I'm wide eyed and trapped against two men; this one on top of me and Edward still lying behind me. As the male on top of me laughs, I gasp with recognition.

"Woah! Talk about a perfect landing!" He mumbles to my boobs, "Sorry about that." Slowly, he lifts his head, eyes catching mine. A large smile lights up his face. "Sweetheart!"

"Embry," I breathe, still in a state of shock.

Embry lifts himself up, sitting back on his knees as Edward and I scramble to do the same. Edward's hands automatically wrap around my biceps, protectively anchoring me to him.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asks, but he's not looking at me; his eyes are shooting daggers at Embry, who doesn't seem to notice or care. Another boy comes jogging up, laughing. He's smaller than Embry and maybe a little younger, possibly my age. I can't help looking past him, scanning the area to see if Jake's with them.

I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or relieved that I don't see him.

"Dude, ten points on the landing! That was epic!" the boy jokes, but Embry ignores him, not taking his goofy grin or eyes off of me.

"To think, of all the tits on the beach, I fall into yours! Small world, huh?" Embry muses.

"Do you two know each other?" Edward asks, his grip tightening on my arms as I place a hand reassuringly on his knee. The action doesn't go unnoticed by Embry, who's now cocking his eyebrow.

"Yeah." I try to smile, but it feels horribly fake. "This is Embry. Embry, this is Edward, my boyfriend." I place an emphasis on the word. "Um," I continue awkwardly, "and this is Alice, Angela, Lauren and Jessica."

"We've already met," Lauren flirtatiously throws in. "Hi, Embry," she seductively coos. Her gaze roams down his body appreciatively while I roll my eyes.

With Edward's manners engrained in his head, he lets go of my shoulder long enough to hold out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Embry."

Embry stares at Edward's hand for a second before the corners of his mouth twitch into a smirk and he glances at me. I have no idea what that look means, but it terrifies me. Slowly, Embry raises his hand to clasp onto Edward's.

"Since this asshole's not going to introduce me," the boy laughingly jabs Embry, "I'm Seth." Seth wipes his hand off on his swim trunks before slapping it with Edward's in a much more playful handshake.

With the momentary distraction, Embry takes the opportunity to whisper in my ear, "A boyfriend? I think I had you pegged all wrong, Sweetheart." I start to object, to explain myself, but there's no chance without being seen or heard.

"I guess this is yours then?" Jessica asks, holding up the forgotten football.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Seth says, sheepishly taking the ball back from her.

"No harm, no foul," Lauren returns.

"No harm?" Alice pipes up. "Did you not see Bella get trampled?"

"She's fine, Alice. Don't be such a drama queen," Lauren snaps back.

Angela interrupts to cut off their bickering, "Why don't you and Embry join us? Have a seat, Seth."

"Cool, thanks." Seth happily sits cross-legged in the sand across from her, the football twirling in his fingers.

Lauren shamelessly leans forward, practically shoving her breasts into his face. "You don't go to Forks High, do you?" Flipping her hair, she adds, "I think I'd remember you."

"Nah, Embry and I go to school on the Rez." I'm more than a little surprised by this information. When I saw Embry last night, I'd thought he graduated already, but he's still in high school. Maybe Jake's age. This inadvertently brings a new question to my mind: why doesn't Jake go to school on the Reservation, too?

"Oh? What grade?" Lauren asks with a sultry voice, deliberately biting her lip. I imagine she's batting her eyelashes behind those Louis Vuitton sunglasses too.

Seth swivels the football in the air, oblivious to her flirting. "Embry's a senior. I'm just a sophomore."

Lauren's reaction is comical; her nose wrinkles, and her mouth falls into a grimace as if he's said he was twelve instead of only a year younger than us. She drops all pretenses of her earlier behavior, throwing herself back on the towel as she huffs. I know she refuses to date anyone our age or younger as she's repeatedly reminded us, she's only into "older guys."

Angela and Alice politely continue conversation with Seth while Edward returns his arm to my waist.

"So, how do you know my Bella?" Edward asks. His usage of the word "my" does not escape my attention. Furthermore, I'm not sure that I like the way it sounds. I'm not a dog. I don't belong to him. But on top of being annoyed by Edward's possessive words, I'm nervous and scared.

My eyes search Embry's, telepathically pleading with him. Please don't say anything about me being with Jake last night.

Either telepathy works or Embry feels like taking pity on my poor, tortured soul. "We met last night. I work at Uley's garage; I fixed her car," he says, shifting his eyes from mine to Edward's.

