***Check out Chapter 1 for an explanation! Happy Reading Everyone :) ***

Fighting Temptation

Chapter 2: Missing Gonads

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are the property of me, Dobber17. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

This chapter has been edited by 4mejasper, EdwardsMate4ever and CherryBerry12.

Edward Cullen

I watched Bella with pure amusement as her face shifted from confused to mildly horrified in a matter of seconds. I tried to bite back my grin as I shook my head—she had no idea how much of a temptation she was. Everything from her mahogany hair, innocent chocolate brown eyes, subtle curves, and witty personality drew a man in. Her blush and unnatural clumsiness just made her Bella.

When I moved to Forks last year, I honestly never thought I would meet someone quite like Bella Swan. Though I first saw her in our biology class, the first time I ever actually talked to her was after she smoked the back of my head with a basketball. I looked across the hotel room, amazed at how much her current expression mimicked the one she made that day.

Though I had the height of a forward, I preferred playing guard, meaning I was stuck near Mike during most of our drills since he played guard as well. I had heard his comments nearly every practice, but that day they were too out of hand to ignore. When I first felt the basketball hit the back of my head I was mad, wondering how someone could possibly fail to give some sort of warning or heads-up. When I turned, all my anger faded as soon as I saw Bella standing across the gym. Her hands covered her mouth, her brown eyes wide in shock and terror as our eyes met. Her pale skin had gone beet-red. In that moment, I realized I was undoubtedly beginning to like one Miss Bella Swan.

Because Forks was such a small town, I quickly learned about Bella's parents' divorce. She chose to stay with her dad, the chief of police in Forks, rather than move to sunny Phoenix with her mother. When I brought it up with her, it was pretty clear how overwhelming it was for her. I backed right off, realizing she needed a friend more than anything at that time. Though I'd never admit it, I listened to every word Mike said in the changing room as he gossiped; everything from how Bella "grew up" while he wasn't paying attention, to gory details of his latest "conquests"—details I wish I could forget. I wanted to hear anything I could about Bella. My goal was to use any information Mike leaked and my fairly poor observation skills to see if a window of opportunity would open for me to make any sort of move.

I wasn't oblivious. I had a fair share of—mostly—girls show their interest in me, but none of them held even a flicker of my attention compared to Bella.

We were friends. We teased, we joked, we laughed, we talked, we flirted… but there was something that always bubbled under the surface, something that burst inside me right before finals. It started when I almost kissed her while we were working on our final biology project. After her laughter died down there was a moment of silence between us, and I knew right then, as her eyes still sparkled with laughter and she struggled to hide her adorable smile, I had a chance. My heart was sure as hell about to beat out of my chest as I slowly leaned toward her. I noticed she was holding her breath—something I couldn't interpret either way. I was going to take my chances when a flicker of movement out her living room window caught my eye. Charlie's cruiser. I didn't want to be one of those guys scared to make a move because of her father, but if I kissed Bella I sure as hell wouldn't be able to stop before her father walked through the front door. Not to mention he definitely had a clear view of us from the window. I swallowed hard and let out a sigh of defeat as I leaned forward, reaching for the glue stick on the table behind her.

According to my sister Alice, I didn't have any balls.

I realized she was right. During the summer, I refrained from making any moves even though I couldn't stop myself from shamelessly flirting with Bella. I had messed up that day in her living room, and I wasn't sure if I deserved another chance. That didn't stop my feelings for her, not one bit, but our friendship wasn't something I was willing to risk.

Trying to keep myself in check during the summer and then the new school year was hard enough, but when she woke up in Coach Clapp's van I was a lost man all over again. She was too damn adorable for her own good. I tried to empathize with her as she suffered from not one, but both feet falling asleep on her. I struggled to hide my laughter as she showed a striking resemblance to a penguin as she shuffled forward, but I saw a look of pain flash across her still exhausted face and didn't think twice as I lifted her up, carrying her the rest of the way.

As soon as we got our room keys, I realized Bella didn't have a room. When Coach Clapp waved us on I prayed he was working something out for her, seeing as schools were typically dead set against mixing guys and girls. Now, finding she was sharing a room with us made my heart stutter. Tyler was harmless, and though Mike was an asshole, he wouldn't try anything PTA parents would disapprove of on someone who was unwilling. I think. Clearly the school board didn't think everything through when three guys and one girl were chosen from our school.

Mike glared at me, reminding me of the sleeping arrangements we had made only a few minutes before Bella arrived in our room. When the three of us got to our room, Mike had sprinted into the bathroom, only to come out moments later brandishing the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion that were all in the exact same shape, size, and color bottles. Mike put them in his hands and mixed them up, holding them so only the lids showed. Whoever got the lotion would get their own bed. Tyler picked first and pulled the conditioner. I grabbed next and thankfully got the lotion, relieved I didn't have to share a bed with Tyler or Mike. Though there was standard bed-sharing etiquette, sharing a bed with another guy never made for a good night's sleep, especially if it was for two weeks. That meant Bella would be sharing a bed with me… if she was up for sharing at all. I would happily sleep on the floor if she wanted the bed all to herself.

