AN: OMG people! I should ask you guys to review more often! Not only did 100 of you review the last chapter, 138 of you did. I feel like I should jump around Super Mario Bros style and have "wahoo!" sound effects in the background. Whoa, there. You guys rock.

As promised, I've inducted several more of you into the Call Girls' Clique – because Campward needs more adoration, right? Special thanks to Luv2read22, rangernstephfan, ajo, sweetpinkpaw, lizl, shaqbarcalis, sunfeathers, trimee, bluiqt, ksm, mscope, xxMiddayMoonxx, brittCboo, jnnw, Brucas True Love, PameCullen07, mom2rka, Happy00n05, RebeccaMCullen, maggiejoma, La la bella, Viola Cornuta, Angels And Airwaves, amrawo, ReadFish24, SumeraCullen, blueXsun, and Teresa R. Your enthusiasm and reviews never fail to make me smile.

If I missed you, you can shank me. I promise.

Other than that, super huge thank you's to my beta, lisa89 for putting up with me on a daily basis. And to il-bel-mondo and kaystu for getting me in line with this chapter. Without you two, it would have been as frazzled as Edward's current state of mind.

Also, don't forget about the Twi-High Anonymous Challenge. Submissions start on December 15, and I want to hear from all of you!

http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2165753/Twi-High_Anonymous_Challenge

Super huge Edward kisses to all of you. Seriously. Your feedback has been incredibly inspiring.

~Edward~

What the hell just happened?

Resistance was futile. I could absolutely, under no circumstances stay away from Bella. She had been far too tempting, walking into the audition looking like a freshly showered goddess. I could see every curve of her body, and it had taken everything in me to focus on the auditions instead of stare at her.

I had tried to stay away, honestly. After talking with Emmett down at the lake, I'd been resolved to keep some space as long as I was unsure of the status of our friendship. For three days, I'd watched from afar as she'd become the counselor I knew she could be. And the space I'd given her only made my longing for her body intensify. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and I'd attempted contact, needing her to spend more time with me.

I may or may not have suggested to Maria that the scene should include kissing—just to, you know, make sure the leads would have chemistry with one another and whatnot. And, oh shit, had that been one of my more brilliant ideas.

Then, as she'd taken the stage, ready to read our lines, the attraction had come back tenfold. I'd seen the sliver of white lace from underneath her shirt and nearly lost my shit. All I'd been able to think about was grabbing her pigtail braids and using them as reigns as I drove into her from behind. But as she'd begun her lines, warmth had flooded through my body, coming to life with the dulcet tones of her whispered voice. I'd frozen — completely paralyzed with fear in my realization. I was completely at her bidding. She controlled me, and she didn't even know it.

After my lips had connected with hers, I'd known it was all over.

I'd known it was inappropriate to kiss her like that in front of an audience, even at the time, but I hadn't been able to help myself. I'd needed another taste of her plush lips. And she hadn't disappointed. Bella had kissed me back.

But as I'd stepped back and opened my eyes, aching with hunger for more, Bella's eyes betrayed her. She'd looked shocked, nervous, and even a little bit scared. It was in that second that I'd realized how strong I'd actually just come on.

After days of barely speaking with Bella, I'd essentially thrown myself at her. And now I'd scared her off. Fabulous.

I needed a second opinion, someone to vent to — an impartial, unbiased third party. I could no longer vent to Jasper, clearly. He and Bella had become somewhat of an inseparable pair, and I knew that although he was great at listening, his advice would be stilted.

"Edward!" Maria called out, pulling me over to the piano. "That was great." She smiled warmly and motioned for Emmett and Jake to come over as well. I was expecting Emmett to look pissed, but he didn't for some reason. Jake, however, did.

"Edward, what the fuck was that?" he whispered with agitation, punching the back of my shoulder.

"Uh…" Brilliant response, really.

"I can't believe that you would take advantage of LB like that!" My eyes snapped open at that comment.

"Are you shitting me right now?" I asked in all seriousness. The guy constantly had his hands all over Bella, and he was talking to me about taking advantage? Fuck that. Jake scoffed and crossed his arms angrily, staring me down like he wanted to murder me. "You can grope her tits and ass, but I can't kiss her? When it was written out as a part of the fucking audition scene?" I fumed.

"I don't grope her," Jake continued to scoff.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "You absolutely do, Jake." He laughed and slapped Jake on the shoulder. "But she does it right back to you. I think it's kinda cute. Don't be pissed at Edward cause he stage-kissed her. It was part of the scene, jackass."