"Yes, she told me she had a little car trouble." Embry doesn't bother to hold back his smile, a knowing glint in his eye. I scowl at him.

"Something about crossed wires?" I inquire with a little smirk of my own. I want to give Embry the hint that I figured out Jake was behind the whole ordeal. "That seems odd, doesn't it? I mean, how do wires get crossed anyway?"

His brow cocks impressively, and I know he's gotten my hint. "It's pretty common for wires to become loose. My guess is someone tried to put them back but crossed them by mistake." Mm-hmm, someone named Jake.

"Well, I don't know who could've done that." I give Embry a pointed look but, for Edward's sake, add, "Unless it was my dad."

"Oh well," Embry shrugs, "it didn't cost a thing to fix. That's why we let you go free of charge." Somehow we've begun an underlying conversation. I've taken his comment as, 'Hey, it was all fun and games. Don't take it badly.'

"Does it happen often?" I ask, but what I mean is, 'How many other girls has Jake done this to?'

"I think you might have been our first," Embry answers both questions.

Knowing Jake's never done that to another girl makes me feel relieved, even special. And only a little stalked.

"Still, you could've charged her for the labor," Edward chimes in, "goes to show that you're working for an honest place."

Embry laughs while I smile. Edward has no idea how dishonest they were, considering my car wasn't broken to begin with. "That's true," I say to placate Edward. "I guess I owe him one."

Embry looks at Edward, then directly at me. "Yeah, Sweetheart, you owe me one."

Edward tenses beside me. Uh oh, does he think Embry and I are flirting? I know Embry calling me sweetheart is inappropriate, but it's more a nickname than an endearment. Of course, Edward doesn't understand that. I chance a glance at him, noticing the muscle in his jaw twitching. I want to put him at ease, but what can I say? 'Don't get the wrong idea, honey. We're not flirting. He's just saying I owe him one because he's not ratting me out to you about Jake!'

Yeah, 'cause that would go over nicely.

Before I can say anything to diffuse the situation, a shadow falls over us.

"Well, if it isn't Bella Swan," says a new voice; craning my neck back and squinting at the sun, I look up to Quil.

"Swan?" Seth inquisitively turns to Embry. "As in-"

"Chief Swan, yeah, kid, try to keep up," he answers evasively.

Quil's eyes are set on Lauren, who's still lying back on her towel, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. "Hey, Lauren."

At the sound of her name, her head pops up. Her lips pull into a tight, almost shy smile. That's odd; I've never seen Lauren show anything but the utmost confidence. "Hi, Quil."

"Where's Jake?" Seth asks.

Bless this kid. I think I could kiss him.

"That reminds me. You owe me five bucks, Call. We've been here ten minutes, and he's already getting a girl's number." Quil looks over his shoulder; my eyes automatically follow in the direction of his gaze. Jacob's standing about twenty feet away from me, shirtless, with his signature smirk playing on his mouth and one hand on a redhead's waist. I can't tear my eyes away from him as his head dips down, whispering into her ear; she giggles so loudly I can hear her clear over here. Heat rushes to my face, and I don't know if it's out of anger or jealousy.

The redhead's beautiful; fair skinned, tall and curvy. By curvy I mean that her boobs are falling out of her top, which Jake seems more than fine with.

Of course I do the only thing I can do. I tell myself I don't care. If he wants to flirt with every girl in town, let him. If he wants to cheat on his girlfriend with them, fine. But he's not doing it with me. Not anymore.

"Shit," Embry exclaims. Digging in his pocket, he pulls out a five and slaps it in Quil's hand.

Apparently I like to torture myself as my eyes drift back to Jake and the redhead. His hands are placed low on her hips, his nose to her jaw. I can't tell from here if he's kissing her or whispering again.

I hear Jessica quietly asking Lauren if she's all right with Jake flaunting the redhead right in front of her. It seems selfish and rude, but I honestly don't care how Lauren feels about it. I feel like I've just been punched in the gut and not a single person's asking me if I'm okay. But then again, why would they? No one really knows what's going on between us. And I have Edward. I shouldn't be worrying about Jacob anyway.

A hand brushes lightly across my knee. Dragging my eyes away from Jake, I see Embry looking intently at me. His touch was subtle and went unnoticed by anyone else, but a sweet gesture, all the same. For once, he isn't smiling but looking at me sympathetically.

