I smiled when I entered the gym and saw Paul leaning over the reception desk. I appreciated the curve of his oh-so-perfect ass as he bent over the edge with his ear glued to the phone. "Yeah, I know, Laura... I really hope so, too. Well, if you can't, then call me. You know I can come over and help you out. Yeah...of course I will. Yeah? Me too ...Okay...talk to you later."

I stood behind him, listening to his side of the conversation. I watched as he returned the phone to its cradle and took in a deep breath. I gently gripped his hip and he whirled around quickly. I gasped when I saw his fist balled up, ready to punch. I held my hands up defensively. "Paul..."

The color drained out of his face when he realized it was me. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry," he gushed as he reached for the back of my neck and yanked me close to him.

I stood there stiffly, still not sure why he had reacted to me that way. He wrapped one arm around my waist while the other hand stayed firmly on the back of my neck, holding me against his chest. "I'm not letting you go until you hug me back," he teased.

His tone was softer now and his arms were comforting me so I relaxed into his embrace. He stroked the back of my head and pressed kisses to my neck. "I'm sorry I'm so jumpy. Do you forgive me?"

I nodded with my face still pressed to his chest. "What's wrong?" I asked as I pulled back to seek his face.

Paul sighed deeply. "That was Jared's mom on the phone. He's been acting weird. She's says he's barely been home the last two weeks. And I know I haven't seen him for at least that long."

I smiled up at him. "We haven't hardly seen anyone for the last two weeks," I reminded him. It was true. Ever since the night I tied him up, we had spent nearly every moment together. If I was at the diner and he wasn't working, he would hang out until I got done. And I had been spending my free time here at the gym just so we could see each other more. I only had five days left before I had to go back to Seattle and we were making the most of it.

Paul wrapped an arm around my shoulder and guided me to the boxing gym. He began picking up towels and tossing them into a rolling cart as we talked. "I've been by his house and I've been calling, but he's never around."

"So is he missing?"

Paul shook his head. "His mom says no. He comes around when she's gone or just comes home to sleep. When she tries to talk to him, he just takes off."

"Drugs?"

"I hope not. She did say something weird though...she said she had seen him with Sam Uley."

I furrowed my brow. "That is weird."

I followed him around as he picked up more towels. "You know...Embry said that Sam had taken off for a few weeks and when he came back, he was acting totally different."

"Yeah, Leah told me all about it. I didn't even think Jared knew Sam. He's older than us and other than being Leah's ex, we don't socialize with him."

I ran my hand over Paul's shoulder and sighed. "I'm sorry about Jared. Maybe he's just going through something right now. I'm sure he'll come to you when he's ready to talk."

He pulled me into another hug, clinging to me desperately. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him.

He nodded, his head still buried in the crook of my neck. "Yeah why?"

"You feel really hot," I told him, holding my hand up to his forehead. "Maybe you're getting sick."

He chuckled. "Maybe I'm just constantly hot for you," he teased before pressing a kiss to my neck. When my breathing sped up he began to suck the skin there as I squirmed.

"Paul..." I warned.

He pulled away and gazed down at me. "Sorry...you're just so irresistible."

I laughed but I saw Paul's face tense up as someone brushed up against me and I felt fingers in my hair. "Damn, Lahote. You got good taste. Where'd you find this one?"

I didn't even have a chance to respond before Paul was shoving me to the side and pinning this guy to the wall behind us. Paul had his forearm wedged firmly under his chin and as he struggled, Paul applied more pressure.

"Paul, let him go," I coaxed softly.

Paul grunted in frustration, still pinning him. "Paul! Save that shit for the ring!" Manny's voice called out from the other side of the room. When Paul didn't move, he rushed over and pulled them apart. "Knock your shit off, Xander."

Paul kept reaching for him even when Manny shoved him back. "If you wanna fight, then get some gloves on and let's go."

The guy that Manny called Xander, held his throat and shook his head. "Forget that shit. Lahote is crazy!"

Paul scoffed. "You're a fucking pussy!"

Manny turned to me with a look of concern. "Are you okay, Rachel?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." I glanced at Paul and scowled. "That was a bit over the top, don't you think?"

Paul turned his attention from where Xander had exited the room, to me. He was still fuming. "Maybe I wouldn't have to fight every guy in here if you'd put some damn clothes on," he growled lowly.

"Paul!" Manny scolded.

I scoffed. "Wow, really?" I looked down at my outfit, my usual work out clothes, like every other girl in here. I had on spandex Capri pants and a tank top. The last few weeks hanging out here, I'd been working out and feeling pretty proud of myself, but now I just felt like shit.

