Good morning, beauties!

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-15-

Bella

Lighthouse Cove, Maine

July 5, 2023

After hanging with the girls all afternoon, I return to my room to get ready for my science-based not-date with Edward.

Except, I still don't have clothes. I was able to borrow clothes from the girls for the party last night, but I'm running low on options now.

I have a bikini I was fortunate enough to pack on my carry-on at the last minute, but the rest of my clothes are questionable at best.

Sighing, I reach for Ali's borrowed shorts, hoping she won't mind me using them once more before I do a load of laundry and return them.

I quickly put on the bikini and shorts, then pluck through the shirts. I have the linen shirt that is also Ali's, and the tank top I wore on the plane. It really shouldn't be worn again without a good washing.

Sighing, I head out of my attic room and march downstairs, hoping to find some sort of inspiration.

I spot Rose sitting on her bed, her phone in her hands and a look of deep thought on her face.

"Hey," I call to her.

She blinks, looking up at me. "Hey," she says, sitting up.

"Do you have a shirt I can borrow? I'm still waiting on my luggage to show up."

Rose eyes my bikini top. "Are you going out with Edward?"

I frown. "It's not like that," I say, shaking my head. "It's a science outing."

Rose snorts as she stands, stretching.

"The only science between you two is chemistry," she says, shaking her head. "Why don't you wear that? Let your girls give him one hell of a show for your, what did you call it? Not-date."

I roll my eyes. I'm not a prude, I don't mind walking around in a bikini. But that's not what friends do on science outings.

"I'm not trying to jump into bed with him," I point out, crossing my arms over my chest as I lean against her door frame.

"Why not? He's hot, and he's clearly interested in you." Rose eyes me, her eyebrows tugging together lightly. "You can't keep putting off relationships forever."

Part of me wants to dig my heels in, to prove her wrong. I've heard the words a lot, and not just from her. It's all my mom seems to be able to say to me these days.

No one seems to understand that I'm happy being on my own.

"Edward and I are friends," I tell Rose. It's a stretch, I know, but it feels like it could be true. I enjoyed talking with him last night, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with him again tonight, on our non-date.

I take a deep breath.

Rose shrugs one shoulder. "Tell yourself whatever you want," she says, moving to her closet where her clothes have been unpacked somewhat chaotically. "But take it from me, Bella. There are a lot of guys out there who, yeah, are a waste of time. But when you find a good guy, you don't want to let him go. Not without a fight."

She pulls a top from her closet, holding it up in offering. I nod, reaching out to take it from her.

"Thanks, Rose," I say softly.

She offers me a small smile and I hesitate, my thumbs running over the thin material of my borrowed shirt. "You know," I say slowly. "It's okay to take your own advice."

Rose's eyebrows raise in surprise before she lets out a long breath. She looks conflicted and glances back to her phone that is still on her bed. She turns back to me and smiles. I grin at her, stepping away from her doorframe.

"Thanks," I say again, holding up the shirt.

"Have fun on your not-date!" she calls as I walk down the hall and head back upstairs to finish getting ready.

…

I consider canceling about twelve times during the walk from the house to the docks. I don't have to go see the bioluminescence. I've seen it, what could possibly be new?

I'm about to turn back when I catch sight of Edward on his boat. He hasn't seen me yet, I can tell because he's busy fiddling with something I can't see. There is plenty of time for me to turn around, except I can't. My heart is beating a little bit faster, my stomach twisting, and I know I won't have the chance to settle any of it until I face whatever fears are plaguing me and go talk to him.

So, taking a deep breath, I continue forward.

"Hey," I call, sounding casual despite the riot in me.

Edward looks up, and his grin just about knocks my ass over and into the Atlantic.

"Hey," he says, setting down what he's working on as I get closer. He offers me a hand up onto his boat, and I hesitate. I don't usually let him help me up, but I do this time.

His palm is warm and strong, rough, but in a nice way.

When he tugs me up, I catch a whiff of lemon, salt, and whisky.

I have to stop myself from pressing my face into his chest for a deeper sniff.

He lets go of me, and I clear my throat, moving away from him on the deck.

"All right, Captain," I say, glancing back at him. "Where's this ship headed?"

Edward grins, moving to the control panel. "Back to port."

I look at him and can't help my frown. "Port?"

Edward nods as he starts up the engine. "My dad needs the boat to ferry people," he explains. "So we need to head to my truck before getting back in the water."

I'm intrigued by this but nod and settle into my seat as he turns the boat away from the docks to head back toward the mainland.

