Chapter 39

"You two really look good together." Bella was startled off her daydream by Paula, who peeked over her shoulder to look at her phone screen, showing the photo they took on the bridge of the treehouse.

"Yeah," was all she could say.

She missed him so bad it hurt. And he had only left this morning after being with her for four days. The separation before that had been hard, almost four weeks. She had had a field trip on two weekends in a row, and Paul had to work almost every day at the work site; some crucial part had to be finished, and they were behind schedule again. And then there were his studies.

"You miss him, don't you?" Paula asked.

"Yes, this is quite hard. But we know it won't last forever, so it's ok," Bella sighed and put her phone away. It was the end of February, and the whole winter quarter before spring break would be extra busy.

But it helped to think that Paul would move to Seattle after next Christmas. There were still many months to go, but they would be together the whole summer, and Ailani and Sarah would be coming to visit her at the end of March. She had to concentrate on positive things.

She loved her studies, well, at least the part that dealt with actual biology and marine life, ecosystems, and such. But the foundation courses in science and math weren't as thrilling but something she just had to do and get over with. At the moment, she was on the Marine Evolutionary Biology course, and it had been exciting right from the beginning.

"How are things between you and my dad?" Bella asked. She was happy that their relationship had clearly developed into something more profound than a friendship.

Paula blushed a little. "Things are pretty good. I like your dad, and I think he likes me too."

"He sure does, I've never seen him so cheerful and happy he is now, and it is all because of you. You should know that I'm thrilled if you two decide to get together or even get married."

"Oh, Bella, thank you for saying that. It means a lot. We are still quite new, but I tell you this much; I have never liked any man as much as I like your father," Paula patted her arm and disappeared back of the store.

Bella glanced at her finger where Paul's name was tattooed in small script letters. It was visible just next to her ring. They looked good together. Bella kissed her ring and tattoo and went to shelve the books that had just arrived.

"Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?" Megan asked Bella.

"Huh?" Bella lifted her head from her laptop.

"Your birthday. It is on the 2nd of March, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"So, what are your plans?"

"Don't have any. Paul is coming. I don't know. I don't usually celebrate my birthday," Bella answered and continued her writing.

"What? Don't celebrate your birthday? Why?" Megan was astonished. She had never heard of anybody not celebrating their birthday.

"I just don't. I mean, no parties. I usually go for a coffee or have a nice lunch or dinner with friends. We could do that together. I have to visit Seattle Aquarium for some schoolwork. Would you like to come along and go eat after?" Bella asked.

Megan gulped her water and almost choked on it. Was she joking?

"What, are you turning five or 22? Should you even try to do something more exciting?" She laughed.

Bella giggled. "We can try, can't promise anything tho."

Megan went to her room. She had a terrible headache from the last night's party. She fell to her bed and grabbed her phone from her nightstand. She opened her Instagram and noticed she had a DM. She opened it. Her heart leaped into her throat; it was from Paul. Why would Paul send her a message?

Hey Megan, it's Paul. I was hoping you could help me to organize something for B's bday?

Well damn.

Sure, what do you have in mind?

Megan waited for Paul to reply. He'd sent the message half an hour ago. It took another 15 minutes before he answered.

Make dinner at your place and ask some of her friends to join us.

That sounded much more interesting than going to the aquarium, Megan snorted out loud.

Sounds good. What do you need me to do?

Paul didn't reply right away. She waited. Then the reply came.

Don't tell her and take her out on Sat afternoon. I'll tell her that I can't come until Sun. I need 3h.

Paul was going to surprise her. Good luck with that.

You know she hates surprises, right?

Yep, but I'll live.

Are you sure?

Yep. So, can it be done? Also, you know better who we could invite from UW. Jessica and Angela are coming. I'll ask Jessica to invite Tyler and Eric. Who else?

How many you think we can invite?

I'll make tapas, we don't need to sit down. Maybe 15. Not too many, I know B doesn't like big crowds.

