Monday, October 11, 2010

Chapter 5 (She Danced and Saw Stars)

Chapter 5 (She Danced & Saw Stars)
BPOV
I was curious as to what Edward had up his sleeve when he asked me to meet him at the high school practice field.  It wasn’t exactly the usual place to meet someone, and I was curious as to what our meeting actually was.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hopeful about what was to come when he playfully asked me if I was ready for our date.  He had definitely become more forward in his flirting lately and it was completely welcome.

I pulled in to the parking lot at the back of the school.  I immediately assumed that I was here for some sort of event strictly due to the number of other cars that were here.  I grabbed the blanket he had asked me to bring and my cherry icee and walked over towards the big hill.  There were no bleachers to sit on, just an embankment as the field was set in the bottom of the hill.  I could barely contain my excitement at the activity I saw going on down below.  Edward had invited me to watch band practice!  Call me what you will.  But come on…music plus Edward in charge…hell yes!

I noticed several sets of parents were already scattered along the top of the hill.  The students were down below walking around and warming up.  I scanned the groups to see if I could find Edward.  I heard him before I saw him.

“Alright guys!  We don’t have a ton of time.  So y’all line up in the position you’ll be in for the beginning of the first song.  We’ll warm up a little and then get with it.”

Edward was standing at the top of a wooden platform giving his instructions through a bull horn.  He was the picture of ease and control; dressed casually in worn jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt and a ball cap that had the high school logo on the front.  He was hot as hell and didn’t even know it.  He was so laid back that if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was a student.

I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face when I saw him.  I decided to walk over to the other side of the field so that I could see the students head on as they performed.   And Edward from behind!  That was for my own entertainment purposes.

“Ok Lucy, they’re all yours.  Line it up!”

A girl stepped onto a raised platform down on the field and began giving the band their instructions.  She was obviously the drum major and she took control of the field like she owned it.  I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket alerting me to a new message.  I smiled when I saw that it was a text from Edward.

I see you brought the blanket J~E

I looked up to where he had been standing to see that now he was facing me.  He gave me a small wave and a huge grin, which I returned.  My phone vibrated again.

Glad you made it.  I’ll C U in 45 min @ the break.  Enjoy the show.~E

Can’t wait to see both! X~B

I watched him read his text.  He gave me a small nod and a wink and then he turned back to watch and instruct the band.

There were still a few weeks left until football season started, but these kids already sounded great.  You could definitely tell that they had natural musical talent and that they had been working hard.  It seemed Edward had been modest when talking about his students last night.  He had obviously put in just as much work when choosing the songs and designing the show to their ability.  It sounded like the theme this year was going to be ‘Motown’.  Even only having heard this first song, I knew it was going to be fantastic.

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to become completely absorbed in the music.  I was so lost in it that I didn’t realize it was already time for the break until I heard only the drums playing.  My eyes opened to see the drummers at midfield practicing their cadences.  I looked towards the platform where Edward had been standing expecting to still see him, but he was no longer there.  I looked back out over the field and noticed him strutting out to meet the drummers.  He leaned over to speak to the guy in the middle.  The kid smiled and took off his snare drum and handed it over to Edward.  Oh my Lord!  He IS trying to kill me.  In the middle of a crowd…trying to kill me.

I drew my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them and prepared myself to be thoroughly entertained.  He turned his cap around backwards, grabbed a pair of drumsticks from his back pocket and counted off the next cadence.

Holy Mother of all things Holy.  That is quite possibly the hottest thing I have ever seen.  He wasn’t down there as their teacher, but to just have fun with them…and probably to show off!  If I thought he was sexy playing his guitar, this was even better.  He put every bit of his upper body into every stroke.  Oh…oooohh!  He better make this quick or I may have to excuse myself.

After he finished the cadence, all of the drummers clapped and laughed.  He returned the drum to its owner and looked up at me as he started walking my way.  I didn’t even try to hide my huge grin.  It was pointless, especially when he gave me that cocky little smirk.  He ran up the hill and plopped down beside me on the blanket.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“What did you think?” he asked.

“Of them, or of you showing off?”  He at least had the decency to blush a little bit.