The ride over is easy and spent in relative silence. I enjoy the feeling of the saltwater air brushing against my skin as Edward navigates us, and I tilt my head back, enjoying the last rays of sunlight left clinging to the sky.

When we get to the dock, I see Carlisle waiting for us, and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face.

Carlisle is dressed in a light sweater, his blond hair windswept, just like his son's always is. Even looking at Carlisle is comforting. He exudes warmth and calm that the girls and I have all leaned on more than once in the years we've been coming here.

"Hey, Carlisle!" I call as Edward steers the ship toward the dock.

Carlisle gets to work, securing the boat before I scramble off and give him a brief hug. "Bella, it's great to see you." He says, giving me a quick squeeze before letting me go. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to pick you up."

I wave him off. "Don't worry about it," I tell him. "Edward was a great help."

Carlisle beams and I feel Edward climb onto the dock behind me.

"Do you have many calls tonight?" Edward asks, handing his father a set of keys.

Carlisle shrugs. "The usual, I think."

Edward is at my back, and I can feel the heat of him as he hums.

"Right. Thanks for taking over. Give me a call if you need anything, all right?"

Carlisle waves us off. "Won't be needed. You two have fun, I've got this covered."

I'm having a hard time not blurting out to Carlisle that this is a science outing not-date.

Before I can embarrass myself by doing that, Edward's hand is gently connecting with the small of my back, while his other hand waves before me, motioning for me to walk.

I swallow hard and say goodbye to Carlisle before following Edward's direction.

I can see his truck parked in the lot, and head in that direction. He's let go of my back, and I feel cold as the ghost of his heat lingers over me.

We're quiet as we head to his truck. I'm not sure how to spark up a conversation that doesn't sound flirty. I've never struggled with it before, but now, I'm not quite sure what to say.

When we reach the vehicle, I climb into the passenger's seat and try to give myself a tiny pep talk before he gets into the cab beside me.

"Get a grip. This is science, which you love, not a date, which you don't want. Get. A. Grip."

The cab door opens and I look up as Edward climbs in beside me. He gives me an easy smile, and my stomach clenches.

"Ready?" he asks, starting up the truck.

I nod mutely.

Edward backs us out of the spot before leaving the lot and heading north up the shore. Despite how long I've been coming to Maine, I've never explored this direction. My face is pressed to the window as I watch the landscape pass.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"There is an inlet up the coast a bit," he says, and I turn to look at him. "It's off an estuary, so we can't drive in. Normally, I'd take a boat, but the nighttime isn't usually great conditions to sail."

I frown. "But, your boat has a motor," I point out, thinking of the Pontoon boat I always see him on.

Edward looks at me in surprise. "The ferry?" he asks. I nod and he shakes his head. "That's my dad's boat. That's for business," he explains. I blink in surprise. "I have a thirty-five-foot sloop I use for personal stuff."

"I have no idea what that means," I point out with a small smile.

Edward grins, glancing at me as he drives. "I'll show you her some time."

My stomach tightens. A second not-date.

I shift, and my toes brush against something in the floor well. Bending over, I see it's another book.

"A la recherche de temps perdu," I read with a frown. "You speak French?"

Edward looks over at me grinning. "No," he says with a slight shake of his head. "I wish. I found that at a yard sale this morning. I'm reading it in English, thought I might as well collect a French copy too."

I look back down at the thick book. I know the name Marcel Proust, though what he writes, I have no fucking clue.

"What's it about?"

Edward looks at me in surprise. "In Search of Lost Time?" He asks.

I hold up the book again. "Yeah, if that's what this is called in English."

Edward smiles and faces the road again.

"Existential awakening, I suppose," he says after a moment. "Sexual curiosity, separation anxiety, all the tediousness of growing up and becoming an aware human being." He smiles to himself. "Then of course, he spends time pondering involuntary memory. How a smell can unexpectedly trigger something long forgotten in us." He shrugs and I take a deep breath, tasting lemon. "But what do I know. I'm only halfway through and I barely understand the guy."

I blink, a smile forming automatically on my face when I see a cheeky grin flash across Edward's mouth. I set the book down and turn my gaze to the window.

Outside, I can see the coastline change a little, going from beach to marshlands. We're near the estuary.

Edward drives a few more minutes before pulling off the road into a small lot. There is absolutely nothing out here, and I wonder if he means to hike in. I glance down at my sandals nervously.

"Ready?" he asks, pulling his keys out of the ignition.

"For what exactly?" I ask, unbuckling myself.

Edward's grin makes my heart skip a beat. He slides out of the truck, and I scramble to follow him. He's heading toward the back of his truck where I somehow missed the kayak sticking out.

