Chapter Five

IMPORTANT! This story is now being written by myself and a friend of mine, DeansLover1918. She is an awesome writer, and with me having so many stories, work, college, and real life, I'm just running out of time. With her helping me, hopefully chapters will be able to get out faster. She will be doing Paul's POV and I'll be doing Bella's. From this chapter on, this will take effect. I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

Bella

As the weeks passed, Paul and I became closer. He was my best guy friend, and riding partner. Hell, I almost saw more of Paul then I did Alice.

Alice and Jake had grown into the couple you didn't know if you wanted to envy or slap. They had a strong relationship, and believe it or not, Jake was bringin' out the country in Alice.

They had been riding with us numerous times, and Alice even came to a roping or two and enjoyed it.

Paul, well, Paul was another story. With us becoming closer, he was bringing feelings out that I never knew existed. Sure I had felt some of this with Emmett, but the difference is, Paul returned my feelings.

We had decided to be friends and see where that leads us. So far it lead us to the homecoming dance.

"Bella!" I groaned hearing Alice yell my name. Was the torture ever going to end?

"What Alice?" I asked.

"What shoes are you wearing under your dress? I think the clear high heels I brought over would look really good!"

I sighed. "Alice we've gone over this. I'm wearing my cowboy boots with my dress. High heels and Bella just don't belong in the same sentence."

"Can't you just act like a girl for one damn night?" She huffed.

I giggled. Everyone knew that if I had a choice in the matter, I would be wearing my jeans to this damn dance.

"You got me to wear a dress, so hush. Unless, you want me to wear my jeans under it?" I asked just to get a rise out of her. I wouldn't wear jeans under a dress, because lets face it, it would be extremely uncomfortable.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, wouldn't I?" I giggled and took off running down the stairs and out the door. I didn't stop running until I smacked into a hot and sweaty brick wall.

"Whoa, easy killer." I heard a deep chuckle and looked up. Paul was the hot, sweaty wall I had ran right into.

"Well isn't that cute. The hick and the tom-boy." Alice taunted.

I heard her giggle and saw that Jake had her in his arms and was swinging her around.

"Well isn't that nice, the hick and the city chick." I laughed and mimicked.

"Eh, at least we got hot hicks." Alice replied.

Paul tightened his arms around me, and while it felt nice, I had a feeling something was goin' on.

I quickly looked around and saw Cam, Rosalie, and Emmett walking towards us. I groaned not wanting to deal with Rosalie.

It all happened so fast, I almost missed it. Cam let a look of lust rush across his face, Rosalie looked like she wanted to kill me even more, Emmett groaned, and Paul stepped in front of me.

"What the hell!" I yelled. I didn't know what had caused the reactions, I did know that I didn't like it. Okay, that might be a small lie. I loved how protective Paul was being over me, even if I didn't

know why.

Alice giggled, then coughed trying to cover it up. I sent a glare her way, and saw her look down. I quickly looked down and felt my cheeks catch on fire.

There I stood in tight ass jeans, boots and a sports bra. That's it, I didn't leave much to the imagination.

I wrapped my arms around Paul's chest, and got on my tippy-toes. "Mind, uh, leading me inside?"

Paul made a grunt and walked towards the house, making sure he kept me hid from Cam. Can't say that I blame him, that guy just gave me the heebie-jeebies.

I stumbled a couple of times along the way to the house, but Paul's strong arms always caught me.

Alice had the door open and was trying to hold back her giggles. She shut the door once we made it in, and then ran back to my room.

"Baby girl, mind telling me about running out of the house half naked?" Paul whispered in my ear. I felt the warmth from his breath, and wanted to groan. I felt my panties dampen and was wishing he would just freaking kiss me already!

"Well, see um..." I stumbled over my words. I sighed before I gathered my thoughts. "I told Alice that I was going to wear jeans to the dance, and she chased me?" It came out as a question, even though it was a statement.

"Hmm, well I do love image of you in jeans, I'd really love to see the image of you in a dress."

"Okay." I mumbled. Paul chuckled and walked back out the door.

I stood there staring at Paul, looking like an idiot until Alice, not so graciously mind you, reminded me I was in my underwear. I ran upstairs really quickly to put a shirt on and came downstairs to the

guys, and Rosalie, in the kitchen.

"Well if it isn't Miss I-wish-I-had-the-body-of-an-underwear-model." Rosalie shot at me as I grabbed a soda out of the fridge. I turned around pissed off and Emmett turned around to hang with the guys!

How dare he?

"Well if it isn't Miss I-open-my-legs-for-anyone." I shot back as I opened my soda and went out to the barn before she could retort. Who did that bitch think she was? I quickly wiped a lone tear away as I walked up to a stool and sat down. I may not be the most gifted body wise but my body wasn't ugly. I heard a sound and turned to see Emmett coming into the barn. "Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," He said and took a deep breath before continuing, so I braced myself. "What you said to Rose was uncalled for. You should apologize."

I felt my rage kick in.

