Chapter 8

"Hey, isn't that the Paul guy you ran into at Jacob's party?" Sarah asked.

Girls were walking back from Ediz Hook in Port Angeles. Adrenaline was still pulsing through their veins: they had just spotted a pool of orcas just outside of the narrow sandy pit. Bella wanted to quickly visit the Marine Life Center to ask a few questions about the orcas before having some lunch.

Bella looked in the direction Sarah pointed and saw five guys with construction vests and helmets sitting on the grass by the Pier. They were obviously on their lunch break.

"Oh yeah, that's him. And I think there are two others who we met too they came to introduce themselves when we were just leaving. Weren't they Colin and Brady?" Bella asked.

When Paul saw Bella, he felt like he had been electrocuted. It's been almost a week since Jacob's party. Paul hadn't been able to come up with any idea how to see her again, her number was ex-directory, and Jacob wouldn't give it to him even if his own life would depend on it. So, this was like a gift from heaven; too good to be true and not to be wasted.

Girls were chatting loudly and were very excited about something. Paul wanted to know what was going on.

"Hey ladies!" he shouted to them.

Girls raised their hands and walked to meet them.

"Hey, you morons," Paul said to his friends, "this is Bella and her friends Sarah and was it Ailani?"

Ailani nodded.

"These are Sam and Jared, and these little fuckers are Brady and Colin."

"Yeah, we got to meet you at the beach," Colin smirked.

What the fuck? When had that happened? Paul thought.

"Hey!" Girls replied.

"So, what's up? You seem quite thrilled about something," Paul asked.

He was thinking feverishly about something to hold up the girls long enough to come up with a plan to see Bella again soon. He didn't want to wait any longer to get to know her better, and he wasn't going to let this heaven-sent opportunity slide.

"You guys won't believe it. Show them some of your photos Ailani," Bella prompted her friend. "We saw a big pool of orcas just over there," Bella continued and pointed in the direction of Ediz Hook.

"That's a pretty impressive looking camera you have there," Sam commented on Ailani's DSLR with a long lens.

"Yeah, it's pretty great," Ailani noted.

"She is a professional photographer with an awesome talent. She had an exhibition a few months back in Honolulu," Bella told proudly about her friend.

Paul and his friends gathered closer to the girls to look at the photos.

Paul leaned over Bella's shoulder to look at the small screen on the camera. He didn't care if he saw the photos or not, but he wanted to use the opportunity to get close to her. He leaned closer still; the screen on the camera was tiny after all. So close that his chin almost touched Bella's shoulder, he could feel the heat radiating from her flushed cheeks. He inhaled deeply and smelled a fresh ocean breeze and something green, green tea? Her shampoo, perhaps.

"Wow," he whispered close to Bella's ear. And he wasn't talking about the photos.

Bella turned her head in surprise and her nose brushed over Paul's cheek. Paul felt Bella's breath on his face, and he almost closed his eyes to savor the feeling that made its' way through his body straight to his dick. This time he had his work vest helping him hide his somewhat embarrassing situation.

"Oops, sorry," Bella muttered and shifted a bit to make room between them.

Paul smirked. He straightened and was happy with himself because he had a plan.

"I could take you whale watching in La Push. I have a boat I can borrow, and I've spotted whales just outside La Push many times. Isn't it the season for whales now?" Paul asked.

"Are you serious? Would you? When would you be able to do that?" Bella babbled, unable to contain her enthusiasm. "I mean, Ailani and Sarah are leaving early Sunday morning."

"I have a day off tomorrow. Would that work for you?" Paul asked. He prayed silently that the boat would be available tomorrow. He would pay James if he had to. He needed that boat tomorrow.

Girls told Paul that they had this silly tradition of having a Mamma Mia party, and they had planned to do that tomorrow but could, of course, change it to Saturday if Paul could really take them out to the sea to watch whales. Sarah reminded Bella that Charlie would be home on Saturday, but maybe he wouldn't mind doing a sing-along with them.

"Yeah, right, sure," Bella laughed. "I think I'll text him and warn him. I'm sure he'll change his plans and go fishing with Billy on Saturday instead of tomorrow."

Paul followed their discussion with great interest. Oh, the images flooded his mind when he thought about what this Mamma Mia party might entail.