"Night kayaking?" I ask, skeptical as I glance at the darkening sky.

"It'll be fine," he assures me. "I know the waters and it's a calm night." He pauses, and in the dim twilight, I see his eyes on me. "You up for it?"

It's not exactly a challenge, but that's how I take it.

"Absolutely," I grunt. "Can I leave my purse in your truck?"

Edward nods and I open the cab again, shoving the thin bag with my wallet and phone under his front seat. When I'm done, I head back around the truck where Edward is pulling the kayak out. I grab the oars per his instruction, then shut the back of his truck and follow him toward the water.

To my surprise, there is a small pathway down to the water's edge. Based on how easily Edward navigates it, I can imagine he's been doing this for a long time.

"Have you kayaked before?" Edward asks me as he sets the boat down.

"No, but how hard can it be?" I ask with a shrug.

Edward chuckles. "It's not." He stops to look at me. "How good of a swimmer are you?"

I'm almost offended by the question. "I'm a great swimmer," I snip. He holds his hands up.

"I'm not trying to say otherwise," he soothes. "I'm just trying to gauge if we need the life jackets."

I humph, shaking my head. "I'll be fine."

Edward nods and turns back to the kayak. The truth is, I sound more confident than I feel.

"Okay, climb in upfront. I'll sit in the back."

He points to a seat at the front of the kayak and I cautiously step in, even though we're still on land. Once I'm settled, Edward hands me an oar and tells me to hold on as he shoves the kayak into the water. It feels unsteady, and I can't help yelping in surprise.

I hear Edward laugh lightly, and I glance back at him to see him effortlessly hop in the boat. We rock back and forth for a minute, and my knuckles go white holding onto the edges. But soon we're level and Edward is instructing me to put my oar in the water. We practice a few strokes until I feel like I've got the hang of it.

Once we're steady, we head farther away from shore.

If I think about it too hard, kayaking for the first time in the dark is mildly terrifying, so I don't let my mind settle on it.

Instead, I take a breath and turn my head just enough to talk to Edward over my shoulder.

"Is this all protected land?" I ask, motioning to the marsh around us.

"Yeah," Edward responds. "It goes on for about a quarter mile south and a while north of here," he explains.

I hum. "Are we supposed to be out here at night?" I wonder. When he doesn't respond right away, I turn more fully in my seat to look at him. He gives me a small sheepish smile.

"It's not encouraged," he says slowly. "But we'll be fine."

I arch an eyebrow at him but turn back around. We paddle according to Edward's directions, heading out toward the ocean.

I make a mental note to come back here during the day to explore.

"Up on the left," Edward tells me as we pass a bend in the water. I nod and maneuver us in that direction, our paddles sliding through the water easily.

Our kayak glides into a wide open space, with tall reeds around us on three sides. There is a clear view of the ocean from here, and I inhale the salt air greedily.

"This is it," Edward says. I look back at him curiously. There aren't waves over here, so I'm not sure how he plans to see any sort of bioluminescent activity.

"Where?" I ask. It's too dark to make out much of his features from my angle, so I settle the oar into the kayak and turn in my seat to look at him. It rocks the boat a little bit, but it soon settles as I perch on my knees to look at him.

"Here," Edward says, reaching one hand over the side of the kayak. He moves swiftly, his fingers flicking through the water, and I gasp when bright blue sparks under his fingertips. It's not as bright as Guatemala, but it's magical to watch him cause the reaction.

I reach down, running my hand through the water and cheering when I see the dazzling light blue reaction.

"I've never been so close to it!" I gasp, delighted. "This is so incredible!"

I hear Edward open his mouth as if to speak, but in my eagerness, I lean too far over. I can feel it when we hit the point of no return, and I have time to suck in a breath before the kayak rolls over, plunging us into the water.

It's cold, and my body is protesting heavily, but I quickly stop caring, because under the water is a brilliant world of glowing blue, sparked by our splashing.

I surface with a gasp at the same time Edward does.

"Holy shit, I'm so sorry," I croak, scrambling toward the kayak.

"Are you okay?" He asks, one hand reaching toward me, the other working to right the kayak. I nod in the dark.

"Yeah, just embarrassed by my own idiocy," I groan.

I hear Edward chuckle. "Can you pull yourself up into the boat?"

I glance at him skeptically. I'm fit enough from all the hiking and running I tend to do, but pulling myself out of the ocean onto a kayak sounds like a kind of hard I'm not sure I want to tackle.

"I doubt it," I tell him honestly. "Unless you'd like to see me flopping around like a dying fish."

His laugh is surprisingly warm and close to my ear.

