AN: So I'm currently in a heatwave and am starting to melt...

Anyway here's the next chapter, hopefully it's not too much heat induced rambling!

Chapter 33

EPOV

I was just coming out of the shower when there was a knock at the lockerroom door.

I frowned. No one ever knocked on that door. It simply wasn't necessary; the only people who ever came inside were the players, or Emmett, but he just barged right in.

'Yeah?' I called out, heading to the bench and my clothes with a towel slung around my waist.

I was the only one left today. The rest had all gone home earlier, but I'd stayed to do some weight training, seeing as I had to wait for Bella anyway to catch a ride.

The door opened and Bella stepped into the room and I froze for a second in shock. I hadn't expected it to be her! Yet suddenly I was glad I had taken my time in the showers and was currently only dressed in a towel. I straigthened up and faced her fully.

Bella's gaze swept around the room until they settled on me, then her eyes widened and a lovely blush spread along her cheeks. Her gaze trailed up my frame, seeming to linger a while on my chest. I smiled at the idea that she might actually be checking me out.

Before I could comment though she seemed to snap herself out of it. Her eyes snapped to mine quite comically fast and her blush returned with vigor.

'Sorry!' she exclaimed her voice slightly higher than normal. 'I just… I thought you'd be done already.'

I shrugged. 'No problem. I'm almost ready.'

She nodded, her eyes wide and locked on mine, like she didn't trust herself to look anywhere else. I couldn't stop the grin that was forming on my face. It might have been slightly cocky.

She stared at me a moment longer and I quirked a brow at her. Unless she wanted a show, she had to at least turn around or leave again to let me finish dressing.

'Right.' she squeaked out. 'I should… let you finish dressing then.'

'That would speed things up, yes.' I grinned at her.

'Yes.' She said, then abruptly turned around and fled the room, her face still red.

I chuckled softly to myself and then quickly finished dressing in record time to make sure she didn't have to wait long.

When I was done I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out of the room. Bella was standing against the wall, biting her lip and looking down at her feet with Jake laying beside her looking half asleep.

'I'm ready.' I told her as I stepped out of the room.

Jake's head snapped up and his tail wagged as he spotted me. He clambered to his feet and trotted over, pushign his giant frame against my legs, begging for some scratches.

Bella's head snapped up to mine, her eyes were slightly troubled as she trailed her eyes over my body again. Did she miss the towel?

'okay great.' She said when she shook herself from it again. then she cleared her throat. 'BEfore we leave, could you help me take some pictures of Jake?'

She gestured to a bag at her feet, with a bat and some Cubs merch peeping out.

'Sure I don't mind.' I told her easily. Spending more time with her was anything but a chore on my part. 'What kind of photos?'

'Leah wants me to make an instagram so the people can get to know me better.' She looked unhappy at that. 'But I hate posting anything about myself or my life, so she suggested I make one with Jake. She suggested putting him in Cubs gear and taking photo's.'

'that sounds adorable.' I laughed at the idea of Jake with a Cubs cap on. Leah was porbably right that it would be a hit. Jake was an amazing dog, gorgeous but also adorable and slightly frightening. If they promoted it right I bet it could be a real hit.

We started walking to the field again, Bella carrying the bag with props and Jake leisurely following behind us. I asked her how many photo's she wanted to take today and with which props, offfering up my opinion on what would look good.

The moment we stepped on the field Jake suddenly darted forward, past us both and let out a gleeful bark before tearing up and down the bases, his tail wagging like a maniac. Bella laughed and shook her head. I laughed too, her dog really was something.

I nudged her. 'You should film this.' I told her.

'Oh! that's a good idea.' She quickly grabbed her phone and pressed record. Jake changed his direction and started spinning around in circles, his butt low to the ground. It looked ridiculous, especially on such a large dog. Bella giggled and I couldn't help but laugh too. Then he finally stopped at the pitching mound and sat down, looking back at us looking mighty pleased with himself.

'Oh Jake you crazy boy' Bella smiled as she stopped recording.

'Well I think he wants to be a pitcher.' I said to Bella, grabbing her bag of props and grabbing a Cubs hat and a baseball ball.

We walked over ot him together and I handed her the items, Jake probably wouldn't accept me putting a hat on him, so I offered to take the picture instead.
Bella knelt next to him and put the hat on, which he just accepted without issue and then handed him the ball. He grabbed it in his mouth, dwarfing the ball in his huge mouth, with his tongue lolling to the side. Bella stepped out of the shot and I quickly snapped some photo's. When Bella was satisfied they turned out good enough we headed to the dugout.

