Jacob frowned as he glanced outside into the storm. "I can carry you into the house if you want."
Bella glared at her best friend in annoyance. She could walk just fine, thank you very much. When it was dry.
Bella waited on the old couch in Jacob's garage for the rain to stop so she could drive home. She promised to make Charlie his grandma Swan's beef stroganoff for supper, but the storm was relentless. It had not even let up long enough for her and Jacob to run to his house, a mere hundred feet away. Bella would have fallen into the mud, for sure.
He passed her a warm can of soda from the broken mini-fridge. "I'm sorry about the storm, Bells. I know you were looking forward to some quality time with Charlie."
"S'not your fault, Jake." Bella took the can and stared out into the downpour. It wasn't as if he could control the weather. "I just wish we had something to do." Jacob's radio remained silent for once, as the storm had cut the power to the entire neighborhood nearly an hour earlier.
The shrill ringing of her cell phone echoed through the Taj, and Bella looked up at Jacob in surprise. The electricity was off, but the cell towers worked. What in Washington State's Bermuda Triangle Hell?
Bella yanked her phone out of her pocket in surprise and scowled at the one bar of signal. She stood to answer, hoping it was enough to make out Charlie's voice through the static.
He hollered, "Bells? Ya there, kiddo?"
"Yeah, Dad," she said. "Can you hear me?"
"Barely. You safe?"
"Of course."
Charlie grumbled, "Stay the night there, okay? There's no telling when this will let up. The highway is closed with tree limbs down, so you can't get far, anyway."
"Yeah," Bella said. "The power is out here, too. We're in the garage right now."
Incredulously, Charlie asked, "That lean-to of Jakes?"
"Hey," Jacob grumbled, taking offense. "It's sturdy."
"Sure, sure," Charlie muttered. "I'd still prefer it if you go inside where it's… sturdier. "
"Running inside means getting drenched, Dad," Bella reminded him. "And I don't have spare clothes here."
Charlie scoffed. "When did that ever stop ya?"
Bella rolled her eyes as Jacob chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not ten, Dad."
Charlie teased, "Oh, you're not? Well, goddamn, Bells. I'd never have guessed!"
Bella grinned at Jacob and whispered, "I think he's drunk."
Charlie scoffed. "We are not drunk."
"Yet."
Simultaneously, Jacob and Bella said, "Dad?" Billy was nearly as much of a father to her as her own, and her love for both was immeasurable.
"Yup," Billy answered with a laugh.
Despite his distance from the phone, Jacob could clearly hear every word. He hollered, "How'd you get to Forks?"
"Sue got called into work and dropped me off here on the way. We'll see you in the morning."
Bella and Jacob glanced at each other in wide-eyed surprise. It would be a far cry different from all the nights he slept beside her at sixteen, and that was only to keep the nightmares away. Even when he snuck in through her window at night, they were always aware of their fathers nearby.
"Hey, Bells?" There was an awkward clearing of Charlie's throat, interrupting her thoughts. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Got it?"
That could imply many things. That their fathers suspected there was more than friendship between them was no secret, despite both insisting there wasn't.
Okay. So, maybe there was a little bit of attraction there, but that wasn't any of Charlie's business. Bella's face flushed pink as she glanced at Jacob. "Uh, yeah, Dad. Got it." At the sound of his laughter, Bella purposely hung up the phone.
" Whoops," she said as Jacob laughed.
He said, "Uh, you know I have stuff you can wear, right?"
She gestured to her thin flannel shirt and jeans and grinned. "That won't stop me from freezing between here and the house."
"I can keep you warm," he bragged and shrugged.
"I bet you could, wolf-boy."
Okay, so subtle wasn't her forte. Bella's cheeks immediately flushed again as he bit back a smirk. She sat back on the old couch and tried to shake off the embarrassment.
"There has to be something we can do to kill time," she could have sworn Jacob whimpered right then, "until the rain slows."
Clearly, his head is staying in the gutter for now.