"Stage kiss? What even is that? It looked like you just molested her, Edward."

"Closed-mouthed kiss, sometimes with a finger in between. It's made to look like more of a kiss than it actually is," Maria added, obviously listening into our conversation.

"No tongue?" Jake asked skeptically. My stomach clenched, remembering the feeling of Bella's tongue caressing mine lightly.

Oh. So that's what that feeling is. Wow, I really am a moron.

I cleared my throat and shifted my gaze away from Jake. I hated lying. "Nope, no tongue." My eyes raised back up from the floor only to be met with Emmett's amused ones. Although why he was entertained, I had no idea.

"Boys," Maria called, regaining our attention. "I wanted to talk to you about something." We nodded, waiting patiently. "As you know, the counselor talent show is next week. I'd love you boys to MC together. The girls all love you, and I know that you're creative enough to keep them entertained in between acts. So, what do you say?"

"We'd love to, Maria." Jake smiled and kissed her cheek, causing her to blush slightly. I honestly thought that Jake didn't know how not to be a flirt. Maybe he thought that was how everyone interacted with women. Besides, the women didn't seem to have much of a problem with it.

Chuckling, I turned to follow Emmett out of the theater, ready to get a drink or watch a movie or sleep—something, anything — to get that kiss out of my head. Unfortunately, Emmett was headed straight for Rosalie, who happened to be sitting on the bleachers with Jasper, Alice, and — of course — Bella. Staring at her lips, our kiss started running on repeat through my mind.

She looked up into my eyes, startled, before quickly averting her gaze. I really had scared her off. Now I needed to back the fuck up and wait for her to give me some indication that my advances were, well, welcome. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I needed an outsider's opinion. Remembering that I had a day off next week, I walked outside to make an important phone call.

Emmett shot me a look of confusion, but I just took my phone out of my pocket and held it up before heading behind the theater. He nodded in acceptance before returning his attention to the crew sitting on the bleachers.

Sighing, I picked up the phone and pressed the familiar speed dial, which I hadn't used in months. I hoped she would actually answer the phone. It only rang once before her familiar melodic voice picked up.

"Edward? Is this a prank call?" I chuckled, unable to contain myself. Of course she would think I was calling as some sort of joke. It had been a while since I'd called her. "Teddy!" she sang out happily. "It is you! I'd recognize that evil laughter anywhere. It still haunts my dreams, you know."

I rolled my eyes, fully aware that she couldn't see me. She was the only one in the entire world allowed to call me Teddy, and only because she wouldn't stop. "Yeah, yeah. It's me. I know I've been kind of a stranger for the past year—"

"Kind of? Fuck, you even missed my birthday."

"Shit, I did? Wait, no I didn't. Your birthday isn't until October."

She laughed loudly and sighed. "That was a test, and you passed. Okay, pumpkin, what did you need?"

"Did you just call me 'pumpkin?'"

"Yeah. Do you remember when you used to be fat? Such a chubby little kid." I growled in frustration. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, after all. "What do you need, Teddy?" she continued, "I'm kind of busy here."

"I have the day off next week and wanted to know if you could meet me for lunch in Portland?" I asked in one breath, just needing to get it out.

She paused for a long moment before lowering her voice. "Edward, is everything okay?"

"Yes," I replied quickly. "I just miss you. Please?" I was so close to begging. I'd sworn I'd never go there, but apparently I wasn't above it any longer.

"Of course, Teddy. I can't even remember the last time you asked me for anything. I'll be there, okay? Don't stress over whatever you're stressing about. It's never as bad as you make it out to be. You know I love you, right?"

I exhaled slowly, relieved that she wasn't pressing for details at this current moment. As it was, I was barely focused on our phone call, thinking of the feel of Bella's lips beneath mine.

"I know. I love you, too."

"Kiss please!" She giggled, laughing at our phone ritual. To be fair, it was pretty ridiculous, but we'd been doing it for as long as I could remember. I made a loud squeaking kiss noise into the phone, causing her giggles to intensify. "'Kay, love you, bye!" we both shouted at the same time before slamming the phone shut.

Laughing to myself, I turned to go back to my bunk when I crashed into a large hulking mass. Before I knew it, I was pinned up against the side of the theater.