Bella produced a jersey from th ebag and I stood back and watched her try and wrestle JAke into it. HE didn't make it easy for her and I oculdn't help but chuckle at the scene. He kept giving her his paws but the opposite one of which she needed. it was hilarious. When she'd finally got him dressed he licked her nose and I couldn't resist taking a picture of that. Then she handed him the bat and stepped back again. It was a sight to behold. JAke was dressed in a jersey, a cubs hat and had a bat in his mouth as he sat in the dugout. It was great.

'I have one last idea' Bella said smiling up at me.

'Alright.' I smiled back at her, her enthusiasm was infectious.

'Let's give him a catching glove, put him where the catcher usually is and put you in front as batter.'

I smiled. 'Sure.' I headed to my bag and grabbed my jersey out of it, pulling off my shirt and slippign the jersey on, and putting my hat on too. I grabbed a bat from the dugout, not the one Jake had had in his outh, that one was covered in slobber and I think destined for the garbage now. Then I grabbed an old glove and whistled for Jake to come over. To my surprise he actually trotted over.

'Just tell him to sit and then to take.' Bella instructed me, taking her place to take the picture.

I nodded then told Jake to sit just behind home plate. He obediently sat down and looked up at me expectantly, looking adorable in his little hat and jersey. I held the glove out and told him to take it. He obeyed again and I quickly stepped back and took my own place, positioning the bat over my shoulder and looking at Bella.

'Like this?' I asked her.

She nodded and took a few photo's. then she asked me to hold the bat out, and took some more photo's in that position.

'Do you think you can throw a ball and film?' I asked her, an idea popping into my head.

She looked at me for a moment, then nodded. 'I think so'

I quickly grabbed the ball JAke ahd already had in his mouth from her bag and ran it over to her. 'Throw this at Jake, telling him to catch it. I'll swing and miss. Seems like a nice clip.' I told her.

'Oh that does sound fun.' she smiled at me and nodded, quickly ushering me back to my place. 'Do be careful that you don't hit Jake.'

'Don't worry. I won't.' I assured her. I made sure to keep an eye on Jake and as Bella counted down I divided my attention between the ball and Jake. Bella threw the ball giving Jake the command to catch. I quickly swung the bat, keeping it high and slow to make sure I wouldn't hurt Jake, the ball went under and Jake quickly dropped the glove and caught the ball witout a problem. Bella laughed and cheered as he caught it and I did too. He wagged his tail happily and looked first at me than at Bella as we both praised him.

'I think that's enough for today. Can you send me the ones you took with your phone?' she asked, coming over to us.

'yeah, no problem.'

Bella started wrestling JAke out of his gear again and I quickly changed out of my jersey again, and put the bat and glove away again. When Jake was done and everything else was put away again we started heading out.

When we reached the parking lot, Bella seemed to freeze up though. I stepped next to her and reached out to hold her hand in mine, giving it a small squeeze.

'It'll be fine.' I told her, sensing she was probably worried about having to drive again, this time without Carlisle as a safety net.

She swallowed and nodded, squeezing my hand back and showing no signs of letting go. We headed out to her car and although I would have loved to drive her, she really needed to do this.

I headed to the passenger seat.

Bella loaded Jake in and then took a deep breath before getting in herself. We strapped in and she turned on the engine.

'Why don't you just drive to your place?' I suggested. I didn't want her to have to drive a part of the way alone. She was still terrified by the looks of it. 'I'll just grab a cab home from your place.'

'I couldn't ask that of you.' She obejcted, but her voice was trembling slightly.

'I offered, Bella.' I chided her gently. 'I won't feel right leaving you to drive by yourself. Not yet.'

'But…' she bit her lip. it seemed like she wanted to argue, but also wanted to accept my offer. Finally she sighed. 'Let me at least cook for you then.'

My eyebrows rose in surprise. We ate together often, but that was always in the company of Rose and Emmet or Alice and Jasper. Never just the two of us. I wanted nothing more than to say yes. But I also knew it might trample on the carefully crafted boundaries we had drawn up together. Just friends. Nothing more.

'I need to walk Mike.' I told her, not saying no, but not saying yes either.

'I can swing by your place and you can grab him?' she suggested. 'I won't feel right just having you find your own way home after you're helping me. Cooking is the least I can do.'

I regarded her for a moment. She seemed genuine enough, like she really wanted to do this for me, not just out of a sense of obligation.

Finally I nodded, my weaker side winning out. It would have been smarter to say no, but my selfish side wanted some alone time with her.

'Alright then. Let's go get Mike.' I said smiling at her.

She smiled back and I quickly put my adres in her onboard navigation system.

Bella started the car and slowly started driving from the parking lot. When we got on the main road, she had a deathgrip on the wheel and her eyes rapidly scanned her environment. She was on edge, that much was clear.

I reached over slowly, making sure not to startle her, and pried on of her hands loose, holding it in mine and rubbing soothing circles on her knuckles.

