Chapter 4 – Beach Party, USA Part 1
Edward
Saturday morning found me shotgun in the Yukon, while Emmett drove us across the street to Bella's house, Alice bouncing around in the middle seats. Surprisingly the morning bloomed beautiful and sunny, despite two days of ceaseless rain. I was both anxious and nervous to see Bella again. I had thought of her way more than I should have in the past few days, and I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that the thought of her in a bathing suit hadn't led to more than a few extra long shower sessions. Definitely more than a few. You haven't jacked your shit this much since discovering Hustler in junior high, my snide mind-voice reminded me. However, the thought of spending the day with her in a bathing suit with her boyfriend, Jasper, was the quickest way to deflate any unwanted boners.
I had almost decided to beg off the party today, but Alice would be pissed and Emmett would know something was up if I passed up free beer. Plus, I think he was counting on me playing wingman so he could score with Rosalie. Not that he'd need it. I'd seen the way she'd been looking at him when they came over the other day. It might be that Emmett had finally met a female version of himself. God help us.
They apparently made a whole day of these annual beach parties, so they got started pretty early. It was only 11:00 when we pulled into Bella's driveway, alongside a red truck that was old before I was even an itch in my bastard father's pants.
Bella was sitting at the top of her porch steps, and she stood up as we pulled in. She was dressed conservatively – compared to Alice – in old cut-off jeans and a T-shirt that read "Brunettes Get Better Grades" across her chest, but I could see the tie of a swimsuit peaking up at the back of her neck and my formerly loose board shorts suddenly became slightly uncomfortable. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. Hopefully they start serving alcohol immediately.
We came to a stop at the top of the driveway and all started climbing out of the car. Bella stuffed her hands into her pockets and hung her head, glancing at us shyly through the thick lashes that framed her eyes. She was obviously uncomfortable without her posse to back her up.
Emmett, completely unfazed by anyone else's level of comfort, hollered "Hey Bells!" as though they had known each other forever, and Alice echoed a joyous "Hi Bella!" right after.
Bella's face turned red, and she pulled one hand out to do a half-hearted wave while mumbling quietly "Hi Emmett, Alice." She glanced over at me as I came around the front of the Yukon, and her face turned impossibly redder. I got a nod and a murmured "Edward," before she came down the steps to meet us.
Emmett glanced around before asking, "Where's that beautiful neighbor of yours Bella?"
"Oh, um, Jazz should be heading over any minute." She deadpanned. Emmett looked at her, shocked and more than a little horrified until she started giggling softly.
Emmett bounded towards her, mock outrage on his face. "You think that's funny little girl?" he asked before grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder. She shrieked and I noticed I had instinctively moved forward to tear his fucking hands off of her before I had realized it. He started whacking her on her cute little ass and spinning her around. "Who's funny now? You should be careful who you pick on, tiny. Might want to go after someone your own size next time."
Bella continued to shriek a little, but it was mixed in with deep, throaty laughter that surprised the shit out of me and made my dick twitch a little. "Put me down, you oversized buffoon," she responded before reaching into the back of his shorts, grabbing the band of his underwear and yanking with all her might.
"Ahhhh! Fuck, Bells!" Emmett hollered, dumping her back on her feet and hopping around while trying to dislodge his briefs from his ass. "That was totally uncool. Do you know how long it's been since someone's given me a fucking wedgey? Christ, I think you tore the elastic off."
Bella smirked. She fucking smirked at my bear of a brother towering over her after just having shoved her hands down his pants. She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side with a slight shrug to her shoulders. "Should have worn boxer-briefs. They're much sexier anyway." And then she winked at him. Just a wink, and my dick stood at attention like a good little soldier, and I'd never been so happy to be a boxer-brief man. But wait, was she fucking flirting with him? My blood fucking boiled and my hands balled into fists.I don't know what I might have done just then, but I was saved by making an ass of myself by the arrival of Rosalie and Jasper sauntering across the lawn between the houses.
"What's much sexier?" Rose asked curiously.
"I was just telling Emmett that boxer-briefs are sexier than regular briefs," Bella replied innocently. There was suddenly no trace of the flirty, sassy girl who'd been standing there winking at my brother.
Rose looked at her oddly for a second before responding nonchalantly, "Actually, as long as they're not white, I like briefs better." Emmett's face broke into a huge smile because, as we'd all just witnessed when Bella had given him the wedgey from hell, his briefs were navy blue. "What the hell are you smiling at?" Rose asked, easily wiping the smile off his face.