I feel like crying. Embry knows. He knows about Jake and me – well, kind of. He doesn't know everything. He doesn't know about the bet, but he was in the garage yesterday. He told me Jake likes me. My subconscious voice rudely adds, he also said Jake would break your heart. At the time I thought he was joking. Maybe he wasn't.

"Are we gonna toss this football or what?" Seth enthusiastically asks as I notice that I've tuned out the last few minutes of conversation.

"Edward, are you in?" Quil asks, slapping him on the back. I guess they introduced themselves while I was zoned out. Damn, what else did I miss?

Edward looks imploringly at me before answering, silently asking for my permission. Not that he needs it.

"Go have fun." I try to smile, but my lips twitch awkwardly. "I'll watch you from here."

Edward closes the distance between us, bringing one hand up to my neck as he crushes his lips to mine. I would've expected a small peck before he ran off, but this is much more than that. He works his lips against mine, parting them to deepen the kiss as his other hand rides up my thigh. I'm both shocked and embarrassed by his PDA.

"Get a room!" Seth jokingly coughs. I start to pull away, but Edward drags me back in, kissing me ardently a moment longer. My brain works overtime trying to figure out what it means. It's not like him to kiss me like this in front of people. The only time he's done it before was in front of Jake. Oh. Now I get it. He's showing the guys I'm taken. Mostly for Embry and Jake's benefit, I'm sure.

When Edward finally pulls away, I feel a little stunned. I look around quickly to see who noticed our very public display. Quil and Seth have run off already, tossing the football between them. Embry's backed up a few more feet, his hands in his pockets and a very amused look on his face. Then I catch Jake, who's standing rigid in front of the same redhead, his fists clenched at his sides and stone-cold eyes locked with mine. The redhead's hands rub his biceps, trying to coax his attention back to her, but he doesn't budge.

I quickly shift my eyes back to Edward, chastising myself for looking at Jake while my boyfriend is sitting right in front of me. He deserves better from me. I promptly move for damage control; cupping his face in both my hands, I give him a sly smile.

"Don't be gone too long," I whisper, leaning in and giving him one last, languid kiss.

"I won't," Edward replies, smiling and finally jumping up.

Embry's got a smirk the size of Texas on his face as he looks back at me; he shifts his gaze to Jake, then me again, shaking his head slightly as he jogs off next to Edward.

I keep my eyes perfectly trained on them, watching as they catch up to Quil and Seth and refusing to look in the direction of Jake. Maybe it's childish of me, but I feel a small sense of satisfaction that Jake saw what he did.

"What was that all about?" Alice asks me, slapping my arm.

"What?"

"That! With Edward! Are you two…like…" she animatedly waves her hands, "…doing it?"

My cheeks burn pink. "No! God, Alice! Why would you ask me that?"

"Because I've never seen you two," she points two fingers at Edward and me, "show that kind of affection before."

"Seriously, I was about to barf," Lauren quips.

"That was some pretty hot and heavy action," Jessica adds. Angela nods in agreement.

If it's possible, my cheeks burn hotter. "No, we're not- I mean, that was-" I'm too flustered to get out a straight sentence. Not to mention I'm too embarrassed to even think properly. "I need to go to the bathroom!"

I stumble to my feet as quickly as I can, grabbing my sandals with one hand, while practically running away.

"Don't think for a second that you're getting off that easy! We're continuing this discussion when you come back!" Alice yells behind me, but I ignore her; slipping on my shoes as soon as I get to the asphalt, I make a beeline for the small, brick shack containing the public restrooms.

There are only two stalls inside, each occupied, not that it matters; I didn't come in here to actually use the bathroom, just to get away for a minute. Grasping the dirty porcelain sink, I steady myself.

Since when did I become such a spaz?

All they did was ask if Edward and I are having sex. It's a simple yes or no question.

This is all Jacob's fault! If it wasn't for him and that stupid bet, I wouldn't be freaking out anytime someone mentions sex. All I had to do was say, No, Edward and I are not doing it. Leaving out the part where even if I wanted to, it's Jake's one condition that we can't…at least for the next few months…while he takes a shot at it.

Oh, God.

Turning on the cold water, I splash my face a few times, finally cooling down my hot cheeks. The stool behind me flushes, and a woman emerges; there's only one sink in this restroom, so I know it's time for me to move. Ripping a few paper towels out of the dispenser, I dry off my face and exit the room.