Ymmy! That will be awesome night.

Now we have 7

9, Ben and Mark. If Tyler and Eric have girls they want to bring 11.

Ok. I know 3 girls B spends her time in UW. I'll ask them. What time? B needs to go to the aquarium to do some schoolwork. I'll go with her on Sat and take her for a drink after.

Great. Maybe around 5 or 6? Thanks Megan!

NP. It's great you're organizing this. I just asked about her bday and she said she's going to aquarium. Talking about the dullest bday ever...

Paul didn't answer right away. Shit. Was she being rude? Would Paul be offended by her mocking his wife?

Yeah she's not much of a party goer is she. Thanks for helping. Gotta go.

Did he get offended? Maybe she shouldn't have said that about Bella. What the fuck? She wasn't usually so edgy. She mocked around and said rude things all the time. And Paul had a mouth on him too. But not when it was about his precious Bella, it seemed.

WHOA, now what was THAT all about? She was quite shocked. Where had that thought come from? She loved Bella. She was amazing. But they were quite different and enjoyed different things: she loved partying, like heavy partying, picking up different guys every night, and shopping. She had to drag Bella with her to go shopping. Bella was outdoorsy and loved running and hiking. Megan herself would never go for a jog just couldn't see the point.

But they both loved dancing. It was just that when she went out dancing with Bella, she could pretty much forget getting any attention from the males around them; it was only Bella they saw. And that was annoying, to put it mildly. She already had Paul.

Megan sighed. She realized that she was a bit jealous of Bella. And maybe more than just a bit.

She reread their messages and looked at Paul's profile photo. It was the photo taken on their honeymoon; the one Bella had on her phone screen.

Paul had a private account. She wondered if she could request to follow him. She hadn't dared before. She couldn't quite understand why; he was her friend, wasn't he? But it felt like she would be prying, peeping if she asked to see his photos. Because the truth was, she would be. She often looked at the photo of him and Bella, the one she took on Halloween. She often put her finger over Bella and stared at Paul.

Yep, there was no denying it; she was in love with Paul. Hopelessly in love. And that sucked big time.

She sent the request.

Paul accepted the request almost immediately.

Her heart was pounding when she opened Paul's page. And of course, it was full of Bella, Bella and him and apparently food. Megan smiled. That man was a genius in the kitchen. She had had the pleasure of eating what he makes, and damn, it was good.

She scrolled down the page. Photo after photo of Bella. She was breathtaking in his photos, the way only a woman in love could be. The one especially striking photo was taken in the morning when Bella had just woken up. She had her head propped between her hands while lying on the bed, and her hair was wild, catching the morning sun. Freckles were visible on her nose, and her eyes were still sleepy, but on her lips, she had that smile she had only for Paul. She looked like a dream.

Good morning my wife, my life, my everything.

Gah, the photo was so intimate that she had to scroll it out of sight.

One photo was of their red and a bit swollen, newly tattooed fingers entwined together. One finger had text "Paul" and the other "Bella".

You and me. Forever. Said the text under the photo.

Megan felt a lump in her throat. Jesus, this man really loved his woman. Was there anything sweeter than that?

She continued to look at the photos. One picture captured her eyes; it was Paul with some elderly native woman.

Hanging out with my pall Miss S.

Megan looked at the photo. It was a selfie that Paul had taken of the two. He has his other arm wound around the old lady's shoulder. They were both looking at the camera. He was laughing, his white teeth on full display, and his eyes were sparkling. His hair was in an adorable mess, and he had those sexy earrings on. Fucking hot and boyishly cute at the same time just the way only Paul could be. The lady in the photo was laughing, her eyes shining behind her yellow-rimmed glasses. They were obviously sharing some inner joke or something. The photo was precious; anybody could see that. But who was Miss S.? Bella had told her a little about Paul's past. Megan's heart broke thinking about the little boy abandoned by his mother. How could anybody leave Paul?