"Are you kidding me!" I yelled standing up. "She started it so if she can't take it the bitch shouldn't dish it out! I'm so tired of you always taking her side. That's all you ever do. You've obviously forgotten our friendship."

"You were the one who ran out in your underwear! That was inappropriate." He said still defending Rosalie and I had enough of it.

"Alice was chasing me because I told her something jokingly she didn't like! I had no clue you guys were coming back from the fields and guess what? I fucking live here! She doesn't! If she doesn't like it she doesn't have to come back. In fact, I would prefer it. Now I have no clue as to why I ever liked you at all!" I stormed away tears coming down in rivers before hitting a brick wall again.

"Bella?" I heard his voice call out to me but I refused to look up. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Everything is wrong! And it will continue to be as long as that ass in the barn keeps choosing his stupid bimbo over me, his supposed friend. I'm just done." I shoved him aside and ran up to my room slamming the door.

"Bella." I looked up to see Alice sitting on my bed. She slowly got up and came over to hug me. I hung on to her like there was no tomorrow, and only pulled away when I heard a little giggle. "Hun, I do need to breath, believe it or not."

"Sorry." I laughed.

"There! That's better, now go take a shower so we can make you hot!" And just like that, everything was fine, if only for the moment.

Alice pulled my hair up into a bun and did natural makeup. I was surprised she actually listened to me for once about how to dress me. Once she was done, I carefully laid my dress down on the floor and slid it up my body. Alice and I picked out a natural creme color for me to wear.

Alice, being the colorful person that she is, wore a purple halter top dress and left her hair down, with natural makeup.

Once Alice deemed us 'perfect', we made our way downstairs. I heard the guys laughing in the kitchen and took a deep breath before walking forward. I closed my eyes when we entered, and waited to heard something. Anything.

I heard Jake talking to Alice. And in that moment, I was actually jealous. She had a boyfriend who was proud of her, would stand with her, enjoy her.

Me? Well I had my horses. And, well yeah that's about it. I didn't want to stand there, looking like a dork, so I turned around and started walking out to my truck. I tripped going down the steps, and was really glad I had won the battle to wear my boots instead of heels. Bella two, Alice zero.

I went to grab my door handle when I felt two warm hands on my shoulders. I didn't need to turn around to know who they belonged to. A little sigh escaped my lips, and I wanted to do a face palm knowing that Paul probably heard it.

"Bella, you're beautiful. I imagined you in a dress, but that image did you no justice at all. I will have to fight off all the guys tonight."

I started to laugh. "Okay, whatever you say Paul." Before I knew it, I was spun around and Paul stared into my eyes. I wasn't sure if I wanted to look away, but I got lost. I saw the gentleness of his eyes, the warmth and kind soul that lay hidden within him.

I'm not sure what caused me to do it, but I leaned up, placing my lips on his. I felt a spark and gasped before pulling away, only to realize what I just did.

"Oh fuck! I'm so sorry Paul." I felt the warmth in my cheeks, and looked down at the ground.

"Hey, look at me." Paul said gently. When I showed no sign of looking up, he gently lifted my chin. I was instantly lost in his eyes again."There's nothing to be sorry about, and if there is, then I'm sorry too."

I looked at him questionably, what did he have to be sorry about? I got my answer when his lips touched mine. When he showed no sign of pulling away, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders; for the second time today, hanging on like there was no tomorrow.

Paul ran his tongue along my bottom lip, asking for permission. I didn't wait a moment longer in granting said permission. I was lost in Paul, nothing else was going on around us.

"Bella, Paul." Yeah, that sure pulled me back to the earth. I groaned pulling away from Paul, and looking into very angry eyes.

Wild Hearts Chapter 5 Banner Teaser!!

Whatcha thinkin?

Chapter Four

Bella

"What are you doing here?"

"Well I saw a lady in distress, thought I'd offer my hand." Paul replied if a soft, southern drawl.

"And what's in it for you?" I asked.

"A chance to get to know ya better," he replied with a small smirk playing at his lips. I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me.

"Alright, but what do ya offer?" He full out smiled, and everything was forgotten; no more tears.

"Eh, well... I can be a smartass, I'm a hard worker, I know what I want out of life, and I'm not afraid to try and achieve it; even if it does bust my ass." I liked the straight up answer.

I pulled myself onto Zoey's back, and clicked her forward, motioning my head for Paul to follow me.

"So what got ya on the tour?"

"Well, my dad used to ride bronc, so I grew up around rough stock. I did junior rodeo and high school rodeo bronc, and the more I was around it, the more I just wasn't into the buckin' horses. It was a wild, drunken night, that a couple friends talked me into getting on a
bull. Best experience of my life, well... okay, maybe not that ride." I watched as he flinched a bit.

I couldn't help but laugh at his flinch. "What happened that night?"

"Well, I made the eight seconds, but the dismount needed a lot of improvement. I didn't feel much that night thanks to the alcohol, but the next day I felt like dyin'."

"I can see that, same thing with training horses. You come off of em' but you usually don't feel it until the next day." I agreed.