A warm hand grips my wrist, yanking me sideways and back, pulling me around the corner of the brick shack. I should scream, but anything vocal is stuck in my throat with terror. That is, until I see Jake.

I'm assaulted with a multitude of feelings at once. I'm so angry with him, hurt and confused. Part of me wants to groan and walk away; he's the last person I wanted to see today. And yet another part of me wants to hug him and couldn't be happier – as if my feelings couldn't get any more conflicted. But the third part of me, the most dominant part, is afraid. He looks mad.

My fear doesn't deflate as I take in his features; his eyes are dark and glowering down at me, his mouth is pressed into a hard line, and his hands are clenched at his sides. This is the first time I've ever seen him with his shirt off. His smooth russet skin looks soft to the touch, yet the fierce black swirls contradict it. Even his tattoo matches his demeanor as it wraps around his muscled bicep in an angry, intricate pattern. The thick lines slash up his shoulder and down his bare chest, the tips curling around his pecks.

Tearing my gaze away from the black ink, I look back into his fury-filled eyes, wondering, What does he have to be mad about?

If anyone has a right to be angry, it's me! I've gone through hell these past couple of days because of him. He's the one that tampered with my phone and my car. He's the one who kissed me and left me last night to go see his girlfriend. He's the one getting phone numbers and flirting with girls right in front of me. The list goes on!

I want to scream at him, cuss or hit him for all the crap he's put me through these last two days, but I don't get the chance.

Jake's fingers wrap around my neck, pulling me toward him as his lips crush down on mine hard. I'm too stunned at first to know what to do. His mouth forcefully attacks mine, his hand fisting around my ponytail. My eyes are wide open in shock as my hands immediately come up to his chest, shoving against him as hard as I can. But he doesn't relent. His teeth nip my bottom lip, urging me to respond.

Jake's hand at my waist pulls me flush against him, my bathing suit allowing for skin to skin contact, as he continues to kiss me. His bare chest and stomach press against my own, and it feels amazing. My head clouds over in a fog as my hands slacken against his chest; my eyes close, and my lips part, giving in to his advances.

He's kissing me in a way that I've never been kissed before. It's passionate, vigorous and angry. His fingers are digging into my skin, his lips moving with a bruising force over my own. His whole being is dominating over me, and I love it.

The bathroom door around the corner closes with a bang, clearing the fog as the voice in the back of my mind shouts, Stop! What the hell is the matter with you? You can't do this to Edward! Again!

I jump out of his embrace, surprising him as I breathlessly step back until the palms of my hands touch the brick wall behind me. I'm acting as though I've been trapped by a wild animal that could attack at any moment. Actually, I just learned that's not far from the truth.

Then I do the stupidest thing you could ever do to a wild animal: I look him square in the eye. That offensive, cocky, condescending smirk sets his lips as his eyes dance with triumph.

White hot rage like I've never felt before boils up within me. I want nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his arrogant face! Before I even realize it, my arm snaps back and swings forward. A loud slap echoes off the wall.

Holy crap! I slapped him!

I'm not sure who's more stunned, Jake or me.

Disbelieving, I look down at my hand. It burns and tingles from the force of the blow, assuring me that I really did just do that. My wide eyes look to his cheek, its russet color tinged with a slight pink.

If it's possible, Jake looks even angrier.

"What the fuck was that for?" he seethes.

"I- I'm sorry. I don't know-" Shaking my head vigorously, I try to figure out what the hell has come over me. "I just- Don't do that to me!"

"Do what? Kiss you? I don't remember you having that reaction last night," he bites out.

"It was a mistake."

"The kiss or the slap?"

Uh…"Both."

He looks really pissed as he steps closer to me, his glowering eyes only inches from mine.

Through gritted teeth, he menacingly warns, "Fine, but never slap me again." He pulls back slightly, a dark smirk taking place. "Unless you're willing to take a rough fucking afterwards."

I do little more than blink back at him. I'm too stunned and overwhelmed to think. I've had so many emotions running through me in the past twenty seconds alone that I don't even know how I feel anymore. He's the only person who could illicit so many emotions out of me, then render me completely speechless.

"How 'bout it, Princess?" He leans over me, one hand pressed against the wall above my head as his dark eyes zero in on mine. "I could fuck you right here, right now, against this wall, so fucking hard you won't be able to walk straight."

If I wasn't so terrified of him doing just that, I'd slap him again.