“Well, I meant them, but please, don’t hold back.”

I studied him for a minute, basically trying to make him sweat a little.

“Honestly, Edward, they’re fantastic!  Really.  You have all worked really hard to get ready for the season and it shows,” I told him, looking directly at him and into his sea green eyes.

“Thanks.  I hoped you’d like it.  The kids are really getting into it now that the season is almost here…” he trailed off.  “How ‘bout the drums?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I shook my head and looked back to the field before answering him.

“No comment,” I said shyly.  He chuckled and turned my face back so that I would look at him.

“No comment bad or no comment good?”

“No comment good.  Definitely good.”

He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes at him, because that is just what we do.  He is such a pain!
“Alright…I gotta get back.  Thirty more minutes left and we’ll be done.  Will you stay afterward for a little bit?”

Like he had to ask.

“Sure.”

“Good.  See ya in a few minutes then.”

He leaned over and kissed my cheek.  It left me with a serious case of total body tingles.  Lord help me if he ever really kisses me.  I’d probably die from electric shock.  Note to self.  Buy personal AED to carry around just in case Edward kisses me.

When practice was over and all of the parents and students had left the field, I kept my place on the hill waiting for Edward to come and find me.  Watching him tonight had been enlightening.  His whole demeanor was just easy.  He didn’t seem to be one to have his feathers ruffled easily.  He was patience personified.  For as easy going as he was, his face betrayed him and showed the true excitement at what was happening around him.  His students were lucky to have him as an instructor.

“Hey pretty girl!!  Bring your blanket and your cute ass down to the field right now!” he barked through the bull horn.  I’ll have to kill him.

He instructed me to lay the blanket down in the middle of the field and wait for him as he walked over to the power box below the platform.  He flipped a few switches leaving us with only the light of the moon and stars.  The moon wasn’t yet full, but almost.  I couldn’t make out any of his features until he was right next to me.

“So…was this a good ‘outing’?” he asked, using air quotes. 

“So far so good.  Was it completely necessary to announce to the whole town that I have a cute ass?”

“If they’ve seen you, they know.  It’s not a big secret, Bella.”  I was thankful for the darkness since it covered my blush.

“What are we doing now?”

He laid back on the blanket putting his hands behind his head.

“Star gazin’.”

“What?”

“You heard me.  Lay down,” he said pulling me down beside him.

“You’re a little cheesy, Cullen.”

“Shut up.  Just give it a few minutes and you’ll see what I mean.  Trust me.”

About 5 minutes later…

“Look!  Did you see it?” he asked pointing to some random place right over our heads.

“Yes!  Oh my gosh, that was awesome!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real shooting star before.”

“Really?  That’s kind of …tragic.”

“Yeah, well, life hasn’t always allowed for such luxuries.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“No!  I really meant that.  It’s not something that I really thought about when I was younger.  And then when I was old enough that I could have appreciated it, I lived in one of the cloudiest, rainiest places in the country.”

“Hmm…well, I’m glad I could be your first then,” he chuckled.

“Shut up!” I said smacking him in the chest.

He caught my hand and held it there.  It made me feel like I was a thirteen year old holding hands for the first time.  We continued to lie there, watching for shooting stars for a little while longer before the quiet tension was too much for me and I had to say something.

“Ok, so tell me three things that I don’t know about you.  That way I can at least promote you from neighbor status to friend status,” I said looking over at him.  He looked back at me and held my stare for a few seconds.  Or maybe a few minutes.  I couldn’t be sure.

“There’s plenty you don’t know about me.  Let’s see…I’ve lived in this town all but six years of my life.  During those six years is when I got my tattoo.  Jasper and I have been best friends since we were five.  And just a little fun fact for you, when we were seven, Sassy was having a slumber party for her eighth birthday.  We snuck over to her house and let twenty lizards loose in her bedroom where all the girls were sleeping.  She didn’t speak to us for six months.”  He chuckled and shook at his head at the memory.  “Your turn.  Same thing.”