Then she saw photos of their wedding. And her breath hitched when she saw Paul with his friends. His suit was all dark grey tie included, and in his pocket, there was a dark green piece of fabric. The color of Bella's dress. She had never seen anybody as gorgeous in a suit as Paul.

"Holy shit," she said out loud.

My best men sharing the most important moment of my life.

She zoomed in on the photo and accidentally tapped the heart under the photo, and it turned red.

"Shit," she tapped the photo again, unliking it.

She took a screenshot of the photo feeling shit, but she couldn't help it. She saved the photo and closed the Instagram, knowing she would be opening it soon again and again and again.

Fuck. This wasn't what she wanted in her life: to be in love with her friend's husband. But she could not help it. She loved Paul.

Paul was happy Megan was on board, and he was able to surprise Bella. He knew Bella says she doesn't like surprises, but it was hard to believe she wouldn't enjoy a night with friends and good food. It had been a brutal winter for them both, so it would do her good to loosen up a little.

He laughed when he thought about Bella wanting to go to the aquarium on her birthday. Just so like her. She did not want to make a spectacle of herself, keeping it hushed. But not this time; it was her first birthday him being around, and he wouldn't let her belittle herself anymore. Mommy Holly had taught him to like birthdays; she always made something special for him. One year when he turned 14 or 15, she took him to Seattle to an amusement park and went to every ride with him, although some of them had scared the shit out of her. They had a blast.

Jessica and Angela had promised to think of the decorations and all that shit. He had planned the menu. He would make some of the food ready on Friday night after work and leave for Seattle early on Saturday morning. But there were still four days before the weekend.

Paul browsed his photos on Instagram. Megan sent him a request to follow him. He accepted it. It was only for those he knew and liked. Megan was an ok chick.

He started using his Instagram when he and Bella got together and looked at the photos often. They were very important to him now that they had to spend most of their time apart. He also posted photos of the food he thought he had excelled at. He wrote what had made them exceptional so he would remember it next time.

Jared and Sam had given him a few sneer comments about his sappy posts but fuck like he cared. He was pussy-whipped, the fucking world champion of being pussy-whipped. But the thing was that he couldn't contain the passion and love he felt for Bella inside himself. His posts were sappy as fuck, and if someone had told him nine months ago that he would have an Instagram account where he posts photos of his woman, who is his fucking wife, with lovey-dovey texts, he would have laughed his ass off, probably died laughing. But he hadn't met Bella yet.

He browsed the photos and stopped at the photo where Bella was sitting in his kitchen. She had her laptop in front of her, but she was looking out of the window holding the earpiece of her reading glasses between her teeth. Her beautiful hair was tied up, and her long neck was on full display. Paul loved to look at her when she was working. Fuck, he loved to look at her all the time, but especially when she was in her world, not noticing he was watching her.

What are You thinking about?

Yeah, fucking sappy, but he loved it.

"Why do I have the feeling that there is something you're not telling me?" Bella asked Megan when they were sitting at the bar sipping their drinks.

"Oh, like asking you out for one drink because tomorrow is your 22nd birthday?"

Bella giggled.

"You must think what bad you have done to get me as your roommate, the most boring college student on the planet," she said.

"You're not boring..."

"Oh please, you should have seen your face when I talked about going to the aquarium on my birthday," Bella laughed.

Megan burst out laughing.

"I almost choked on my drink. I couldn't believe my ears, to be honest," Megan giggled.

"Yeah, I've been laughing my ass off thinking about it. Shit, I'm so boring," Bella laughed, tears in her eyes.

"No, but honestly, I'm sure you've hoped many times that your roommate would be more out there having fun with you," Bella said. She had been thinking about this for a while now. Megan hadn't said anything, but it was obvious how different they were.

"Well, at least you're not out there stealing men from me," Megan said and laughed.

