"Rach...hey, Rachel...wake up."

I raised my head slowly to find Paul smiling down at me in the dark. I fell asleep on the couch during the movie and I'm lying on top of him. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he mumbled, holding me close.

I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. I felt his hands smoothing my hair and it felt so good. "Do you wanna spend the night?"

He glanced around to the other sleeping figures in the room and laughed. "In here?"

"We could go to my room?" I suggested, resting my chin on his chest.

"I'm tempted, but I think I'll just go home. You know I got the whole house to myself, right? We could...go there if you wanted."

I pushed off of him and nodded my head. "I know but...not tonight."

Paul stuck out his lower lip, his pout face is adorable. "Are you gonna sleep out here?"

"No, these three like to snore. I'll just go to my room."

When I climbed off the couch, Paul scooped me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tightly. "What are you doing?"

He carried me to my room and gently deposited me on my bed. "I'm practicing my good boyfriend behavior." He sat on the edge of my bed, his hands pressed to the bed on either side of me.

"So what was up with Jake tonight? It seems like he hates me just a little less than usual."

"Well we talked and he was basically jealous of all the time I've been spending with you. I haven't been home in a long time. He just misses me and being a fourteen year old boy, he's not great at expressing his feelings. Once I figured out what was wrong with him, I promised him we would spend more time together."

Paul's face fell. "Just make sure there's some Paul time scheduled in your day also. Otherwise, I'm gonna miss you too."

I cupped my hands around his jaw and playfully teased, "Paul time? Oh, how sweet."

Paul's expression became serious as he lowered his head to mine. Quickly, I turned my head and pulled him into a hug. "Goodnight," I whispered into his ear as he held me tightly.

When he pulled away, he pressed a kiss to my forehead and pushed the hair away from my face with both hands. "Call me tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," I reminded him when he stood up to leave.

"Then call me later," he laughed before leaving my room and quietly shut the door.

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

The next few weeks went by quickly, but I found myself rarely alone with Paul. I made a point to include Jacob in our plans as much as possible and that usually meant including Quil and Embry too. I liked that Paul and Jacob seemed to be tolerating each other because that meant I could spend time with both of them and I didn't have to choose.

"I'll be right back," I told Jacob when we arrived at Paul's house. I let myself inside and looked around a bit. "Paul?"

I made my way down the hall and I smiled when I heard Paul singing. His voice was low and growly and I laughed at his effort. I peeked into his bedroom, stepping inside to look for him. I heard him approaching, still singing loudly and I wondered if that meant he was happy. That was what I wanted for him.

I turned to see him enter his room. He was fresh from the shower, still wet, lower half covered in a towel, and drying his hair with a hand towel. He didn't see me, his head was down. "Paul?"

His head snapped up and a smile spread across his face. "Good morning."

"I thought you said you'd be ready," I scolded him playfully.

"It'll only take me two minutes to get my trunks on. Calm down, Rachel."

Paul turned away from me and yanked his towel off. I got a quick glimpse of his bare ass before I turned away. "Dammit, Paul," I muttered, feeling the blush rise in my face.

He laughed. He thought it was cute when I got embarrassed. I knew I didn't have to turn away from him. Hell, he had seen me in my bra and panties before, but seeing him naked was just too much. Here lately, just being in the same room with him was too much. All these walls I'd built up around myself were slowly coming down with his help. And I constantly warred with myself about why weren't together. It always felt so comfortable and easy with him. Well, when the sexual tension wasn't squeezing the life out of me that is.

"I'm ready."

I turned back to face him as he pulled a white tank top over his tanned chest. He playfully pushed me back on the bed and climbed on top of me. "We don't have to leave just yet, do we?"

"Actually..."

Before I could finish my thought, Paul raised my wrist to his mouth and pressed a kiss to my pulse point. I watched him drag his lips across the sensitive skin of my inner forearm. "We should really..." I gasped when he licked my fingertips and brushed them against his own lips.

Everyday with Paul was like this. And everyday was different too. Sometimes I started it, sometimes he did. But it always ended too soon. It had to. If one of us didn't give up first, then we might both spontaneously combust. It's like a game we played, we tried to see who got the most turned on and who stopped it.

