Chapter 6 (She Played)

Chapter 6~(She Played)
I looked around my room to make sure that it didn’t look like I had forgotten a night of delicious debauchery with Edward.  Unfortunately everything was where I had left it.  I looked over again at the man in question and he was still completely clothed.  Completely unfortunate.  He had taken off his button down leaving him in his undershirt, jeans and his cute socked feet.  Feeling braver, I took a peek under my sheet.   Oh, thank the Lord!  Fully clothed.  I hadn’t been mentally prepared for Edward to see me naked, although with all of the primping and plucking Alice did yesterday, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been completely mortified had that happened.

I rolled out of bed and tiptoed over to the bathroom, grabbing some comfortable clothes to change into on the way.  Sleeping in jeans is a bitch.  He could have at least taken those off.  Wait, what am I saying?  I quietly shut the door to take care of my business and get washed up a little bit.  I put my hair in a pony tail and changed my clothes.  I stuck my head out of the door and saw that Edward was still sleeping.  He looked too cute all sprawled out in that chair.  His head was leaning over the arm of it with his usually messy hair even messier and all over the place.  Hmm…he would probably need a neck massage later.  Or maybe he would need me to kiss it to make it better.  His lips were slightly parted and I wanted to kiss them, morning breath and all.  He had his arms crossed over his chest, his right leg bent and the left one out straight.  He looked about seventeen.  Shaking my head to relieve myself from such blatant ogling, I walked over to the ottoman, not knowing exactly what to do.  Do I wake him up?  Do I go cook breakfast and let him come down when he wakes up on his own?  I was in completely new territory.  I’d never woken up with a man in my bedroom before.

I decided I’d try to wake him up, and that alone was a little bit scary.  I’m a bear in the mornings.  Some people are very particular in how they like to be woken up, so I decided I’d start with the feet and work my way up.  I reached over and tapped his toes a couple of times. 

No response.

I shook his knee and whispered “Edward…”

Nothing.

Fighting the urge to run my fingers up his thigh, I moved along to his shoulder and shook it and said his name a little louder.

Still nothing.  Oh my Lord.  I hope he is in fact breathing.

Gah, I hope he’s not one of those who wake up with the wild eyes and start swinging.  Charlie was kind of like that after a long shift and I knew that Edward’s day had been really long.  Ok, moving on.  I leaned close to his ear, trying not to touch him and startle him too much.

“Edward,” I said, while also making sure he was breathing because seriously, who sleeps this hard?

“Edward, it’s time to wake up.”

Nothing.  Not even a flinch.  Screw it.  Time to bring out the big guns.  I stepped over into the space where the ottoman was separated from the chair and for lack of a better word, straddled his legs.  I braced my hands on the arms of the chair and leaned over to his ear again, by chest brushing where his arms were crossed.  Holy Mary I am in some dangerous territory.  Maybe he won’t have Jasper arrest me for trying to molest him. 

“Baby, it’s time to wake up.  You are wasting the morning being asleep while I’m awake,” I porn purred into his ear, biting the lobe.

I didn’t even see it coming.  He reached up and snatched me forward so that now I really was straddling his lap while he was hugging me to him.

“See, was it so hard to ask me nicely to wake up?” he asked giving me a wicked lopsided grin.

“I hate you,” I panted.  “You are…on friendship probation!”

“What?  What the hell is friendship probation?” he asked me.

“It’s what happens when you do something not very nice to your friends.”

“Well isn’t that kind of subjective?  I happen to think this is very nice,” he said, winking at me.

I put my hands on his chest and started pushing, trying to free myself from his completely welcome grip.  He didn’t seem to feel like letting go just yet, so I just gave in and put my head down on his shoulder.

“Why are you here?  Don’t you have a home?”

“Well Sleeping Beauty, you passed out in my truck.  So I gallantly brought you inside and put you to bed.  After I tucked you in, I sat down for just a minute to make sure you were really out for the night, and I guess I just fell asleep.  Are you mad?” he asked, giving me his famous pout.  He really needed to quit doing that because it wasn’t like I could refuse that thing.

“I guess not.  Since you got me home safely, I can forgive your stalker-like behavior,” I giggled into his shoulder.