“OK.  Following your lead…since I was ten years old, I have never lived anywhere for longer than one year, excluding college of course.  I have two tattoos.  One I got when I was eighteen and the other I got when I was twenty three.  It’s kind of a memorial type of thing.  And because I moved around so much, I’ve never really had a best friend.  So…yeah.  That last part is kind of pathetic, huh?” I laughed uncomfortably.

“Nah.  It is what it is.”

We were quiet for a little longer before he spoke again.

“Come on Debbie Downer.  Let’s pack it up.  I have an insane day tomorrow.  As you know, I have teenagers,” he said scrunching his nose all cute like, “and after that it will be followed up by four of the cutest kids under six you can imagine.  I’m not actually sure which is worse, though.”

He helped me fold the blanket and surprised me by grabbing my hand before walking us towards our cars.  His hand swallowed mine and it was so warm and soft that I couldn’t resist the urge to thread our fingers together.  So I didn’t resist.  He looked down at our hands and then back at me with a smirk.  I just rolled my eyes.

“You started it,” I told him.

“So I did,” he laughed.

I threw the blanket in the back hatch while he opened the driver’s side door for me.

“Thank you, Edward.”

“What for?” he asked, leaning against the side of the truck and searching my eyes.

“For this.  Tonight.  It was great.”

“You’re welcome.  I’m glad you liked it and that I didn’t disappoint.”

“Do you practice every Thursday night?”

“For now.  I’ll have to wait to see how the season goes.”

“I’d like to come back, if that’s ok?”  Lord have mercy.  Why do I feel like I’m asking him on a date?  I’m blushing like a twelve year old girl with a first crush!

“Of course you can.  You don’t have to ask,” he said reaching up to push back the hair that I had been trying to hide behind.  It didn’t escape my notice that he had left his hand on my shoulder and was twirling a lock of hair there.

“Thanks.  Well, I’d better go.  I have many adult beverages to consume tomorrow night according to Alice.  I’ll need my sleep to keep up with her I’m sure.”

“Very true,” he said putting his other hand on the door frame.  “Hey Bella, I don’t know if I’d be any good at it, but I could be your best friend…if you want,” he said with his crooked grin.

I just giggled because as cute as he was being, he led himself right into this one.

“Best friends, huh?”  I dropped my voice pretending all sexy-like.  “Does this best friends thing come with a benefits package?” I asked, biting my lip.

I watched him as he swallowed hard.

“Uh…um…,” he stuttered.

I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and burst out laughing.  “Oh my…Edward…you should…your face…” I tried to say bending over with my hands on my knees in fits of laughter.

“You’re evil, you know that?  I was trying to be sweet and you turn on me.”

“I’m sorry.  You set yourself up for that one,” I said, still giggling a little.

He crossed his arms over his chest, poked out his lip and pouted…I mean, like he was a six year old, pouted.  When he turned to look away from me, I became afraid that I may have actually hurt his feelings.
“Oh, Edward, I really am sorry.  Don’t be mad at me,” I said, getting out of the truck and grabbing his arm to turn him back to face me.  He looked at me a minute before turning his scowl into an evil grin.
“Suckaaaa!”
“What?  You…Ugh!  I hate you!” I growled, punching him in the arm.  He caught my hand again and this time snatched me in for a huge hug. 

Finally, the hug I had been waiting on.  And the first thing I noticed…ok, not technically the first.  The first thing was that that he smelled damn good, like musk and man and mmmm.  And I wanted to lick his chest at the v of his t-shirt.  The other thing that I noticed…we were a perfect fit.  My face was in the dead center of his chest.  When I turned my head, my ear was right over his heart, and his chin rested right on top of my head.  We had the perfect nook.  I didn’t want to let go and it didn’t seem like he wanted to either.  My arms were around his waist and his were locked around my shoulders squeezing me.  We were breathing each other in and the air around us was changing and charging.  I pulled back and looked up at him.

“I better go.  For real this time.”  He laughed at me.  Pain.  “Night, Edward.”  I got back in my truck.  He leaned in and kissed the corner of my mouth.

“Night, angel girl.  I’ll see ya soon,” he said closing the door.

“Yeah.  Soon.”

I drove home in an Edward induced fog wondering when “soon” was.