"Uh-huh. Do you fall off training horses, drunk, a lot?" Paul chuckled.

"Can't say that there has ever been a first in that department. I can honestly say, I haven't come off many horses before. Once I'm in the saddle, my ass is usually super glued to the seat."

"Well with the way Caleb talked about ya this past tour, I'm inclined to believe ya."

"Oh, did my brother talk about me a lot?" I felt my cheeks warm a little bit from my blush.

"Depends on your definition of a lot; if it's about three times a day... then yes."

"Oh, what does he say?"

I swear that I saw him blush before he turned his head away from me. "That you're an amazing sister. Smart, great personality, talented, and mainly a catch."

It was my turn to blush. I knew Caleb probably said all of that and more, considering we are close and all. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why in the hell I was hoping that Paul really thought that about me.

I felt nervous. I mean, I had never really caught the eye of a guy before, at least that I knew of. And I only had eyes for Emmett, right? But he's with the bitch, my mind yelled at me.

I gave a gentle shake of my head and pushed Zoey into a lope, yelling behind me, "Last one back untacks!"

I heard Paul chuckle and it didn't take him long to catch up to me, which only caused me to loosen my reins. Once there was enough rein so that I wasn't holding Zoey back, she shot forward.

I laughed as the wind blew my hair behind me, and let the pure adrenaline pour through my body. I looked back to see Paul behind me, slowly falling behind. I felt Zoey's muscles tense up; before I felt her lift her front feet off the ground.

I wasn't ready for the loss of balance, and jolted back, falling forward as she landed. I fell with a low thud, and the whoosh of air being forced out of my lungs. I rolled onto my back, staring at the sky above me. Did I really just fall off of a horse?

"Bella!" I heard a male's voice yell. Who the fuck is that? I looked to the side and saw Paul climbing off his horse and running over to me, and it looked to be dragging his horse. "Are you alright?"

I started sitting up, groaning while doing so. That's gonna hurt tomorrow. I slowly moved my body parts around, wincing now and then from the sharp sting, or the muscle pull. "Yeah, nothings broke." I tried offering a small smile.

Once he figured I was alright, I saw him get a smirk on his face. "I thought you rarely fell off horses. What was it you said," he placed his finger on his chin, "oh yes, and I quote 'Once I'm in the saddle, my ass is usually super glued to the seat.'"

I let a small growl escape my lips. "Shut up and help me up." He did as I told him, grabbing my outreached arms and gently pulled me up. He must not have thought about his strength and the point of my weight, because I was soon crashing into a very well formed chest.

I inhaled, smelling a woodsy, outdoor smell. I held in the moan that was threatening to escape my throat. Focus Bella! Paul cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to the present.

"Uh, right, yeah, we should be heading back." I nodded my head in agreement, and slowly removed myself from the fine man in front of me. I looked around lost before letting a curse flow out of my mouth.

"That damn horse!" Yep, you guessed it, Zoey was nowhere in sight!

"Well, it looks like your riding back with me." I turned to look at Paul, and saw a smirk on his face. A sexy smirk I just wanted to smack off his face.

"Let's go then," I grumbled. I watched as Paul easily swung up on his horse, before removing his foot from the stirrup for me. I rolled my eyes, before walking over to him and climbing onto the back of the horse. Whoever said that riding double is comfortable should be slapped. I got myself as comfortable as I could behind the saddle.

I went to grab the back of the saddle and groaned when I pinched my fingers between myself and the saddle. I guess that means there's only one place to hang onto.

I heard Paul's intake of breath as I wrapped my arms around his waist. I already fell off once today, I didn't plan on doing it again!

Paul's muscles clenched under my hands and it was my turn to smirk. We started slowly moving before moving into an easy lope. Riding with Paul wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Once we got to the barn, there was Zoey, standing at her stall door. I grumbled as I jumped off the horse and walked over to her.

"That wasn't very nice lady." I told her, while scratching her head.

"You tell her it wasn't nice, yet you're awarding her by rubbing her head?" Paul asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, for one, it wasn't her fault I fell off. She didn't throw a temper and start bucking. For two, after a horse does something wrong, you have three seconds to correct it. After that, they won't know what they are being punished for."

I quickly unsaddled her, and put Zoey in her stall before feeding her. I smiled as I listened to the horses munching on hay. I was in heaven, right here with my horses.

Of course all good things must come to an end.

"Oh, Bella there you are!" I knew his voice from anywhere. It was a voice I had dreamed about many times. "You ran out of dinner so fast, I wasn't sure if you were alright." I turned to see Emmett with a smile on his face. Of course everything would be grand and dandy in
Emmett World.

"I'm fine." I said shortly. I saw blonde movement behind his shoulder and groaned.

"Why do you care Emmett?" Her voice floated towards us. I winced and turned to see Paul wince as well. Ha! At least I'm not the only one!

I started walking up to the house, only to be stopped by the bitch herself.

"Move." I spoke.