"Like I could steal your men," Bella huffed. Megan was gorgeous with her blond pixie-cut hair and curvy body. And she was so much fun to be with.

"Well, I peg to differ, but why would you, you got Paul. But I must say I was quite surprised you married so soon, not to mention that you didn't tell me about it," Megan pouted at her.

Bella took a sip of her drink and nodded.

"Yeah, I did surprise myself too. For someone who thought I would ever marry, I married in record time," Bella said.

"But I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It happened so fast, and we didn't want to wait."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. And I really get why you did marry Paul. He is quite a catch in every possible way," Megan said.

Bella glanced at Megan. She was staring at her drink, circling the edge of the glass. Her phone buzzed. She read the message and smiled.

Bella felt something was a bit off, but she didn't want to pry. Megan would tell her if she felt like it.

"So, what happened to you and Jedd?" Bella asked. Jedd had stopped coming sometime after Christmas break.

"You want to hear the truth?"

"If you want to tell me, then, yes," Bella answered.

"He was in love with you," Megan said.

Bella felt like someone had slapped her on the face.

"What?"

"Well yeah. After he started to stay at our place, it became pretty clear quite soon that it was you he wanted to see, not me."

Bella didn't know what to say. She had noticed Jedd hanging around the kitchen often without Megan, and she had thought it to be a bit odd but hadn't thought anything more about it.

"Don't feel bad. You can't help it that you are like honey to bees for all males," Megan snorted.

Bella was speechless. Did Megan really think that?

Megan looked at her and smiled. "Hey, I'm serious, don't feel bad. His dick wasn't that impressive anyway. Are you ready? I'm hungry. We can defrost what Paul had left in the freezer and watch a movie? Luckily, we came close to home; it's raining," Megan said, looking outside.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Bella said. She drained her glass of chardonnay and rose to leave. She felt terrible about what Megan had said.

Megan grabbed her arm when they were out and opened her umbrella.

"Please, honey, forget what I said. I really didn't like Jedd anyway after the first few weeks. I just enjoyed having regular sex with the same guy for a while. He was boring. That's the truth. You are a very special person, and you shouldn't feel bad being what you are. You are just so delicious in every possible way. Men can't help it."

"Oh, Megan, I just don't know what to say," Bella sighed. She felt like shit. What a friend she'd been.

"You don't have to say anything. You haven't done anything wrong. All is good."

It took only two minutes for them to get to their apartment building.

"It's a shame you won't get to meet Ailani and Sarah when they come at the end of this month," Bella said when they got off the lift. Bella took her keys and opened the door.

"Yes, I hate it. They sound so much fun. But my mom…"

"SURPRISE!"

Bella's heart leaped into her throat, shrieking and dropping her keys to the floor.

"Happy Birthday Bella!"

Bella was astonished. Paul was there, grabbing her into his arms. He kissed her and whispered, "happy birthday, baby!"

"Oh, Paul!" She hugged him tightly. "You weren't supposed to be here today."

"What kind of surprise would it be if you knew? Hmm?" He kissed her again.

"I knew it, Megan. There was something you were hiding from me," Bella laughed.

"But I fooled you to believe there wasn't, didn't I" Megan shouted on her way to get a drink.

There were so many people. She saw Jessica and Mark, Angela and Ben, Emma, Jade and Susanna, Tyler and Eric with some girls.

Jessica and Angela came to her, and they both hugged her.

"Happy birthday Bella."

"Thank you," she said.

Mark and Ben followed their women.

"Where are Jonah and Nora?" Bella asked Ben.

"Angela's mom got them. Thank you for having this party. It was a great excuse to get one night for ourselves," Ben said.

"I think you have to thank Paul for that," Bella said, squeezing Paul's butt.

Paul kissed the top of her head, smiling.

Susanna, Emma, and Jade came to say happy birthday.

"Great to see you here," Bella said to them. "How long have you waited for us?" She asked.