How can he be so mean and vulgar to me on purpose? I don't understand why he's acting like this. It's a complete one-eighty from the way he was last night when he was actually being sweet to me. I prefer him that way. I like him that way.

"No, thank you," I reply firmly, letting the disdain leak in my voice.

He lets out a small huff of a laugh, bringing his other hand to the wall above me as he leans in, eyes boring into mine. "What if I were Doucheward? Would you do it then?"

"What?" I'm completely caught off guard by his question – not to mention confused beyond belief and extremely annoyed that he called him Doucheward again. I've heard that nickname enough today to last me a lifetime.

"You heard me. If I were Doucheward, would I get to fuck you against this wall?" His words are dripping with malicious venom as he towers over me.

"You're being mean," I state simply and quietly. I still don't understand why he's asking this or even acting this way, but I don't like it. I especially don't like what he's implying.

"Am I? Well, sorry if I'm not all rainbows and sunshine after being slapped," he growls.

I take a deep breath, my patience running thin. All right, I slapped him; he has a right to be upset about that. But I have more of a right to be angry than he does! He's been making my life a living hell! The crap he's put me through these last few days is way worse than the slap I gave him.

"I said I was sorry! But you had no right to do that. I didn't want to kiss you!"

"Are you sure about that, Princess? You didn't seem to be objecting when your tongue was down my throat."

"Consider it a momentary lapse in judgment," I say sardonically.

"As I remember it, you had the same lapse in judgment last night, and I had you singing a different tune."

"Don't say it like that. You make it sound like we did more than kiss, and that's all it was! A stupid kiss!" A stupid kiss that was perfect. And that I swore I'd never repeat until about a minute ago.

His eyes darken as his free hand grips my waist; his other is still poised above me on the brick wall.

"Is this stupid?" he asks, his fingers tightening around my hip bone and his head ducking down closer to mine. "Is this a mistake?"

Closing his eyes, he brushes his nose down my cheek to my jaw line, inhaling deeply. Parting his lips, he blows a cool breath across my heated skin, causing a shudder to run through me. My eyes fall closed as he runs his nose and lips from my pulse point to my ear, the same erotic way he did in the lounge on Monday.

"This feels too good to be a stupid mistake." His hot breath breezes across my ear. "I know it. You know it. Why fight it?"

A garbled sound emits from my throat, half whine and half groan. God, when did I become so easy? What happened to the strong, assertive Bella?

She started liking Jacob Black, my inner voice sneers.

Well that's just too bad, my conscious replies back. He's a player looking for another notch on his belt! He's cheating on his girlfriend! And I refuse to be that girl!

You cheated on your boyfriend.

Crap, my inner voice is right. I already am that girl.

But I don't want to be.

Okay, Bella, take control. Be assertive. Remember, you're just a bet, a conquest.

"You've already tried this move on me, remember? Why don't you go try it out on your little redhead and see how it goes? Better yet, take it to your girlfriend." Mentally giving myself a high five, I shove against his shoulders and move out from under him. Now that I'm a foot away from him, I'm able to think clearly.

And I'm pissed off beyond belief. It occurs to me that he did use that move on the redhead. When I wasn't sure if he was kissing her or whispering, he was giving her the same erotic move he just gave me. The bastard!

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" Slapping the wall with his hand, he turns to face me with a growl.

Oh, he did not just growl at me. Two can play this game.

Stalking straight up to him, I poke him in the chest. "And you're a manipulative, lying thief! Did you know that?"

"I'm the manipulative liar? Let me ask you, did you tell the boyfriend about your time with me last night?" I glare back at him but don't argue right away. "Fucking thought so. He seems just a little too happy for a guy who got fucked over. I gotta say I'm surprised; I didn't think you had it in you."

My face flushes hot again, only this time it's from sheer anger. "You have no right to lecture me about Edward! Not when you lied to your girlfriend about being with me! I guarantee you didn't go straight to her and tell her anything! I bet you didn't even wait ten seconds before you ripped her clothes off and fell into bed with her!"

"Be careful with your bets, Princess. You might wager more than you can handle." He smirks at me.

"You are such an ass!" I stamp my foot. Seriously, I stamp my foot and throw my arms down at my sides. I'm so mad that I no longer have control over my childish actions. I want to scream. Hell, I want to hit him again…and again, and again.

"We had an agreement," he spits, stepping toe to toe with me and pointing down at the ground.

"You think I forgot?" Is he kidding? This stupid bet is all I can think about!