"You should really learn some manners." Then she leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Bouncing from Emmett to Paul, doesn't that just make you the little slut of the Midwest."
When she straightened up, I looked in her eyes, seeing a smirk of triumph there.

"You want manners?" I asked sweetly. She nodded her head, as though she just taught a child something new. I pulled my arm back, and let it go. It smacked right into her nose. "How's that for manners, bitch?" I stepped over a now crying Rosalie and into the house.

Maybe this year, I didn't want Emmett to see me as more then Caleb's sister, especially if the only thing Emmett can see is Rosalie.

Chapter Three

Bella

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Emmett rose from the table.

I looked around to see a smug Rosalie, a smiling group of guys and Alice looking worried. My parents looked shocked. I held my breath; Emmett was going to ask Rosalie to marry him.

I felt my heart tug and start to break from just thinking of it. I looked around one last time, hoping to see something different, it was all the same, except Paul was looking at me now instead of Emmett.

He winked at me, but I was too sad to even blush. I felt the water in my eyes, but refused to let the water fall.

"I would like to propose a toast. As you know we have all done well this session, but what you may not know that we have all made it within the top ten this session. So here's to us busting our asses and riding them bulls." The guys whooped, mom and dad raised their glasses, Rosalie looked pissed, and Alice looked shocked.

It was all too much. I was so sure that he was going to ask the bitch to marry him. I excused myself from the table, Alice quickly fallowing me, and made my way out to the barn. I grabbed my saddle and bridle, tacking up Zoey.

I didn't even wait for Alice as I pulled myself onto Zoey's back and taking off.

I let the wind run through my hair, letting it tie it in knots that I would fight with later.

I pushed Zoey over the small fence and felt tears running down my face. For now, I would just blame it on the wind hitting my already sore eyes.

I could tell by the thumping of the hooves behind me that I wasn't alone. Alice is getting faster at tacking horses up. I was on the fastest horse on the property besides Sunny, and no one rode him, so I wasn't worried about them catching up to me.

I heard the hooves grow quiet, but I kept going. I didn't want to be around anyone right now.

Zoey slowed down as we came up to the tree I like to sit at. I swung off of her and just dropped the reins, letting her enjoy the grass then sat down by the tree.

I finally let the tears fall and land on the hard ground beside me. It all came down too; Emmett would always see me as a sister. He was with Rosalie and as much as I hated it, I'm sure they were going to get married some day.

I needed to start letting my love for Emmett fade away. It was going to hurt like a bitch, but it would hurt more to constantly see him with Rosalie.

Zoey nickered lifting her head, letting me know that Alice had finally caught up. I quickly wiped my face, getting rid of the fallen tears and looked back up, but it wasn't Alice.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Caleb POV

I have known for some time that my sister liked Emmett, and possibly loved him. It sucked knowing that he would never return the feelings and in the end would hurt my sister.

When Emmett asked for everyone's attention, I wanted to kick him. I knew he was planning on asking Rosalie to marry him, but wasn't expecting him to do it right now.

I looked at my sister to see her face white as a ghost; she also had an idea of what the dumb-ass was doing. I wanted to kill Emmett.

I couldn't have been more glad when he brought up the sessions standings, and hadn't actually asked Rosalie to marry him.

As I said, I knew Em wanted to marry her, but I didn't have a good vibe about her. She was a constant bitch to everyone. When Bella had called her a bitch outside, we all tried to hide our laughs but failed.

I was glad my sister was starting to stand up for herself.

I was also glad that she showed some interest in Paul. Paul was a good guy. New to the current but definitely not new to riding bulls. Jake was the same, but since they are cousins, they were raised together. I trusted Jake and Paul but Cam was another story.

There was just something about Cam that rubbed me the wrong way. He was nice, and a good rider, but I sure as hell didn't trust him around my sister.

So when Bella and Paul both showed some interest in each other, I was happy. If they ended up dating, I knew he would treat her well.

But that thought went out the window when Bella quickly and quietly excused herself and went out the door.

Alice fallowed after her and once I saw the look on Jakes and Paul's face, I knew they wanted to follow.

"Hey Ma, I think we're gonna head out and I'll show the guys around?"

"Oh! That's a good idea. Why don't you saddle the horses and join Bella and Alice on their ride?"

"Can do." I said walking out the door with Paul and Jake right behind me.

As we were walking out of the house, I heard gravel flying and looked towards the barn. Zoey came flying out of the barn, with Bella urging her forward.

"Where she off to?" Paul asked. I shrugged my shoulders and walked towards the barn. I heard a frustrated yell and walked forward faster. There stood Alice trying to saddle Chevy up.

"Why can you never stand still when I need ya to, ya big pain."

"Alice, I don't think he'll answer ya back." I laughed. She turned a glare on me. I laughed harder as the saddle fell to the ground, earning a kick from Alice.

"Stupid thing." She mumbled.

"Where were you goin in such a hurry?" Paul mumbled.

"Bella, she's on Zoey and that horse is fast. She's pissed." Alice grunted trying to pick the saddle up from the ground.

I sighed. "Emmett."