"We came about 20 minutes ago," Emma said. "This is nice looking place."

"Yes, it is, and it seems that my two friends have something to do with it looking extra nice tonight," Bella said loud enough so Jessica and Angela heard her. They raised their glasses to her "Happy birthday!"

Bella went to say hi to Tyler and Eric.

"So, boys, introduce me to your girls. Hi, I'm Bella," Bella said.

"This is Tyla," Eric introduced the short blonde girl to her.

"I'm Marianne," the girl with long red hair beside Tyler said, offering her hand to Bella.

Bella felt Paul squeezing her closer to him.

"Hey, now that we got Bella and Megan here, let's eat," Paul said loudly. "Food is in the kitchen."

"What have you made?" Bella asked and walked to the kitchen, where delicious smells wafted her nose.

"It's tapas. Many different dishes, olives, Spanish meatballs, crab cakes, fingering potatoes, mushroom croquettes, chorizos, shrimps, pan-fried cauliflower, scallops..." Paul said.

"Oh my God. Have you done all this by yourself?"

"Yep, nothing is too good for my wife," Paul kissed her neck.

Bella took one piece of bread and scooped it into a delicious-looking paste.

"What is this?"

"It's a spread made of olives, capers, and olive oil," Paul said, nipping the shell of her ear.

"Jesus, it's good! I'm so hungry. I didn't realize how hungry."

"Wow, have you really made all these?" Mark asked.

"Yep, done these kinds of parties many times," Paul said.

"Impressive man," Mark said.

"Thanks. It's what I do."

Bella could see that he was a bit smug, but so he should be his food was exquisite.

"Was this all your idea?" Bella asked Paul as she snaked her arms around his neck.

He smiled and nodded, "Uh-huh," and kissed the corner of her mouth

"Even you know I don't like surprises?" She nibbled his ear lobe.

"Uh-huh," he kissed the other corner of her mouth.

"Well, I'm ok with any surprise that brings you to me," she kissed him.

"I wanted to make something for you to make you feel good. Having a fun night with friends is good for both of us. It's been shitty two months."

"You didn't invite your friends," Bella said.

"I see them all the time," Paul kissed behind her ear.

"If you say so. I need to go and change," Bella said.

Paul followed her, and as soon as they were inside her room, he pinned her against the door. His hands held her thighs as he pushed against her, hips thrusting as they kissed hungrily, trying to make up their days apart.

"Oh, Paul," she sighed.

"What about a quickie in the bathroom, hmm?" Paul asked huskily and sucked her pulsing point, knowing it made her wild.

"Ah ... Paul … no, we can't … I would be too embarrassed to go back there; everybody would see from my face what has happened," Bella said but felt her resolution weakening when Paul undulated his hard on against her.

"And why should we care? Husband comes to his wife after many days apart, pretty natural, I would say," he said, giving wet open-mouth kisses on her neck.

"You're taking your pants off anyway. We'll be fast," Paul said, carrying her to the bathroom. He wasn't taking "no" for an answer, and Bella didn't want to say "no" anymore.

He opened her jeans and peeled them off with her panties. And slid his two fingers inside her. Shit, that felt amazing. She pressed her hand over Paul's hand and pushed it against her wet folds to get his fingers deeper.

"My gorgeous wife, you are so wet for me," Paul groaned, opened his jeans, and slid them down.

"And I want everybody in that room to know that we belong together, now and forever. Some fucking will make that little clearer for everybody." Paul lifted her against the wall, sucking her neck hard.

Had something happened, Bella wondered, but Paul interrupted her thought slamming his cock inside her to the hilt. They both moaned loudly at the contact. Wondering for a moment how well soundproofed the bathroom was but decided she couldn't care less; This was what she had been missing the whole week.

Paul was frantic in his deep thrusts, hitting just the right spot and dragging out soulful moans from them both.

"Oh God, Paul, I've missed you."

