Chapter Eighteen

Considering Edward was a very good dancer, Bella had to do whatever she could to win. Out of all the boys, he surprised her by his moves. Besides, everyone had seen her in the same bikini before, while playing volleyball and swimming, so it wasn't a big deal for her to bounce around in it. Over the last week, she found herself more comfortable with her body, and she'd seen the same happening to Angela.

She wasn't exactly playing fair, dressed as she was to compete, but Edward was rather distracting shirtless. His body was long, lean, his muscles were defined, but not overly so. Every time he took off his shirt or came out of the water looking as he did, she had to check that she wasn't drooling. She had to level the playing field somehow, though his board shorts were especially fitting around his ass, hung low on his hips. While he was dancing against Angela earlier, she spent the whole time watching it.

I love this game.

Bella had the competition in the bag, memories of dancing with Angela and her mother in her living room filled her head. Edward seemed to shake himself out of a daze, and she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Evil girl," he muttered under his breath. The amusement slipped from his face, and he looked serious. "Ready when you are, Ensign."

Her eyes narrowed at his tone—firm, a little commanding. "Oh, sounds like I've been demoted. I don't think so, Cap. I'm the Admiral here."

"I'm not following this conversation," Jane whispered to James, leaning toward him. He slipped his arm over her shoulders and shrugged.

"They're speaking geek," Ben stated with a laugh. "Just don't bring up Lord of the Rings. That will start a debate on the newest series of movies." The newbies, Heidi, Jane, and Zafrina only laughed, though Bella wasn't sure if they were clueless or knew better.

One discussion about The Hobbit sparked a twenty-minute debate that ended with Edward and Bella disappearing in her room to make out after a late lunch.

"Are we going to do this or not?" Edward asked, throwing his hands in the air. "After we win, I'd like to take time to come up with the perfect thing to make you ladies do."

"Ready?" she asked Edward again.

Edward remained serious, raising his hand midair and said, "Engage." Riker barked twice from his position near the television.

Letting him have his fun playing Picard, she turned to the screen and Wii to press start. The dance routine wasn't as hard as a few of the others, at least to her. They had already used it a few times in the competition. Disturbia started up and she did her best to ignore Edward and get through song without dragging him back to the bedroom.

.

.

.

"We lost," James repeated again for the third time. "She bends over a little and shakes her ass, and you drop the fucking remote." The rest of his so-called friends shook their heads, as if they hadn't stared at Bella, too.

"Fuck you, assholes," Edward hissed, as the girls huddled nearby, conspiring on what they'd have them do. "Like you didn't stare at her ass, and by the way—" He punched James and Alec who sat nearby, hard on their arms. "That's for staring at her ass."

"It was right there!" Alec stated, cupping his hands as if he had Bella's ass in them. That earned him another punch. He rubbed his arm, cocking his head toward the girls. "What do you think it'll be?"

"Who knows," Mike said gravely, running his hand through his blond hair. "We only get one veto, too." They had agreed to the stakes and rules when they made the bet earlier.

"Maybe they'll have us wear speedos and serve them hand and foot," Eric whispered, shaking his head. It was what they would've demanded of if they had won. Not very imaginative, but they were guys and they didn't need much to entertain them.

"Okay," Bella said, rubbing her hands together in glee. That was the only way to describe the look on her face. "We have it."

Jane bounced up and down on her feet, apparently very excited by their idea. "You have to wear our bikinis in town when we go out for dinner."

"Veto!" Mike and Eric said, rising to their feet and shaking their heads, clearly freaked at the idea. "No freaking way will I wear those tiny things you girls have on," Mike added, gesturing toward Bella's body.

"There's no way, Mike and Eric are right. Veto," Alec stated, as James and Ben agreed. However, Edward noticed how Bella didn't protest, as if she wasn't one bit disappointed.

"Are you sure you want to veto this idea?" Angela asked, elbowing Bella's arm. That made her smile fall a little as if she hated that they were vetoing her idea.

Alec looked at the other guys and nodded. "Veto."

"Wait a minute," Edward said, standing up, too.

"Too late, you're too late," Angela said, cackling along with Jane and Heidi.

"Alright, Ang, take down a notch," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "You guys have to lip-synch to one of the songs from the game."

Edward shook a finger at her. "You knew we'd veto wearing bikinis. This is what you wanted us to do in the first place."