“So how do I get out of friendship probation?”

“You have to do something nice.  I’ll let you know when that happens,” I said.

“Fine.  Do you have plans for today?”

“Washing my scrubs, why?”

“Will you spend the day with me?” he asked.  I swear he sounded like a child asking, it was so stinking sweet.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I just want to show you a little more about me.  Maybe you’ll tell me a little more about you.  We are best friends, right?”

I finally sat up and looked at him in his sea green eyes.  They were so clear this morning.  His eyebrows were raised in question.  Who was I to dash that kind of hope?

“Yes we are,” I said rolling my eyes, “and ok.  What are we going to do exactly?”

“You’ll see,” he said standing up with me and placing my feet on the floor.  “Now, go put on a bathing suit with some play clothes on top.  I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes or so,” he said and gave me a swat on the butt.

I let out a surprised squeak.  “Play clothes?  How old are we, eight?” I asked rubbing the spot where he just popped me.  He was busy putting his shoes back on.

“For today, we are however old we want to be.  We’re just gonna have fun.  Now hurry up.  Time’s a wastin’” he said, standing up and giving me a kiss on the cheek.  He strolled out of my room, down the stairs and out of the front door like he had done it every day.  And that wasn’t necessarily a scary thought.

-x-X-x-

I grabbed a Pop-tart and a glass of milk, not knowing exactly what we were going to be up to or how long we would be gone.  I was tying my shoes when I heard the rumble of an engine that I wasn’t familiar with.  I walked over to the door and saw Edward pulling up in front of the porch on a four wheeler with a cooler, a blanket and two towels tied to the back rack.  He looked delicious in his ‘play clothes’.  He had on basketball shorts and a Cotton Creek High baseball t-shirt that was worn and faded.  I assumed it was from when he was there.  He released the throttle and gave me a smirk.

“You wanna ride?” he asked.  Such a dangerous question.  I decided honesty was the best policy at this point.

“Uh, hell to the yeah!  Come on, Bobby!” I said, bouncing down the steps and walking over to him.

“You’re weird, you know that?”

“So help me Edward Cullen, if you don’t get that reference we are breaking up.”

“Breaking up?  Did my best friend status get an update while I was on probation and I didn’t know about it?  Dang, I’m better than I thought.”

I slung my leg over the back of the seat and grabbed his waist and told him, “Shut up and drive.”

He whipped the four-wheeler around and gunned it down the side of the house.  I squeezed his legs with mine just trying to hold on for dear life.  I buried my nose in his back, breathing in his Edwardy smell and holding on with everything I had.  I could feel the rumble of his laughter in his chest and back.  I leaned up and bit his shoulder.

“Ow, crap!  You don’t have to be so violent, woman.”

“Maybe I like it rough,” I teased him digging my fingers in his sides.

“Oh, angel girl,” he said with a laugh.  “You shouldn’t have said that.”

And he revved the engine and took off even faster while I laughed behind him.  We rode down by the creek, following the bank.  I didn’t even know if we were still on his family’s land anymore.  It was getting hotter the later in the morning it became.  It seemed Edward felt the same way since he pulled the four-wheeler over under the shade of a tree and parked it.

He patted my naked thigh and said, “It’s hot.  Feel like goin’ for a swim?”

“Sure.  Is it deep enough?”

“Yeah, it is down here.  This is where Emmett, Alice, Jasper and I used to sneak off to during the summer when Nana had us out doing yard work.  Come on,” he said slinging his leg over and offering me his hand.

We stripped down to our bathing suits and he led me carefully over to a large tree.  I watched him climb up it like he had probably done a thousand times.  About half way up, he stopped and unwound a rope from a thick branch that jutted out over the creek.

“Hang on.  I’m gonna test the rope and make sure it’s still strong enough to hold us.”

“Wait!  What if it’s not?”

“Well, baby, the way I see it, either way, I’m gonna fall in the creek, so…” he trailed off.

He grabbed the rope and tied a knot in the bottom that he could rest his feet on and one higher up so his hands didn’t slide before he was ready.  He held onto the rope and jumped off of the branch, swinging out over the creek twice before he flipped and let go.  Show off.  Insanely beautifully tanned and toned show off.