"What the fuck?" I asked, seeing Emmett's calculating stare. I backtracked, getting scared all over again. Hadn't my poor heart been through enough tonight?

Suddenly, Emmett backed up and cracked a smile, shaking his head in disbelief before making eye contact again.

"You're such a bad liar, Edward." He laughed, shoving my shoulder playfully as I tried to play catch up. "There was most definitely tongue."

"I—"

"Don't bother trying to deny it. I saw. You were all like, 'Fuck you, Daniel Day Lewis…there will be tongue!'"

I was confused as to why he was smiling at me. "Why are you okay with this?"

"I'm resigned. And having a great day. We'll talk about it soon. Now, we have to figure out what the hell we're going to do for the talent show. I was thinking maybe Alice could teach us a dance."

"A dance? You're out of your mind. I can't dance. You can't dance. Jake definitely can't dance."

With no regard to my response, somehow, I was dragged along. The next thing I knew, I was in front of Bella again, only now she was dancing. She moved her hips, swaying seductively as she and Alice danced together in perfect unison. Fuck me, I was in for a long night.

~Bella~

"Oh my God, Bella. Bella…Bella?" Alice called my name over and over, but I could only focus on the subtle taste of mint Chap Stick adorning my lips. It was real. That had happened.

"Look at her, she can't even say anything," Rosalie quipped. "Did Edward leave you tongue-tied? Pun intended."

"Huh?" I was still too busy biting my lips, making sure that the tingling feeling was real, to listen to anyone else.

"Oh, yeah…there was tongue." Rosalie smirked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I tried in vain to steady my pounding heart.

"I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" I looked up and saw that I was in the dance studio, surrounded by Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper, who had just burst into laughter. "When did we get to the studio?" I asked, only causing their laughter to increase.

"Darlin'," Jasper drawled, wrapping his arm around my waist, "was it really that good?" I felt my face heat, recalling in perfect detail the way Edward's tongue had brushed against mine.

"Guess so." Alice skipped over and sneaked under Jasper's free arm, smiling widely. "Oh, man, Bella. I wish you could have seen your face. I thought you were going to drop dead right there."

I chuckled, thinking back to the impossibly fast beat of my heart. "Yeah, um, I was pretty close." I paused, looking around. "What am I doing here?"

"Oh, the boys were asked to host the talent show next week, and they want me to teach them a dance for the opening!" Alice squealed, running off to hook her iPod up to the stereo. She put on her favorite dance playlist and turned up the volume before skipping back to me and grabbing my hands. "Remember our Group Twelve dance, LB?"

I nodded, falling into the familiar choreography with ease. I was mid-step when I felt him come in. Feeling his eyes on me, I couldn't help but exaggerate the movement of my hips. If he wanted to watch, why shouldn't I give him a show? Alice caught on quickly and stifled her laughter, leaving her with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

We couldn't finish the dance, bursting into a bout of spontaneous giggles instead, as often happened. I spun around into Jasper, crashing into him with a loud smack.

"Ungh," he wheezed as the air rushed from his chest. "Jesus, Bella. You pack a real punch, little miss thing."

I heard Edward mutter something under his breath, and I was almost a hundred percent positive he said, "Yeah she does," which caused a shit-eating grin to grace my features.

"Okay, what do you guys want to dance to?" Alice asked, distracting the boys and allowing me to unabashedly stare at Edward without being caught.

They spent the next hour trying out different songs for dances, but nothing fit. And they were all getting progressively more frustrated by the second, especially when Alice suggested Beyonce's "Single Ladies," which Jake thought was "too overdone." Who knew that Jake was so pop-culture literate?

"This is getting ridiculous," Emmett groaned as Jake rejected yet another song.

"What?" Jake scoffed. "I'm not dancing to anything that Zac Efron's has, okay?"

Edward groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why not? It's what the campers want anyway, right? If they want me to dance to a song about how I'm feeling nervous but excited, I'll fucking do it."

And then, a stroke of genius hit me. "Nervous but excited?" I giggled, remembering where Edward must have heard that quote before.

It was the first time we'd spoken since our lips detached, and he looked genuinely startled that I'd addressed him. Our eyes met, and I couldn't help but indulge in some lofty kissing fantasies.

"Uh, yeah?" He looked confused and all kinds of adorable.

Just then, Emmett understood. He poked me in the side and smiled widely. "At night, when you're singing in your bed alone…people can hear you. Everyone can hear you!" He quoted one of my favorite SNL skits, and I burst into laughter.