He moved from where he leaned against his workbench and walked toward her. Bella glanced down at the basketball shorts hanging low on his hips and away quickly. Since phasing, Jacob rarely wore anything else. Bella couldn't remember the last time she saw him in a shirt or jeans for over twenty minutes - not that she was complaining. Bella caught herself looking at him a lot since coming home for break. It was difficult not to.
Apparently, her mind wasn't that far from the gutter, either. The situation was growing frustrating. It would help if either had the cojones to admit their physical chemistry was undeniable despite a lack of romantic feelings. Perhaps it would help if they weren't both frustrated virgins with too many hangups to find significant others.
Lost in her thoughts, Jacob surprised Bella as he scooped her up from the couch before sprinting through the door and into the storm. Bella shrieked as the icy rain slammed them, slapping his chest in protest as he laughed. Jacob sat her on her feet at the front door to his house and quickly guided her inside.
Dripping on the wooden floor, she turned to glare at him angrily. "Jaaaaake!" Bella stamped her foot in protest, sending a shower of water droplets across the floor as he snickered.
"Come on, Bells," he pleaded through his laughter. "We'd be out there all night, and you know it."
Bella sighed and walked through the kitchen to the bathroom to grab towels. Jacob followed, still snickering. He changed from his wet shorts and searched his room for something that might fit her. Bella was cleaning the water from the entryway when Jacob handed her a t-shirt and drawstring pants. She went back to the bathroom to change before joining Jacob as he sprawled out on the couch.
She asked, "So, what do you want to do now?"
Jacob glanced around the darkening living room with a frown. "We could play a game or something."
"A game?" Incredulously, she asked, "Like what?"
"There's a bunch of board games under the cabinet," he said, nodding toward the sideboard they used as a TV stand. Bella moved to the cabinet and crouched in front of it before sliding open the door.
"Oh, the other side," Jacob said as many decorative vials and artifacts greeted her. "That's my dad's junk."
A multi-colored corked glass bottle holding an amber liquid entranced Bella immediately. Curiously, she held it up for him to see. "Jake, what the hell is this?"
"Some of Old Quil's Mojo Juice." Jacob made quotation marks with his fingers and laughed. "Supposedly, it's some kind of ceremonial drink, but I suspect it's just whiskey with some herbs added in."
"That's an awfully fancy bottle for whiskey." Bella laughed and asked, "Have you ever tried it?"
He snorted. "Bells, that shit is probably older than me."
He leaned forward to grab the lighter and a scented candle from the coffee table. Once lit, Bella could see inside the cabinet better and began moving items around. Drawn back to it, Bella swirled the bottle and gasped as the candlelight caught the sparkling liquid. Unable to stow her curiosity, Bella gently tugged at the cork.
As the cork released with a loud pop, Jacob asked, "Bells, what are you doing?"
She warily brought the bottle to her nose and sniffed it. The scent was a pleasant blend of herbs and chamomile with a blood-orange undertone. Bella smiled and took a deeper whiff, humming contentedly. "It smells amazing, Jake."
He scoffed. "Really?" He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring as he squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the scent from across the room. He opened his eyes in surprise. "Wow. It really does."
She rolled her eyes at him and his enhanced lupine senses. Show-off. Growing more curious by the second, Bella asked, "Have you ever tasted it?"
Jacob shook his head no. "It smells like potpourri, Bells. I'm not sure I'd want to."
Bella gently pressed the cork back, held the bottle toward Jacob, and said, "I dare you."
His jaw dropped in surprise as he shook his head again. "Is that the game you've decided on?"
"What?" Bella laughed. "Truth or Dare? Sure. Why not." She shrugged, still holding the bottle toward him.
What the heck, Bella? She never entertained games like Truth or Dare. They had too much potential for disaster. At nineteen, it seemed childish to play it now. Still, Bella knew Jake would never put her in danger. She couldn't quite make the same claim for herself. Bella had an uncanny tendency to put everyone in danger.
He said, "I'll taste it if you will."