He resurfaced a few seconds later with a huge smile, slinging the water out of his hair much the way I suspect Roscoe would have.

“Alright, it’s your turn.  It’s plenty deep and the rope is fine.”

I’m not exactly sure why he can talk me into most anything, but it was stinking hot and he was half naked over there and it was doing me no good being half naked over here.  Like I said, I’m not one to let opportunity pass me by.  And I didn’t fail to notice that his nicknames for me were getting gradually more intimate sounding.  Who was I to pass that up?

I scrambled up the tree to the rope and said a quick prayer before taking a timid jump off of the branch.  I didn’t let go of the rope on the first pass but thought I had better on the way back because I surely didn’t need to embarrass myself my hitting the tree. 

I let out a stream of curse words when I resurfaced.  “Jeez, Cullen!  You didn’t tell me it was freezing cold!  Why the hell is the creek this cold in the summertime in Alabama?  Isn’t that like against nature or something?”

He laughed as he swam over to me.  “This end of the creek is close to a natural cold spring.  Guess I forgot to mention that,” he chuckled.

“Ya think?” I said glaring at him.  “You must never want to get off of friendship probation.  If you don’t watch it, you’ll go on my ‘beast list’ and that’s far worse.  It takes years and plenty of sucking up to get off of that.”

“Aww, come on.  It’s hot out here and it’s not that bad.  We can swim and splash around a while and you won’t even notice,” he said pulling me to him under the water.

“Yeah.  Well…if my lips turn blue, be sure to let me know,” I pouted at him.

He looked at my lips like he was memorizing them and then looked back into my eyes.  His seemed a little darker and he licked his bottom lip.  “You can count on it.”

I had to do something to break up the tension, and to get him to let me go because it was a little early in the morning to be jumping anyone.  So I splashed him like any twelve year old would and swam away.  With a look of shock and mischief he started towards me and said, “Oh it’s on now angel girl!”

We splashed and played for a while like we were kids and I hadn’t felt that free in years.  He had a way of knowing exactly what I needed and then he gave it to me.  I was going to have to be careful or I was going to fall for him faster than was really appropriate.

“So where is home for you, Bella?  You said after you were ten you hadn’t really lived anywhere longer than a year.  That’s hard for me to imagine.”

“Oh…uh…good question.  I was born in Washington state and lived in a small town there until my parents divorced.  My dad thought ‘a daughter should be with her mother’, so I went with her.  She bounced us around all over until she finally met her current husband, Phil.  They got together when I was in college, so, you know.  I spent summers with my dad, so I guess if I had to say anywhere it would be in Washington.”

“Where did you go to college?”

“University of Washington…or U-Dub.  How ‘bout you?”

“Bama.  Did you always want to be a nurse?”

“Are we playing twenty questions or something,” I giggled.

“Sure.  Why not?  You know a better way to get to know somebody?”

“I guess not.  Come on.  Let’s get out.  I’m getting cold and hungry,” I said making my way to the bank.

After drying off, we spread out the blanket so that it was in the sun and our bathing suits could dry a little better before we got back on the four-wheeler.  We opened the cooler and started munching on the snacks and drinks Edward had brought for us.

“So, let’s get back to the Q&A portion of our day,” he said grinning at me. 

“What was the last question again?”

“Did you always want to be a nurse?”

“For as long as I can remember, anyway.  I’m not always the most graceful of creatures, so I spent my fair share of time in the E.R.  That’s what helped me make up my mind I guess.  The nurses always gave me special attention it seemed.  How about you?  Did you always want to teach?”

“Not at all,” he chuckled.   “I just kind of fell into that.  Right after high school, I moved to Nashville for a couple of years to try to get a recording contract.  But that didn’t work out and I didn’t want to spend ten years playing in bars or whatever, so I decided it was time to be a grown up and do whatever I could that would still let me be around it all the time,” he said taking a big drink of his Dr. Pepper.

I knew there was more to the Nashville story by the way he furrowed his eyebrows, but I didn’t think today was the day to get into that.  I wanted to keep things light.

“So tell me about your tattoo.  You said you got that when you were away from home?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, turning his arm to me so that I could see it better.  I got this while I was in Nashville actually.  After the first year.”