"Yes! Thank you, Em. You guys should do what you're good at, not this dancing bullshit."

"And that would be…what? Being awesome?" Jake smiled flirtatiously. I ignored him.

"No, you jackass. You should make a video short — like an SNL skit, only with jokes pertaining to Long Lake. You guys are funny. Really funny. I could film it and edit it, even, if you wanted…"

I looked up at the boys, who were all staring at me with unreadable expressions on their faces.

Edward was the first to crack a smile, rolling his eyes to himself and running a hand through his hair. It had just clicked for him, too. "Of course! That's where 'nervous but excited' is from…"

I laughed, glad that he finally understood. "Yup."

"Uh, not that I paid attention to when Zac Efron hosted SNL or anything though…"

Jake scowled and smacked Edward on the shoulder. "Edward, I think we need to have a serious talk about your sexuality."

Edward chuckled softly before glancing up at me, causing heat to rise in my cheeks. His gaze shot over to Jake, and his smile widened. "Yeah, I don't think that's the issue, Jake."

"Well, I think that's brilliant, Bella," Rosalie said as she wrapped her arms around my waist, bringing her chin to rest on my shoulder. She squeezed my stomach tighter and giggled as the boys all muttered, "Fuck," before training their eyes on the ground.

I looked over my shoulder to Rosalie, who was staring down my shirt…of course. I followed her gaze, seeing that as she'd wrapped her arms around me, my boobs had nearly exploded out of my shirt.

I spun around laughing. "You're such a slut, Rose."

Her face faltered for a second before she smirked right back. "Says the girl who just made out in public!"

My mouth dropped. Had she really gone there? As I heard Edward make a mutter-choking noise from behind me, I realized that she had. Instead of replying and giving in to her teasing, I just turned around to face the boys.

"So, why don't you guys brainstorm a bunch of skit ideas, and we can reconvene to tape tomorrow or the next day?"

"Sounds good," Emmett replied happily. Suddenly, Rosalie's phone rang with "Sugar Pie Honeybunch," breaking us out of our content moment. She sighed loudly before heading outside to answer it. Emmett followed her, not even pausing to say goodbye to any of us. I was glad that he was there to support her; Emmett was an amazing friend to lean on. I should know.

We all stood there in silence before we heard her yelling begin. Alice made a panicked face, signaling as to how she felt about Rosalie and Royce's relationship. I had to say that I agreed completely. If they had been fighting this much after barely a month of separation, how would it be after two months, or three? I didn't know if Rosalie would be able to take that. Nor should she have to.

"So, that's still going on, huh?" Jake asked curiously. Alice nodded and reached for Jasper's hand, which he took instantly. I made eye contact with Jasper, confused at the sudden display of affection, and he looked down at his hands and blushed again.

"Yeah. Uh…" Alice smiled up at Jasper lovingly and tightened the hold on his hand. I suddenly felt like I was intruding on a very private moment. Apparently Edward and Jake felt the same way because Jake motioned with his head for us to leave, and we all departed silently.

"What was that all about?" Jake asked.

"Finally," Edward and I sighed at the same time before starting to laugh, causing our eyes to lock in a moment that made me gasp again.

Jake quirked an eyebrow at Edward, who looked to me to explain. "They had been prolonging the inevitable. Jasper wanted Alice, Alice wanted Jasper, but neither would do anything about it for some reason. I guess Jasper finally made a move." Thank God.

"Well, I can see why he'd hold off," Jake began, leading us towards our usual gossip spot — the Adirondack chair.

"And that would be?"

"Well, he's significantly older than her. That's gotta be weird, right?"

As Jake said it, Edward grimaced, cringing slightly, and I felt like I'd been burned. Edward was seven years older than me. That was three years more than Jasper and Alice's age difference.

"It's not that big of a difference," Edward spoke up, surprising me as he sat down on the chair, making room for me next to him.

I gulped, my throat drying with anticipation, and sat in the empty spot, attempting to be as normal as humanly possible. I could feel the air crackle between us, acutely aware of the two inches of space between where my thighs ended and his began. I blinked, but I could have sworn that Edward's eyes flashed to mine before he continued admonishing Jake. It felt like he was inadvertently speaking to me, and I could feel butterflies all over.

"You can't tell me that you wouldn't hook up with someone younger than you, Jake. That'd be a lie. I mean, how old do you think Gianna is?" Edward pointed out. "I'd say twenty-two, max. And that'd be the same age difference as Alice and Jasper."