'You're doing great, Bella.' I assured her. Her eyes flitted to mine for the briefest of moments, then focussed back on the road. Though slowly she started relaxing her grip.

I kept up a steady stream of chatter to distract her mind from her fear and was pleased when I started seeing her begin to relax.

I told her how training had gone, how Emmett had kicked my ass and Emily had too. Pilates was harder than I had imagined. And I confessed as much. Bella seemed pleased by that and I grinned. Even though she was on edge and not comfortable, she managed to smile.

She pulled up to my apartment building without incident.

'Keep it running. I'll be quick.' I told her and was already out of the car before she could change her mind. In record time I headed up to my apartment, grabbed Mike's things and Mike himself of course, and headed back down again.

Mike was slightly confused about what was going on, but his tail wagged nonetheless. But when he saw the unfamiliar car I was towing him towards he had a moment of doubt, sitting on his haunches and refusing to budge.

'come on Mike.' I tried to persuade him as he looked up at me like I was the one being an idiot. 'We're going to Jake. don't you remember Jake?'

He cocked his head to the side but still seemed unconvinced and kept his butt parked on the sidewalk.

Thankfully Bella spotte dus then and she opened her door, while also rolling down Jake's window.

Jake's head poked out immediately and I pointed him out to Mike. Mike was on his feet in the next second. I shook my head and laughed.

'Put him in the back.' Bella suggested as I neared the car. I nodded and she popped the trunk. Two dogs on the backseat wasn't going to fit and who knew what those two would get up tot when they were both on there together. Having the seats between them was probably safer. Mike got in and immediately Jake's head was over the seat, his tail thumping against the front seat.

Bella laughed at their antics as they tried their best to greet each other through the headrests. I quickly shut the door and headed to my seat again.

'Let's go.' I told her. 'Before they destroy your car.'

She smiled at me and we set off again. The dogs helped distract Bella. But when a car suddenly merged in front of us, she let out a small gasp and immeidately grabbed hold of my hand. I smiled at that, and squeezed her hand slightly. I told her she was doing great and that everything was fine and I kept hold her hand tightly.

She smiled over at me shyly when she'd calmed down again.

I just made sure to keep her slightly distracted and kept telling her she was doing great.

When we finally reached her underground parking and she parked the car, she looked over at me. 'Thank you.' she whispered.

I shrugged. 'I didn't do anything. You did it all on your own. You did good, Bella.' I was proud of her.

She blushed and looked down. 'Having you with me calmed me down. So thank you for being here.'

'You dn't have to thank me for that Bella. I'll be here.' Always. I added in my mind.

We headed up to her appartment and Bella indeed made me dinner.

Spaghetti. One of my favourites. And it was delicious.

Was there something this woman couldn't do? She told me she didn't really enjoy cooking, but having lost her mother so young, it was something that had brought her and Charlie together. They both had to learn to do it together and it created a moment every day to spent time together.

I smiled at the story. I loved hearing about her life. I helped her plate everything up and set the table and we sat down together.

It was easy being with her, as easy as breathing.

There were no uncomfortable pauses, or worries about saying the wrong thing. The dogs were excited to spent the evening together and after dinner we took them on a walk together. Though I kept an eye out for any press lurking about, I din't want to end up on the front page necessarily.

It seemed though we were in luck, there appeared to be no press to harass us tonight.

By the time we got back it was past ten in the evening.

'I guess I should head home.' I said somewhat reluctantly.

'yeah. I guess. ' Bella seemed just as reluctant.

'Are you sure enough to drive by yourself tomorrow?' I asked her, though she'd done amazing today, I didn't want her to risk herself.

She bit her lip. 'I think so.' But her voice was unsure.

'You think or you know?' I pressed.

She sighed and shrugged. 'I don't know. I felt okay with you, but I don't know if I can handle it on my own when something unexpected happens. This morning wasn't that great yet and just now I definitely had a few moments where I wasn't sure.'

I pursed my lips. 'How about this?' I said, turning to face her fully. 'You drive to me by yourself. It's only ten minutes from here. That way you can test if you feel comfortable enough to drive by yourself. I'll drive with you to the park and if you do feel good enough to drive on your own I'll just catch a ride at the club after practice with Emmett and you can drive back by yourself.'

Bella frowned.

'and before you protest.' I quickly said, holding up my hand. 'I offered. That means I'm fine with what I just suggested.'

She huffed out a breath and then grinned. 'alright. But bring Mike. I'll keep him with Jake at the office for some playtime.'

I held out my hand. 'Deal.' I told her with a grin. She smiled back and shook my hand. We hung on slightly longer than perhaps was necessary.

I finally let go and we said goodbye at the door, she promised to be at my place tomorrow at eight. I told her I'd be ready.

Then I headed down the stairs and into my waiting cab to take me and Mike home.