When his mouth was on my skin like this, I chanted 'jailbait' over and over in my head. It wasn't working. His eyes were so intense. He loved to watch me and catch every reaction that his touch elicited. My whole body was humming. Why couldn't I resist him?

"You look hot today."

I laughed. I sounded stupid. "It's just a bikini." I had shorts on too, but with the way he was staring at my chest, I thought I should have kept my coverup on, like Jacob said.

Jacob. Shit!

I pushed Paul back, accidentally knocking him to the floor. "Damn, Rachel. You could've just said, 'cheesecake' instead of pushing me down," he grumbled as he stood.

"Sorry, I forgot Jacob's outside. We should go," I told him as I climbed off the bed and headed for the door.

"Hey."

When I glanced back at Paul, he gave me his best pout face. I sauntered back to him and smiled sweetly. "Please?"

"We're babysitting the rugrats today?" he asked when we heard Quil and Embry's voices outside.

"Don't be like that," I scolded. I slipped my arms around his waist and gave him my own pout face. He couldn't resist me either. I sighed when he hugged me back. We both jumped when we heard 'the kids' banging on Paul's window. "Be right there!"

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

"Quil! You completely suck at frisbee!" I laughed as he threw a wild, wobbly toss in my direction and it went way over my head.

I twisted my body, reaching for the plastic disc and missing it as I came colliding with a male body. I tumbled forward, getting tangled up in his arms. I landed on top of him, dazed as I heard him say, "Rachel?"

It took me a moment to focus on the face in front of me. I pushed my hair aside and smiled at his face. "Kyler, is that you?"

Before he could even respond, I felt Paul's warm arms around my waist, pulling me off of Kyler and close to his side. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern, brushing the sand off of me.

Kyler reached for me, tugging me out of Paul's grasp. He hugged me and laughed, "Funny running into you like this."

I pulled away quickly, feeling Paul's gaze on me. "It's been a while, huh?"

Paul wrapped a protective arm around me and scowled at Kyler. "Are you gonna introduce us to your friend, Rach?"

Now Quil, Embry and Jacob had come over to see what was going on. "You remember my brother Jacob? These are his friends, Quil and Embry. This is Kyler."

"And this one? Your boyfriend?" Kyler puzzled, sizing Paul up.

"We're friends," I said too quickly. What else could I say? It was the truth, but I felt him sigh, his disappointment evident.

"So does that mean you're single?" Kyler asked hopefully, causing Paul to tighten his grip on me.

"She doesn't date," Paul blurted.

"I think she can speak for herself," Kyler challenged, stepping closer to me. Great, a pissing match.

"He just means I'm busy...working this summer. I don't have time for a boyfriend," I paused to wrap my arm around Paul and Kyler scowled. "And we went out before, Kyler...it didn't work out, remember?"

Paul chuckled as Kyler pouted, "No second chance? I was an idiot back then."

Truth was, I had a crush on Kyler once. I went to a dance with some friends at Forks High and met him there. I was dazzled by his bright blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. The boys on the rez never looked like that and I was fascinated. We talked for a while and had one date, but I got the feeling I was a novelty for him. I'm sure my tan skin, dark eyes, and jet black hair had him fascinated too. But one kiss told me he wasn't the one.

"Take a walk with me, Rachel. Just give me another chance," he pleaded earnestly.

Paul never let go of me and when Kyler grabbed my hand, I felt Paul tense up. "I don't think so," I replied, pulling my hand from his.

It was obvious that no girl had ever told Kyler no before. "Well, when you decide to ditch 'junior' here and get you a real man, call me. You know my number," he smirked.

"She said no," Paul growled through clenched teeth.

"You got yourself a real pit bull here, dontcha?" Kyler sneered at Paul.

When Paul advanced on him, I had to get between them and push Paul back with both hands. "Let's go." Paul finally focused on my face as Kyler retreated with his friends. "Forget him."

I held Paul's face in my hands and sighed. "I guess you got that whole jealous boyfriend routine down, huh?"

Paul finally relaxed and when he wrapped me up in his arms and swung me around, I felt it. I was falling for him. What the hell was I gonna do now?

.........
A/N: are enjoying the daily updates??