Chapter Seventeen

"I'm so bored," James said, sitting in middle of Bella's living room with everyone. Edward's friends and the girls were all in various degrees of laziness. "I can't believe we're stuck indoors." His words made everyone look at the view of a dark and angry sky. For the last few hours, the rain showers would start and stop, and no one was interested in wasting their passes at the boardwalk if rides closed due to the weather.

"You can all leave," Edward said, earning a smack on the back of his head from Bella. She sat on his lap, playing with his hair. "Hey. What's that for?"

"Don't be rude."

Alec chuckled and shook his head. "You'd think having her all yourself for the night and morning would be enough." Bella blushed, but tossed a throw pillow at his head. "Settle down, slugger, none of us heard a thing." A few people snickered.

Everyone met up at Bella's place after James, Alec and Zafrina returned from surfing an hour before. After a quick lunch, they couldn't seem to find something to do. Ben was already sniffling from the brief time on the beach as it rained, and no one wanted to risk getting sick. It would ruin the rest their vacation.

"Let's watch some porn," Eric suggested, some of the others were for it, but no had their laptops handy, or wanted to admit to having an account online. Bella refused to let them get something on pay-per-view, knowing it would somehow get back to her parents. No one blamed her for that.

"Strip poker," James said, with a little enthusiasm.

Edward gave him a glare. "Think again." James grinned and drew an imaginary halo with his finger.

"Are there any video game systems in the house?" Alec asked, walking toward the linen closet in the hallway. "I thought I saw something in here the other day."

"Maybe. Though, I think it's been a while since they bought new games. They've been stolen before." Bella joined Alec in the search as Edward went to grab them a few drinks.

He was tempted to ask Bella to take a drive with him, but felt like a dick for wanting to. Was it selfish of him to want her all to himself? Maybe, but as much as he and his friends avoided discussing college, they were all moving away. He needed to spend time with friends; the same ones that were there for him when things got tough and had been since they were kindergarten.

"We found a PS3 and a Wii."

"Are there any games?" Jane asked, helping Alec with the equipment and some wires. She was a tiny little blonde that seemed to have James on his toes, so he was quick to help her, too.

Bella struggled to carry a plastic box filled with various games and DVDs. Edward gave her a hand, but not before getting a kiss.

As if they'd all known each other for years, everyone fought for several minutes on what game to play. Ben and Heidi, the computer and gaming geeks, set up the systems as they tried to figure it out. Finally, they settled on one, and as they moved furniture to make room, they decided it would be boys against the girls. The guys were cocky and confident they'd win.

Edward stepped away from Bella and smiled. "You're going down."

She cocked an eyebrow, gesturing with her hands. "Bring it on, Cap."

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"Whose idea was this?" James groaned as he collapsed on the couch, losing to Jane. Tiny or not, the girl could dance. Edward smacked his arm and pointed to the girls, dressed in shorts and bikini tops. The reason why they chose Just Dance 4 became obvious. "Right, whoever chose it should be given a medal, a freaking, fucking genius." They laughed and looked at Ben who had suggested it.

Ben rose from the nearby chair and playfully bowed. His glasses slid down his thin nose and fell to the ground, but shy Heidi was quick to hand them to him, both blushing.

Bella sang along as she danced against Alec, shaking her hips and laughing along with the other girls. "It's the wild, wild west." It was obvious who was going to win, because despite all of his moves in the bedroom—his words—Alec couldn't dance for shit.

The problem was that he didn't know it. Maybe he did and didn't care. Whatever was the case, he looked like he was having a seizure.

"This game sucks" Alec said, conceding defeat to Bella. "It's fucking rigged. How many times have you girls played it?"

"Alec, don't pretend you haven't played," Edward said, enjoying the scowl on his cousin's face. Alec was a sore fucking loser, though he rarely lost in anything. It was nice to see him drop a peg or two. He looked Bella and smiled. "We have it at home and it's fun watching our sometimes drunk family trying to out dance each other during the holidays." A few of the others admitted that it was the same for them.

"Let's take a break and the one with the highest scores from each team, will compete for the final showdown." Angela rose flipped a small whiteboard she found in the closet so they wouldn't see the tallies yet.

Bella helped Edward off the couch, led him to one of the big chairs, and sat on his lap. His hands slid up and down her legs. They were so smooth, sun-kissed, and long. He loved how she seemed perfectly comfortable sitting on him while they all talked.

The subject soon turned to college and Bella looked questionably at Edward when she noticed how reluctant the guys were in joining in. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

Edward shrugged. "We're all excited, but we've been through so much together since we were kids, all of us. Now we're moving on and away, Ben will be LA. Alec in Cambridge, James and Mike are both heading to Florida, but different schools. Eric is going abroad. It's been the six of us since we were five years old."

She nuzzled his neck and kissed them there. "In other words, you guys are going to miss each other and too chicken to admit it." She giggled when he tried to tickle her for the teasing tone. "You'll see each other again."

Edward hoped so. Although Alec was family, the truth was, all of his friends were like brothers. He didn't want to lose another one.

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"No, Bella," Edward said firmly, standing in front of the flat screen, their friends watching from various seats around the living room. Bella and Edward had the highest points on their teams, competing against each other for the first time. "I will not dance to One Direction. Forget it." The girls all booed and the guys seemed to agree that a man just didn't dance or sing to that group.

"Fine, Rhianna it is." She selected the song Disturbia, but turned to face him. "So how about a little wager?" Edward cocked an eyebrow, already knowing she was competitive. "If your team wins, the girls and I have to do something for you guys, within reason, of course."

"Yeah, in other words, our bikinis stay on," Angela said, giving a look at Alec, who playfully leered at her chest.

"And if yours win," Edward said, chuckling along with his friends, as if it would happen. His score was the highest on the board; even Bella's was short by twenty points. They'd win. There was no doubt about it. "We have to do anything you girls ask, within reason, of course."

They agreed with a handshake, agreeing to one veto for the loser, but her eyes alit with mischief.

"How about a good luck kiss?" she asked sweetly, tugging him closer and kissing him. They ignored the catcalls from their friends and enjoyed a hot and sweet moment, until she pulled away. "You're going to need it."

"Burn!" one of the guys teased him.

With that said, she turned and slipped off her cut off shorts, leaving her in only her red bikini—his favorite.

"You go, Bella!" her girls cheered.

"Cheater! Cheater!" the guys yelled, booing but ogling, too. Assholes.

The girls were laughing and whistling as Bella innocently batted her lashes at Edward. "Ready?"

Edward could only nod and prayed the countless times he played the game with his family would help him, and he had to remind himself not to stare at Bella's ass while they competed. That was hard to do when he knew exactly what it looked like naked, felt like in his hands…and he was hard.

"You're diabolical," Edward hissed, trying to adjust himself. She blew him a kiss. "I like it."