"Nothing. Just excited for the party," Emmett answered, turning towards Bella's pile on the porch. I caught site of Bella's knowing little grin and was even more perplexed. She was obviously wise to the fact that Emmett had taken a shine to Rose. Maybe she wasn't flirting with him. The voice in my head suddenly sounded a bit hopeful and I mentally shoved a sock in that shit.
After much strategizing by Jasper and a bunch of barked orders from the little pixie general, we finally managed to get the huge pile of crap that Bella had packed into the back of the Yukon. I didn't think anyone would over-pack worse than Alice – she had packed a bag that she could probably have curled up and napped in – but I was wrong. However, where Alice probably packed enough outfits to change every 15 minutes like some crazed Oscar host, Bella had apparently packed enough supplies for all of us to survive for years on a deserted island. I don't know if that girl had ever been a Boy Scout, but if not she should sign up to run that damn organization. She was nothing if not prepared, and young adolescent males would probably come running to join after seeing her in one of their little uniforms, all curves and creamy skin.
Finally we were all settled in and on the road, with me again riding shotgun next to Em, Alice and Rose in the middle seat, and Jasper and Bella sitting in the third row behind them. Despite really not wanting to see them get cozy with each other in the back of the vehicle, I kept a fairly close eye on them through the review mirror. I needn't have worried. Other than the fact that Bella turned sideways and stretched her legs across Jasper's lap, there wasn't any inappropriate cuddling going on back there. They both stuck their respective noses into books and ignored the rest of us. Alice and Rose seemed to hit it right off, somehow managing to discuss their entire lives in the twenty minutes it took to get to the beach, even with Rose pausing now and then to give us directions to La Push, a Quileute reservation where the beach was located.
We followed a path of tire tracks through trees before it opened up to sand and water. Emmett pulled up into the sand next to a couple of other vehicles and turned off the car as we looked out the windshield at the beach.
La Push was huge and secluded, surrounded by water, woods, and cliffs. It had a bit of an untouched feel. There were no benches or picnic tables. Just beach the way beaches were before man came along. There were quite a few other kids spread out along the sand, laying on towels or blankets or sitting in folding chairs. We could see a large fire already started in a fire pit halfway down the beach.
We all piled out of the vehicle and began unloading the back, piling all the supplies on the ground right behind the Yukon as Bella tried to organize it. She was in midsentence, telling Emmett which coolers held lunch, snacks, and drinks respectively, when she was interrupted by an extremely loud, deep, masculine voice.
"Hells Bells!"
We all turned around to see three large boys heading towards us. I'm not sure what they put in the water here in the reservation, but they certainly grew 'em big down here. The one in the middle was the only guy I'd ever seen who was bigger than Em. At least 6'6" and built like he lived his life in a gym, not quite as bulky as Emmett, but seriously ripped. He was dressed in a pair of ratty old cutoff sweats and nothing else, his long black hair pulled back. He was flanked by two other Native American guys. Not quite as tall, more my height, but also muscled and lean. They were all smiling at us, but the guy in the middle had eyes only for Bella.
I caught a quick glimpse of her huge smile in return as she rushed past me with a shriek of "Jacob!" before she threw herself into the giant's arms. He picked her up easily, swinging her around while still moving towards us. I realized that my jaw and fists were both clenched tight, seeing her in yet another guy's arms, and I snuck a quick glance at Jasper to see how he was taking this development. But instead of seeing a mirror of my own reaction, Jasper was relaxed and grinning at the group coming towards us.
As they neared, Jacob finally released Bella, and she was immediately swept up by the guy on Jacob's right and then passed off to the third guy after a moment. I could hear her soft voice asking how everyone was, and the deep rumble of the trio's replies.
The reached us with Bella pulled tight into Jacob's side, his arm around her shoulders and hers circling his waist. "Jazz man, how ya doing?" Jacob asked as he extended his hand out to shake, while Rose moved forward to hug one of the others. I didn't miss the frown on Emmett's face when that happened.
"Jacob. Good to see you, man. It's been awhile."
"Yeah, too long man. Too long."
Jasper moved on to shake hands with the other two, and the three of us kind of hung back as the group shifted from one to the other in greeting. Finally, Jasper turned around and motioned to us before beginning the introductions.