-x-X-x-

“Honey, we’re home!” I heard Alice sing from the front door.

“Kitchen!”  I yelled back.  I was just pulling the lasagna out of the oven when they walked in.

“Hey!  You ready to learn how to party like a mama?” Rose asked, walking over to give me a hug.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.  I thought we’d carbo-load.  Hope lasagna courtesy of Aunt Caroline is ok.”

“That came from my Mama?” asked Alice.

“Yeah, the note said she felt bad that she missed me at the lunch at Carlisle’s house, so she brought supper by on her way out.”

“That woman knew I was going out tonight and still she brought my number one diet wrecker.  Hateful hussy!” Alice growled.

“Oh shut it Alice.  You are five foot nothing and aren’t even 100 pounds soaking wet.  I have no idea how you ever fit the twins in that little incubator,” I scoffed.  “And I thought this was a ladies night anyway.  Why does it matter what we wear?”

“Oh Lord,” Rosalie said covering her face with her hand.

“Shut. UP.” Alice growled at me. I’ll admit it.  I was kind of scared.

“What?  What did I say?” I asked, seriously confused.  “Who are we trying to impress?  You two are married and I have never, not ever, not even once taken a swing for ‘Team Taco’.  Other women aren’t going to care what we are wearing tonight.”

“Said the woman who wears scrubs five days a week and probably sweats and t-shirts the other two,” Alice said, rolling her eyes.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Rosalie…handle this.  I’m about to throw something very heavy at her.”

“Bella, just…shush.  Just…please.  Don’t provoke the fashion fairy.  I really have been looking forward to tonight.  I’ll explain everything after supper.  Let’s eat.  That will put her in a better mood,” Rosalie said guiding Alice over to fix her plate.

-x-X-x-

Rose and I cleaned up the kitchen and went upstairs to get ready for the night.  Alice had everything set up between my bedroom and bathroom.  We were only three women, and pretty ones at that, but she had enough product and clothing to cater to the needs of the entire Miss Alabama pageant.  Well, to ‘Toddlers in Tiaras’ at the very least.

“Sit,” Alice ordered me pushing down on my shoulders.  “Repeat after me.”

“Alice…” I whined.

“Do it!” she glared at me.  Yeesh.  Note to self…still not forgiven.

“Fine,” I huffed.

“I, Bella Swan, being of brilliant mind and a wicked hot body…”

I doubled over laughing before she could even finish the sentence.  She hit me with a hairbrush.  I repeated what she said.

“…hereby relinquish all decisions related to beautifying to Sassy the Sultan of Sexiness…AND I won’t bitch about it.”

“Can’t we just shake on it or hug it out or something?”

She gave me the mama arched brow.

“Fine…all of those things,” I reluctantly agreed.

“Here,” Rose said walking in and handing me a shot glass.

“What’s this,” I asked giving it a sniff.

“Just think of it as primer.  We need to lay the foundation, so to speak.  To ladies night,” she said holding up her glass.  “Long may we rave!”

I was going to have to pace myself or I had a feeling that I was going to learn the meaning of what it was to be ‘knee walking drunk’.

-x-X-x-

“To good friends!  Whether they are new ones or old, they’re all like sisters to me,” Alice said holding her glass out towards ours.

“To good friends,” Rose and I cheered back, clinking all of our drinks together.  I took a slow pull off of my drink.

“Mmmm, Rose, this is really good.  What is it?”

“I thought I’d welcome you properly so I got you an Alabama Slammer!” she laughed.

“Oh.  Well then, here’s to the slammer!”

“The slammer… that makes me think about my Jazzy,” Alice said, sounding like she was working on a good buzz already.

“Really?  Why is that?” I asked.

“Oh my gosh!  You don’t know, do you?  Jasper is the sheriff!  And trust me, he knows how to use his handcuffs,” she said, giving me a big wink.

I spit my drink out a little.

“Oh Lord.  Just stop.  You know the rules.  General stuff is acceptable in girl talk.  Specifics are NOT!” Rose groaned.

“Wait…he’s the sheriff?  But he’s so young.  How is that even possible?”