"That's not how a dare works, Jake." Bella moved to sit on her butt between the cabinet and the coffee table, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Jacob smirked as he watched her every movement. "Oh, you know all the rules, now, huh?"
She nodded and said, "I do. We should establish some."
Interested, Jacob sat up and leaned toward her with his elbows on his knees. The candlelight illuminated his face and reddish-brown skin tone. His biceps seemed enormous in his current position, but Bella's eyes trailed down to his large, rough hands clasped between his spread knees. His hands never failed to fascinate her, though they were as familiar as her own.
She nearly jumped as he spoke. "What do you propose, then?"
Bella paused to consider their situation. Although they had no secrets between them, the last thing she needed Jacob to do was bring up imprints or the Cullens after all this time. Being trapped overnight with a pissy werewolf wasn't Bella's idea of a good time, and they would never see eye-to-eye with some things. "No questions about depressing topics."
He nodded. "Deal. What else?"
"No daring the other to do anything they wouldn't do themselves!"
"So, no strip teases, huh?"
"Jake!"
He cackled, his wide white smile instantly bringing a grin to her face. "So. Tasting . I will, if you will." He wiggled his eyebrows, and she snorted.
"Fine, but if both taste it, it's my turn again."
"Deal."
Bella removed the cork and pressed her finger over the mouth of the bottle before turning it upside down to coat the tip. Jacob cackled as she righted the bottle and held it back out. As he took it from her opposite hand, Bella put the wetted fingertip into her mouth. Her eyes widened at the pleasant flavor. "It's not bad at all."
Jacob tilted the bottle directly to his lips, taking a tiny sip before returning it to her waiting hand. He licked his lips and nodded, appearing pleasantly surprised. Bella repeated the process with her finger, tasting it again before replacing the cork and putting the bottle back where it belonged.
A slight tingle began in her taste buds, leaving behind an unexpected heat that moved down her throat and through her limbs. As the tingling settled and faded away, she relaxed and emitted a slow, deep breath.
Perplexed, Jacob's brow furrowed. "It's a little weird, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "But it's… pleasant." She felt warm and content.
Jacob chuckled and asked, "So, who goes first?"
It didn't take long for their game of Truth or Dare to have them in hysterics. Jacob paraded around the living room with underwear on his head before Bella tried to do a headstand. She failed miserably, nearly knocking him over as she tumbled into him. He began playfully wrestling with her on the living room floor, eventually pinning her arms over her head.
As she laughed, the underwear fell directly onto her face. Jacob pulled them away as she shrieked and sputtered. "Oh my god, Jake, gross!" She squealed as tears of laughter filled her eyes. Since her wrist was freed, Bella reached between them and tweaked his nipple.
Jacob jumped at the sensation and let go of her other hand to rub his rock-hard nipple as he leaned back on his knees in surprise. Bella pushed herself away from him and was on her feet in an instant, running. She slammed Jacob's bedroom door behind her and dove onto his bed. Bella pulled the blanket over herself as she heard the door crash open and the doorknob smacked the wall.
Bella tried to suppress a giggle as he slowly stomped toward her. She shrieked again as he yanked the blanket away and tossed it to the floor. He loomed over her, and his eyes flashed gold as the predator inside him neared the surface. Bella had forgotten how much his wolf enjoyed a good chase.
She tried to duck past him, but he caught her and tossed her back onto his bed. Laughing, Jacob crawled over her, dominating the short-lived battle as he pinned her arms again. Bella lay trapped underneath him, panting as her laughter calmed and trying to catch her breath.
Jacob said, "Your turn, Bells."
Bella feigned innocence, batting her eyelashes at him. "Are you going to let me up?"
"No." He chuckled as she pretended to squirm underneath him.
Unbeknownst to Jacob, she was perfectly content where she was. It wasn't as if they hadn't behaved this way a thousand times in seventeen years. She quit his gaze to look him over, her eyes drifting down the thick muscles in his neck toward his firm chest.
Grinning, she asked, "How's the nip-nop?"
Jacob scowled. "Ha. Hilarious. You know that's really not fair, Bells. If I did that to you without permission, it would be assault."
