BPOV
"God, this party is lame." My best friend Harrie rolls her blue eyes, sighing loudly as the two of us stand in the middle of my living room, watching friends, and friends of friends, mill around. There are bro-hugs, and back-slaps, weird handshakes and air kisses floating around the room as people mingle, spreading holiday cheer and merriment like its fucking herpes.
My cousin, Tia, convinced me to have a little Christmas gathering. A soirée she called it. A pain in my ass is what it is. The last week has been hectic at work; my shoulders hurt, my wrists are sore, and if I have to look at another cheesy tribal-looking tramp stamp, I'll kill myself. It might be my party, but tonight, I would rather be upstairs asleep, wrapped up in my new down comforter, warm and snuggly, watching Golden Girls reruns.
Oh my God.
On second thoughts, I'd rather be upstairs with the guy who's just walked in my front door.
Merry Christmas to me.
He's tall - at least a head taller than the people around him. I only catch glimpses of him as he skulks through the room, his hood still pulled up over his head hiding his face from full view. His shoulders are hunched like he's trying not to draw attention to himself – and really, it's probably a good idea since I have no idea who he is, or what he's doing in my house. Still, I watch him surreptitiously, trying to hold a conversation with the people around me, while keeping tabs on this cute guy in my living room.
Finally, my curiosity gets the better of me.
"Hey, Harrie - who's that with the hoodie on? Over by the window."
Harrie adjusts her ridiculous non-prescription glasses, squinting into them like she actually needs them to see. Idiot.
"With the beanie?"
I nod, peeking over my shoulder briefly. God, he's ridiculous.
"Oh -" Harrie flaps her hands around, pressing her palm to her forehead. "That's … ahhh … oh fuck, what's his name? Hey, Tia - who's that guy with Jasper?"
Tia turns, her dark, exotic-looking eyes scanning the room. A little smile plays across her lips as she spots tall and broody across the room. "That's Edward."
"It's Edward," echoes Harrie.
"Yeah, I heard." I turn to Tia. "So he's one of Jasper's friends?"
She shrugs. "I guess. Why?" Both she and Harrie narrow their eyes at me, and I shrug, tucking the hand that's not wrapped around my beer, into my back pocket.
"He's cute is all."
Harrie peeks at this Edward dude from behind her behemoth of a boyfriend, and Jake snorts, giving Edward a sidelong glance, crossing his arms over his broad, ink-covered chest.
"He's a bit skinny," he says, and I take another swig of beer, swallowing the last of the almost warm liquid. I guess he is skinny, but then compared to Jake, everyone looks thin. I watch over Tia's shoulder as his hands flail wildly as he talks to Jasper, disappearing into his hood and under a black knit cap for a moment. I want to stop looking, stop staring across the apartment like a fucking creepy bitch, but when a gorgeous blonde approaches him, my heart makes a little flip-flop in my chest and I can't look away. Is that his girlfriend? Fuck, she's hot. I definitely don't know her .
"Where's the bathroom, Iz?"
Hearing my name snaps me out of my staring, and I turn, wrenching my eyes away. "Hallway by the stairs, first door on the right."
