A/N: Happy 4th of July to those of you here in the states. I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday! As always, a huge thanks to all of you for reading and/or reviewing, and a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for doing her best to teach me the ways of the evil comma.
PS. There's a tiny bit of citrus in this chapter. Thought I'd give you a heads up.
The next day, I drove to Edward's house after school, and I let out a growl when I saw the damage that Tanya had done to his car. She hadn't just keyed a line down the edge of his car like I'd thought. She'd scratched the hell out of it, and the damage would probably cost a ton of money to fix, and I hoped like hell she had to pay for it.
"Hey, sweet girl," Edward said, and I turned around to see him standing behind me, his hands shoved into his pockets.
He looked positively devastated as he stared at his car, and I couldn't help but go over to him and wrap my arms around his waist.
He put his arms around me and placed a kiss to the top of my head.
"You gonna be okay?" I asked him, and he murmured a yes, but I wasn't so sure I believed him.
As we walked inside, I swore I felt eyes on me, but there was no one around. Telling myself I was being stupid, I followed Edward into the house and up to his room.
"Where is everyone?" I asked him, noting that the house was unusually quiet.
"Alice is with Jasper, Emmett's with Rose, Dad's at work, and Mom's at some charity meeting or something like that," he told me as he plopped down on his bed and stretched out.
I stood beside the bed for a second before I gently shoved him, and he scooted over leaving enough room for me.
I got onto the bed and laid down as Edward rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, and I copied his movement so that we were face to face.
"Is she going to be charged?" I asked him.
"The police questioned her, and at first, she claimed she didn't do it, but she later confessed that she had. Her dad talked it out with mine, and Dad decided not to press charges as long as she pays for the damages."
"So basically, her dad's going to pay for it, and she's going to get off scot free," I muttered, but Edward shook his head.
"Nope. Mr. Denali is furious with her, and while he's going to pay up front for it, she's going to have to get a job to pay him back. Dad said she threw a fit when her father told her that. I almost wish I'd been there to see it."
"Well, what did she think was going to happen? Did she think she'd just get away with it? Man, that girl is crazy."
Edward let out a snort at my words. "Tell me about it."
I was going to ask him what he'd seen her, but I got distracted by how close his lips were to mine, and I couldn't resist leaning over and pressing my lips to his.
Just like I knew it would, our kiss quickly turned from sweet to passionate, and I soon found myself on my back while Edward hovered above me before finally settling between my thighs, and we both let out moans at the feeling of his body so close to mine. I knew we were on slightly dangerous ground, but I didn't care at the moment. All that I cared about was the fact that Edward and I were alone in his bedroom and his lips were on mine.
As we made out, my hands ran up and down his back, and I found myself sliding my hands underneath the back of his shirt, and he let out a low growl as my hands touched his bare skin.
Before I knew it, his shirt was off and lying on the floor by his bed, and I reveled in all that glorious skin before me.
It wasn't as if I hadn't seen him without a shirt before. Over the summer, I'd gone swimming with him many times, but this was the first time I'd been able to not only see his skin but touch it as well.
Gently, I shoved him off of me so that it was his turn to be on his back, and I kneeled beside him as he stretched out, and I took a nice, long look at him.
Edward was so freaking gorgeous, and sometimes, I found it hard to believe that he was mine, but he was. Edward Cullen was my boyfriend, and I hoped like hell he became more than that.
Reaching out, I ran a finger down his sternum, and I grinned when he squirmed slightly. It seemed that my guy was a bit ticklish, so I couldn't resist digging my fingers into his sides, and he let out a girlish squeal as he tried to get away. I started laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe, and that was when Edward made his move.
"You are so gonna pay for that, Bella Swan," he said with a wicked grin once he'd caught his breath, but I was still giggling too hard to pay him much mind.
In a flash, I found myself underneath Edward once more, and then it was my turn to squirm and squeal as he tickled me.
During all the squirming that I was doing, my shirt had ridden up, and I froze when Edward's warm hand touched my bare stomach.
Hardly daring to breathe, I watched as his hand traced light circles on my stomach, and I felt myself blushing as all sorts of naughty thoughts entered my mind.
With one hand still resting on my stomach, Edward leaned down and placed a gentle kiss next to my belly button, and I let out a barely audible gasp.
Reaching up, I grasped the back of his neck and pulled his face up toward me so I could capture his lips with mine.
As we kissed, his hand continued its gentle motion on my stomach, and then I felt that hand begin to move higher.
As soon as his hand reached my sternum, my muscles tensed, and Edward stopped immediately.
"It's okay," I told him. "You don't have to stop. I'm just a bit nervous."
"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice full of concern, and I nodded knowing that he'd stop if I asked him to.
"I trust you."
The kiss that he gave was fierce and full of passion, and I found myself drowning in him.
As we continued to kiss, his hand moved higher and his fingers began to trace the edge of my bra, and I found myself absurdly grateful that I was wearing one of my nicer ones.
After a few moments, I was beginning to go mad and was so close to begging Edward to just touch me when he finally cupped one of my covered breasts in his hand.
"You're so perfect," he murmured against my lips, and at that moment I certainly felt, not only perfect for him but beautiful.
His hand continued to cup me before he gently squeezed my breast, and a wonderful tingling feeling began to take over my body, and I broke away from our kiss to let out a low moan.
Edward's hand on me felt so good, and I wanted to feel his hands all over me.
Pushing myself into a sitting position, I whipped my shirt off and tossed it on the floor before looking at Edward.
He was staring at my chest, and while I wasn't overly large, I had a nice handful going on, and I fit perfectly into his hand.
Edward leaned forward and placed a hard kiss on my lips before trailing his lips down my neck while his other hand reached out and grasped my other breast.
When one of his thumbs brushed over a nipple, I couldn't contain the gasp that left me.
"Okay?" he asked as he trailed kisses across my collarbone.
"Hmmm … yes," I mumbled as I leaned my head back, losing myself in the wonderful sensations that Edward was creating.
Just as Edward leaned down to place a kiss on the top of my breast, Esme's voice rang out saying that she was home, and Edward and I shared panicked looks.
Jumping off the bed, we scrambled to put our shirts on, and I straightened the bed while Edward opened the door since we weren't allowed to have it closed when we were alone together.
As soon as the bed was fixed, I rushed into Edward's bathroom, splashing some water on my face and fixing my hair.
"Hi, sweetheart," I heard her say to Edward as she entered his room.
"Hi, Mom," he replied before telling her I was in the bathroom when she asked where I was.
Taking a deep breath and hoping that Esme couldn't tell what we'd been up to, I slowly opened the door and walked into the room.
"Hi, Esme," I said by way of greeting, and she gave me a quick hug before asking if I was staying for dinner.
It was then that I'd realized I'd promised Dad I'd have dinner with him and Sue at her house in La Push around seven-thirty, so I told Esme that I couldn't stay.
"I actually have to get going soon. I'm driving over to La Push, and I told Dad I'd be there for dinner."
Edward and I followed Esme downstairs, and we talked about school as well as other things until the clock on the mantle in the living room chimed five. It was an hour and twenty-some minute drive to La Push from Port Angeles, and I didn't want to be late.
After saying goodbye to Esme, Edward walked me out to my car and told me to drive safely.
"I will," I promised as I leaned in for a kiss.
"Long time no see, sugar," the voice of James said from behind me, and I whirled around to see him standing there with a cocky grin on his face and a slightly evil glint in his eye.
I hadn't run into him since the grocery store, and I'd been hoping to never see him again but, obviously, that wasn't the case.
I had no idea what he was doing at the Forks Public Library, but I had a nagging feeling that he wasn't there to check out books.
Choosing not to respond to him, I grabbed a couple of Stephen King books off the shelf and began to walk toward the front desk to check out.
I could hear footsteps behind me, and I knew that he was following me.
I took my time making small talk with the clerk behind the counter before thanking her and pulling out my phone and calling my dad.
I made sure to talk loudly enough that James would know who I was talking to, and I smirked a little as he backed off. It still unnerved me, though, that he had shown up twice at places I'd been.
Once I made it into the parking lot and over to my jeep, I hung up the phone and opened the back door to toss my bag of books into the backseat.
"Still ignoring me?" James asked, and I scowled and clutched the keys that were in my hand even tighter. If I had to, I'd stab him in the eye with one of them.
"Why don't you run along and report back to Tanya?" I suggested as I turned around to look at him. "Isn't that why you're here? So, you can help her stalk her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about," he snarled with a dark look in his eyes.
"Oh, so you're not stalking me? It's just a coincidence that you show up here in Forks at places I just happen to be at? It's just a coincidence that you happened to be with Tanya the first time I ran into you? I don't think so."
His face had flushed a dark red as he stared at me, and I felt incredibly uneasy. I knew better than to stand there and goad him, but I couldn't help it. He put me on the defensive.
"Let's just say that I'm helping a friend out," he said in a cold voice with a nasty grin on his face, and I flinched as he stepped closer to me.
"Hey, Bella," someone called out, causing James to step back.
I never thought I'd be glad to see Mike Newton, but in that second, I could have hugged him for his perfect timing. Although, what he was doing at the library was a mystery. He wasn't exactly the reading type.
"Hey, Mike. What brings you here?" I asked, watching as Mike came closer.
James shot him a dirty look before crossing the parking lot and getting into the dark truck that I'd seen before. I knew I'd have to tell Dad about my encounter with James, and I knew he'd be pissed that I'd egged him on.
"Uh … community service," Mike said in a sheepish voice. "My party last week got busted up by your dad, and I was given a choice of community service or jail time. I took the community service."
"Good idea."
"Yeah, so was that James guy bothering you?" he asked me, his hands in his pockets.
"You know him?"
Mike nodded. "I met him at a party a few years ago. He's a nasty piece of work. He's really into drugs, and he's got a pretty violent temper."
He paused for a second before asking me what I was doing hanging out with James.
"I wasn't. He's been following me, and I'm pretty sure Edward's ex, Tanya, put him up to it."
Mike winced at my words. "That's a bad combination right there. I met Tanya a few years ago at summer camp, and she's all about drama, and James is all about violence. If they're working together, nothing good can come of it."
"Fabulous," I muttered.
"Listen, Bella, I know that we haven't been the best friends and a lot of that is on me as well as Jessica and Lauren, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Lauren and Jessica have been hanging out with Tanya a lot lately. I'll keep an ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything."
"Thanks, Mike," I told him, and I meant it.
Mike had backed off and had done his best to get Jessica to leave me alone over the past month, and I really did appreciate it. I had enough drama going on without having to worry about Jessica inflicting revenge on me because Lauren had gotten in trouble. Thankfully, Lauren hadn't bothered me too much since her suspension. Oh, occasionally she had something nasty to say or some crappy rumor to spread, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
I got into the jeep and drove home, keeping an eye out for the dark truck that belonged to James, and I sighed with relief when I made it home and hadn't seen him.
"Hey, kiddo," Dad said once I'd entered the house, and I sat down on the couch to tell him all about my run in with James.
Dad had been livid, threatening to have James arrested even though he technically had nothing on which to hold him.
I told Dad not to do anything rash which had him grinning as he looked at me before telling me that I needed to avoid James and Tanya at all costs. I wasn't to engage in any kind of conversation with either of them, and I promised him I wouldn't.
a/n: Let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.