"What was your first clue?" Alice asked sarcastically, "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me?" she asked Jake.

"I haven't decided yet. There's just something hot about you picking up a saddle." Jake chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

"Where is she goin, do ya know?" I asked.

"Probably that old tree you two used to go to." Alice mumbled, throwing the bridle at Jake. "Make yourself useful."

I laughed walking to Chevy and swinging myself up bareback before nudging him out of the stall.

"He don't have a bridle!" Alice screeched. I ignored her, knowing my sister trained this horse to do anything. I pushed him forward and saw her in the distance. She just nudged Zoey forward, so I pulled Chevy back and went towards the barn.

"No luck?" Paul asked. I shook my head no, and swung off before saddling Chevy.

"Where's Jake and Alice?" Those two were nowhere in sight.

"I think he took her on home." I nodded.

"So Paul, I think we need to talk."

Paul POV

All session I had heard of Isabella, Caleb's little sister. I come to know a lot of her. Like, she hated being called Isabella, but preferred Bella. She loved her horses, and would do anything for them.

She also trained her own horses, and would once in a while barrel race on her horse Sunny.

I knew she loved to sing, and was very good at it, but don't want to go professional like both of her parents.

I also had an idea that she liked Emmett, but he couldn't see her more than Caleb's sister.

Then when Caleb asked if he wanted to work on their ranch, my cousin Jake and I jumped on the chance. I wanted to meet this young woman that seemed to have the three hardasses' hearts.

When I saw her, she was even more beautiful then Caleb made her out to be. I wanted to get to know her even more and have her give me the chance to take her out.

But I saw the heartache flash on her face at the dinner table, and just wanted to comfort her.

Seeing her rush out of the barn on her horse, I saw just how well of a rider she was. The way she moved with her horse.

"So Paul, I think we need to talk."

"Alright, what about?" I asked.

"Let's go for a ride." He finished saddling the horse I knew the name to be Chevy and watched as he grabbed another one, quickly saddling it as well.

We mounted the horses and started walking out in the pastures. Going at an easy walk, I looked at Caleb. I could tell he was thinking of how to word something but knew he would come out with it when he figured it out.

"Paul, alright look, I know you like my sister. I can tell by the way you look at her. I'm giving you permission to see how she feels about you, but I will tell you this. You hurt her and I will castrate you myself." Then he pointed forward, towards a tree where I saw Bella's horse standing there. I walked forward and smiled when her horse nickered in greeting.

I watched as Bella wiped her face standing up, and then looked at me. I saw shock, but a small smile playing on her lips.

"What are you doing here?"

Chapter Two

Bella

Senior year. Those two words could make you jump for joy, and groan with displeasure. The good thing is, this was my last year of school, and then who knows.

I hadn't applied to any colleges, it wasn't because I wasn't smart enough. I knew, with Caleb out bull riding, Momma was left to handle the ranch. I had decided to stay home with her until Daddy decided it was time to come home for good.

I rolled out of bed, and made my way towards my bathroom, stripping down and jumping in the shower. As the hot water relaxed my tight muscles, I thought back over the summer.

I didn't want to say bye to my brother, but it had to be done. I didn't want him to leave, because with bull riding, you never know if that will be the last ride or if there will be one after that.


I watched as Caleb, Jasper and Emmett loaded up Caleb's truck with their bags of clothes and bull riding stuff.


Daddy had made it home late last night to see the guys off. We all gathered around, along with Emma, and Will –Jasper and Emmett's parents- and talked a little bit before the guys said it was time to hit the road. We gathered around, grabbing hands, we're not a religious family, but this had became something we always did before the guys either rode or left for the tour.

As I live the Cowboy Way,

Protection is what I pray,

I don't know my Fate,

Outside of the gate.

If my ride sees trouble,

Send Angels on the double,

For in you the Lord I rest,

Let my life pass your test.

By pure grace I am saved,

Lord, ride with me,

That's the Cowboy Way,

And what bull riders pray.

We all hugged each other, and when I got to Caleb, he hugged me a little tighter.


"Great song last night sis." He said.


"Thank you. It's one I've been working on for awhile now."


"I know, and maybe one day he'll pull his head out of his ass." Caleb mumbled before he kissed my cheek pulling away.


I hugged Jasper next, with a good luck, be safe, come home soon.


As soon as I pulled away from Jasper, I was pulled into a bear hug that could only belong to Emmett.


"Don't get into too much trouble, I won't be there to help save ya this year sprout." Normally this wouldn't bother since Emmett has been saying it since he got out of school, but this year really bugged me. Maybe it was the way he said sprout, or knowing that my brother knew how I felt about Emmett. Either way, it just really pissed me the fuck off.


"Whatever." I said before pulling back and going to stand beside my parents.


I stayed in that spot until the dust from Caleb's truck tires floated away in the wind, and left no truck in sight.

The rest of the summer, I worked my ass off around the ranch. I helped Momma run it and filled even more into my body. Now I knew why the guys have the bodies they have. Not that I didn't have a nice body before.

