Chapter Fourteen

"Are you coming to watch or learn?" Alec asked Bella as he drove toward Pismo the following day. It was still dark, but Edward, his cousin, and Bella were heading to catch some waves. James was sleeping off a migraine and the others were staying with Angela and a couple of girls they met that spent the night.

"To watch," she said, practically yawning. She curled up further against Edward in the backseat, sipping on some coffee she made. "I brought my camera, too."

Edward kissed the top of her hair, loving the soft scent of something sweet in it. "Let's hope you manage not to fall asleep."

"Maybe, but some hot guys surfing might help keep me awake." Edward was about to say thanks, but she continued. "Do you think we'll see any guys like that when we get there?" He groaned as Alec chuckled. She started to laugh as Edward tried to tickle her, but she was wearing his hoodie and wrapped in a blanket. He wasn't very successful. "I'm kidding. You two will be the hottest guys there."

"Quit inflating Alec's head, Bella," Edward said, nipping her earlobe. "He's liable to float away when he surfs." Though they hadn't done much more than have fun with their friends the night before, but they did fool around on her bed before falling asleep. He liked waking up next to her.

"Fuck you, Eddie," Alec said, flipping him off without taking his eyes off the road. "Can't believe you two made me your chauffer, and you're both so disgustingly cute, it's nauseating."

"Eddie," Bella repeated, laughing when Edward winced.

"That's what you get from what he said, the nickname I despise." Edward stopped pouting when Bella kissed his cheek. "I don't like it."

"Ex?"

"Yup, that's why he hates it. Jessica Stanley has a voice that only a mother could love," Alec replied, turning into the nearly vacant parking lot. There were about five cars total in the lot as dawn approached likely all surfers. "Though I'm pretty sure she didn't, either."

Bella looked Edward at him. "What was wrong with her voice?"

"She had one of those baby voices, and whenever she called me Eddie, it was like nails on the chalkboard." Edward shook his head, shuddering. "She was a little too nice, but she put Nanny Fine to shame."

"She really did," Alec said, before jumping out of the van. He stretched, immediately took off his shirt, Edward doing the same. They each grabbed a wet suit to change into, Bella giving them privacy as she grabbed her things. "Fuck yeah, the tide is high enough. Ready, Eddie?"

Edward flipped him off, taking Bella's chair and the small cooler they packed for later. Alec introduced them to some of the regulars and Bella asked for permission to take photos. Most of them couldn't have cared less; others gave her their email addresses to get copies. A couple of the men tried to get her number, but Edward was quick to put a stop to that by leading her to the beach.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Bella murmured as she settled into her chair. She batted her lashes playfully at him and puckered her lips. "Why not put their doubts to rest?" He wasn't a caveman and she was quite capable of holding her own, but he kissed her good and hard. She licked the corner of his mouth as he pulled away, and then all he wanted to do was find a suitable place to fool around with her some more. From the look in her pretty eyes, she wanted the same thing.

They had a few things to clear up, but until then, he would love every second with her. "I'll be back."

"Don't worry about me," she said, held up her camera. "I'll be just fine."

"Ready?" Alec asked, running up the beach and toward the pier. Some of the others, about five men and two women, were doing the same.

"What are they doing?" Bella asked Edward, confused.

"The tide is high, which means we can jump off the pier."

Alec waggled his eyebrows and said, "See you on the other side!"

Bella's eyes widened as Edward kissed her one more time and ran after Alec, the board he borrowed thumping against his side. He heard Bella on his heels, her camera clicking away. Everyone's "yahoos" and "fuck yeahs" were loud as they jumped over the railing, with the sound of the waves as their backdrop.

Alec jumped into the water below, just as Edward reached the railing and sailed over. He twisted midair and threw Bella a kiss, shifting again to hit the water right and not hurt himself. Water surrounded him, and the pier appeared distorted overhead as he swam to the surface. He broke through and looked up to see Bella shaking her head.

"You're fucking crazy!"

"About you!" He laughed at her shocked face, and then swam toward Alec and some of the others, already knowing it was going to be a good day.

.

.

.

They spent most of the morning in Pismo before heading back to Cayucos, and everyone was trying to decide if they should go to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz the next day. They wanted to go early enough to catch all the attractions, but also wanted to see the boardwalk at night. It would be a long day.

"Tell me about your family," Edward said as he handed Bella a bottle of water. The rest of their friends were out on the deck of her family's house, discussing plans while barbequing. Earlier she found a hammock to tie between two posts near the base of the stairs. Her bikini was black, but she covered it in a lacy, off white thing that made his imagination run wild.