"What?" Bella snorted before realizing he was serious. Wait. Is he actually mad at me for that? She shook her head in disbelief. "It wouldn't. I mean…"
"It would." He said and nodded for emphasis. "Just ask your dad."
Bella scowled. "Ew, Jake."
"Ew, what?"
Bella cringed and nodded to her chest as she said, "The last thing I'd ever talk to my dad about is someone touching my boobs."
He cackled as she wiggled underneath him again. Jacob's hands stayed clasped around her wrists, gently keeping them pinned above her head. "Oh, but you'll talk to me about your boobs?"
"That's different ." Heat flooded her cheeks and quickly spread along the front of her throat. She was suddenly very aware of Jacob's position between her thighs as his weight pressed into her hips. "You're… you! I can tell you anything."
"I know I'm your best friend, Bells, but do you honestly think I don't notice that you have tits?"
Bella gaped up at him in surprise. Jacob could be cocky and flirtatious but was rarely rude or crass. It disturbed her somewhat to realize how much she liked it. Simultaneously, Bella couldn't wrap her mind around what he said. She expected him to laugh and ease the sudden tension between them. Instead, he asked, "Truth or Dare, Bella?"
"I thought it was my turn."
"Too bad," he demanded. "Truth or Dare?"
Clearly, Jacob was trying to make a point. Rather than wait for him to 'dare' her to do anything that might prove that point, Bella wanted to get right to it. "Truth."
Jacob lifted one eyebrow in surprise. He raised his head to glance around the room before slowly lowering his gaze to hers. "Have I ever tempted you?"
Bella's pulse quickened. It did not go unnoticed as Jacob glanced toward her chest and back. She asked, "Tempted me to what?"
"You know what." He released her left wrist to brush the loose curls out of her face. "I know you check me out, Bella. Do you think I don't do the same thing? I'm not judging or anything. We're friends, and we're both straight. It's natural."
Found those cojones. Damn.
"Of course I have," she admitted.
He let go of her other wrist and lay beside her. "So, you think about it?"
"Well, yeah." Bella sighed and turned to her side to face him. "I mean not romantically, but physically, of course."
He grinned. "Oh, of course. Because I'm kind of beautiful, right?"
"You'll never let me live that down, will you?" Jacob cackled as Bella shook her head. "God, I hit my head one time."
"Pfffft," Jacob sat up, snorting. "Please, Bells. You just about drooled in the Taj when I took off my shirt today."
"You are so damn conceited." Bella turned onto her stomach and buried her red face in the pillow.
"That's an excellent position for you, Bells," he teased. Bella cried out in shock as his hand soundly smacked her bottom. And damn him if she didn't like that too!
Sitting up on her knees, she grumbled, "What the heck is going on with you?"
"What do you mean?"
Bella scoffed. "You're just being so… blunt. You're always a flirt, but tonight you're just… something else."
"That's funny," he said, putting his arms behind his head. "I was thinking the same about you ."
She snorted as she thought of them tasting Old Quil's Mojo Juice. "Maybe that shit we tried was a truth serum."
He rolled his eyes, but his grin was smug. "Yeah. Right. Maybe you just don't want to own up to wanting my body."
She shook her head at him. "Truth or Dare, Jake."
"Hmm. Truth, I guess," he mumbled, closing his eyes.
"Were you actually offended earlier? About the whole… nipple thing?"
Jacob's eyes opened, and he sat up, facing her. "You didn't offend me, but I got a little annoyed."
"I'm sorry," she said. She had pinched pretty hard. "Did I hurt you? Because I didn't…"
He teased, "It didn't hurt, per se, even though an unexpected boner can be uncomfortable in certain circumstances."
Instantly flustered by the thought of giving her best friend a hard-on, Bella instinctively looked straight at Jacob's crotch. He howled with laughter as her jaw dropped open and snapped shut.
Well, it's not hard now. After regaining her wits, Bella asked, "Did it really do that?"