I turned to Manny and shook my head. "I'm really sorry...for all the trouble. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Oh, hon. You didn't do anything wrong. You definitely brighten up the place, but some of these boys have zero manners." Manny turned to give Paul a pointed look. Paul was still glaring at me.

"Well okay then. Manny, again I'm sorry. I need to get going."

Manny gave me a quick hug and whispered into my ear, "He's an ass. Ignore him."

I laughed and gave Paul one last glance before stalking off. I made it all the way to the front door before Paul caught up to me. He grabbed my arm and held it tightly, causing me to jerk away from him. "Leave me alone," I ordered.

He wouldn't let go of my arm, so I continued to struggle. "I'm sorry," he offered pathetically.

"Not good enough," I replied hatefully. "And you're hurting my arm."

He let go immediately, but blocked my way. "Don't go, please. I'm really sorry, Rachel."

I pushed past him, shaking my head. "Go back to work, Paul."

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

A few hours later, I was up to my eyeballs in laundry. Spending all this time with Paul had caused me to fall behind on my chores and laundry was topping the list. I had so much to catch up on, I just said screw it and came to the laundromat. The bonus was, I knew no one would look for me here.

As I folded my way through the mountain of clothes, my thoughts drifted back to Paul. I loved him, there was no denying that. And I've known since day one that his temper was nothing to be messed with. He's been angry with me before. He has yelled at me and hung up on me, but he's never laid his hands on me like he did at the gym today.

I loved his passion and the way he fiercely protected me. I wasn't all that shocked when he attacked the guy from the gym when he barely touched me, but he wouldn't back off. I'd never seen him that angry. Even when he found out about what Embry did, he wasn't that mad.

I wondered if his bad mood was because he was so worried about Jared. I was tempted to cut him some slack for that, but I was also determined not to let him off the hook.

I sighed when I realized I was finally done with all the laundry. As I started to carry out the first basket, I nearly dropped it when I ran into Embry.

What the hell.

I glared at him harshly and tried to maneuver around him. "Can you move?" I asked impatiently as he continued to stare.

He shifted from one foot to the other and glanced around. "It's really hot in here."

I rolled my eyes as he grabbed the basket from my hands and carried it to the truck. I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he was already headed back inside. He approached me again and I just scowled. He yanked his t-shirt over his head and mopped his face with his shirt.

"Hey, you gotta wear a shirt in here..." the girl behind the counter called. Embry tilted his head and smiled at her and she shrugged, giggling furiously.

"Oh what the hell," I muttered under my breath.

He grabbed two baskets from me this time, leaving me with just the one to carry. Once he had those loaded in the back of Dad's truck, he took the last one from me and our fingers touched. I flinched, thinking about the last time he touched me. I noticed that his skin was hot like Paul's. It was hot outside but these two had skin that felt like a furnace.

He mopped his face one more time and gave me a small smile. "Are you headed home?"

"Yep," I replied quickly, popping the 'p' for effect.

Before he could say another word, I walked around the truck and climbed into the cab. He pulled the passenger door open and leaned in. "Can I get a ride?"

"No!"

"Come on, Rachel. Please? I need to talk to you," he pleaded.

I shook my head. "You can walk."

"Please?" he begged. "Just let me say what I wanna say to you and if you don't like it, you can drop me off in the woods and I'll find my own way home."

I sucked in a deep breath and groaned. "Fine..."

He jumped in excitedly and gave me a huge smile. "Thanks."

"Don't touch me," I ordered. "I mean it, Embry. Not one finger or I swear, I'll break it off."

He nodded quickly and held up his hands. "Hands off. I got it."

I rolled my eyes and backed out of the parking lot. "You got five minutes, so start talking."

Embry nodded again and rubbed his hands together. "I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I know that doesn't mean shit now, but I am."

I glanced over at him and scowled. "Cool story, bro."

He sighed loudly. "I wasn't done. I know I fucked up. I was so embarrassed that you rejected me that I just started lashing out at you."

I nodded and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He continued. "I didn't mean anything I said to you, I swear. I know you're with Paul and I know you love him. It was wrong of me to try to take advantage of you when you were so upset. I feel awful."

"And it's taken you two weeks to apologize to me?" I asked skeptically.

He turned to face me fully. "You haven't been around. And I knew you'd never listen to me if Paul was with you. I've been beating myself up over how I talked to you. I don't even know where that came from. I never get that mad..."

We pulled up to the house and I left him sitting there. I heard everything he said, but I needed to process it all. He followed me to the back of the truck and started pulling the baskets to the tailgate.

"What the fuck is this?"

I winced when I heard Paul's voice thundering from the doorway. He stormed toward Embry and jumped in front of him. "Don't do this, Paul."

Paul scoffed at Embry's lack of shirt, glared at me and sneered, "We have one fight and you go running back to him?"