I groaned when the water started to turn cold and quickly jumped out, wrapping a warm towel around my body.

I ran to my room and almost made it to my dresser before tripping over one of Caleb's belts, which caused me to stub my toe on this damn belt buckle.

I quickly grabbed my right foot hoping around like an idiot on my left foot, because let me tell you, it really helps you out in the long run.

I made it to the bed before finally sitting down and looking at my toe. It wasn't bleeding so that was good. I flopped back, looking at my ceiling. What a way to start the last first day of high school.

"Bella, hurry up or you're going to be late!" Momma yelled up the stairs. I growled, pushing myself to get up and dressed.

I dressed in a pair of my worn out jeans, white tank top with a white half jacket over the top. I blindly fumbled in my closet for a pair of shoes and just grabbed and ran. I was halfway down the stairs when I noticed I had two completely different shoes.

I groaned, turned around and then proceeded back up the stairs, of course tripping on the top one. I just gave up and crawled the short distance to my bedroom.

I finally found the other shoe of one of the two shoes I was currently holding. I threw on my black sneakers and ran back down the stairs.

I skidded to a halt in the kitchen, Momma giving me a playful glare. I wondered my way over to the table, pulling out the chair to sit down and eat.

"Where's Daddy at?" I asked, hopeful.

"Sorry baby girl, he had to leave early this morning." I felt my heart tug and my eyes water. I was a daddy's girl, and he had never missed the first day of school for me ever.

"Oh." I mumbled out, turning back to my food. The smell of the eggs suddenly making me feel sick, I pushed them away from me. Momma picked the plate up, giving me a disapproving look before taking the food and dumping it in a bowl for the dogs.

"Better get your butt outside, you're gonna miss the bus." I groaned. Yes I was a senior in high school, and rode the bus to school.

I picked up my bag and huffed putting it on my shoulder. Damn school hasn't even started yet and my bag already weighs about twenty pounds. I drug my feet out the door not looking forward to going to the bus, or going to school.

"Where ya going baby girl?" I looked up, hearing my dad's voice.

"Momma said you left early this morning." I said shocked.

"Ya, I did, but it was to get you something." That spiked my curiosity. I followed him to the barn, and once the door was open, I let out a very girly squeal.

There, in the barn, was a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty Duramax truck!

"Where did that come from?" I squeaked.

"Well, you are a senior this year, so here ya go." He spoke like it was nothing. Yeah, my family was wealthy, but we didn't go throwing money around.

"Thank you Daddy!" I yelled throwing myself at him taking him into a bear hug that might even out do Emmett.

"Love you, now get your butt to school."

I pulled myself from dad and ran to my new truck. I threw my bag in the backseat and jumped up front. I turned the key and got lost in the sound of the diesel engine roaring to life.

I placed the transmission into drive and slowly made my way out of the barn. I was slowly going down the driveway, didn't want to get a rock chip in my paint before I got to school now would I?

Once I hit the highway, I pressed on the pedal. Adrenaline pumped through me when I listened to the turbo kick in with a wheezing sound. I rolled the window down, letting the air work its way through my hair.

I slowed down when I got close to school and quickly found a parking spot. I turned the truck off and smiled when I jumped out, hitting the keypad locking it behind me.

I no more than turned around before Alice was squealing in my ear. I smiled at her wearing jean shorts and a jean jacket, yet she was the farthest from a country girl. But since this was San Antonio Texas, it was still pretty hot, so I couldn't blame her.

"Oh my God! Tell me it's yours!" She yelled, causing half of the parking lot to look over at us in shock. Alice and I kind of kept to ourselves, we had friends, but we didn't go out of our way to make them.

"It is." I replied before she brought me into a hug, both of us laughing.

We went into the school, and went to senior homeroom to get our schedules. Of course, Alice and I shared every single class, which we had planned out every year since we were able to pick our classes.

The first day was boring, nothing exciting. We got our books, information on the school year blah blah blah. I was ready to head home and ride.

"Alice, you coming over after school?" I asked.

"Of course." She grumbled. I laughed at her.

"It's once a year, get over it." She pulled a face making me laugh even harder. I poked her in the ribs and she started laughing. Once a year I made Alice go riding with me.

She could ride pretty well, and she loved it, but put up a front that she hated it. Why? Hell if I know, it's Alice, that's all I can say.

She squealed jumping into my truck. I rolled my eyes at her and jumped in, sliding the key into the ignition. I smiled when I felt the engine move from the torque. Did I ever mention I was a tom boy? Oh, well, now I did.

We rolled the windows down flying down the road singing to the radio.

We pulled into the driveway, probably going faster then I should have been, and skidded to a halt when I saw Caleb's truck outside the barn, and guys I have never seen unloading bags.

"Yummy, who are they?" Alice asked. I rolled my eyes at her, but couldn't agree more with her.

"Nodda clue, shall we find out?" I asked earning a nod from Alice.

We jumped out of the truck and walked over to them.