"Bells…" he rubbed his eyes with the base of his palms, still chuckling. "Do you not get turned on when someone fucks with your nipples?"
"Uh…" Well, that's embarrassing. I'm a freshman in college, for Christ's sake. Lowering her voice, she said, "That's… I'm still a virgin, Jake."
Incredulous, he asked, "You've never even gone to second base with someone?"
Why do guys have to go straight for sports analogies? Bella didn't give a damn how many bases there were. She was just sick of batting zero. Bella looked down at her hand, subconsciously fiddling with his bedsheet. "No. I thought you hadn't either since you never told me about it."
He sighed. "I haven't had sex, Bells. I mean… I've made out before, but that's as far as it went. And I just… assumed that, by now, you'd have met someone."
"No." Bella laughed anxiously, shaking her head. "I don't… I still don't date, Jake."
Grabbing her other hand, he asked, "Don't you want to?"
"Well… yeah, when I'm ready." She threaded her fingers through his, letting the familiar warmth envelope her smaller hand. He squeezed her hand twice. It was how each had given the other comfort since childhood, silently conveying that they weren't judging the other. She forced a small, grateful smile for him.
"So sex isn't something you're ready for?"
Bella guffawed. "I've been ready for that for years. I'm just… terrified of dating, so it's not as if I have someone to experience those things with."
"Well…" He bit back a laugh, shaking his head as he looked away. "Nevermind."
What little moonlight there was peeking through the rain clouds streamed through Jacob's bedroom window, illuminating the bits of their skin it reached.
Bella could sense another wave of tension building between them as she said, "What is it? Just say whatever you were going to say."
He shook his head no. "Truth or Dare Bells?"
She sighed. "Dare."
Jacob slowly leaned toward her, concentrating on her face as one hand came up to palm the side of her neck. His thumb slid over her chin tenderly, sending a pleasant shiver from the base of her skull down her spine.
Jacob was always physically affectionate. At that moment, however, his touch felt foreign. Bella's heart felt like it was in her throat as she waited, half hopeful he wanted to kiss her, half afraid he was screwing with her. What came out of his mouth next left her dumbfounded.
" I dare you to use me for practice." He pulled away, grinning as her mouth fell open.
Did he just suggest…?
Jacob winked at her and nodded as if confirming her silent question. "If you want somebody to take second base, Bells, I'll do it."
Pulling out of her stupor, she huffed. "Very charitable of you."
"No, I mean it. We're friends. We trust each other, and neither have romantic feelings for the other. And we're both single. It's not like we could date when you live in Florida. Not that either of us wants that. Who better to fool around with than each other?"
Unsure what to say, she stuttered, "Th-that's not a dare. It's an arrangement ."
He chuckled. "Okay, so it's an arrangement. I dare you to agree to it."
Bella scoffed. "If someone suggested that to you, would you agree?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "If it was you, and I just told you why."
Bella asked, "What makes you think we'd be compatible… in that way, I mean."
Jacob tilted his head to the side and scowled as if to ask, Really? Instead, he asked, "Do you need me to prove it?"
Without consciously deciding, she nodded and whispered, "Yes."
"Then I dare you to kiss me now," he said, leaning in.
Bella hesitated, staring at his full lips as she took a deep breath. When she looked up into Jacob's eyes, they shone with the cocky mischievousness she knew well.
For whatever reason, the smug smirk on his face sparked her temper. As she glared back at him, his grin widened.
He thinks I won't do it. We'll see about that, Jacob Black. Bella launched herself at him without a word, taking him by surprise as she pushed him onto his back and pressed her lips to his. She grinned against his lips as he eagerly responded, feeling somewhat smug about his reaction.
Bella pulled away, expecting to see him looking stunned for a change. Instead, his left hand flew up to cup her head as Jacob pulled her lips back to his. His fingers twisted into her hair. He tugged, and Bella's eyelids fluttered shut.
Jacob's lips were gentle at first, warm and soft, barely parting as they fell in sync with hers. When her tongue darted across the bottom of his top lip, he immediately allowed her entrance. She moaned as his tongue brushed against hers, wondering at the unfamiliar sensation. She had never experienced a kiss so intimate, leaving her feeling needy yet somehow comforted too.
