We Met

My brother was getting married before me. He was only 23, barely out of university. But he was in love, apparently. His girlfriend/fiancée/almost-wife was gorgeous, too. Of course the first and only girl Emmett dated would be hotter than any girl I'd even seen in my life. Emmett's life was always slightly better than mine.

He was a couple inches taller than me. He didn't even have to work out to gain muscle mass. He had dark hair and blue eyes and dimples, which every fucking girl we came across seemed to fall for. He was easy-going and it was almost effortless to have a conversation with him. He got offered scholarships from five different schools for football. He was going to play in the NFL.

I was pretty much a fucking failure compared to him, in other words.

But, I did love my brother. He was my best friend, as much as I hated to admit that, even though I was 25, and should've been mature enough to just accept that fact.

So, here I was, sitting through the wedding. The ceremony was boring. I almost nodded off while the priest rambled on. But, I was the best man, so I was close to the centre of attention, and couldn't do anything to ruin Em and Ro's wedding. Ro would slaughter me if I embarrassed her.

The pictures sped by, mostly because we were finally allowed to consume alcohol. I goofed off with Jasper, Ro's brother, and hit on Alice, Ro's best friend and Jasper's girlfriend – teasingly, of course. I wished Ro would've picked someone other than Em and mine's cousin, Angela, to be her second bridesmaid. Being able to actually flirt with someone would've made it more bearable. Hooking up with a girl would've have made the wedding fun instead of painful.

The limo dropped the six of us off at the Forks Community Hall to attend the supper, reception, and dance. Three of five of my favourite things at weddings. Now all I needed to do was get some free booze in me and find some good looking girls to chase after, and we'd be headed towards perfection.

Supper was delicious, and the speeches passed quickly, thankfully. I welcomed Ro to the family during my best man's speech, and Jasper welcomed Em to his family. Alice gave an emotional speech about how amazing Ro was, and how lucky Em was to capture her. Yeah, I heard that loud of clear.

Ro was gorgeous. Perfection to a T. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and she was skinny with curves in all the right places. She liked to drink beer, she liked to watch football, and she was obsessed with cars. She was every man's wet dream with a helping of a good personality on top. I still didn't understand what she was doing with Emmett.

Emmett and Ro had their first dance to Amazed by Lonestar, and Alice and I, and Jasper and Angela soon joined in, along with our parents and every other couple in the place. Jasper cut in to take his girlfriend, and Angela's fiancé, Ben, took over for Jasper.

I sighed and made my way to the bar.

"Can I get two rye and coke?" I asked the guy.

"Make that four!" a voice from behind me called.

I turned around to see a short brunette grinning as she squeezed her way to the front of the line.

"Sorry 'bout that," she apologized, still grinning, and obviously not sorry at all. "I'm gunna need a couple of those before I hit the dance floor. You're Edward, right?"

"Um, yes," I replied, my brow furrowing. "How do you know who I am?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're the best man. They announced your name a couple of times tonight."

"Right," I murmured, grabbing my rye from the bar tender. "What's your name?"

"Bella," the girl replied, a smile overtaking her face again. "I was Ro's roommate all through college."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Bella," I told her with a grin. "Save me a dance after those rye, eh?"

"You'll have to find me first!" she called back, walking in the opposite direction of me.

I stared at her as she walked away. She was in a short navy blue dress with black heels. Her hair was down, but clipped off to one side, exposing her neck and a small tattoo of a bird between her ear and her hairline. She was short, but, damn, her legs looked like they went on for miles.

Well, this wedding was turning out to be pretty damn good.