“Any special meaning other than the obvious?”  It was a treble clef symbol that wound around a cross.

“It’s the two things that are the most important to me, the things that I know I’ll always have no matter what.  God and music.  They are the things that ground me, but also the things that move me.  Those are things no one can take away from me no matter how hard they try.  I mean, I know I have my family, but I didn’t really think getting a tattoo of Emmett was really the best choice,” he laughed.

“Good call on that one,” I agreed.

“How about yours?”

I turned around so that he could see my back and pointed to the small black swan just below the small of my back.  “This one I got right after my dad died.  A swan for obvious reasons, but the design of it is like him…simple, uncomplicated.”  With Charlie, what you saw was what you got.  No pretenses, but that also meant you didn’t really get a lot of easily shown emotion.  And I’m sure that’s why all of the easy outward affection that I had been shown since moving here was so foreign to me.  I had never really been a part of that, even with people I was related to.
He reached out his hand and slowly rubbed his middle finger over the design, over and over, sending an instant shiver up my spine.  His touch was gentle, delicate even though I could feel the callous on his finger tip.  Yeah, he’s not going to be able to do that to my other one.  I’ll combust, not to mention go into a full body blush.

I leaned back on my elbow and pulled the top of my bikini bottoms down just a tad to show him the other tattoo.

“This one was my first.  I got it on my eighteenth birthday.  And my reasoning was kind of the same as yours.  Music was my constant.  My mom sure as hell wasn’t, and I’ve never grown up with church the way you have.  And until I went into nursing, it’s all I ever felt like I really had that was completely mine…something I’d always have.”  I loved that tattoo.  It was the bass and treble clef symbols, but shaped into a heart.  It was feminine and I had never seen another musical tattoo like it.  I fixed my bathing suit back and layed down, closing my eyes while I absorbed the sun.

Edward had been quiet for a while, and I had nearly fallen asleep from the breeze and the sound of the creek when he spoke again.

“When do you have to decide where to go after this?”

It was so quiet I almost missed it.  I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the sun so I could see him better.  He was lying on his side with his hand propping up his head staring down at me.  Looking into his bright green eyes I saw…something, although I couldn’t be sure what.   Sadness maybe?

“A while.  I just got here, Edward.  Are you trying to get rid of me already?” I asked, trying to diffuse the heaviness that seemed to be hanging between us.

He grinned his boyish mischief at me saying “No, I just need to know what kind of timeline I’m working with.”

Well that was unexpected.

“My contract is up at the end of February, so I’ll probably decide after the New Year.  What do you mean timeline?”

He took his finger and ran it from the tip of my nose, over my brow and down my jaw line putting loose hairs behind my ear.  “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he said with a wink.  And of course he was still twirling those hairs between his fingers.  Like his nearness wasn’t enough to send electricity through my entire body, but to be touching…something…anything.  It was about to be my undoing.

Suddenly Edward stood up and reached out for my hand.  “C’mon.  I have more to show you before supper.”  We packed everything back up and put our ‘play clothes’ back on and took off again on the four- wheeler.  Apparently you can get all over this town on back roads.  I had started to worry that we might get arrested because we weren’t exactly the picture of safety with no helmets, plus, wasn’t it against the law no matter what road you were on?

“Not to be a spoil sport, but isn’t this illegal, being out on the roads on a four-wheeler?  I mean, what if we get arrested?” I asked.

“You’re shittin’ me right?  Did you forget that Jasper is the sheriff?  I have so much stuff on him I could practically arrest him!” he yelled over the engine.

I guess I never thought of it that way.  Alice was right.  Of course, I always knew it was good to have the law on your side.  And by on your side, I meant in your family.

He showed me the house he grew up in, where Alice and Jasper and Rose and Emmett live, the football stadium letting me know I was expected to be there every Friday night, the ice cream shop that had been in business since before segregation as evidenced by the two separate fountains on the side of the building, the old drive in movie theater which apparently still runs every summer, and finally he slowed in front of the church building.  It was gorgeous.  It was a light brick building built in the early 1900s and had the most beautiful mosaic of stained glass windows I had ever seen. 

“It’s awesome, right?”