Embry stepped around me and faced Paul. "That's not what happened. I asked her for a ride. I wanted to apologize. And I wanna apologize to you too."

Paul scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "This oughta be good."

"I'm sorry for trying to get between you two. It was wrong and stupid and disrespectful to your relationship. I shouldn't have tried to kiss Rachel. She rejected me on New Year's Day, so I don't know why I thought..."

"What?" Paul seethed.

I cringed. Dammit, Embry. "Paul, calm down."

Paul sighed shook his head and threw his hands up. "What else haven't you told me, Rachel?"

"Nothing happened," I insisted. "It wasn't even worth talking about."

I reached for him and he shrugged away. "I can't do this."

My heart sank as he stalked off toward his house. Dammit!

"I'm so sorry, Rachel," Embry sighed. "You really never told him?"

"No, dumbass. And you shouldn't have either."

He sighed. "I'm sorry...again. I swear I didn't know."

I shrugged. "It's okay...I guess."

He nibbled his lower lip nervously. "And my apology? Do you accept it?"

I scowled at him. "No, Embry. We were friends. You made me feel like shit. Friends don't do that. I get you're sorry and I heard what you said...but I'm just not ready to forgive you."

He nodded slowly and shuffled his feet. "I get it." He glanced to the ground and then back to me. "I hope someday we can be friends again. I really miss it."

Embry gave me a sad smile and walked away before I could respond.

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

It only took me two minutes to decide to go after Paul. I was still mad at him, but not mad enough to not care that he was hurt and confused. And in some way, I had caused that.

I ran all the way to his house and luckily I had asked Jacob to bring that laundry in because it was now raining. I pushed myself to get there, even when the wind whipped my hair into my face and the rain pelted my skin painfully.

I approached his house and felt grateful when I saw his car in the driveway. I decided to forgo knocking because I wasn't entirely sure he would let me in. My stomach tensed as I squeezed the knob and twisted it.

"Paul..." I called softly. Suddenly I was worried that maybe his father was home. Yikes, I hope not.

I sighed when I saw him on the couch, his head lying back, his arms stretched out, and the lower half of him wrapped in a towel. I moved to stand in front of him, still dripping wet and shivering as he had every window open and a fan blowing on him.

I took a few breaths and began to speak. "I'm sorry that I never told you about what happened on New Year's with Embry. He hugged me, that was it. I mean, I think he wanted to kiss me but you walked in and he took off. It was nothing. And I let him say what he wanted today, but I also told him that I don't forgive him."

Paul raised his head slowly and let his eyes run all over me. "I don't give a fuck about Embry."

I blinked quickly and shrugged. "Okay?"

He stared at me for another moment and then reached for my hand. I raised it shakily and he held it gently. I gasped when he began kissing my fingertips one by one. I reached for his face with my other hand but he held it still, kissing my fingertips just as softly as before.

He gazed up at me and smiled as he pulled me down onto his lap. I straddled him and let my backside rest against his muscular thighs. He ran his hands up my arms and furrowed his brow when he felt how cold they were.

I let him pull my t-shirt over my head and he tossed it aside. His eyes drifted to the red mark on my upper arm and he winced. "I'm sorry," he whispered as his lips kissed the mark gently.

I lowered my nose to the top of his head and inhaled deeply. He smelled so good, he felt so warm, and his lips were like fire on my skin. I cradled his face in my hands and searched his eyes for answers.

"Are we okay? Am I still your girl?"

He smiled up at me lovingly and my heart felt as though it could burst. "As long as you can forgive me for being such an ass. I don't know what's wrong with me, Rach..."

I pulled him to my chest and sighed contentedly. "I'm right here, Paul. And we're gonna figure this out...together."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. I held him tightly and smiled when I felt his fingers drift to the clasp on the back of my bra. When he expertly unhooked it and slid it down my shoulders, I gave him a scolding look.

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence. "It's wet."

He bit down on his lower lip when he gazed at my hardened nipples. He lowered his head and let his tongue give each one a quick flick. He gazed back up at me as he blew softly on the dampened skin and I shuddered in response. "Paul..."

Paul growled as he squeezed my ass and easily lifted me up from his lap. He stood and I wrapped my legs around him, locking my ankles behind his back. I felt his lips on my neck as he carried me down the hall to his room.

He climbed onto his bed with me still clinging to him. As he hovered above me I grinned and he whispered, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Rachel. You're my girl and you always will be."

"I am your girl," I echoed, my voice soft and low. "And you don't have to wonder what you'll do without me...because I'm not going anywhere."

......

A/N: so...either everybody hated the last chapter and was disappointed they didn't do it orrrr...it was so good you were speechless? Please comment and let me know...