Jacob's kisses grew harder, more demanding as he greedily explored her mouth. Their surroundings became hazy as the sensations he provoked in her clouded her mind. His right hand slid across her ribs and down her back, curling into a fist as it settled just above the waistband of her pants. Bella's hands pressed into the mattress above his shoulders to balance herself as she refocused on his mouth.
His warm, sweet, glorious mouth. Holy shit.
Jacob's hand moved to her thigh and tugged, guiding her to spread her legs and straddle his lap. Bella couldn't comprehend how she had never kissed her best friend before now.
And who taught him how to kiss like this? She owed someone a thank you.
Bella sat up somewhat as she pulled away to catch her breath, and the movement centered her apex directly against his groin. She gasped at the feeling of him pressed against her despite two layers of clothing between them.
Jacob grinned at her and chuckled, panting as he dropped his head to the mattress behind him. " Shit, Bells. I wasn't expecting that ."
"Me either," she said, closing her eyes against the embarrassment that threatened to take hold.
"Don't do that, Bells," Jacob soothed quietly, reaching up to brush back her curls. "You've never needed to be embarrassed with me. Don't let this start it. Nothing has changed, okay?"
Bella took a deep breath, allowing his reassurance to calm her. She began moving off of him as he sat up, and Jacob yanked her back into place.
Chuckling, he asked, "Where are you going?" His arms slid around her waist to pull her flush against his chest. Jacob hugged her tight, pressing his chin into her shoulder. Bella accepted the comfort, relaxing against him as his heat enveloped her.
As her heart resumed its steady rhythm, he whispered, "We're only halfway there, you know?"
Jacob gripped the bottom hem of her shirt in both hands and slowly slid it up her torso. He let go of the material to span his hands across her ribs under her bra. His thumbs pressed under her bra to glide across her breasts. That was all it took for her heart to pick up again as she tried not to wriggle against him. She pressed her bare stomach against his abdomen, and the skin-on-skin contact was exquisite.
As he nuzzled his face against her neck, Bella whispered, "Truth or Dare, Jake?"
Jacob pressed a feather-light kiss to her neck, and goosebumps immediately covered her limbs. "Truth."
"Did you mean what you said? Nothing will change?" She pulled back to meet his gaze. Jacob Black had been her best friend her entire life, and she needed his reassuring presence like she needed air to breathe.
Jacob asked, "Are you in love with me, Bella?"
"No," she answered truthfully. "Are you? In love with me, I mean?"
Jacob laughed and shook his head no. "But I do love you. More than anything or anybody."
"Yeah." She said and nodded. "Me too. Love you, I mean."
Jacob rubbed his hands down her sides and back. Although soothing, the sensations only furthered the growing need she felt blooming through her limbs. Jacob's kisses and touch had awakened something within her she desperately wanted to explore. Something that her mind had only hinted at when her body reacted to his physical appearance.
He asked, "So, are you in? Do you want to see if we can trust each other this way, too?"
She was in. After kissing me like that, I'm definitely in. "Truth or Dare?"
Jacob chuckled. "It's my turn, Bella."
"Too bad," she said, dismissing him as he'd done to her earlier. "Pick one."
Jacob glared at her, challenging her as he answered, "Dare."
With trembling fingers, Bella lifted the hem of her shirt. Jacob's eyes widened as she pulled it over her head before tossing it onto the floor. His eyes fell on her perky breasts, cradled in a simple white lace bra. "Kiss me again," she commanded.
Raising one eyebrow, he asked, "Is that the dare?"
Bella nodded.
He chuckled as his eyes fell to her lips. "You wasted a perfectly good dare, Bells."
Before she could say anything else, Jacob's lips crashed against hers, and he rolled them over to take the lead. Bella grinned against his lips, thinking perhaps Truth or Dare wasn't so childish, and wondered what the hell was in Old Quil's Mojo Juice.