.
We walked out to the car, but I stopped as I heard someone call out my name in a deep voice.
It was an incredible sound, when he said my name. It sounded prettier and sexy with his deep voice sounding out the letters.
I turned feeling my face heat up a little despite my every effort to keep it from turning red.
"Hey, um I just wanted to say sorry for how I have been acting. I'm sure you have heard about the whole Bella thing, it's just a bit hard for me to talk to girls now. It kind of…hurts I guess." He said looking at me solemnly.
I held my hand up as he tried to keep talking.
"You don't need to apologize. I completely understand…. I understand that sometimes it's the people we love the most…that hurt us the most." I said feeling my voice grow quiet as that night replayed in my mind for the hundredth time.
I looked up and smiled a little. He looked so sad at the words I had spoken, and yet he seemed relieved.
"I know I might still be a bit awkward and I am sorry. I hope we can be friends, I'm just not sure if I can act like all the guys do in there you know?" He said the side of his full lips curving into a small smile.
"Don't worry, I'm known for my patience and understanding." I said laughing remembering the kids at my school and how frustrated they would get when I never spoke a word to their jests and insults. I had always been calm in temper, and I had never had a problem waiting.
His eyes looked somewhat surprised, the emotion quickly disappearing as relief replaced it.
"That's pretty perfect actually…well hey we are all going to the beach the day after tomorrow why don't you join us. I can pick you up at your house if you want around…11pm?" He asked his eyes looking so sweet and hopeful. I real sense of innocence shown in their depths, the innocence of hopes that was slowly coming back to life.
"That sounds like fun, I'd love to. Oh wait I should ask Natty first though."I said realizing that it would be polite now that I was her daughter of sorts.
Even before I turned to look at her I felt her soft hand on my shoulder.
"Of course you can go darling. It sounds like a great idea. Well Jake we really must be off now, sorry to break up this lovely talk but we will see you and your dad and little sister I hope tomorrow night for dinner?" Natty said hopefully looking at him.
"Yeah, Lily's really happy she can finally come she wasn't that happy last night when she found out she had to stay home and not come to dinner." He said.
We said our goodbye, and he gave mea quick wave before retreating into the house.
I heard hooting and cheering as he entered and looked to Natty in confusion.
She laughed at my expression.
"They are really happy to see that he is finally talking to girls again. They most likely badgered him until he finally struck up the courage to come out here and talk to you. You really like him don't you." She said smiling mischievously at me.
I nodded slightly and ducked my head into the car quickly.
I hoped they wouldn't think I was weird for liking him so quickly, especially Emily.
"Don't worry silly, I'm really glad you do. Even as a friend you will be a really great influence on him. It's really nice to actually seem him smile like his old self again. It's been months and even though I'm sympathetic in nature, truthfully I'm tired of his sulking." Emily said putting her arm around me lovingly.
"Looks like we need to get you a bathing suit now." Natty said smiling at me as we drove off.