“Let’s just say nepotism isn’t always a bad thing,” she giggled.

“Well alright then.  To Jazz and the slammer,” I toasted.  I really needed to slow down.

“I’ll definitely drink to that!” cooed Alice.

“For the love…this is ladies night.  No more man talk right now.  Come on, let’s go dance for a while,” Rose said dragging me off of my chair.

It was a fantastic night.  The DJ kept the beat up by playing old stuff and new with no genre left untouched.  Alice was right when she said that they didn’t act like nobody’s mama.  They could grind and they didn’t seem to care if it was with some of their friends that they had introduced me to, with each other or with me.  It was just all about girls having a good time.  It was something that I had never really had the chance to do and I was so thankful that they had invited me.

After a couple more of ‘the slammers’, as we called them, Alice even managed to get the truth out of me as to how I really wound up in “Podunk, AL”.  Her words, not mine.

“Look, I’m not proud of it, but I really like being here.  So much about this place has been totally…unexpected,” I said.

“Uh-huh.  Like a certain neighbor I hear you’ve been spending a little time with lately?” she asked, grinning and nodding her head.  I guess it was more of a statement than a question.

“Yeah,” I said absentmindedly.  “Wait, what?  How did you know about that?  Which time…?” I said, before I could even slap my hand over mouth.  Shit…here it comes.

Alice jumped up and down pointing at me and squealing “I knew it!  I knew it!  You better spill, and I mean every last detail!”

“Alice…it’s no big thing, I swear!”

“Nope.  Don’t care.  Out with it.”

“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “Can we at least go sit down for this?”  She practically dragged me back to our table.

“Ok, so after Sunday lunch, where you already know we spent some time just talking, I didn’t see him for the next couple of days.  No big deal.  But Wednesday night, Roscoe walked up onto the porch where I was sitting in the swing.  Edward followed him.  He said that he wanted to make sure that I wasn’t mad about his little “omission”.  So, I invited him to sit and talk for a little bit, and then I invited him inside because, as I already had told you, I had food I needed to get rid of.  He let me know that he could take a few things to the people at school, but that he could help me with the cupcakes.  Well, we basically bartered for those.”

“Bartered?”

“Yeah.  I had been playing my guitar when he came over and he said he wanted to hear me play.  I told him no, that he should have to play for me for payment of his precious cupcakes.  So he pulled a flirty kind of ‘I will if you will’, and so we did.  Play, I mean.  The guitar!”  I wonder if my brain was the only one in the gutter.


“What did he play?” Rose asked.

Brown Eyed Girl.”

“Ooooh, nice.”

“Yeah.”

“What about you?”

This Kiss.  Hey, if he was gonna be all cute and flirty then I was too,” I said, defending myself.

“You make me proud, Bella.”

“Well, that wasn’t the end of his flirting, but I think I managed.  Anyway, when he was leaving he asked me to meet him last night for band practice.  I mean, I didn’t know that’s where I was going, but it was great!  The kids are doing so well.  Edward showed off a little at the break with the drummers…yeah.”  I stared off for a couple of seconds just thinking about that.  So good.  “Um, anyway, after that, we did the whole cheesy but cute star gazing thing for a little while, and before I left he asked me to be his best friend.  We just talked, I promise.”

“I feel like you are editing…” Alice said narrowing her eyes at me.

“There may have been a hug…and a little bit of hand holding,” I said blushing the same way I did when it actually happened.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Rose grinned.

“Getting where?” Emmett asked, walking up behind Rose and planting a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, noticing Jasper pull up a chair beside Alice and giving her a sweet peck on the lips.  The girls didn’t seem as surprised to see them as I was.

“It’s after ten.  We are completely welcome here now!  Besides, you gals were gonna need a ride home, right?” Jasper asked.

“Oh, I didn’t even notice the time.  Well, if you all want to just hang out and have some alone time, I can get a cab or something and go home,” I said, reaching down to get my purse.

“You’ll do no such thing!  Sit your tail down.  Wait, better yet, come on.  I love this song.  Let’s go.  You can help us make fun of Emmett!” Rosalie said.  They were playing Say Hey by Michael Franti.