"Hey guys, I want you to meet our new neighbors. This is Emmett, Alice, and Edward Cullen. They just moved in across the street from Bella and Charlie. This group of delinquents is Jake, Quil, and Embry. They're friends from way back."
We all said hello and there was another round of hand shaking. I forced myself not to squeeze the hell out of Jacob's hand, but it was difficult as he still had Bella wedged under his arm and she was still smiling happily up at him. I began to wonder if I needed to reevaluate my assumption about the nature of her and Jasper's relationship. Maybe they weren't exclusive? That might be good for me. Ha! Then you'd have to share her. Really think that's going to work?
I tried to ignore my inner tormentor and focused back on the conversation going on around me.
"Bells. Please tell me you brought enough food for us." Jacob was saying to Bella.
She laughed quietly and shook her head as she extricated herself from his armpit. "Well, I brought enough to feed a small village, so hopefully y'all brought your own lunch as this will certainly be just a snack for you. Now earn your keep and grab some coolers. Let's go cop a squat."
The next few minutes involved us moving all our equipment down the beach and setting up in the sand. Bella had blankets, towels, chairs, and even an umbrella that stuck into the sand. Emmett had fun spearing that into the ground; I would have enjoyed it more if he hadn't missed his foot by mere inches.
Embry tried sneaking a peak into the various coolers and Bella repeatedly shooed him away as he pouted and bemoaned the fact that he was wasting away. I noticed a group of two girls and three more guys heading our way from down the beach, and I had a tense moment wondering if I was going to have to witness another loving greeting with Bella and the group before they started waving and calling out to Jasper and Rosalie. None of them even acknowledged Bella, which seemed strange to me. Maybe they hadn't seen her?
"So, Bells." Jacob said, pulling my attention away from the approaching group.
"Yeah, Jake?"
"This year is the year." He was smirking at her.
She raised an eyebrow at him, skeptically. "Is it now?"
"It is. I have a feeling."
"Is it the same feeling you've had every other year? Because if memory serves me, those feelings didn't pan out the way you thought they would."
"Nope. Completely new feeling this year. That's how I know that this is my year."
"Uh-huh." It was hard to miss the sarcasm. I noticed that Emmett and Alice looked just as confused as I felt, but the rest of the group was watching the exchange with wide grins.
Before I could ask what the hell they were going on about, Emmett did it for me. "What the fuck are you two jabbering about?"
It was Jasper who answered. "Every year Jake challenges Bella to a race." Emmett and I both eyed Bella next to a much longer-legged Jacob, and Jasper didn't miss the skepticism. "Not that kind of race. It's a swim race, out to that buoy." And he pointed to a red buoy bobbing a good distance out from the shore.
"And every year, Bella schools him, Embry, and Quil without any difficulty whatsoever." Rose piped in with a smirk that Bella returned with an impish grin. I looked over at Bella again and had to admit it was difficult to believe. She was just so much smaller and frailer looking than the three large boys standing around her.
"But not this year." Jacob responded with confidence. "This is my year."
Bella sighed, but was obviously suppressing a grin. "Well, there's only one way to find out, now isn't there?" She asked. "Or do you need a chance to warm up with a few laps first?"
"Nope. No warm up needed here." But he started swinging his arms and rolling his shoulders while Embry and Quil peeled off their shirts.
Emmett, who couldn't be around any form of physical competition and not partake, moved up to them. "So, all we gotta do is get to the buoy first?" And he yanked his shirt over his head.
All three boys looked over at him and smiled. "It's farther than it looks, dude." Embry responded.
At that point I stopped hearing the conversation around me, since Bella had just pulled her shirt over her head and was sliding her cutoffs down her legs. Her bathing suit was a deep blue one-piece, but it was low cut in the back and tied behind her neck, exposing what seemed like an endless expanse of pale creamy flesh, interrupted only by a tattoo of what might be a bird high up on her back between her shoulder blades. My mouth went dry and I tried to get a closer look at the tatt as she moved closer to me and turned around in front of Rose, conveniently pulling her hair up off her neck. It was a good sized rendering of a hummingbird, fluttering over a bell shaped flower with the words Perseverance Strength Determination written in elaborate script beneath it.
"Rosalita, can you do something with this mop?"
"Sure kiddo." Rose replied and started plaiting the thick strands into a long braid at the back of her head. She leaned in close and whispered quietly, "You get 50% of anything I win."