"You hooked up with our waitress, Jake? Seriously?" I scoffed. Jake rolled his eyes, but his smirk gave him away. Such a whore. "And, by the way, she's eighteen. Two months younger than me."

Jake gasped loudly, turning pale in the moonlight. "Are you fucking serious?" He looked between Edward and me, just to see if I was kidding. I wasn't.

"Uh, yeah. And she has a boyfriend back home." At that, Edward started laughing, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes.

"That's not fucking funny, Edward!"

Edward gasped for air, slowing down his bouts of laughter. "Oh, man. You have no idea how fucking funny that is. And here you are…giving me shit…and you got her to…to fucking blow you?"

My eyes widened, shocked that they were actually discussing this in front of me.

"TMI, Edward," I groaned. I could have gone to the end of my life without knowing who'd blown Jake.

"And on that note…" Jake trailed off, hopping out of the chair and heading away from us. I chanced another glance at Edward, and I realized that if Jake were actually leaving, we'd be alone. Alone…in the dark. Without a buffer. And all I could think about were his lips pressed against mine, tasting the faint traces of mint, his tongue caressing mine, sending shock waves to my cl—

"Uh, I should probably go, too." I jumped off the seat, as if electrocuted and nodded in the direction of my bunk.

"Oh, yeah." Edward sounded disappointed? Maybe? Hopefully. "Uh, good night, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow for filming?"

"Definitely." I grinned, unable to contain my happiness. I felt like I needed to do a happy dance in the very near future. Is this what being with Edward would be like? If so, then I couldn't wait.

He leaned in and pressed an unmistakable kiss to the top of my head, and I tried not to shiver under his expert touch.

"Night," he called out as he disappeared into the darkness. Finally alone, I let out a contained squeal — the one that I'd been dying to let out since Edward's lips had first touched mine.

***

The following day went by in a huge blur. All I could focus on was seeing Edward and potentially repeating that glorious kiss. My eyes followed their familiar path, gazing out to the shack in an attempt to get a glimpse of him, but the only difference with today was that Jasper had nothing to say about it. In fact, he hadn't said much of anything at all.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. Jasper wasn't being his usual annoying self, and it was time to find out what had actually happened yesterday. As our final class trailed out, I turned to confront him. He was already smiling expectantly.

"Okay, let's have it," I began.

"What?"

"Don't play coy with me, Jasper Whitlock. When did that happen?" I asked, getting frustrated. I should have gone to Alice after I saw the hand holding, but asking Jasper was just more convenient.

"When did what happen?" he replied innocently. I growled and slammed my hand down onto the table, a trademark Jasper move, and he broke.

"Oh, don't get your lacy panties in a bunch, Bella. It was when you left to get showered." I squealed, loving the gossipy girl time Jasper and I were sharing. "Don't get too excited, m'dear. Not that much happened!"

"Yeah, but something happened. I saw the hand holding."

Jasper blushed and tucked his chin into his chest, tugging at his hair awkwardly. "I told her that I liked her. And, um, that I wanted to take her out tonight."

I squealed louder and threw myself into his arms, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. "That's so great, Jasper. I'm incredibly happy for you both."

"Thanks." He hugged me back tightly before placing me back onto the floor. "I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow?" I moved my head up and down excitedly, channeling my inner Alice. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Uh, I don't know if you know this, but everyone was present for your first kiss with Edward. And I'm not going to lie, it looked pretty hot. Is it weird that I want to know the details?"

I bit my lip reflexively and shook my head no. I had been dying to talk about the kiss with someone. Instead, last night, I'd had to return to my dark bunk filled with sleeping children. And then we'd had no breaks today except for lunch and dinner – and Edward being present at both of them kind of put a damper on my post-kiss gossiping sessions.

"What do you want to know?" I could feel my face heating as I thought about the touch of his lips against mine and recalled in perfect detail where his hands had been and how they'd made my body come to life.

Jasper smiled, looking genuinely excited. "Well, I guess I don't need to ask how it was. Your face is telling me all kinds of things right now."

"I shouldn't get too excited, though," I reprimanded myself. "After all, it was just for a scene."

"Sure, sugar." Jasper shrugged, his smile coming down to a crooked smirk. "Whatever you say."

I rolled my eyes, ready to argue with him some more when my favorite voice interrupted us. "Hey, what's going on?"