"I'll help you," he says, one of his hands landing on my waist under the water. I shiver, and it has nothing to do with the cold. "On the count of three, okay?"

I nod and Edward counts. When he hits three, I use my legs to kick out of the water, nearly getting him in the groin in the process. His hand is firmly around my waist, helping to hoist me up, and I feel him move his body under my flailing feet to give me a springboard. My foot pushes off a surprisingly firm thigh, and I'm finally able to flop back into the kayak.

"Are you in?" he asks, once I scramble into a sitting position. I turn to him and nod.

"Yeah, thanks."

Edward moves to the back of the kayak and pulls himself up. The little boat rocks, and I lean to counter his movement. Somehow, he's able to get back in without tipping us over, a feat I'm sure I would never have managed.

I find my oar, still safely tucked inside the kayak, thankfully, and once Edward is settled, we use it to bring his back to us.

Once the drama of my clumsiness has settled, I find that I'm decently freezing.

"Let's head back," Edward says, turning the kayak with his oar. I don't protest, curling up tight as we row back toward his truck.

By the time we're crawling out of the water, I'm shivering.

"Shit, you're turning blue," Edward says when he sees my face.

"You can't see that," I protest, my teeth chattering.

"No," he agrees. "But I can see you shaking. Come on." He wraps an arm around my shoulders and brings me up to his truck, pulling the cab open. He lets me go and leans into his truck. "Take your clothes off," he calls over his shoulder.

I freeze. "Huh?"

It's not exactly how I might have imagined Edward saying those words to me, though I can't deny the small fire it lights in me.

Edward emerges from his truck with a thick flannel shirt. "Take off the wet clothes and put this on. It'll help warm you up faster."

I swallow, but nod.

This isn't weird, I tell myself. Sometimes on science outings, friends have to strip down to survive. That's just more science.

I pull off Rose's top and Alice's shorts, leaving my bikini on. I don't feel Edward staring at me, but it doesn't mean he's not. I glance at him a couple of times, but if he's looking, he's good at keeping a straight face about it.

When I'm in nothing but my bathing suit, Edward holds out the flannel. I pull it on, almost crying in relief as it immediately starts to warm me.

"What about you?" I ask, teeth chattering still.

"I have another flannel," he says, motioning to the truck seat where there is a small pile of fabric waiting. "I'll put it on once I get the kayak in the bed."

I nod, glancing over my shoulder at the water.

"Climb in and start the engine. The heater takes a minute to get going, but it'll help," Edward tells me, handing me his wet keys. I don't protest as I pick up my wet clothes and scramble into the truck. I'm grateful I left my purse here. I'd be pissed if my phone had gotten ruined.

I turn on the truck, fumbling to adjust the heaters on me. Edward's right, they do take a while, but even sitting in the cab is helping me.

When I see him head back down toward the water, I pick up the collar of the shirt and sniff hard.

Salt and lemon and whisky.

God, I want to keep this shirt on forever.

It's making my head a little dizzy, so I pull away from it, trying to take a steady breath.

I hear activity in the truck and turn to see Edward easily hoist the kayak up and into the bed, his biceps flexing in the moonlight.

My mouth goes dry.

I turn back around so as not to be caught spying on him.

A minute later, he's opening the cab door.

"Can you hand me the flannel?" Edward asks.

I have to pinch my bare thigh to stop from turning and wrapping my legs around him, because he's appeared shirtless, and my god do all ferrymen look that fit?

I scramble for the shirt and hand it to him, trying to avert my eyes so that I don't say something idiotic.

Edward takes it, thanking me before pulling it on. He gently closes my door and moves around to the back of the truck where he throws his wet shirt onto the kayaking gear.

I watch him in the side mirror, part of me hopes I'll be treated to the sight of him shucking his jeans too, but he keeps those on, much to my disappointment.

He comes around the truck and climbs in behind the wheel, letting out a long breath.

"I'm sorry," I say again.

"Don't be," Edward says, shaking his head. "What's life without a surprise every now and then?" He glances at me. "You seem like someone who thrives on surprises."

I look at him as he backs up the truck. In my friend group, I'm known for being spontaneous, random, and sometimes even reckless.

And I guess, I can be those things, but the truth is, I have so many plans and ideas, the chances are I've thought about something long before I act on it. I just tend to act very fast, and with a thoroughly laid plan ahead of me when I do.

Rarely do I ever do anything on a complete whim, without any sort of research or planning.

I wonder if Edward sees me like they do.

"I can be," I say, thinking that Edward is turning out to be a surprise I'm really not ready for at all.