"Well if it isn't my long lost sister." Caleb said walking out of the barn.

"Hey Caleb, what's up?"

"Wow, don't you sound like you missed me." I smirked at him and was about to say something smartass when a fine as fuck guy walked out of the barn.

He was tall, dark hair, dark eyes, and oh so fuckable. I'm pretty sure I licked my lips and possibly moaned, but I definitely knew I was staring to long because Caleb jabbed me in the ribs.

"Ouch fucker, that hurt!" I said shoving him.

"Well, if you're done molesting Paul with your eyes, I was going to introduce you." Paul smirked and before I knew it two more guys I didn't know, walked out of the barn.

One was tall and lean, blonde hair with blue eyes, maybe it was the way he was carrying himself, but he wasn't my type.

The other one was, again, tall and dark hair and dark eyes. He was built like Emmett was, and was good looking.

"Guys, this is my sister Bella, and her friend Alice. Bella, Alice this is Jake, Paul and Cam." He pointed to each of them as he said their names. Alice hadn't said a word; I looked at her and found out why.

Her and Jake were standing there pretty much fucking each other.

"Alice!" I yelled, scaring her enough to break eye contact and jump a little bit.

"Bitch." Alice mumbled.

"Yeah, so, okay. Well Jake, Paul and Cam are going to be staying with us, helping out around the ranch. Their gonna be in the hay loft."

I smiled, hmm... maybe I'll get to know Paul. Emmett chose that time to walk out of the barn, my eyes immediately checking him out.

And of course, bitch on wheels fallowed behind him. I groaned not wanting to put up with her.

"Whoa, you're not blonde anymore." Alice giggled.

"Thank you for pointing that out, nothing gets by you Alice." Rose said snippy.

"Well to bad that hair dye bottle didn't get rid of the fucking bitchiness." I said before my eyes went big. I totally didn't mean to say that out loud.

The guys were trying their best to hold in their laughs, and failing miserably.

"What did you just say?" She sneered.

"Pretty sure I didn't stutter. But… to.. bad… the… dye…bottle…didn't…get…rid…of…the…bitchiness." I stated slowly, like I was talking to a small child. Ha! In a way it felt like I was.

"Bella!" My brother chuckled out.

"What?" I asked innocently.

Before he could say anything, Momma was calling us in for dinner.

"Last one in does the dishes!" I yelled taking off running. No way in hell was I doing dishes.

We sat around the table learning about the guys. Momma asked how the first day of school went, and then we moved back onto the guys.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Emmett rose from the table.

Chapter One

Bella POV

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled as the calf steered to the left when I wanted it to go right. I nudged my horse, Chevy, but he had already beaten me and was right after the calf.

"Sis, let it go. The little bugger will catch up with us to be with his momma." Caleb hollered at me.

"Caleb, you know she'll never do that. She's as stubborn as your momma!" Jasper yelled back.

"I heard that Jasper!" Momma warned. I laughed and continued on chasing the calf.

Once I got him back to the heard, I just blended in, letting my horse catch his breath.

I looked around me and couldn't help but smile. Today was the day that our ranch, Wild Hearts, did our annual cattle drive.

I laughed as I watched Caleb and Jasper gain up on Emmett and push him off his big gray horse.

Jasper and Emmett grew up with Caleb and I. They lived on the ranch next to ours, and sometimes –depending on the winter- we would run our cattle together.

I have always seen Jasper as my older brother. In some ways I would claim him being my brother over Caleb, my blood brother.

Jasper was tall, maybe 6 foot, and lean but muscular. He had abs, a six pack, the kind that guys did constant work to try to get, but failed to come even close. Jasper got it just from working on the ranch. Of course, I only knew he has a body like that from the many times him and Caleb would go shirtless working around the ranch or us going swimming. Of course all of them bull riding probably helped with how their bodies looked.

Caleb stood 6'4 and muscular. He too had the 'ranchers' body. Tall and washboard stomach. We had the same brown hair. Come to think of it, we probably got it from mom.

Then there was Emmett. For the life of me, I just couldn't think of Emmett as a brother. He was tall, 6'2, with blonde shaggy hair. He was built, and probably has muscle where I didn't even know muscle could be. What I probably loved most about him physically, were the crystal blue eyes. I could stare into his eyes and just get lost in them. Emmett could be a real dick to people if he wanted to be, but I knew him to be a teddy bear. In fact, a teddy bear I wouldn't mind to have sitting on my bed waiting for me every night, snuggle with during the night, and wake up to...

I sighed to myself and came back to the here and now. The truth was, I had a crush on Emmett my entire life. When did that change?

It was my freshman year and Emmett and his friends came walking by me in the hall at school. Some guy walked up to my locker and tried hitting on me. He wouldn't get the hint that I didn't want to talk to him, nor go on the date he was practically begging me to go on.

I kept saying no, and even went as far as ignoring him, which didn't get me anywhere. Emmett stopped and went off on the guy telling him to just leave me the fuck alone.

Maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was just the way he stuck up for me, but something clicked and my crush went to a full out 'I had fallen in love with Emmett McCarty'.