I jumped back, surprised that I hadn't felt his eyes one me. Realizing that he could have heard any part of my conversation with Jasper, I decided to change the topic. I smiled like a proud mother, gesturing to Jasper. "He has a date tonight."

Edward arched his eyebrow in question. "Oh, really? Does he now?"

Jasper bit his lip and nodded. I looked over and pinched his cheek. "My lord, you are too cute for words."

"My lord? Bella? Methinks I'm rubbing off on you." Jasper winked and then headed towards the door.

"I'd love for you to rub off on me, Jasper." I laughed and hip-checked him gently.

"Just don't tell Alice, Bella," Edward joked, jumping into the conversation. It seemed as if Edward had finally made the transition from calling me "LB" to "Bella," and I couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Well, I'd stick around to chat, but I've got a date to get ready for."

I laughed and shooed Jasper off. He smirked knowingly, realizing that this would be my first time properly alone with Edward since "the kiss."

"So," Edward interrupted nervously, "are you ready to film?"

"Are you ready to perform?" I responded flirtatiously. I was fully aware that my voice was doing all kinds of naughty things, trying to provoke wicked images, and I was dismayed to see that Edward wasn't ruffled at all.

"Psh, am I ready?" he answered confidently. "Of course I am." Then, he played along finally and lowered his voice suggestively, his green eyes sparkling. "I'm always ready." My breath caught as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room towards the theater, where I assumed we were filming.

~Edward~

Tonight I came to a crazy revelation. Bella made me nervous. I found myself staring at her body, imagining it naked almost every second I looked at her. Deciding that that would get me into more trouble than it was currently worth, I decided to delve right into filming.

We filmed quickly, with unbelievable ease. I couldn't believe how natural of a director Bella was. We all seemed to fall in line whenever she picked up the camera, despite how poorly rehearsed we were.

As we were mid-rehearsal for our final skit of the evening – a song making fun of all the favorite counselors from past summers – I heard a knock on the doorframe. Bella sighed and turned around and, seeing Seth at the door, she smiled.

My stomach turned with jealousy, unable to see them grinning so unabashedly at one another.

"Hey, Seth!" Jake called, breaking the scene completely.

Seth waved tentatively before nodding to Bella. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" she looked perplexed, although I had no idea why. It was clear that Seth wanted to be more than friends with her, and I wondered how Bella could be so oblivious to his intentions.

I watched as Bella trailed over to him, hugging him softly before pulling away. I tried to hear their conversation, but they were too far away and Jake was being too annoying. I wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up so that I could eavesdrop on their conversation, but I wasn't quite ready to go down that path yet. His reaction would only lead to questions that I didn't have the answers to.

I watched on with keen interest as Bella spoke in hushed tones, twirling and un-twirling a stray stand of hair around her finger. She bit her lip and nodded, and a smile broke across Seth's face. My stomach flipped uncomfortably, watching her accept a date with another guy. Or at least, that was what I assumed was going on. I honestly had no idea. It was an unfair reaction seeing as how I hadn't actually made up my mind concerning my future actions with Bella, but I couldn't help it.

"Great!" Seth exclaimed before hugging Bella again. She looked stiff within his grasp, and I internally gloated that she always felt like she fit within my arms comfortably. She trailed back to the camera and flushed bright red when she realized that all of our eyes were on her.

"So," Jake goaded, "what was that all about?"

"Like you don't know." Bella rolled her eyes before situating herself behind the camera again. Jake stared her down and finally Bella broke. "Jake, I'm not going out with him. I'm too busy with all of this crap." She motioned towards her camera, and the knot in my stomach untwisted at the realization that Bella had turned Seth down. Not that that would do me any good right now, but still…

"And," Bella continued, "I was just informed that I have to help wrangle the girls for the swim meet tomorrow morning, so can we make this the last take and finish everything else up tomorrow?"

Emmett was out of the room before Bella could even finish her spiel, and she was left staring at Jake and me again. I stared back before realizing that she was waiting for an answer from us.

"Yeah, I should get some sleep anyway. I'm supposed to film it, and they always want me there at the ass crack of dawn for some fucking reason."

"Actually, Seth just told me that he's doing it, so...you don't need to."

I had no response. For once, I was totally at a loss of how to act around a girl. My head was growing more and more confused by the minute. "Oh, uh…well, I guess I'll see you there anyway."

