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Chapter 9

Pumped

Bella

I looked out the window, but Emmett was already gone.

My knees were still a little wobbly and my pulse hadn't calmed down yet. The kiss was so passionate, without restraint. Why had he stopped?

I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

I closed my eyes and thought back to the kiss.

My cheeks grew warm, and it felt like my insides were contracting.

His cold chest felt so strong and perfectly proportioned under my hand. I wanted to be even closer to him. When he pressed me against him at the waist, my whole body warmed. Just a few days ago, I was with Edward and thought he was the man of my dreams. How could I feel so safe in Emmett's arms already? I noticed that the thought of Edward didn't hurt me so much anymore. I still felt a twinge in my heart, but it was pure hatred I felt toward him.

"Bella?"

Charlie snapped me out of my thoughts.

I had completely forgotten the time and did not think to cook dinner.

"Be there, Dad."

I jumped up and ran down to the kitchen.

"Sorry, forgot the time. Shall we order a pizza?", I asked.

My voice sounded a bit too high.

"Yeah right. Bells, why are you so pumped?"

He looked at me skeptically.

Was I pumped? What did he mean by that?

"I don't know what you mean."

I turned around and went to the phone to order pizza.

"Buona sera! (= Good evening!) What can I do for you?", a young voice with an Italian accent asked me.

I held the phone to my chest and asked Charlie which pizza he wanted.

"One prosciutto and one margherita please," I ordered.

Then I told him the address and said goodbye. I sat down on the armchair in the living room, Charlie sat on the sofa and watched ESPN.

His favorite football team had won its last game and was now back up in the standings.

"Bella, where is Edward anyway? I haven't seen him since Sunday," Charlie asked, his eyes still fixed on the TV.

The sudden memory choked my throat, and I could say no more.

Charlie looked up in surprise because I didn't answer.

"Bella, what is it? Are you guys having a fight?"

Now he looked worried.

I shook my head.

"I broke up with him."

My voice broke off, I could say no more.

"What? But Bella, why? I thought he was important to you?", Charlie asked, completely out of concept.

If one did not know what Edward had done, my sudden behavior seemed really confusing. But I couldn't explain to him why. My self-control was already too shaky. I didn't want to cry. Even though the thought of Edward in general up in the room didn't hurt me as much anymore, I still couldn't think about the reason for the breakup. It was too bad.

I shook my head.

"Dad, I can't talk about this right now."

It seemed like he was about to say something else, but then he turned back around and looked at the TV.

When the doorbell rang, I ran to the door and accepted the delicious smelling pizzas.

Charlie was already sitting in the kitchen waiting for me.

We ate in silence.

I noticed that he was watching me from time to time. I tried not to pay attention to it.

"What are you doing tonight?", Charlie asked halfway through his pizza. "I'm only asking because I'm going to Billy's to watch the game," he told me.

I had not yet thought about what to do today.

"I don't know, maybe I'll go out. With Angela or Jess. We'll see ...", I answered.

Actually, I didn't feel like going out with either of the two. I could ask Alice if she wanted to do something with me. Suddenly Emmett came to my mind. Should I ask him?

Charlie just nodded and continued eating the pizza.

Fortunately, Charlie stopped trying to make conversation and we ate our pizzas silently.

When we were done, I cleaned up the two boxes and folded them to fit in our trash.

While we were eating, I had decided to call Emmett. I just wanted to know what was behind this afternoon's kiss.

I was still cleaning the kitchen a bit when Charlie came out of the hallway to the kitchen.

"I'll be going now then, will be late for sure. Have a nice evening."

"You too, bye. Oh ... and say hi to Billy and Jake for me."

Once he was out of the house, I went to the phone to call Emmett.

When I went to enter the number, it occurred to me that I didn't have his number at all. So I decided to call Alice.

After one ring, she already picked up the cell phone.

"Hi, Bella! Yes, I'll give him to you in a minute. He's already sitting next to me. Have a great evening together."

Then she was gone and handed the phone to Emmett.

It was clear that she had already seen my plan.

"Hi, Bella."

"Hi, Emmett. I wanted to ask you if you would like to come to my place?", I asked a little unsure.

"Yeah sure, be right with you. Bye, Bella."

He sounded totally at ease.

"See you in a bit."

I hung up the phone and went upstairs to my room.

It was probably still enough to take a quick shower.

So I went into the bathroom. I threw my clothes directly into the laundry basket.

Why was I so excited? Was it anticipation? Dad was probably right when he said I was pumped.

The hot water calmed me down a bit again and I stood under it a little longer than necessary. When I came out, the mirrors were fogged up from the steam. I wrapped myself in a white towel and blow-dried my hair. Then I went over to my room to change.

"Hi, Bella," Emmett greeted me with a grin as I walked in.

He sat on my bed.

When I realized I was only wearing a towel, I turned bright red and looked down at the floor.

In the corner of my eye, I saw him smile even wider. I walked over to my closet and picked out a pair of beige pants and a chocolate brown sweater.

I turned to Emmett.

"Turn around and don't look," I ordered him.

He grinned broadly, but turned around.

I also turned and dropped the towel to put on a thong and a bra.