That was four years ago, and yet here I still sit on my horse, not dating Emmett. What's the problem you ask? I have two problems actually. 1) Emmett only saw me as Caleb's kid sister, and 2) Rosalie Hale. The schools biggest bitch, or was.

Caleb, Jasper, and Emmett are four years older than me, leaving Rosalie three years older.

Rosalie is everything a man could ever want. Tall, blonde, fake tits, bitchy attitude. Oh yeah, she had it all.

I rolled my eyes at myself and pushed Chevy into a lope to beat everyone back to the gate so I could open it.

It didn't take us long to get the cattle in, so we quickly got to work on branding the calves.

I had the easy job, roping and dragging the calves to the fire, where Emmett would wrestle them down and Caleb would brand while Jasper did the shots.

Half way through, Emmett lifted his shirt to wipe sweat off his face, and I'm pretty sure I drooled. I kept staring at him until momma cleared her throat laughing at me.

Momma knew I liked Emmett, and would sometimes tease me about it.

I think she only teased me about it because daddy wasn't home. Daddy was a well known country singer, so he was usually on the road.

Momma and Daddy met while they were both on tour, yes Momma used to sing as well. When they had Caleb, Momma stayed home, leaving Daddy to travel on his own.

After the branding was done, we all cooled down our horses, put them out to pasture, and went to clean up.

After every round up, we did a bonfire and BBQ. It was our way of thanking everyone that helped us, and gave us a chance to relax.

I took a quick shower, brushed my hair out and dressed in a pink top and tight jeans with my cowboy boots.

Once I managed to get outside, everyone was already gathered around the fire talking and eating.

I went over to the table and grabbed a plate of food and made my way over to Alice. Alice was my best friend, but hated the ranching lifestyle. She had a crush on Jasper for a couple years now, but knew he wouldn't give up his cowboy way of life, so she didn't push it.

"Bella!" She squealed once she saw me. I laughed and sat down next to her.

"Hey, you sure missed a good branding." I laughed at the look on her face.

"Eww, no thank you." She laughed then got a sad look on her face looking off to my right. I followed her line of site and sighed. Rosalie was here, sitting on Emmett's lap.

"Whatever." I said and turned back to my food.

I heard my mom get up and say thank you for all the help today and couldn't wait until the next roundup, yada yada yada. I choked on my food when she told everyone I would sing a song or two tonight.

"No I won't." I whined. Of course that didn't get me anywhere, so I sucked it up.

"If I have to sing, so does Caleb!" I yelled causing everyone to laugh.

"You wish sis!" He yelled back.

"Alright children." Momma playfully scolded.

"Fine, okay... um, hey all!" I yelled grabbing my guitar from Caleb. They all laughed at me when I playfully pushed him. "Okay, so this song, I wrote, and it means a lot to me."

I started strumming the cords and waited for my part to start to sing. It wasn't a lie, I had wrote this song, in fact I wrote it for Emmett, but no one needed to know that.

How did i get here

I turned around and there you where

Didn´t think twice or rationalize

Cause somehow i knew

That there was more that just chemistry

I mean i knew you were kind of into me

But i figured it´s too good to be true

I said pinch me, where´s the catch this time

Can´t find a single cloud in the sky

Help me before i get use to this guy

They say that good things take time

But really great things happen in a blink

Of an eye

Thought the chances to meet somebody

Like you were a million to one

Can´t believe it

You´re one in a million

All this time i was looking for love

Tryna make things work that weren´t good

Enough

Till i thought i´m through, said i´m done

Then stumbled into the arms of the one

You´re making me laugh about the silliest

Stuff

Say that i´m your diamond in the ruff

When i´m mad at you; you pull out your velvet

Gloves

I feel drunk but i am sober

And i´m smiling all over

Every time i see that sparkle in your eyes

They say that good things take time

But really great things happen in a blink

Of an eye

Thought the chances to meet somebody

Like you were a million to one

Can´t believe it

You´re one in a million

I feel drunk but i am sober

And i´m smiling all over

Every time i see that sparkle in your eyes

They say that good things take time

But really great things happen in a blink

Of an eye

Thought the chances to meet somebody

Like you were a million to one

Can´t believe it

You´re one in a million

I tried not to tear up by the time the song was done with. I looked at Emmett and saw him staring lovingly into Rosalie's eyes.

I put my guitar down, ignoring all of the applause and ran to the barn, grabbing Zoey and jumping on bareback.

I ignored everyone as they yelled at me while Zoey and I raced pass them. I didn't want to hear them. I was in love with Emmett, and he didn't even acknowledge me besides being Caleb's kid sister.

I felt the tears spring free from my eyes and fall down my cheeks onto Zoey's back. I clung to her, feeling her muscles bunch and then relax under me.

Why couldn't Emmett see me as more? Why couldn't he just give me a chance?

I made my mind up, right there running through the pastures, that when Emmett got back from the PBR tour, I was not going to be known as Caleb's kid sister!