Chapter 4.
It's fucking hot out and I'm sweating already before Emmett and I make it to the gym.
As soon as I see Bella, I feel bad about not replying to her text. It was rude and uncalled for. She's my teammate and stunt partner, and I could learn a whole deal from her. It's not her fault that I'm attracted to her…or was attracted to her...that I can't stop fucking thinking about her.
She's by the speakers that are playing hip-hop music, her hair in two braids that trail from the top of her head down past her shoulders. She's dancing to the beat. I purposely don't look at what she's wearing, or how very little of it there is. Her phone is in her hand, as she scrolls, showing the screen to Jacob Black who leans onto her and sets his hand on her exposed shoulder.
My stomach growls, or maybe it was my chest. I pull my phone out of my pocket and type quickly, too quickly; my words jumble as they do in my brain.
i'm here~E
I hit send before I can expand. Regret combined with excitement fills me as I watch her pull her phone to herself, away from Jacob. Her face brightens and she turns to the door—to me. Her eyes find mine immediately, just as Emmett pushes me forward.
I walk in Bella's direction, feeling self-conscious, especially with Jacob not-so-subtly glaring at me. I glance at everyone who's here, a few of our other teammates, already working on different stunts.
So much for a get-together. Just another excuse to practice some more.
Emmett finds Vicky and walks closer to her and James, who usually spots her.
For a second, I wonder if what Bella wants from me is to spot her while she stunts with Jacob. I'd hate that, but it would make sense. He's better than me and definitely more experienced. He's the best base we have on the team.
I should have thought this through.
I don't get time to regret being here, because when she approaches me—bright smile on her face—her hands immediately reach for my arms, delicate fingers wrapping around my wrist, so I decide I'll do whatever she wants me to do.
"You made it!" she says, beaming, then pulls me closer to Jacob and the music.
"So, is this you guys' idea for a fun Friday night?" I nod at Jacob who nods back, unamused.
"Did you have something else in mind?" She raises a playful eyebrow at me.
"Honestly, I just wanted to sleep," I say softly, almost unintentionally. I guess I'm too tired to filter out my words.
Her eyes lock with mine; there's concern in them, but also amusement.
"C'mon, babe…" I recognize Emmett's voice and his stupid nickname for me as he loops an arm around my neck. "I swear he's nineteen going on sixty-five."
"What's up, Grizzly?" Bella bumps fists with Emmett, doing some other shit with their hands in a sort of secret handshake. I guess through my efforts of ignoring Bella outside of practice, I also neglected to notice this friendship that seems to have developed between her and my best friend.
"So what are we doing, Swan?" Emmett asks with his arm still around my neck.
"No Coach. No Jasper. We can just have fun." She bends over to her backpack and takes out a camera. "And we could get some videos to post?"
Great, so she wants me to film her. So I can feel like a real pervert. Just great.
"Right on," Emmett says, patting my back and stepping away from us.
When she hands the camera to Jacob instead of me, I try as best as I can to hide my shock. She doesn't want me to spot her. She doesn't want me to film her. She actually wants to stunt with me.
Jacob doesn't seem happy, but she's not looking at him, she's looking at me. Oh, and she's speaking too. Going over all the stunts she wants to try, with me, while she pulls me to the mat, hand wrapped around my arm again.
"Sound good?" She looks up at me expectantly. I have no idea what she just said or what I'm getting myself into, but I nod anyway.
"Sure…" I scratch the back of my neck, hoping my voice doesn't come through as shaky as it feels.
Then, we're stunting...for fun.
Jacob switches between holding the camera himself and setting it on a chair when I ask him to spot us for more dangerous stuff. He gets to stunt with her, too, when I need a break. Although I try to keep my breaks short and infrequent.
Bella never stops. She goes over the videos in the tiny camera screen whenever she takes a water break. She changes the music. She does a little dance. She asks me what kind of music I like.
I get more and more comfortable. I do well with the stunts, actually. Much better than I expected.
I think she's surprised. I think she's happy. I think we're having a good time. I want to kick myself for having avoided spending time together with her.
Turns out she was right. Without Coach, or Jasper there, with only a few of the stunters present, there's really not that much pressure. We try any variation of stunts she wants to play with, which is fun. With the music playing. With her little dances here and there. With no one else really looking at me. I focus on her, on making her look good for her videos, on keeping her from falling, and I end up having a good time myself.
I'm exhausted though, we've been at it for at least a couple hours, and my wrists are killing me along with everything else. When some of our teammates start calling it a night, and she finally seems satisfied with the footage we got, I allow myself a longer break...hoping we're done. I drop on the floor, resting against the wall, and start un-taping my wrists when she walks closer.
"We're heading over to the lake," she tells me, "for a quick swim."
I feel her eyes on me while I look behind her, at the way Jacob is staring at her. As seniors, Jacob and James live at the team's lake house. I groan internally. I don't like the sound of any of it. Jacob's gotta be at least two years older than me. I'm suddenly glad about the "hands off your teammates" rule, unwritten or not.
"It'll be fun," she insists, crouching in front of me. "The water will be cool and refreshing." She gestures to the towel I am wiping my sweat with.
When I look up at her, unconvinced, she sighs. "It'd be nice to have someone to walk back to the dorms with. I can't ever count on Emmett…or Vicky."
I look at Emmett then, who's laughing and dancing with Vicky—his hands on her ass.
Fuck, I don't even want to think about what time it is. Or the fact that I have work tomorrow morning.
I gaze back at Bella again, whose eyes are still on me. "Sure," I say, and her face brightens, making it all worth it.
I'm fucked.
~.~.~
"You got some good angles, Jake!" Bella is, camera in hand, walking next to me, shifting through pictures and videos as we walk to the lake house. "Thank you so much."
"No problem," Jake says, touching her again on her shoulder. I don't know why he keeps fucking touching her. "You'll tag me, right?"
"Of course. Whoa!" She inches closer to me, effectively removing his hand from her shoulder, and facing the screen of the camera my way. "Check out this shot!" She presses play, and the video starts with my back filling the frame, crouched behind her. I toss her up, and as she starts spinning, the video turns into slow motion and closes in on the shot. Thighs. Ass. More thighs. I trip on the sidewalk. "Dude, your arms look so good," she adds, pausing the frame, unfazed.
My arms? No, I didn't notice my fucking arms.
"You want me to tag you too?" she asks, looking up at me. "What's your Insta?"
I clear my throat. "I don't have one."
"What?" She laughs, putting the camera back in her bag.
"He sends videos to his mom on Whatsapp," Emmett feels the need to add.
"Shut the fuck up," I clap back at Emmett while he laughs and Bella awws.
"I swear you're from another time." Emmett chuckles, looping an arm over my shoulders. "But I still love you, babe."
"No social media?" Bella is still looking at me, dumbfounded.
"No. Not at all."
"TikTok?" she asks tentatively.
"Don't know what to do with it," I answer honestly.
"Seriously?" Bella seems amused. "That sounds—"
"Lame," Jake chips in, joining in on the fun.
"No." Bella frowns, glaring briefly at Jake before turning back to me. "I was going to say freeing, actually." She smiles at me softly, and we continue to walk while I ponder on what she meant by that.
We get to the lake, and Jake and James disappear into the house. Emmett and Vicky drop their clothes and jump right in, in their underwear, leaving Bella and me alone on the dock. When I turn to her, she's taking off her T-shirt and then drops her loose shorts, leaving her in the sports bra and little black booty shorts she was wearing at the gym. She smiles at me and jumps in with a little squeal.
I take a second. It's dark out, and the water looks so tempting. I take my shirt off but decide to keep my shorts on, then jump in after her. I rather walk back home wet than be in the water, in my underwear, with Bella.
When I resurface, Bella is floating on her back next to me. "I'm sore all over," she says and I breathe out into the water to try to relax.
The water is cool and refreshing like Bella said it would be. It feels good against my likewise sore muscles as we float next to each other, in silence, mostly, until Jacob and James come back out with a couple six packs of beers.
Emmett and Vicky get out and sit on the deck, joining them, while Bella and I remain in the water.
"Bella?" Jake, beer in each hand, lifts one for her.
I stew in my place. I'm sure this has to be against some team rule and I'm suddenly worried that we will get in trouble. I don't want to be the one to ruin everyone's fun, or pretend to have any right to tell Bella what she can or cannot do, but I'm still uncomfortable, pissed even. At Jake mostly.
"I'm good," Bella declines, so I breathe out in relief. Jake lifts the beer in my direction then, without saying anything, so I quietly turn him down with a shake of my head.
Jake desists and goes to join the others.
"Are you tired? Do you want to go?" Bella asks, swimming closer to me.
"Yeah, maybe we should go." To my surprise, she reaches and holds onto my shoulder, her knees touching my side. She must sense my panic; she has to, but instead of backing away, she smiles, seemingly completely at ease by my side. "I can't reach the bottom," she explains.
"Me neither," I lie. Sort of. I actually don't know, but I would rather not find out. The water is dark and who knows what's down there. I tread water with my arms and legs, keeping us both up. My eyes avoid her face, her lips.
"Am I too touchy-feely? Does that make you uncomfortable?" she says, as easy as asking about the weather.
"Nah," I lie again, because honestly she has no respect for personal space. It's the worst. And the best.
I swim us closer to the metal ladder that is connected to the dock, with still hanging from my shoulder. I hold onto it, and when she clasps her fingers around the railing, I move away. She pulls herself out then, the water sloshing and trickling down her body.
Not the booty shorts. Fuck.
I look away, wait until she's all the way up, and then get out myself.
Bella checks in with Vicky, who seems to want to stay. Emmett gives me an OK sign when I wave at him. When Bella walks back to me, I've already put on my shirt.
"They're staying a little longer." She dries quickly with her towel and puts on her T-shirt and shorts as well.
"Do you want to stay?" Please don't ask me to stay.
She inspects my face, barely thinking about it. "Nah, let's go."
It's a warm, clear July night, as we walk side by side to the dorms.
Bella talks the whole way back. I don't mind. I like listening to her. She's excited about the videos. She says she might not sleep so she can edit them.
"Really, thank you." She runs her fingers down my arm. "They're going to turn out great."
"No problem." I keep a slow pace next to her. "I had fun. It's a different kind of practice without Coach there."
"I know, right? I can send you links to the videos if you want to watch them."
"Sure, yeah." I yawn as subtly as I can manage into my shoulder as we arrive at the dorms. I take the first steps up, opening the door and holding it for her, then we walk up the steps to our floor.
"Do you really not have an Instagram or do you just not like me?" she asks, surprising the hell out of me as we stop in front of our rooms.
"I really don't have one," I answer honestly. "Why would I not like you, Bella?" It's preposterous. She's the kindest, sweetest person I've ever met.
"I mean…" She inches closer to me in the middle of the quiet hallway. "I know you don't like like girls, but I meant like me as a person…as a friend."
"What?" I look at her in confusion. "What do you mean I don't like girls?"
"Oh…" Her entire face flushes and she takes a step back. "I mean…I just thought…I'm sorry, I just assumed."
"Wait, you think I'm gay?" It feels ridiculous to say it. Does she really have no idea at all of what her presence does to me?
"I…Yeah, kinda." She fidgets with her shirt, biting her lip as she looks up at me. "You're so gentle with me and respectful…you've never tried anything. You make me feel so safe." She sighs, her eyes roaming over the hallway. "Every other straight guy here has—"
"It's called being a decent guy, Swan!" I interrupt her because I really don't want to know that every other guy here has hit on her already. "You just assumed I was gay?"
"Okay, I can see how ridiculous that sounds now." She laughs nervously, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. "But also, Emmett calls you babe."
I rub my face, groaning. "'Cause he thinks it's funny." I've told him not to do it, but he finds it hilarious, especially when we're in front of other people.
"Oh…" She lets out another laugh, her hands clasping on her hips.
"You thought Emmett and I were gay…together?" I fight a smile. I can't fucking believe it.
"I thought he was bi…" She's fully laughing now, which is contagious. "I mean 'cause he's obviously into Vicky, too."
"Jesus…" I breathe out while she goes into a laughing fit.
"I'm sorry." Her laughter turns into soft chuckles, as she calms down. "So you're not…gay?"
"No, I'm not."
"Oh my God." She hides her face behind her hands, peeking at me between her fingers. "I'm an idiot."
"Yeah…" I let myself laugh, and she punches my arm. "Yeah, you are."
I walk her to her door, and we say our awkward goodbyes. She apologizes again. I tell her not to worry about it. Then, I find myself smiling like an idiot all the way to my room.
Yup, I'm fucked.