She looked up at him with a lazy smile, thanking him for the water. "Want to join me?"

He looked at the hammock and had his doubts it would hold them both up. "My Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett told me where it was in the house. He said it held him up and he's like two of you."

Edward laughed and asked her to get off. If one of them was going to fall on their ass, it would be him. He slowly lay back, finally relaxing when it just swung a little. He held up an arm as an invitation for her to join him. She tilted her head to one side, her gaze running over him. He was shirtless again, wearing a pair of light cargo pants that he rolled up in case they took a walk on the beach later.

"Don't leave me hanging," he said, grinning when she tried not to openly ogle his junk. "I mean hanging in the hammock all by myself." She flushed and slipped in beside him, curling up and nuzzling his neck. "Tell me more about your aunts and uncles. I already met Alice and Jasper. I can't imagine the rest of them."

"It was only my dad and Rosalie for a while, and they're about eight years apart, which is probably why she's a lot cooler." She shook her head. "Actually, that's not fair. He wasn't strict and didn't forbid me from dating, not until after the shit with Peter. Even then, it wasn't a 'you're not leaving this house' kind of thing." Edward wished his parents were supportive rather than limiting his freedom. "I think it scared him that he couldn't fully protect me. He's the Chief of Police and someone fucked with his daughter and he could do nothing."

"I can't imagine it was easy to let you come down here practically all alone. Alice and Jasper may be close, but not that close."

"I call to check in often, they have the neighbors checking on us, and I refuse to be a victim again," she said, shrugging. He kissed the top of her head and already knew he liked her enough to want more than the rest of his vacation.

"Let's see, Rosalie is a hairdresser, who has a hobby of building hot rods. Something my grandfather did in his spare time, too. She met my Uncle Emmett at his shop that does body work and paint jobs. The rest was history for those two by the end of the week, and they married a few months later. Now, my Aunt Alice, there's a reason there's some animosity between them, she's their half-sister, and from his mistress."

"Shit."

"Apparently my grandparents had split for almost two years at one point, but lived together. My dad and Aunt Rose had no idea, they thought sleeping in separate bedrooms was normal. Then one day, Alice's mother showed up, with all of her daughter's things packed in one bag, and said she no longer wanted to be a mom and left her there."

"Sounds like an episode of one of those soap operas my mom loves."

She nodded, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest. "All of this, of course, this was before I showed up, but the cool thing was that my grandmother gave Alice a place in her heart, as if she always belonged there."

"How old was Alice?"

"She was almost five at the time." She looked up at him, touching his bottom lip. He gave her a brief kiss and noticed how more relaxed she felt afterward. "It took a while for things to smooth out between my dad and my grandparents. As you can imagine, it rocked all of them. It was years before he could see Alice as his sister. Things were good for a while, and then she met Jasper in the soup kitchen one Christmas, and they were married a couple of months later, the day after she turned eighteen."

Edward already knew Bella hadn't seen much of her aunt after that.

"I'm noticing a trend here," he said playfully, hoping to alleviate some of the tension. He loved that she was opening up more to him. "Are you going to tell me your parents met and married within months?"

"A year," she said, trying to match his tone. Edward could see it in her eyes; she was still worried about when they would have to say goodbye in a few days. "Maybe you should get away while you still can."

His eyes roamed over her face, noticing how much some of her freckles darkened over the last few days. Her lips looked so soft and he mimicked the way she usually asked for a kiss, hoping she'd deliver.

She did.

Her lips were far from hesitant and he loved how familiar they were already, and completely unforgettable. He felt her hum softly as he threaded his fingers through the strands of her hair, eliciting a series of moves that would remain etched in his memory forever. She shifted against his side so that he felt the lace of her top ride up a little and the warm skin beneath it on his abs, her silky thigh sliding between his. He muttered a soft, "fuck," when she rocked it enough for him to harden completely, her fingers tugging on his hair. His free hand skimmed down her back and under the lace, he and groaned as he cupped her ass. She had an incredible body and she felt so good in his arms.

The sound of their friends coming down the stairs to the beach had them reluctantly pulling away. He looked into her eyes, sweeping some of her hair behind her ear. "How about we let things happen naturally?"

"Even if it means we have to say goodbye in the end?"

He cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over the curve. "Not if you're going to regret it."

She shook her head quickly, pressed her lips against his for a soft kiss. "Never."