All five of us were on the dance floor again with Jasper and Emmett taking turns dancing with all three of us girls, so it didn’t seem too weird that I was the only one in our group without an official man.  Alice was dancing behind me when a strong arm grabbed me around the shoulders across my chest and pulled me back.  Ok, this was NOT Alice.  Their other hand grasped my hip to pull me even closer, dancing the whole time.  Ok, not even female.  Definitely male.  Just as lips were coming to my ear, I felt scruff on my shoulder and I was hit with…the scent.  You know…the one that smells like sinful man.  Yeah.

“Do you let just any man come up behind you and start dancing?  Or is that only reserved for your best friend?” Edward whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

I don’t know if it was ‘the slammers’ that I was intoxicated by or him, but either way, tonight I was giving in.  I leaned my head back on his chest and didn’t even hide my smile.  I turned around in his arms to get a good look at him.  Mistake number one. 

“I thought you were babysitting.  Why are you here?  Is ladies night the prime opportunity for you to look for the future Mrs. Cullen?” I asked, placing my hands on his chest.  His really nice, hard, defined chest.

“Hmmm…that’s possible.  But it’s yet to be determined,” he said while he tightened his arms around my waist smiling at me.

“Did you know you were coming to crash our girl time last night?  Because that’s kind of sneaky.  I’m not sure I like those qualities in my best friend,” I snarked.

“Yeah, I seem to have a problem with omission, huh?”

“Yes you do. So from now on I’m going to demand that you tell me everything, got it?” I said giving him a mock glare.

“Ok.  What do you want to know?”

“Why are you really here?”

“Because I wanted to see you,” he said holding my stare.

“Why?  You just saw me yesterday and the day before that,” I said letting my hands slide up around his neck.

“Because I like you.  Now shush.  Less talkin’.  More dancin’.”

He spun me back around so that my back was to his chest while he kept his hands on my hips.  Alice had a huge grin spread across her face.  I’m guessing that this was why she dressed me like she did.  Little hussy knew that they were coming.  I need to buy her something really nice.

When that song finished, Beyonce’s  Check Up on It came on, so I decided that I’d give Edward a taste of his own flirty little medicine.  I started swaying my hips back and forth putting my hands over his to hold them there.  I looked over my shoulder at him and he returned my sly grin when I felt his thumbs sliding back and forth over my bare hip bones.   It was turning me into mush.  Before he completely melted me, I turned and started dancing in front of him, pulling him close by his belt loops so that his leg was between mine.  This is going to take every bit of courage that I have but I’m not one to let opportunity pass, so here goes nothing.  I slid down his leg and back up again, pulling him to me by the front of his t-shirt.  I leaned my face towards his, looking him in the eyes the whole time until my lips made it to his ear to sing the words of the song:

I can tell you wanna taste it, but I’m gone make you chase it

I took my index finger and ran it up his arm, across his chest and shoulders until I was behind him, all the while singing:

If I let you get up on it, you gotta make a promise
That you gone put it on me, like no ones put it on me
Don't bore me, just show me, all men talk but don't please
I can be a tease, but I really wanna please you


I ran my fingernails up his chiseled back while I sang to him.  He growled when I made my way back in front of him.  Growled.  He spun me around again, pressing into me.  Apparently that little dance did it for him because I could feel every bit of his excitement.  And good Lord help me…however, it looks like the point for that round goes to me.

Until the DJ decided to kill me by playing John Legend’s Alright.  Totally screwed.

And by the crooked grin-wicked smirk tag team look he was pulling, I think he knew it.  When would I learn not to play with fire?  He kept me where I was, only running his hands up my rib cage.  I reached my hands back behind his neck to bring his face closer.  Mistake number two.  He started singing to me the way I had to him.

Good Lord you got body for days (body for days)
I think the way that you shake it's amazing (shake it's amazing)
I got my keys if you ready to leave (ready to leave)
It's alright with me


Jeez…I am not going to be able to take much more of this.  But I was going to have to because he bit down on my ear lobe and grinded into me.