Then he moved them so that her ass rested on the sink's edge. He lifted her legs over his forearms and slammed into her with more force.

"PAUL!" she screamed.

"I've missed you so much," he panted, pounding into her. "I've been dreaming of fucking you every night."

Their climax was building up fast. Bella felt her orgasm coming, and as she started to pulse around Paul, he slammed hard and fast a few more times, arching his back when he exploded inside her.

"Holy fuck," Paul cried, thrusting them down from their high.

He held her tight against his chest. "I love you, baby," he said.

"I love you too."

They held each other for a while.

"Thank you for organizing this. I'm so happy you did. It's nice to see everybody," Bella sighed into Paul's neck.

"I'll do anything for you, baby," he said.

"Did something happen before I came home? You felt a bit tense," Bella asked and brushed the hair off his eyes.

Paul sighed. "The usual."

"Who?"

"That Tyler's chick. Came to the kitchen while I was finishing the food and practically pushed her rack on my fucking face."

Bella giggled but saw how annoyed Paul was and sighed, "Poor Tyler".

"Tyler will get laid tonight. He'll be fine; that bitch ain't no good for anything else."

"Well, you're mine. If that bitch as much as glances at you tonight, she won't know what hit her when I'll kick her ass."

"Say it again," Paul said, his eyes darkening.

"You are MINE," Bella purred.

Paul crashed his mouth on Bella's, and she felt his dick getting hard again between her legs. Oh, he loves her being possessive. His dick was dangerously close to slipping into her wanting pussy. She had to force herself to wrench her lips off Paul's. Her whole body was trembling with lust.

"Paul, we need to stop," she gasped. "Our guests are probably waiting."

"Fuck them."

"Yeah, fuck them, but I want to eat. It looked so damn good there, and it will all be gone soon," Bella said.

Paul chuckled and kissed her shoulder, holding his head there for a while.

"Yeah, let's go eat. I'll have a surprise for you later."

"What surprise? Paul?"

"What surprise it would be if I told you," Paul smacked a big kiss on her forehead, helped her to her feet, and buttoned his jeans. He went to the shower stall and opened the water, adjusting it to the right temperature.

"Take a quick shower, and I'll go and see if everybody has found what they want to eat."

Bella watched her reflection in the mirror. Her face was flushed, her lips swollen, and her eyes were shining, and, in her neck, there was a big love bite. Paul was marking his territory. She totally looked like she had been fucked and fucked good.

"Take that, you bitch," Bella grinned.

She took a quick body shower and put on her favorite jeans and dark green tight t-shirt. She left her hair tied up, leaving Paul's mark on full display. Maybe a bit juvenile, but she had a mission: no one touched her man.

Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves when she went back to the party. Food was disappearing fast. Paul came to her and gave her a plate with a little bit of everything.

"Thanks, baby," she thanked him.

"Hey Paul, come here," Ben shouted from the other corner of the room. Paul kissed her and went to Ben and Mark.

Bella quickly located Tyler with that bitch of his. She was sucking Tyler's face off. It seemed that Paul was right; Tyler would get laid tonight.

"God, Bella, you are so lucky to have a man who makes food that tastes like this," Susanna came to her. "I've never eaten anything as good as this."

"Yeah, I know. Paul will be an awesome chef once he finishes his school, well, he is already, but then he can work as one," Bella said, tasting something with crunchy pastry and moaned.

"You mean he's not a professional chef?" Susanna asked, astonished.

"Not yet. He's been doing gigs like this for a couple of years but works in construction."

"Oh, that's where he gets his muscles," Susanna said, looking at Paul, who was explaining something to Ben.

"That and he trains with his martial arts teacher pretty much every day." Why tone it down, Bella chuckled to herself. Her man was every woman's dream, so why shouldn't she show him off a bit?

"Lucky bitch," Susanna sighed. "No wonder you snatched him off the market."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Bella said, catching Paul's eyes and winking at him.