Bella half shrugged and winked. "I would never," she said, adding a sweet little drawl to her voice.

"We've been played," Alec said, taking a dramatic bow. "You are worthy opponents."

"Fine, we'll lip-synch but hand over your phones," James said, holding out his palm toward Bella. "There is no way we'll let you girls record us doing it."

"God, they're going to make us do something stupid," Eric groaned, his black hair standing up in every direction due to his hands.

"We'll find a good one, I promise," Jane said to James after relinquishing her phone to him. "We agree to no recording but you have to at least dance a little."

"You are cruel," Edward said, pulling Bella into his arms. "I should punish you for this." She nuzzled his jaw and nipped at his chin. She soothed it with a little slide of her tongue. "Oh no, I know what you're doing." He stepped away and held out his hand. "Hand over the phone."

She pouted and dropped her iPhone in his palm. "This is no fair. We won, so we should be able to record it."

"And let you use it as blackmail or ruin our amazing reputations? I don't think so," Alec said and shook his head. "We're not complete idiots." Angela slid her arm around his waist and whispered something in his ear that made his eyes go wide. He led her to the Wii to pick out a song.

Bella slid her arms around Edward's neck and smiled at him. "You might as well get it over with, so we can change and find something to eat." She nibbled on his bottom lip. "Then we can come back and head to bed nice and early."

"I love this plan."

A few minutes later, after a little rearranging of the furniture and the guys huddled together for a bit, the girls all sat on the huge couch. It gave them front row seats as they guys all stood in front of the TV, facing them. Edward stood in the middle, Alec and James on his left and right, Eric and Mike in the back. Not one of them looked pleased at the song the girls chose. One that Bella already knew they hated, but they probably heard on several occasions. Who hadn't?

Edward had slipped on a shirt, leaving a few buttons undone, the white shell necklace contrasting against his tan skin, and his baseball cap backward. He looked so good with a week-old tan. He cocked an eyebrow as Bella freely ogled, but she couldn't help it. He was seriously nice to look at. She played with one of the leather bracelets he'd given her, offering him a smile.

"Ready?" she asked, pointing the remote at the Wii behind the boys. They all grumbled and rolled their eyes, hating every second of it. "Remember what we said. You have to make it believable or else we'll make you do it again."

"Dear God, woman," Alec groaned, glowering at her. "Stop torturing us and let us get this over with." They girls giggled and whistled as Ben, Eric and Mike adjusted their collars so they popped up. They were being good sports in comparison to Edward, James, and Alec who were all whiny.

She started the song, the familiar beat making the girls laugh and a few of the guys frown. Alec stepped forward as the verse started, "You're insecure, don't know what for…"

The girls whistled and started to sing along. None of them were crazy fans, but knew their music. Edward stepped forward as the bridge started and he moved to the music and tried not to smile, but he was failing, the others joining in during the chorus. He seemed to love the attention from Bella, even if he was dancing and lip-synching to One Direction. Though they were faking it, on occasion, one of their voices sang along. It wasn't long before the girls were on their feet, dancing with the guys.

"That's what makes you beautiful," Edward mimicked, stepping closer to Bella, their hips brushing each other. Everyone in the room threw their hands in the air, clapping, laughing, and singing, "Na na na, na na."

Angela leaned toward Bella. "Isn't it funny how, despite all their protests, they somehow know all the words?" Alec threw her over his shoulder, making her scream and giggle. The other girls laughed as they teased the guys, because Angela was right. The guys hadn't messed up once.

As a segment for Harry came up, Edward stepped close enough for Bella to feel the heat of his skin, smell that delicious scent of his, mixed with a little sweat and her perfume. He didn't touch her, but she could see how much he wanted to. Instead, he sang her the next part, only loud enough for her to hear, his voice a little huskier than the artist, and damn, she was ready to climb him. "Baby, you light up my world…"

He stepped back along with the rest of his friends soon after, all smiles as they finished the rest of the song with no more complaining, which should've risen Bella's suspicions. As Edward belted out the last line of the song, he and his friends shared a look. The girls whooped and whistled, and with big smiles on their faces, the guys turned toward the television. Confused for a second, Bella realized what they were about to do. Sure enough, the guys bent over as they dropped their damn shorts, mooning the girls.

What a bunch of sore losers.