Jake quirked an eyebrow at me as Bella packed up her camera and headed back to her bunk.

"What?" I asked as he continued to stare at me with a contorted look on his face.

"You're willingly going to go to the swim meet when you could sleep in? No way, I'm not fucking buying it. What's the catch?"

I hadn't anticipated this. It was true – I had never willingly gone to a swim meet when I wasn't required to film it. And now with Seth helping out, I could actually sleep in and get other shit done. But if Bella was going to be there – and in a bathing suit – I couldn't not go. My cock thanked me immensely for this realization, and I shrugged in defeat.

"No catch. I just, uh, told Emily I'd meet her there. We haven't had a lot of time to catch up, if you know what I mean." I winked, reverting to form, hoping that Jake wouldn't notice my blatant lies. I felt like a shmuck, but once I had figured out this attraction to Bella, I'd let him in. I think.

"Emily?" Jake's eyebrows shot up at her name. He must have been surprised at that admission, seeing as how she hadn't really been around recently. "Nice."

I tried not to roll my eyes at this typical Jake. Ignoring him, I walked quickly to bed before passing out to dreams of a bikini-clad Bella. I could only anticipate that the real thing would be just as good, or better.

***

I woke up to an empty bunk, curious as to why I felt so rested and wondering where the hell everyone had gone. Looking at my clock, I realized that it was nearly eleven AM, and there would only be another half an hour of the swim meet left. Those assholes hadn't even bothered to wake me up.

Grumbling and already in a bad mood, I threw on a t-shirt and shorts before sliding my feet into some flip flops. As I exited the bunk, I could hear the excited yells of campers coming from the lake. The summer sun was already high in the sky, feeling hot against my skin. Once down at the lake, I saw that a t-shirt and shorts clad Bella was situated on the far corner of the docks, helping the campers get into places in their lanes for races.

Rosalie, clad in a red full-piece bathing suit, looked as if she had just stepped off the set of Baywatch, blowing her whistle to commence each race. Her hair was slicked back and she was laughing with Bella, pointing the campers in the right direction. It was so nice to see them working together, obviously in their element.

Bella was a natural. She didn't even notice how the girls followed her instructions obediently, behaving for her in an exemplary fashion. I didn't think she recognized how rare that was for a new counselor. It had taken me at least three summers to gain control of most of the girls, only because they retaliated against the newbies.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Alice and Jasper, who were glancing at one another furtively across the throngs of children as they kept them entertained. It was kind of adorable, watching them in their bizarrely slow mating ritual. But if I had learned anything from Jasper over the past few weeks, it was that he never did anything until he was one hundred percent certain it was a good idea. Apparently, Alice finally fell into that category. It only took three weeks.

"Hey, stranger." A voice caught my attention, and I turned just before Emily was able to throw herself into my arms without knocking me backwards. "You've been kind of MIA lately. What's the deal?"

"Emily, I–" I was about to come up with some sort of lame excuse as to why I hadn't been able to spend more time with her when I saw Seth approach Bella. He poked her ribs, making her smile and shake her head. My head went completely blank. I could not for the life of me think of a single reason why I hadn't tried to seek out Emily, because Bella had completely overtaken my senses. My brow furrowed as I watched Seth wrap an arm around Bella's waist as he continued to film the girls in the lake.

I only came to as I felt Emily poke my side with a forceful jab of her own finger. "Ow! Jesus Christ, Emily – that hurt!" Emily rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the side, smiling shyly at me. "What?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, but her tone told me that she wanted to say more.

"What?" I asked again, getting more frustrated with her antics.

"It's just…" She paused, thinking over her next statement before pulling my head down towards her so that she could whisper in my ear. "I should have known you were a lost cause when I found her in your bed that first night."

"What?" My eyes widened, looking at the petite blond girl incredulously.

"Don't give me that face, Edward Cullen."

I was truly speechless. And I clearly needed to reign myself in. How did everyone know that I wanted Bella within days of me realizing it myself?

"I, um…I don't—"

"Don't bother with the denial tactics." Emily smirked deviously before snuggling under my arm and pulling herself close to my side. "I think it's kind of adorable, Edward. And honestly, it's about time that you gave up random ass in favor of an actual girl."

"I didn't say I was giving up random ass."

Emily snickered. "You didn't have to! I saw it with my own eyes, you know. I was at auditions the other night, darling."