"You tell me." My mind is racing but coming up blank. My expression must be similar as he carefully enunciates his next words. "Did you fuck him?"

"Oh, my God! Is that what this is about? You think I went back on our bet?"

"Just answer the fucking question, Princess." He furiously leans over me, his ebony eyes locking me in place.

"No!" I nearly scream. "Why does everyone think that? It was just a kiss!"

Visibly relaxing, Jake pulls back a step. "That was more than kiss. It was a promise for later."

"No, it wasn't. He won't be getting that from me anytime soon." Wrapping my arms across my chest, I add, "And neither will you."

Jake's demeanor slowly changes back to normal as his signature grin appears. "I'll change your mind."

I scoff, "You're unbelievable, you know that? You jump to conclusions about Edward and me, yet you've been less than truthful these last few days."

"I'm not the only one jumping to conclusions," he quips sarcastically, leaning his shoulders back against the wall; he crosses his arms and ankles.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't figure out what you did to my car? You tricked me into going out with you last night!"

"What did I do to your car?" he asks with feigned innocence.

"You made it break down!"

His eyebrows furrow; he's mocking me. "How did I do that?"

"I don't know! You're the mechanic."

"I can assure you, Princess; I didn't touch your engine." He smirks; I think he's making some sort of innuendo, but I choose to ignore it.

"Then how did you know to pick me up at six?"

"Call it premonition."

"I call it bullshit!" I shout.

His eyebrows rise as he pushes himself off of the wall. "Princess, did you just say a bad word?" He stalks closer to me, biting his bottom lip as though he's fighting a smile. I stand fixed to my spot as he cups my chin and slowly runs his thumb across my lips. "I can think of better things we could do with that dirty mouth."

I try to fight the blush from creeping into my cheeks but fail miserably. Jake brushes his knuckles across my jaw, slowly trailing a path down my neck. His eyes follow their descent, only stopping once his fingers touch the string of my bikini, an inch below my collarbone

His husky voice is barely audible when he says, "You lied, you know." I've been lying a lot lately. Which time is he talking about? "You said I'd never know how far your blush goes."

He flashes me a wolfish smile as his finger hooks around the string. "Won't be long now, and I'll see it without this top."

I swat his hand away. Fed up and frustrated, I start to walk off. His hand encloses on my bruised elbow to stop me, eliciting a sharp hiss of pain between my teeth. Jake drops his hand as if I'd burned him while I protectively hug my arm to my chest, cupping the sore spot. Tentatively, he removes my hand from my elbow to examine the bruise. Enraptured by his concern and gentleness, I let him, studying his face as he carefully handles my arm. His eyes switch from concern to a burning anger as his mouth forms a straight line.

"Who did this to you?" he asks. Wait, what? His question completely floors me. Why does he think someone did this to me? Who does he think would do this to me?

"No one. I fell last night in the kitchen." His eyes search mine, as if looking for the truth behind them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I reply, still puzzled by his intense reaction, "I have a matching bruise on the other arm and my rear to prove it."

He checks my other elbow to be sure. Once satisfied, he relaxes and smiles. "Your rear, huh? Let me see." He tugs on my shoulder to turn me around, but I wiggle away.

"No! You can't see my rear!" He reaches for me again, but I jump back, smiling as he genuinely laughs. He tries to peek around me to get a glimpse of my backside, but I twist at the same time. We dance around each other, still hidden in our secluded corner, laughing and playing. I've never seen this playful side of him before, but I wish I had. His smile and laugh are intoxicating.

Still giggling, I move my back to the wall, attempting to back up into it. But it's a poor move because he darts forward, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against him. Our laughter slowly dies down, but the goofy smiles remain.

Gradually, his warm hand moves up to my neck as he ducks his head toward mine. Nearly an inch away from kissing me, I interrupt him. "Stop. I can't do this."

"Sure you can." Touching his forehead to mine, he breathes against my lips, "You want me. You want this. Don't deny it."

"No." I pull away from him. "Maybe you can cheat on your girlfriend and not feel a shred of guilt, but I can't do that to Edward."

Jake cocks his head slightly, furrowing his eyebrows as though he's trying to figure me out. "You keep mentioning this girlfriend. Have I met her?"

I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes. Really, did he think I was stupid?

"Your girlfriend, Claire." His eyebrows rise as he bites out a sharp laugh.

"Claire is not my girlfriend." I shake my head at him in disbelief.