“I don’t think awesome does it justice, Edward.  I’ve never seen a more beautiful church building.”
“I tried to time the ride just right.”  He looked over to the courthouse in the middle of the town square and then back at the church.  “Wait for it…” I looked at him completely confused.  And then…

The bells housed in the steeple tower started their chorus.  I closed my eyes as I listened to the melody, feeling the love song they played for the whole town to hear.  I leaned my cheek on Edward’s back that was warm from the sun and just let it all surround me, the music and the man.  In that moment, I had things that made me feel whole; I wanted for absolutely nothing.  As they finished their song Edward reached up to hold both of my hands that were squeezing around his chest.  He kissed them both and leaned back into me and asked, “Will you come with me?”

“Come with you where?” I asked, putting my chin on his shoulder.

“Tomorrow.  To church.  Will you come with me and sit with my family?”

The uncertainty in his voice bewildered me.  I can’t believe he doesn’t know yet that I’ll go with him anywhere.

“Of course.”

He turned his head to the side so he could look into my eyes.  “Really?”

I nodded.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just know it’s not really your thing.  It’s not for everyone, especially if you haven’t grown up with it your whole life.”

“But it’s important to you.  So I’ll go.”

He raised my hands to his mouth giving them gentle kisses.  “Thank you.  This means more than you know,” he mumbled against my knuckles.

“Anytime.”

We stared at the church a few more minutes, him giving me a little history on the building before leaving to go back home.  Once we got back closer to the house, he turned off on a trail that led back down to the creek.

“You wanna drive?”

“Are you serious?”

“Sure.  Why not?”

“I’ve never driven anything like this.  What if I wreck?”

“We’re on a small trail, Bella.  It’s not like we are gonna be goin’ fifty miles an hour.  Just trust me.  I’m a good teacher,” he said giving me a grin.

I bit my lip, thinking it over, knowing it probably wasn’t a good idea.  What did I know about these things?  But hey, it was an opportunity.  Plus, I realized Edward would be sitting behind me.  Holding onto me…somewhere.  Scratch that.  Major opportunity.  Carpe diem…and all that.

“Ok.  I’ll try.  Don’t start crying and blame me if I run us into a tree or something and destroy your man toy.  I gave you fair warning,” I told him sliding up the seat while he got on behind me.
“This one is automatic, so you won’t have to worry about shifting gears or anything.  Everything you need to know is right here on the handle bars,” he said reaching around me placing his hands over mine.  “These right here,” he said moving my hands, “are the breaks.  One is for the front and one is for the rear.  This button right here is the throttle.  It’s what makes us go.  And that’s pretty much it.  Any questions?”

“I think I got it.”

“Ok.  Put the gear shift in 4 wheel low and take off…slowly.  I don’t want you to throw me off the back of this thing,” he added.  Smart ass.

I started off down the trail slowly, getting the feel for the machine.  Meanwhile, it seemed like Edward was getting a little bit of a feel for me.  He started out with his hands on my hips.  As my heartbeat sped up, so did my speed on the four-wheeler.  He leaned into my back sliding his hands to my thighs, slightly gripping the outsides, rubbing his thumbs back and forth on the tops.  I drove and breathed faster.  He leaned in and placed a light kiss on the very back of my neck, dragging his two day scruff over to put his chin on my shoulder.  I couldn’t help the giggle I let out from the tickle and tingle it left behind.

“If you don’t stop, I promise I will wreck.  You’re not playing fair.”

“I never said I would.”

“Satan.”

“Jezebel.”

“Why would you call me that?  I’m not the one teasing.”

“Who said I was teasing?  I plan on following through,” he said placing another kiss on my shoulder.

Killing me.

“Hmmm…we’ll see about that.”

He kept his hands and his face where they were, only occasionally nuzzling my neck with his nose.  I slowed down, only to prolong his actions.  It was some sweet torture and I was fine with that kind of discipline.

He told me to pull up by my house.  The sun was getting lower in the sky and we were starving after a day of play.  “I’ll bring some steaks if you have something to go with it.  I’m gonna put this thing up and take a quick shower.  We can have supper after that if it’s ok with you?”  When would he learn he didn’t have to ask?  Such a gentleman.

“Works for me.  How about a movie afterward?  You can bring something, or I have plenty.”