"You were?" I was shocked. I seriously hadn't seen her there. But, then again, I really hadn't seen many other people besides Bella that night. I guessed that was what Emily was alluding to. God, how could I have been this much of an idiot?

"Why am I not surprised that you didn't notice?"

I was about to respond when I was distracted by goings-on on the docks. Seth had just handed off the camera to James, a counselor I wasn't a huge fan of, before stripping his shirt off and hopping into the lake. I wasn't so much interested in that as I was in Bella's reaction. Her eyes went wide before honing in on Seth's chest and abs. Now, I wasn't disgusted by my body by any means, but Seth's body was ridiculous. Had someone given that boy some steroids? He was fucking ripped. And I wasn't afraid to admit it; I was intimidated – and the boy was four years younger than me. Shit.

Bella could never look at my body with that kind of admiration because my body just didn't look like that.

"Please, Bella! Bel-la! Bel-la!" I heard Rosalie's piercing drawl over the din of cheering campers. I could see Bella blushing from where I was standing and was curious as to what she could possibly be embarrassed about. My questions were answered as Rosalie strode over to her and started pulling off her clothing, revealing a bright red bikini.

My jaw unhinged, my mouth dropping open as I caught wind of what was about to happen. Bella was going to participate in the relay, meaning that she was going to be in her bikini - and soaking wet - in the very near future. My dick stood up, hardening in my shorts at the mere sight of her.

Bella had been outside for hours, making her skin glisten with a combination of sunscreen and sweat, slightly tanned from being out in the sun all morning. My eyes couldn't help but go straight for her cleavage, where the halter neckline of the top plunged, revealing the tantalizing swell of her breasts. After lingering on her chest for an inappropriate amount of time, I forced my gaze away, downwards to flit over her flat stomach and low-rise bottoms, showing over her curvy hips and strong legs. My eyes refused to blink or look away from the expanse of skin.

Upon seeing my expression, Emily was unable to contain her laughter anymore, letting out loud, throaty guffaws. I tried to stifle her laughter by pulling her face into my chest, hoping that Bella's attention wouldn't be drawn to me. I really didn't want her to see me blatantly checking her out, despite the fact that that was exactly what I'd been doing.

"Shut up, Em!" I warned, silencing her with my hand across her mouth. Her laughter finally died down, but I was reluctant to let her go. Emily had quite the mouth on her, and I wasn't ready for anyone to overhear what was going on.

I looked up at the docks again just in time to see Bella dive in head first. Seeing that it was safe, I removed my hand from Emily's mouth, but looked at her pointedly. She got the point, her laughter dying off quickly.

"I'll be good. I'll be good…" I let her go and she wrapped her arms around my waist again, placing her chin on my chest as she looked up at me coyly. "So, are you going try and deny anything again?" Her hand wandered lower on my stomach, and even though I knew that she was just trying to prove a point, I wasn't going to let her get that far with all these campers around.

"Fine, fine." I smiled and wrapped my hand in hers, pulling it away from the erection that we both knew was there. "You win. I want her. Badly. Now shut it."

"Yes, sir." She winked and pulled away. "Whoa, there, handsy!" she started again, pulling my gaze back to the lake where Seth was "helping" Bella out of the water – if "helping" could be described as grabbing her ass from underneath and pushing her onto the docks. Could he really be that forward with her and have her not mind, or even retaliate? Seth pulled himself onto the docks easily, his biceps bulging with the obvious exertion before standing to pull Bella into a tight embrace.

"Are you serious?" I growled, causing Emily to snicker again. "I…I can't fucking watch this."

"Don't get all emo on us, Edward. Just do something about it." She smiled and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly before letting it drop between us.

"I'll try."

Unable to watch the display of intertwined limbs that was currently Seth and Bella, I turned to leave, heading back up the hill to my bunk to wallow in self-pity – or jack off to thoughts of a soaking wet Bella, clad in that delicious bikini. One or the other, definitely.

With one last look over my shoulder, I caught Bella's eyes glancing over in the spot where I'd been standing with Emily. She looked…sad, for some reason. Sad and a bit angry – or was it frustrated? Unable to figure it out, I headed away from the lake to sort through my own thoughts instead.

Chapter End Notes: Don't kill me, please! I promise everything that's happening is for a reason. And try to remember that someone's POV isn't necessarily what's happening all the time, but what they've perceived to have happened...

I know, I know, I know...

Until next week.

xo,

Charlotte