Bumps In The Road / Paul Lahote

6. Stern Discussions

Chapter 6

The kiss had been all I could think about overnight and sadly, not for any of the right reasons. I'd been pondering my thoughts all night and came to the conclusion that I didn't feel affection for Jacob beyond that of a platonic nature. While I enjoyed his company and found him to be a very easy person to get along with, the kiss we shared was a mistake or rather spur of the moment. One that shouldn't happen again otherwise I'd be toying with him, and I was supposed to be in La Push for a decent amount of time still, so the last thing I wanted to do was create any bad blood with anyone.

I'd wanted to bang my head against the bedroom door when I'd gotten back to Emily's that night, as I scolded myself for getting trapped in the whirlwind of emotions that came in the moment that prompted the kiss. I hadn't wanted to go down this road with anyone, while I was here, since it was only a temporary arrangement and I'd just come out of a serious relationship only a few weeks ago. I'd warned myself not to do this, yet here I was.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked, breaking the silence in his truck. I blinked, turning to look at Paul, as I left the trance I'd been pulled in.

"Yeah, all good." Paul frowned and turned his eyes to glance at me wearily. There was a glint in his eyes that showed there was something on the forefront of his mind.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He nodded, seeming to let the topic go, but I could feel that he was holding back on something.

"Emily mentioned that you were with Jacob Black last night" He said, his tone softer than it was the day before, less accusing.

"Emily doesn't lie" I muttered, keeping my eyes trained on the blur of trees that passed the passenger window.

"How was it?" He asked.

"Great." And with that, Paul got the message that I didn't want to converse at the moment. He'd pulled into a car spot at school and switched off the ignition. I'd immediately pushed the door open and jumped out. My legs begun to quickly walk towards the hallway entrance as I hoped to settle this brewing conflict in my mind. Much to my dismay, I heard footsteps catch up to me.

"And where might you be going so quickly?" Paul asked, his large strides slowing to match mine. My body froze, as an irritated sigh left my lips. I wanted to concentrate on Jacob and solving this issue before it could eat at me any further, but it seemed that Paul liked to push himself into the middle of my issues.

"I need to go see a friend" I responded curtly, hoping he'd pick on the message as he had in the car.

"Aren't we your only friends though?" Paul questioned. I didn't stop to consider if he was joking or being blunt, and instead I drew in a deep breathe of fresh La Push air, before turning to look at his annoyingly handsome face.

"And why might you think that, Paul?" I asked sarcastically, "It's technically your fault because everyone's scared of you guys...for whatever reason." Paul shrugged and sent me a cocky grin.