“We’ll figure it out.  I’ll be back in a little bit,” he said giving me a wink before disappearing around the side of the house.

Lord, help me make it through this night, because if he doesn’t kiss me, I will combust.  I swear I will.

-x-X-x-

Forty five minutes later I was showered and shaved, singing and swaying while I cooked.  I had my music up loud, trying my best to loosen up before Edward came back over.  He had me so riled up with all of his sweetness mixed with sexiness during the day, I just couldn’t relax. 

As I was cutting the vegetables to roast I saw a hand come to rest on the counter top beside me.  I had not even heard Edward come in the door.

“Those are some wicked little moves for an angel girl,” he said squeezing my opposite hip.  “How am I supposed to take you to church with me?”

“First of all, don’t sneak up on someone holding a knife.  That’s a good way to get yourself killed.  Or if I’m being honest, probably get me killed.  I’m not exactly grace personified.  Secondly, I don’t think dancing in my kitchen is a sin.  Maybe you’re the big sinner Mr. Handsy,” I said giving him a bump with my hip.

“Mmmm…you have a point.  I’m got the grill goin’ on the way in.  What do you need help with?”
“It’s under control in here.  I’m just going to roast these veggies and make a salad.  Is that ok?” I asked placing the pan in the oven.

“Sounds good.  I like the music selection,” he said giving me his signature smirk.  He knew.
It was my playlist of Motown songs I had made after band practice.  It would always remind me of Edward and the sweet cheeziness that was star gazing with him.

“What can I say,” I said lifting myself up to sit on the counter top.  “I was inspired,” I said trying my best to give him a flirty grin.

Apparently it worked.  He walked over to me moving my legs so that he could stand between them.  He curled his fingers behind my knees, rubbing small circles there.  He held my gaze, making me nervous and giving me butterflies.  He licked his bottom lip while I bit mine.  He raised his hand and placed it on the side of my face, his thumb pulling my lip from between my teeth.
“It’s going to be hard to kiss you if you are biting your lip.  Besides, it’s my job to do that.”

Holy mother…

He looked into my eyes one last time, silently asking permission.  I fluttered my eyes closed in submission to whatever he wanted to give.

He brushed down my nose with his.  Then he brushed my lips with his using the gentlest pressure.  Then again with more.  He took my bottom lip between his lips, not biting, yet.  Just tasting and sucking.  I slid my hands up his chest around the base of his neck, pulling him closer with those hands, and soon after my legs.  He tilted his head to deepen our kiss and I followed suit.  I needed to be as close to him as possible.  He ran his tongue across my bottom lip, which caused me to whimper into his mouth.  He answered with a groan and a grind of his own.  Our tongues met, sliding and swirling slowly.  Tasting and touching.  He had a hand in my hair and I realized I was matching his movements, twirling the hair at the nape of his neck.  It was wet and warm and sweet and everything a first kiss should be.  I could live here.  Right here in this exact moment.  He moved his lips to my jaw placing more chaste kisses there and trailing them over to below my ear where he sucked the skin there just slightly.

“You can be off of friendship probation if you keep doing that,” I panted.  He gave me a light chuckle in my ear. 

“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you on your porch, and while it was completely worth the wait, I don’t think I’ll be waiting anymore,” he said while biting my ear lobe.

“So help me God if you ever wait again I’ll shoot you with my dad’s gun.”  Gah, I still couldn’t breathe!

He gave me a few more kisses, nipping at my lips playfully. 

“I better get these steaks on or I’m going to have a hard time not defiling these counter tops with you.”

I grinned evilly, “It seems like you are already having a hard time,” I said pulling him closer with my legs.

“ You know, I think you’re the bestest friend I’ve ever had,” he said, resting his forehead against mine.

“Ditto.”

“Let me go woman,” he said, reaching back to unwind my legs from his waist, “or we are going to starve.”