I risked another glance at Mike and had to fake a cough to hide my bark of laughter. His glaring turned more child-like and jealous as he had crossed his arms across his chest and was now pouting as his eyes shot daggers at me. He looked like someone had just told him that he couldn't have the last cookie … which technically, in a way, Coach Clapp did.

Bella must have noticed my amusement. "What's so funny?"

I couldn't contain my laughter anymore, and I saw a smirk twitch on Tyler's lips. Bella was the only one oblivious to Mike's silent tantrum.

"Nothing extremely important," I replied, patting the bed next to me. She lowered her bag to the floor and unceremoniously dropped herself beside me on the bed, looking up at me expectantly. She wanted answers.

"I just think Mike might murder me later," I admitted, knowing I was only adding fuel to the fire, but I couldn't help myself.

She looked at me completely confused before looking at Mike. His face had shifted so he now

looked both excited and pissed at the same time. No doubt he was excited Bella would be in our room, but pissed she would most likely be sharing a bed with me, and there was no chance of sharing one with him. She looked back at me, still confused, but didn't push for more of an answer. Instead, she rolled off the bed, and my eyes fell to the small sliver of pale skin exposed between her sweater and jeans.

She pulled her phone from her pocket. "We should head down. We don't want to be late."

I pulled out my own phone, checking the time. We only had a few minutes before Coach Clapp wanted us in the lobby.

Bella made her way to her duffle bag, pulling out a bundle of fabric before making her way to the bathroom to change. Once the door clicked shut, Tyler, Mike, and myself got moving. We were already used to sharing a changing room with a dozen other guys, so we didn't think twice as we changed into what gear we needed before layering up for the cold.

Bella emerged from the bathroom, and we all grabbed our gym bags. The elevator ride down was quiet, and we found Coach Clapp standing in the lobby. He didn't look up from his phone as he gave us the simple directions to the sports complex. "It's a five-minute walk. Just go straight. You can't miss it."

The walk was short, and the weather wasn't too bad despite the unyielding wind. I might have been biased, though, having spent my fair share of winters in Alaska. Although Mike was the most bundled out of the four of us, you would have thought we were facing a blizzard from all his complaining and whimpering. When we reached the recently renovated sports complex, Tyler blew into his hands a few times, while Bella fought a few small shivers traveling up her spine. I suppressed the urge to wrap my arms around her and hold her until she warmed up, opting instead to casually loop my arm around her shoulders and pull her as tight to my body as she would let me as we walked through the halls, following the red arrows to the gym.

We stood at the doorway when we reached the gym, watching the activity inside. There were other people scattered around in small clusters, but we were still one of the first few groups to arrive. I watched Mike from the corner of my eye and saw him eyeing up a few girls on the other side of the gym. It must have pained him to know that there weren't going to be many girls at this basketball clinic, but then again, the guy was so dense he probably wouldn't even have realized none of the girls would probably be interested in him. At least Tyler was discrete with his glances… Mike was full out leering, saving one long look for Bella. She didn't even notice.

"Let's go sit down for a bit, we're early," Tyler said as he hitched his gym bag more securely on his shoulder and began to lead the way across the gym with Mike.

I glanced at Bella, noticing how tense she was as we walked. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes darted around, almost nervously. I nudged her shoulder with mine, and she let out the deep breath she was holding.

I grabbed her hand and tugged her to a stop. "You okay?"

"Just nervous," she admitted, wringing her fingers into a tight ball in front of her. "You know, coordination issues and all."

I shook my head and tried to give her a reassuring smile. She did have coordination issues. They were so bad I had wondered if she was faking her clumsiness when I first moved to Forks. It didn't take long to realize that no person would willingly fracture their wrist from falling up the stairs. Bella had the grace of an angel when playing basketball, but as soon as she got off the court she became an interesting mix of Bambi and a bull in a china shop.

Her eyes continued to scan the gym, so I placed my hand on the small of her back and urged her to walk with me.

"So you lost faith in my ability to catch you, huh?" I teased, needing to distract myself from the feeling of my hand on her warm back.

I caught her grin from the corner of my eye and felt her start to relax. "Maybe."

She had distracted me to the point I wasn't quick enough to sit between her and Mike on the bleachers to act as a buffer. I sat down beside Bella, noticing how she turned slightly away from Mike to face me as we sat. I smiled at her, glad she didn't find Mike worthy and hopefully a little repulsive as he continued drooling over all the girls in the gym.

Tyler elbowed him hard in the side. "Dude, try being a bit more discrete. You look like a lost dog and a creepy stalker at the same time."

Bella coughed a laugh and she tried to hide her smile by turning further toward me. I gently bumped her shoulder with mine. "See? Little puppy dog. Everyone thinks so."

Mike cleared his throat and looked around, embarrassed. "So, what do we do now?" he asked as he looked between the three of us.

"Play a game of strip poker," Tyler joked, his voice laced with sarcasm. Obviously, it hadn't been clear enough for Mike, who snapped his head directly toward Bella with a foolish grin on his face. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he had been thinking. My hands curled into tight fists at my sides.

"We wait for everyone else to turn up," I said in a tight, controlled voice, causing Mike to shrink back, muttering unconvincingly that he knew that. Though I tried to take joy in that small victory, what relaxed me were the two familiar faces that walked through the gym doors.

A/N: Drop a review and let me know what you think!