Girls informed Paul that tomorrow would be great.

"Excellent! I'll have to check with my friend, but I'll get back to you asap. What if you give me your mobile number so I can reach you?" Paul suggested. He was mentally cheering himself for being such a clever fucker. He had Bella in his hook now.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Let's hope the weather holds up for tomorrow. It's been surprisingly rainless lately," Bella said.

Paul gave Bella his phone and asked her to put her number there. Bella tapped the number and gave the phone back, and said, "Thanks, Paul, it is really cool that you are taking us. Those orcas today were something else."

"No problem. Happy to see them myself too. Let's hope we get lucky tomorrow." He didn't care too much if they saw whales or not, but it would make Bella happy, so he really hoped they would show up tomorrow.

Bella and her friends started to leave.

"Okay, guys, enjoy the rest of your lunch break, and we'll hopefully see you tomorrow. Are you coming too?" Bella asked Paul's friends.

"I might tag along," Sam said, "I've nothing planned for tomorrow."

Other guys told the girls that they had to work.

Paul didn't mind that Sam was planning to come along. He was happy as fuck with Emily. It would also be easier for him if someone was helping with the boat. But the little pricks Colin and Brady had been a bit too keen to ask about Bella and eye-fucking her at the party and talked with her too. How had he missed that?

Paul wasn't afraid they would make a move on her, they wouldn't dare, but he rather didn't have them around just to be on the safe side. After all, he couldn't be sure what Bella might think of them.

"Okay! We'll see you, Paul and Sam tomorrow then," Bella said, and the girls left them, walking towards the marine life center.

"Yeah! See ya!" Paul shouted after them. Sam clapped Paul on his shoulder and grinned. Paul couldn't but grin back.

"Wow, that Paul guy is hot," Sarah giggled after the girls were out of the hearing distance. She had witnessed the little encounter Paul and Bella shared just now and was very curious to know what Bella thought about the hottie with the most intense eyes she had ever seen.

"Yeah, he certainly is very easy on the eye," Bella laughed. "But doesn't seem to understand the meaning of personal space."

"Oh, he did that on purpose," Sarah said.

"He did what on purpose?" Ailani asked. She hadn't seen anything happening. She was too excited about showing the photos to the guys.

"And I saw him sniffing you," Sarah laughed, not answering Ailani's question.

"He did not," Bella argued.

"Oh, yes, he did!"

"Hey bitches you tell me right in this instance what happened. This is not fair," Ailani demanded.

Sarah told Ailani what she'd seen.

"He stared at you, Bella, all night at Jake's birthday party," Ailani mused.

"He did not," Bella said.

"Yes, he did. Don't tell me you didn't notice. He was eye-fucking you every time I saw him, and it was quite often, I might add," Ailani laughed.

Bella blushed a little when she remembered Paul's reaction to her on the beach.

"Well, I could say that he was definitely attracted to me when I bumped into him at the beach. He told me I was beautiful, and he was tenting his jeans, which he was trying to hide. It was pretty cute, actually," Bella giggled.

"WHAT? Why hadn't you tell us!?" Both Sarah and Ailani shouted in unison.

"It slipped out of my mind. You remember when Jake accidentally fell with me off the log, and I got pissed about it?" Bella said air quoting the word "accidentally". "And after the party, I've been crying my eyes out about breaking up with Bane."

"Oh yeah, Jake was pretty intense, eh," Sarah said.

"Wasn't he just!" Bella huffed, annoyed. "I really must make things clear with him. I was okay with his pawing for the first two hours, thinking that we hadn't seen each other for so long, but it really started to bug me. He is such a great guy; it's a shame he tries to be more than a friend. He can also be such a jerk sometimes."

"Don't they all," Sarah sighed.

Just then, Bella's phone buzzed.

Well, that didn't take long, Bella thought.

It was a text from Paul.

Are you still up for some whale watching tomorrow? Would noon be okay time? See you at the parking lot next to the marina. Wear something very warm. I'll bring some snacks and drinks.

He had added cute whale emoji to his text. Something told Bella it wasn't his usual way of communication to use cute emojis. Bella smiled.

"So, are you ready for some whale watching tomorrow with the hottie?" Bella asked her friend with a grin.

5.6.2021