-x-X-x-

Supper was delicious, as was the conversation and the not so subtle nudges under the table.  Conversation was easy with us.  We talked about favorite books, music, movies, colors, ice cream, pizza toppings and sports teams.  I found that we could also talk about things that have nothing to do with us, and that the conversation was just as engaging.  And, my gosh the man can make me laugh!  I had no idea he was so adamant about a Blizzard from Dairy Queen.  Apparently, even though he agrees that the only perfect marriage that has ever existed in this world was when peanut butter and chocolate got together; there is NOTHING better to him than a Snickers Blizzard.  According to him, there is guy who works at the DQ in town who knows the perfect candy bar soft serve ratio and it can actually be better than sex.  Well, as long as the right person made the Blizzard and depending on whom you are sexin’ it up with, he amended.  See what I mean?  He’s my kind of nuts.

Although our conversation came easily, so did the quietness.  After cleaning up the kitchen, which I had to banish him from because all he was good for was trying to distract me with sweet touches and kisses to my neck, I walked out on the front porch to find him playing his own guitar.  I hadn’t even realized he had brought it with him.

“What happened to watching a movie?” I asked taking a seat beside him.

“I have one picked out.  I just thought I’d come out here and get out of your way before I was put back on probation.”

“I thought you figured out how to stay off of it,” I grinned and nudged his shoulder.
“Mmmm…maybe so,” he said, leaning in and giving me a quick kiss on the lips, much quicker than I wanted it to be if I’m honest.

“Are you going to play me something, or are we going inside?”

“How ‘bout first one, then the other?”

“MmKay.”

He began playing his guitar, a bluesy riff that I recognized, although I hadn’t heard this version of the song.

Well my baby, she's alright,
Well my baby, she's clean out-of-sight.
Don't you know that she's ... she's some kind of wonderful.
She's some kind of wonderful ... yes she is, she's,
She's some kind of wonderful, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhh ...
When I hold her in my arms,
You know she sets my soul on fire.
Oooh, when my baby kisses me,
My heart becomes filled with desire.
When she wraps her lovin' arms around me,
About drives me out of my mind.
Yeah, when my baby kisses me,
Chills run up and down my spine.
He continued playing.  He is a flirt, to be certain.  But he is also the most genuine person I think I have ever met.  He had spent this whole day showing me as much as he could about who he is and where he comes from.  That meant infinitely more to me than if we had just sat and talked.  The only missing part was his time away from here.  But today, that didn’t matter.  He was showing me what was him, what was real, and I was content to soak it all in.

After the song we went inside and cozied up on the couch to play a movie that we didn’t watch.  It seemed like it was more fun to make out like teenagers who only just learned how to kiss.  And maybe we had just learned how because I knew for a fact I had never been kissed like Edward kissed me.  He would ruin me for other men.  And that thought alone made my heart clench.  I didn’t think I’d ever want another man, and the thought of him kissing anyone else but me made me want to get my claws out and sharpen them all Ginsu knife style.

As the moon rose higher in the sky, my eyelids began to droop.  It was a long day and my heart was plum full of what it held.  Edward was steadily running his fingers through my tangled hair only helping the beat of his heart lull me into a peaceful sleep.  I woke up at two in the morning half warm and half cold.  The half that was warm was the part that was smooshed up against Edward as he held me tightly to him on the couch.  The part that was cold was my backside that was facing the living room.  That was aided by the fact that where Edward held me was where he had his hand pushed up the back of my shirt, allowing my skin more of a draft.

I quietly removed myself from Edward, locking up the house and grabbing a blanket to put over him.  I studied him for a minute before going upstairs to bed.  He was beautiful…more so than any man had the right to be.  His lashes were dark and long and kissed his cheekbones.  His lips were soft and slightly pursed, almost waiting to be kissed it seemed.  Who was I to deny this beautiful man?  I covered him up to his chin, leaning over to give him that last kiss of the day.  It was a heady thought, knowing that I was the first one he saw this morning and the last one he saw tonight.  And I found myself hoping it could be that way more often.

I walked up the stairs and fell back to sleep more quickly than I would have thought possible, considering everything wonderful that was swirling around in my head. 

I woke up later that morning feeling completely rested and completely warm and completely…surrounded.  I tried to roll over to my back, but it seemed there was something, or someone rather, that was more content to hold me right where I was.  I laid there for a minute, listening to the sound of the summer storm tapping against my windows behind my headboard, trying to figure out how this happened again, not that I was especially disappointed.

“Edward…”

“Hmm…”

“What are you doing in my bed?”

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