A/N: Okay so, clarification. Bella is written by EveryDayBella. She's the hockey nut. Kris abhors hockey. But EDB has a story with a hockeyward so maybe you hockey nuts outta check that out, eh?

Onward!

It was late when I walked in the door. Well, late for me. Since I was a bartender, my internal clock was screwy. It was only early afternoon, but because I hadn't been to bed yet, I was screwed. I just wanted my bed and a few hours sleep.

I'd barely stepped a foot in the door when I found myself flying forward, my arms waving wildly. Faceplanting was just what I needed to make my day better. With a groan, I rolled onto my back and looked to see what I'd gotten my leg tangled in.

Bags. Two bags. I glared at them because they had been there in the foyer when I left the night before. Irritation creeped up my spine, and I gritted my teeth. I'd given the new girl the benefit of the doubt. When I saw the bags there last night, I hadn't said a word. I was trying to be good-at least good enough for Emmett and Jasper to get off my back.

It wasn't like we lived in pristine conditions. We were three guys, and none of us were neatniks, but we all seemed to have mastered the art of keeping our controlled chaos to our own rooms. Bella, apparently, was deficient in that department.

I climbed to my feet, still glaring at the bags as though I could get them to apologize. When they didn't answer, I toed them, peering in at the contents. I wasn't trying to snoop. Like I said, I was trying to be good, and I couldn't go accusing the new girl of leaving her crap all over the place only to have it turn out to be one of the guy's. Or if it was hers, it was just a good idea to know what was in it. What if she'd left something perishable like milk or something that would stink up the place. That would be just my luck.

The first bag held a few basics. Shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel. Definitely not Jasper or Emmett's bag then. Even though I knew it was Bella's now, I still looked in the second bag. I don't know why. It seemed like the thing to do. I regretted it.

What was it about underwear that was so personal? It was just scraps of fabric. It wasn't as though they were on her. And they weren't particularly enticing as underwear went. Plain cotton in various colors and patterns. Nothing lacy or scandalous.

I liked simple.

But that was beside the point. The sight of them had me blushing like a schoolboy who found his first porno mag. That irritated me even more. Who left a bag full of panties out on the foyer?

In a huff, I grabbed up the bags and marched toward the hallway with intent. I'd leave the damn things outside her door. That wasn't rude, right?

As I rounded the corner into the hallway, I ran into a solid body. Arms went flying. Bags went flying. Panties went flying. It all happened very fast. Bella, clad only in a towel, her hair hanging down soaking wet, bounced off me. Since the wood floor was wet from her hair, she slid. The towel fell. Reacting automatically, I reached out and pulled her toward me. We landed in a heap - a soaking wet, very naked girl and me amidst a pile of panties.

Yeah.

Bella sat up first, her hands on my chest instead of hers. "Um. I, uh," she stumbled. "Good catch?"

Her breasts were glorious. Small and perky and-

What? They were right there and, like I said, glorious, and, "Can you please put those away? For fuck's sake."

Her expression was confused. She looked down at her breasts and gasped as if she'd just realized they were there. "Oh, shit." She rolled away from him and grabbed at her discarded towel, pulling it up to her chest.

"What the hell are you doing wandering around here half-naked?" Yeah I was pissed. The towel she was carrying wasn't covering nearly enough of her, and I was all wet and she was all wet and it was just a distracting situation and god dammit, I couldn't get her perfect tits out of my head.

"I, um…" She got to her feet. "I was taking a shower, and-" She turned halfway around, gesturing back at the bathroom, and I cut her off.

"Whoa. Hey." Yeah. Nice firm ass.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry." She laughed nervously and adjusted the towel around herself more properly. "Christ, this is awkward, right? I mean, you've seen my naughty bits. Maybe you should flash me yours."

She was trying to joke with me. I knew she was, but fuck if that comment didn't go straight to my dick. My mind was blank white.

Her grin fell. "Right. Okay. I'm picking the lukewarm vibe for your sense of humor so…" She cleared her throat. "Sorry. I didn't think anyone was home. I left my stuff out-"

"Yeah. I noticed when I fell on my ass. It seems to be happening a lot today."

She sighed. It was an exasperated sound. "Yeah, okay, bud, I get it. I suck." She stooped to grab her shampoo and conditioner. "I'll clean this all up in a minute."

Before I could react, she'd whirled around and disappeared back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I winced at the sound.

"Fuck."

~0~

I had every intention of apologizing. I really did. It was just that immediately after our little spat, I decided I was too tired and cranky to think straight. What good would an apology do if I just fucked it up with my irritation?

So I went to sleep, and when I got up, Bella wasn't there. And when I came home, Bella was asleep. And when I got up Bella wasn't there, and so on and so forth until a week and a half had passed.

That, in and of itself, was odd. The first few days it was just happenstance and different schedules that kept us from running into each other, but after a week and a half? No. She was avoiding me, and who could blame her?

One night I got home later than usual from the bar. It had been a bad night. I was covered, covered, in booze and man-sweat from the guy who'd tried to pick a fight with me. My job wasn't glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't usually too gruesome. A couple times a year maybe, some asshole would get, well, asshole-y and I ended up covered in something nasty.

Well, at least it wasn't vomit this time.

I trudged to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I stripped out of every single article of clothing I had on, but before I got in the shower, I leaned on the counter. I was beat. It was that level of exhaustion where when you stopped moving for even a second, you had to convince yourself to start up again. I took a few deep breaths.

Before I could move, the door opened. "Oh God!"

I whirled around without thinking and found myself facing a wide-eyed, red-faced Bella. She jumped, and her eyes zeroed in low on my body.

You know, I had asked myself several times how she could have forogotten-for those first few seconds after we'd collided a week and a half ago-she was naked and not even bothered to try covering herself up. The answer was shock, because I didn't try to cover myself up either. I just watched in horror as her eyes did this widening, narrowing, widening thing, and then…

She giggled.

Bella clapped a hand over her mouth to smother her laugh as she looked back up at my eyes and I snatched my shirt up off the ground to cover myself. "I'm sorry," she said. "I-"

"Christ, do you do this shit on purpose?"

"Uh, uh… Well, goodnight."

And then she was gone again, the door closing behind her.

"Fuck!"

A/N: Many thanks to barburella and songster!