CHAPTER 4
BPOV
Sighing as I set the barbell back on the bench, I willed my enhanced strength to fade. Normally the exercise helped me clear my thoughts, but it was wasn't working. Ever since the barbeque three days ago, I couldn't get Jared Bronson out of my head. All I could think about was handsome he looked, how well formed his muscles were, the blue of his eyes. It was driving me insane, I hadn't even talked to the guy and here I was pining after him.
And the worst part was that I knew he was one of Sam Uley's lackeys. And after talking to both Jacob and Leah, that was not a good point for the man, no mater how handsome I thought he was.
Added to that was my issues with the Cullens at school. Yesterday, Jasper Hale had brushed past me in the hallways, and my strength had unconsciously increased again. Yet today, Emmett Cullen had bumped into me, then helped me pick my books up, and my strength hadn't increased at all. In fact Emmett had cracked a couple jokes and apologized to me. It didn't make any sense to me that I would react to two of the siblings, but not a third.
I toweled off the sweat that accumulated from my exercise as I made my up the steps and out of the basement. I really wish I could bench something, but there was no exercise equipment that would give me the challenge, and I didn't dare go out into the forest to bench a tree. It wasn't that I was afraid of anything, I doubted anything in the forest would be more dangerous than me, but I didn't know the area and would probably get lost. So I settled for running on Charlies treadmill and doing curls with his barbell set. None of the other exercise equipment he had in the basement could offer enough weight to challenge me.
As I was halfway up the second flight of stairs, headed to the second floor and a shower, the phone rang and I turned around to make my way to the kitchen.
"Swan residence," I answered as I picked up the phone.
"Is this Bella Swan?" the male voice on the other end asked.
"It is. May I ask who's calling?"
"Um, Jared Bronson. I was at Billy's house the other day for the barbeque."
I felt my heart rate pick up. "I remember. Why are you calling?"
"I didn't really get a chance to speak to you at the barbeque," he said. "I was wondering if perhaps you could come down to La Push, or if I could come and visit you. Just to talk," he added hastily.
I weighed the pros and cons. On one hand, I didn't know the guy, and he could be a stalker or rapist intent on doing me bodily harm. On the other hand, I was curious about him. And I was more than capable of defending myself if he did try anything. "Sure," I answered. I heard him sigh in relief. "I'll take a shower and come down to La Push. I'll meet you at Sue's diner, I need to eat something anyways."
I swear I could here him smiling on the other end of the phone. "That's great, I'll see you there."
JPOV
I was nervous as I waited in booth at the diner. I honestly don't know why I'm nervous, as I know the imprint works both ways, but I couldn't help it.
I was blown away when I saw Bella walk into the diner. Her hair was still damp from her shower and pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a black t-shirt that hugged her body, along with tight jeans that hugged her figure. And, for the first time, I noticed how muscular she seemed. She wasn't ripped, like me and the pack were, but I could see the definition in her well toned arms and legs, and it's not hard for me to imagine that her stomach is just as toned. Apparently, Bella Swan took good care of her body.
I waved her over and waited for her to make her way over to me. "Thanks for seeing me Bella," I said as I she sat down.
"Don't thank me yet," She said evenly. "By the end of this you may end up hating my guts."
I smiled, knowing that was impossible. "I sincerely doubt that."
After a few moment's Sue Clearwater herself came to take our order, no doubt having been informed of my imprint by her husband.
I ordered two steak dinners, well done and a large Mt. Dew. Surprisingly, at least to me, Bella ordered a steak dinner as well, only she asked for hers medium well, and a large Coke. I expected her to be more of a salad girl.
"So," she asked as we waited for Sue to return with our food, "what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Um..." Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I should have thought this through more. "How are you enjoying Washington?" I asked hesitantly. "Billy said that you lived with your mother down in Arizona."
Bella smiled. "I like it here," she said after a moment of thought. "The weather could be better, but there are less people, which I really enjoy."
"Your not a people person?" I was honestly surprised. Bella seemed as though she could get along with everyone. Hell, she was friendly with Leah the other day, and Leah was the biggest bitch I knew of since Sam left her for Emily.
She chuckled. "Let's just say that I have serious anger issues. And it's hard not to get angry in the big city, too many assholes."
I almost choked on my drink when I heard her swear, this girl was full of surprises. She gave me a pointed look and arched her eyebrow.
"Not what you expected, am I?"
I shook my head and smiled. "Not at all, not that that's a bad thing."
She smiled. "I hope not, otherwise I might just have to hit you."
I snorted at the thought. "A little thing like you would probably hurt herself more than me."
"So you don't think I can hurt you? I'm sure that having a baseball bat swung into your groin would be extremely painful."
I winced at the imagery she'd stuck in my mind. I may be a werewolf with super-healing powers, but I was sure I would still be in a lot of pain if that ever happened. She laughed.
"Don't even joke about things like that," I reprimanded her.
She smiled evilly, "Who said I was joking?"
Please don't tell me that I imprinted on the sadistic chick. "You are joking, aren't you?"
"Maybe. Though if you piss me off that much, a baseball bat to the groin will be the least of your worries." It was about this time that Sue came over with our drinks. After taking a sip of her Coke, she asked, "So, why do you hang around with Uley?"
I was instantly on the defensive, she was curious about my Alpha and friend. "He's a friend, why?"
Bella shrugged. "From what I can tell, and please don't take this the wrong way, but he's a bastard."
I was torn between defending my Alpha, and agreeing with my imprint. I settled for a neutral question. "Why do you get that impression?" I asked, hoping she didn't notice the stress in my voice.
She took another sip of Coke, and I wanted to kill her straw out of jealousy. It had her pale pink lips around it after all. "He goes out with one girl, proposes to her, then leaves her for her cousin. He keeps eyeballing younger boys like my friend Jake. And finally, he's sucked up to the Elders enough that his ex's own father still likes him, despite the fact that Sam broke his daughter's heart. I know that if anyone did that, well I'm pretty sure a body would never be found."
You know, when she explained it that way, Sam did sound like a bastard. I knew otherwise because I'm a part of the pack, so I understand everything that she's explained, but from an outside point of view, I can see were she got her impression. I also wondered if she was trying to give me a warning at the end of her little rant.
"You know," I said, trying to defend Sam as much as I could, "it's all a bit more complicated then that."
Her eyebrow arched. "Care to explain?"
"I can't. Not that I don't want to, but I can't. It tribe business."
"Well until you can, I'm just going to keep believing he's a bastard."
When Sue came with our food we ate in silence. And I was entranced by her every time she took a bite of her food. I never knew eating could be so erotic, then again maybe that's just the imprint talking.
When we finished, she stood up, surprising me. "Thanks for the meal, but I better head home. I don't want Charlie worrying about me."
That was disappointing. "Um...sure. Listen, I was wondering if maybe, we could hang out again some time?"
She smiled. "We'll see. Write your number down and I'll give you a call when I make up my mind."
I quickly looked around for a pen, all I could find were the crayons Sue kept at all the tables for the kinds. I grabbed one and wrote my number down on a napkin. "If I don't answer, leave a message and I'll call as soon as I get it."
She snorted. "Of course."
After I handed her the napkin I watched her as she walked out of the diner. I couldn't help but be entranced by the sway of her hips. Damn I hated to see her leave, but I also loved watching her go.
Damned imprint.
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BPOV
I was surprised to find Charlie waiting for me when I walked in the door. He was dressed in his workout clothes and had a slight scowl on his face.
"Hey Charlie," I said with a smile.
"Bella," he greeted. "Do you remember what I told you about using my equipment?"
"To always set everything back so that you could actually use it."
He nodded. "So imagine my surprise when I go downstairs to find my barbell, a lot heavier than I'm capable of benching."
I smacked my head. Damn it, I knew I forgot something. I had the barbells weighted as much as I could, a full thousand pounds. And while it was easy for me to do one-armed curls with that weight, Charlie could only bench about 450 at most, though he preferred 300 when he worked out.
I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
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JPOV
"So how'd it go," Paul asked as I stepped through the door to Sam's house, were Sam, Emily, Paul, and Kim were all waiting for me to tell them how my date went.
"It was...interesting," I explained. "Bella's a little scary."
Sam snorted and Paul mocked me. "Aww! Is Jared scared of the big, bad Bella?"
I glared at him. "You would be too if she mentioned taking a baseball to your balls."
Everyone's eyes widened. Though Sam and Paul winced as Emily and Kim began to laugh.
"Please tell me she was joking?" Sam pleaded.
I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Like I said, she's a bit scary."
"Oh my god," Kim said through her laugh. "Emily, we really need to get Bella over here. Maybe she can teach us how to scare our wolves."
Emily smirked. "Definitely."
Sam and Paul looked horrified. And I knew they weren't looking forward to Bella spending time with their girls.
I had a feeling the girl would utterly dominate us when that came to pass, not that they didn't already.
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