Alright
I see a little something that I like
You lookin' mighty fine in them skin tights


Sweet mother…he slapped my ass!  Then he wrapped his hands around the front of my waist, pulling me so close there was absolutely no space between us.

You know what I mean
It's alright with me

He rubbed his scruff along my shoulders and kissed me in the crook of my neck.  Oh crap…thankfully he was holding me up and the song was ending.  I immediately grabbed Alice and Rosalie and headed towards the bathroom.

“Holy shit, Bella!  That was hot!  What was that?” Alice asked.

“I have no idea,” I panted.  “All I know is that he’s trying to damn near kill me.”

I splashed my neck and chest with cold water, trying to cool off and tamper down my blush.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this, Bella, but I don’t think that man wants to just be your ‘best friend’.”

“Thanks Rose.  I think I figured that out when he was grinding his business in my back door.”

“Well did you not want him to?  You started it little miss,” Alice said, pointing her finger at me.

“Oh I wanted him to.  I just didn’t realize he was going to smack my ass and kiss my neck and basically make me incoherent.  I’m going to need another drink.”

“Come on.  Let’s go get our men,” Alice laughed, grabbing my hand and leading me back out to the bar.

The guys were waiting for us back at the table, all of them drinking sodas.  Wasn’t that interesting?  Alice jumped into Jasper’s lap while Rose and I took our seats. 

“What’s wrong?  You can’t hang with the big girls?” I asked Edward as I drank my shot.

“Oh, I think you already know I can hang,” he said raising an eyebrow at me, “but who do you think is driving your cute little buzzed ass home?” he winked.

“But I came with Alice.”

“And her husband will drive her home in her car.  Rose will ride home with Emmett in his car…see, everyone has a responsible ride home,” he said, grabbing my chair to pull it closer to him so that he rest his arm across the back of it.  Devil.  “Is that gonna be a problem, angel girl?”  And of course that is when he started twirling my hair.

“No,” I said, biting my lip.

“That’s what I wanted to hear.  Come on.  One more dance before we head out.  It’s getting late and we have plans tomorrow.”

“We do?”  I asked following him out onto the dance floor.  “What plans?  You’re kind of bossy, you know that?”

“Well, you’ll find out about the plans tomorrow for one, and for two, you’ll get used to the bossiness.”  He pulled me close placing one hand at the small of my back, which was bare, thanks to Alice, and the he took my other hand in his and held it over his heart.  That liquid courage did nothing for me.  I was a complete puddle and I didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore.

Norah Jones was singing Turn Me On and I’m sure I couldn’t have been more turned on if I tried.  He sang lowly into my ear, brushing his lips along the lobe, driving me the best kind of insane.  His voice was like molasses; dark, rich and sweet.  He was killing me softly and I made up my mind that it would be a good way to go.

When the song was over, we discovered that we had been ditched by the other two couples.  However, they were at least nice enough to pay our tab.  He led me out to his huge silver truck.  He opened the door for me and gave me his hand to help me in.  And I was glad that he did because the shoes Alice had put on me didn’t go well with the running boards of his truck.  He placed a sweet kiss on my knuckles before shutting the door and walking around to his side.  I had never been treated so nicely, but I could certainly get used to it.

He buckled his seat belt and looked over at me with a big lopsided grin. 

“Home, Jeeves,” I said sarcastically.

“As you wish, angel girl.”

We drove home with a comfortable silence between us and only a few low notes from the radio being heard.  Not long into the drive, my eyes started to droop heavily with sleep, the after effect of all of the adrenaline and alcohol that had been in my system.  I gave in to the sweet dream that was Edward, holding my hand and rubbing slow circles over the back of it, every once in a while peppering it with chaste kisses.

x-X-x

The next morning I woke up in my bed, not really sure how I had gotten there.  The last thing I remembered was being in the truck with Edward.  The sunlight was ghosting through the sheer curtains that were behind my headboard.  I looked around the room, taking in the sights of what I guessed to be mid-morning when I spotted Edward over in the corner, completely asleep, in my big oversized chair.  Never had there been a more glorious sight to wake up to.  The only thing I wasn’t sure about was why exactly he was asleep in my room.

No comments: