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Chapter 10

"Excuse me?" I ask, slightly offended because despite not being my type sober, Liam is actually a nice guy and there's nothing wrong with him. But mainly, I'm just utterly confused at the anger in his voice.

"Please tell me you never had a thing with that guy?" he repeats, gripping the steering wheel.

I shake my head, feeling slightly angry myself. Who the hell was he to have an opinion on people I've had relations with? "No, I heard what you said. I'm just not sure what you meant."

"Did you fuck that guy?" he questions. This time it's not anger I hear in his voice – it's pure jealousy. I was right with my earlier suspicions.

"As my step-brother, that's none of your fucking business," I snap.

Paul cringes, but quickly recovers by arranging his face into a scowl. "How about as the guy you made out with last night? Is it any of my business now?"

"How about we're not supposed to be talking about that, so no!" My voice is becoming squeaky as I begin to panic. The last thing I want is to fight with Paul over someone as insignificant as Liam.

Running his hands through his hair in frustration, Paul takes a calming breath. "But what if I want to be talking about it?" His words take me by surprise, causing me to look into his eyes. They're pleading.

All I can think of is Erica's comment about Paul giving me the perfect opportunity to talk about whatever the hell was going on between us. I know she would kill me if I blew it a second time, but…. "You're the one who said it was stupid."

"Cassie," he exclaims desperately, "what the hell was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know," I cry, extremely glad that the parking lot around Paul's truck is basically empty. "How about that was fun or we probably shouldn't have done that. Not that was stupid."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "I was freaking out! I wasn't thinking straight. Can't we just please talk about it now?"

I buckle my seatbelt, signalling that it's time to go. "There's nothing to be talking about Paul," I reply quietly, attempting to keep the sadness out of my voice.

"Why?" he demands, unbuckling my seatbelt and turning his body to face me. I'm about to point out the obvious, but he interrupts with, "Give me one good reason we shouldn't talk about what happened outside of the fact that our parents are engaged."

I bite my lip, annoyed because he knows I can't. At least not a true one. My mind scrambles as I try to bullshit an excuse. "Because what happened isn't a big deal. Teenagers do that shit - hell adults do it too – all the time. It doesn't have to mean anything."

Paul's face turns to stone, and he actually glares at me. I don't think I've seen him glare at me since the first night we met.

When he doesn't say anything, I continue – digging myself deeper, "Besides, it was a really vulnerable situation. I mean, we could've crashed and died in the blizzard, then we were stranded at my dad's, and then the power went out. So we definitely weren't thinking straight. And again, like you said: it was stupid."

"No, Cassie," Paul states, looking deeply into my eyes. His glare is gone, but he's staring so intensely at me that it's taking my breath away. "What was stupid was me thinking that I wouldn't fall for you."

My jaw drops as I take in his words breathlessly. Calm down, Cassie. He said fall for you – not fall in love with you. But is there really a difference? "Paul," I whisper, tears pricking the back of my eyes, "don't."

"Then tell me you don't feel anything for me, and we'll drop it. Forever." His eyes are begging me not to. I've never seen him look so vulnerable. It basically dissolves all the anger I felt for him mere minutes ago. When I don't reply, he whispers hopefully, "I see the way you look at me."

"So I find you attractive," I bluff poorly, looking anywhere but at him. "That doesn't mean anything."

"You're a terrible liar, Cass," he laughs softly. He reaches across the cab of his truck, stroking my cheek gently.

I lean into his warm touch, closing my eyes. "I know," I sigh. When I open my eyes, Paul is smiling so lovingly at me that I can't help but beam up at him. It reminds me of how Peter looks at my mother, only so much more adoring. Which I never knew was possible.

Keeping his hand resting on my cheek, he slides closer until our faces are just inches apart. It's different than last night: less rushed, less lustful. However, my heart is still hammering in my chest. For a few minutes, he just stares at me lovingly. He whispers, "You're so beautiful."

Blood rushes to my cheeks, but I'm too tongue-tied to say anything. That is, until he leans in closer, attempting to capture my lips in a sweet kiss. "We can't," I breathe, but I don't have to pull back because he freezes in place.

Sighing, he repeats, "Then tell me you don't feel anything for me, and we'll drop it. Forever."

Tears well in my eyes. "I can't."

"Please don't cry," Paul whispers, sounding like he's in torture. For some reason, his pain just makes me feel worse and I start to cry. He wipes the tears away gently. "I'm sorry I said anything about that guy. You were right; it's none of my business. I was just being jealous and stupid."

Although I'm glad he can acknowledge that, his apology doesn't make me feel any better. "That's not why I'm upset."

He doesn't ask why. He knows why. Nonetheless, I elaborate. "I've never seen my mom as happy as she has been with your dad. And whatever this is," I gesture between the two of us, "could completely ruin that. I can't do that to her."

Paul bites his lip, looking slightly scared. "Cassie, I've never felt this way about anybody before. I can't get you out of my head. And believe me, I've tried. I don't want to risk ruining our parents' marriage either, which is why I tried so hard not to fall for you." He shoots me his signature smirk. "But you're so god damn perfect you're making it impossible."

Laughing through teary eyes, I hit him playfully. "That is bull shit. I'm so not perfect."

"You are to me," he quips, smiling warmly at me.

"Paul," I cry, "we can't do this. Our parents would never be okay with it."

"Then let's just not tell them!" he exclaims hopefully.

"How the hell can we date without the people we live with noticing? And La Push is such a small town, if anybody found out they would know in a split second!"

"Then what if we don't tell anybody?"

I can't help but roll my eyes. "Paul, be serious."

"I am. What if we just keep it between ourselves until graduation? Then, our parents can live obliviously in happiness, and by that time we'll be old enough to move out and it wouldn't really ruin anything."

I love the sound of that, but it is so idealistic. Couples in high school don't usually last forever, let alone a year and a half. "What if we try and realize we're better off as mutually-attracted step-siblings than as a couple?"

"Then we go back to that," he replies simply. "No one will know, so it won't be that awkward."

"What if it ends badly?"

He bites his lip, unhappy with that concept. "Then we'll be step-siblings who don't get along. That's not exactly earth shattering. Hell, they were probably expecting that."

"Wouldn't they be suspicious that we went from great friends to hating each other?"

"Or," he states, "maybe things will go greatly and none of this even needs to be considered."

"Maybe..." I admit. But I can't help but tease him as I try to change the subject, "You know, I still can't believe how jealous you were over Liam. Especially since I never once overreacted about Olivia"

"That's so not the same thing."

"How is it not?"

"You definitely did not have feelings for me then!"

"Are you joking? Of course I did! I'm pretty sure I was a goner the second I came into the kitchen and you had no shirt on. And if not then, definitely when you made me pizza." The pleased smirk on Paul's face makes me realize what I just blurted out. My face burns in embarrassment. "Oh my god, I cannot believe I just said that."

His smirk doesn't leave his face as he pecks my forehead gently. "Don't be embarrassed." Then he winks at me. "Maybe I should stop wearing a shirt again."

I smirk right back at him, trying to conceal my blush. "Well, I wouldn't be opposed."

This time when he leans in to kiss me, I let him. Our lips move gently in symmetry until I finally pull away, breathless.

"See?" I breathe, gesturing between us. "How would we be able to hide this? What if they found out before the wedding?"

"I've been hiding my feelings for you since day one." He smiles warmly at me. "We can do this."

"Well, not very well. Ricki suspected it the whole time, and she's 70 miles away in Port Angeles!"

Paul smirks. "Yes, but our parents – and certainly you – weren't able to tell." He bops me on the nose affectionately.

Covering my blushing face, I laugh. "You're so corny."

He snorts, nodding reluctantly in agreement. "I never used to be, believe me. This is all your fault."

Giggling, I pat him on the back. "If it makes you feel better, I never used to like it." After a few moments of silence, I take a deep breath and ask reluctantly, "Are we really going to try to do this?"

"I would love to. As long as you want to, too."

Nodding, I bite back a smile. "On the condition that we don't tell anybody in La Push. We can't have our parents finding out – especially before the wedding. It's a lot easier to call off an engagement than to file for a divorce."

Paul looks hesitant, which confuses me. Who does he want to tell? Or is he worried that he won't be able to keep it a secret?

"Paul!" I exclaim when he doesn't answer.

"Okay." He nods. "But you can't tell Erica, either."

I frown. "But she's not even in La Push. Why would it matter?"

Paul looks at me dubiously. "She'll be at the wedding!"

"I guess," I admit. "Fine, I promise. I won't tell her for now."

Smiling, Paul slides back to the driver's side of his cab. "Now since that's settled, we should really go home."

Nodding, I re-buckle my seatbelt. "Oh yeah, you have to work tonight, don't you?"

Paul shoots me a confused look as he starts the truck. "I don't remember telling you that."

Grinning, I look out my window innocently. "I may have, um, overheard part of your conversation with Leah this morning."

Paul smirks, driving out of the parking lot. He reaches over, holding my hand in his. "And you're not gonna ask what we talked about?"

"Well, I'm not as psychotically jealous as you are," I tease, leaning over to peck his cheek. It drives me crazy how insanely comfortable and easy everything is with Paul. It's like everything just feels natural. "But," I admit sheepishly, "I have a feeling it was about me."

"You caught me," he admits. "She gives decent advice, but don't worry I won't say anything else to her about it."

I nod. The way emphasizes certain words makes me feel like I'm missing out on an inside joke – just like when I'm with his friends. But like usual, I'm probably being paranoid so I ignore it. "You know, based on how you guys talk about her at school, I didn't think you two were that close."

Paul shrugs. "We never were really. But like I said, she gives good advice. And," he grins over at me, "she likes you."

I snort. "Leah Clearwater likes me? I thought she didn't like anybody."

He grins charmingly. "Well, you're hard not to like."

Rolling my eyes, I lean my head back on the seat and look out this window. This road trip definitely turned out to be better than I thought it would be at this time last night. However, if I had a hard time hiding my feelings for Paul, I know hiding the fact that we're dating is going to be an even bigger struggle.

And hiding it from Ricki? Well, that's going to be nearly impossible.

Please let me know what you think! I'm going away until Monday, so I wanted to post this before I leave. The wait for the next chapter shouldn't be too long; however, it probably won't be written until after I get back. Thanks for reading :)