"But you told her you loved her on the phone." He smiles back at me, holding in his laughter.

"That doesn't make her my girlfriend." Huh? I'm so confused.

"You went to her house! I saw you with her last night."

"What do you mean you saw me with her?"

Oops. "I, uh…"

"Did you follow me again?"

I force out a laugh that sounds totally fake. "No…Anyway, that's not the point." I hope to change the subject.

"Fine, we'll get back to that later." He sounds perturbed but not necessarily angry. "What's your point?"

"What about Edward?"

"What about Doucheward?"

"Please stop calling him that! Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you've caused me today! Alice found your cute little change in my phone. They've been asking me all day who's behind it."

"So tell them." He shrugs.

"Are you crazy? There's no way I can tell them it was you." The results of that could only be disastrous.

"Wow, Princess. Now you're lying to your friends about me?"

"I'm not lying…per se. I'm just avoiding the truth." Okay, I'm lying.

"How about I tell your precious boyfriend? It'll save you the trouble."

My heart skips a beat. "Tell him what, exactly?"

"About you and me. That I kissed you." He smirks as he adds, "That you liked it."

My eyes widen as I grip his arms in fear. "No! You can't do that! You promised you wouldn't!"

His gaze shifts from my hands on his arms to my pleading eyes. "I never promised anything like that."

"It was part of my condition that you couldn't tell anyone," I remind him, hoping against hope that he'll listen to me and not run off to find Edward.

"About the bet. I never said I wouldn't tell him about a kiss." Shit, shit, shit! I grapple for a reasonable excuse. I knew I should've come up with a better condition!

"Then I want to add that as a condition!" Still gripping his arms, I'm practically begging, knowing my puny grasp couldn't hold him if he decided to go.

"You can't add a condition," he replies coolly.

"Why not?" I whine.

Jake squints at me a moment while I worry my lip and cross my fingers, waiting for his response.

"Fine, but I get to add one too." Fear grips at my heart. His condition could be anything, and I'd have to agree to it, but what other choice do I have really?

"Okay," I reply, fully conscious of the butterflies in my stomach.

"You have to stop avoiding me. Let me take you out. I want to kiss you. I want to do more than kiss you, and I want to be able to it without you constantly bringing up Doucheward. If he's going to be a problem, then I'll tell him everything right now." His words are calm and collected. My heart flutters as he says he wants to kiss me but drops when he brings up Edward. I can't help but acknowledge that last sentence as threatening.

Biting my lip, I look down at my shoes. Studying my white sandals, I nearly cry, "I don't know."

"Princess," Jake says sweetly, placing a finger under my chin he forces my gaze to his, "I know you're a good girl. I know you don't want to hurt anybody. But I also know that you enjoy being with me and kissing me. All I'm asking is that you let go. Don't think about him; don't worry about him. We're in high school for Christ's sake. Have some fun."

I simply nod, closing my eyes while taking a deep breath; I know he has a good point. I'm young and in high school; shouldn't I be dating around instead of spending all my time with one boy?

"Princess?" I open my eyes, finding him much closer than he was a second ago.

"Yeah?"

"Tonight," he says firmly.

"Tonight?" Does he mean… "Go out with you tonight? But I'm here with Edward and my friends. I don't know-"

He cuts me off. "What time's your curfew?"

"Uh, midnight, why?"

"I'll be outside your house at twelve-o-five. Be ready."

I start to object, but he silences me with a finger on the lips. "I'm going to kiss you now," his warm hand moves to cup my jaw, "and this time," he says, smiling, "you're not going to slap me."

Fighting back a small smile, I allow my eyes to close as Jacob's gentle lips form to mine. I find myself drifting closer, pressing the length of my body against his and my arms wrapping around his neck. I'm completely immersed in the moment, my heart beating frantically in my chest as his mouth moves perfectly with mine at a leisurely pace. The outside world has faded away as I've lost myself in Jake, too far gone to even register my name being shouted until it's almost directly behind me.

"Bella?" the voice calls again.

Jumping away from Jake, my palm automatically moves to cover my mouth as I turn around.

Oh crap!

A/N: I know, that's an evil place to leave off. But I hope I left you more than satisfied with our favorite bad boy!

And as a side note: I think I'm in love with Embry. Anyone with me?

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and many hugs! As always, I'm sending all my love to my fellow peas, jkane180 and wordslinger! I would never have gotten through this chapter without their support! Love you girls!