"That's not necessary Rose, as you already know."
Rose finished the braid and Bella moved down the beach to join the boys at the edge of the water. Her small frame looked even tinier next to the brawn of those four animals. It made me feel strangely, protective? I shook my head trying to dislodge the unusual feeling and noticed we had been joined by the group I had noticed approaching earlier.
The girls were medium height, maybe 5'5" or so. One had long, curly, dirty-blond hair. The other's hair was darker, long and straight. They were both pretty in an I-work-really-hard-at-looking-like-this sort of way.
"They racing already?" one of the boys asked. He looked very all-American, blue eyes and blonde hair in a contrived faux hawk. "I think Jake might actually have it in the bag this year." He commented and was met with a very unlady-like snort of disbelief from Rosalie.
"I don't know, man. Bella wins every year." This from a boy with black, greasy hair hanging shaggy around his face. He was sporting a bad case of acne, which might have been helped by a more regular hair-care routine.
"Dude" Mr. All-American replied, "Look at Jake. I think he's put on another 3 inches this year and even more muscle. He's fucking huge. His arm span alone is longer than Bella's whole body. He's definitely gonna win this year."
"$50 bucks says Bella's sitting on the buoy before any of the guys even reach it." Rosalie said.
"No way. I'll take that action. Even if she wins it won't be by that margin."
"Mike, the arm span doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing with it." Jasper reminded in a quiet voice.
"Jasper man, I'm with Mike on this. She might win, but it won't be by that much. I'm in." Zit-face piped up.
"Yeah, I'm in too. Hope you brought enough money with you Rose." Said the third boy.
Suddenly Alice piped in. "I'm in too. I'm betting for Bella." I quirked an eyebrow at her, but she just smiled and shrugged. "Rose is confidant."
At this point Jake turned back and hollered in our direction. "Hey Rose, give us a count off, will ya?"
They were lined up on the beach, Bella looking tiny with two giants on either side, dwarfing her. Rose's clear voice cut through the gentle breeze and the other kids on the beach stopped to check out what was going on.
"On your mark! Get set! GO!!!!" Rose hollered, and all five of them were off.
The boys all bounded through the shallow waters, trying to take advantage of their longer, stronger legs to no avail. Bella took only a couple of steps, and then just as her feet touched the water her legs tensed, knees bent and her body sprang forward in a beautiful low, flat dive that took her into water deep enough to begin stroking. I could see her feet kicking almost before she hit the water, and when she came up with her arms already drawing back in a smooth, graceful stroke she was already ahead of any of the guys around her.
Watching Bella in the water was like watching poetry in motion. Her slim body made almost no disturbance in the water around her. Her strokes were perfectly arched and graceful and seemed to stretch farther in front of her then their size should have been capable of. Her head remained in the water, only twisting slightly to the side every 2 or 3 strokes to expose enough of her mouth to pull in a breath. Her speed in the water was nothing short of amazing and it didn't take long to see that none of the men in the water with her had a chance at winning this thing.
The three newcomers surrounding us began to grumble and holler at Jake or the other guys to "put some back into it" as though they were trying to chop down a tree instead of race a 105 pound girl through the waves. Beside me Jasper let out a quiet chuckle.
"Newton, when are you gonna learn? On dry land, Bella might be as awkward as a fish out of water, but in it she's as graceful as a-"
"Swan," Rosalie cut in, smirking at Mr. All-American.
At this point, Bella reached the buoy. She hoisted herself up on top of it and turned around, crossing her legs demurely just as Jake and Emmett reached it simultaneously. Embry and Quil were seconds behind them. I heard more than a few shouted expletives by both the boys in the water and the ones looking down at Rosalie's and Alice's seeking palms.
"Pay up, boys!" Rosalie demanded and Alice giggled next to her.
I heard a shriek out in the water and turned my head just in time to see Jake standing on the buoy tossing Bella into the water. The five of them swam closer to the shore where they could stand and began throwing Bella back and forth amongst them while she screamed, cursed, and laughed loudly.
"You wanna go toss the football?" I looked next to me to see Jasper standing there with an old worn football in his hands. I wanted to hate him, simply because he had the right to touch her while I didn't, but the longer I was around him, the more I felt at ease with him. He exuded a calm and content atmosphere that seemed to saturate everything around him.
I shrugged my shoulders, planning to say no on principle. But when I opened my mouth I was surprised to hear myself say "Sure."