AN: Here's a Jasper POV I promised Annie Butts for her birthday so many moons ago. I hope she's out there reading. You're missed, girly. I'm still working on SoCal28 and will be in your possession shortly. Thanks for the reviews and the love of welcoming me back!

I don't own Twilight or Savages, but you knew that.

*Coming into View*

11:47...come on, 11:48.

My knee bounces as I watch the dashboard clock. Edward's flight is coming in around noon. He's got a week's leave in the states before he's heading back to finish up his last tour. At least, he says it's his last. I drove down to San Francisco from Berkeley to meet up with him, but time is moving slowly, and quite possibly going backward.

How can one-minute feel like an hour? It must be the weed. I smoked two joints since this morning and working up to my third. This newest batch of my herb is meant to calm me down.

Yeah, it's not working.

I shouldn't be this anxious. Even though it's been over a year since I've last seen him, it's Edward. He's my best friend and brother. The only asshole in this world I trust with my life.

He's also the only guy I've found myself attracted to.

Another glance at the clock, and my phone rings. I answer it without looking.

"Yeah?"

"Where you at?" Edward asks, but he sounds out of breath, and there's heavy distortion in the background.

"I'm in the parking garage by your terminal on level three." I turn off the Jeep and get out.

"You couldn't meet me at baggage claim like a fucking gentleman?"

I laugh. "And you told me not to make a big deal out of it."

By the time I reach the doors to go inside, Edward comes strolling out. He's still in his navy-blue fatigues, avoiding eye contact with everyone but me.

"Hey, asshole." He drops his duffel bag to the ground and pulls me into a hug. It's a tight, strong one, and 364 days' worth. He's missed me too.

"It's good to see you, man," I say. Edward loosens his grip enough for me to lean back and cup his face. "You look good."

"You too." He puts a hand on my shoulder and gently pushes me away.

I'm not offended and step back to give him space. I hadn't planned on kissing him, not here at the airport anyway, but even in a town known for its acceptance, people are giving us curious stares as they pass. It's humorous, and that sort of attention never bothered me, but my sexuality isn't up for debate. I know who I am.

Edward's still handcuffed to society's views and isn't as open.

"You hungry?" I change the subject and pick up his bag.

"Yeah. I'm fucking famished." He follows behind me as I walk towards the Jeep, and speaks so low, I barely catch it. "One of these days, man."

I tell him to take his time.

One day, on some beach far away, he won't be afraid to show the world who he is or who he loves.

*()*

We go to his favorite Seafood and Steakhouse on Pier 39. It's packed at this time of day with tourist and locals, but the service is top notch. I'm a 25% tipper with the worst of the worst, so when I'm here, I go above and beyond. You must pay it forward.

"Another year and that's it. We're done," I say and ceremoniously hold up my beer.

Edward taps his bottle to mine. "Ain't nothing but a sea of green, brother."

Our whole lives since we were seventeen has been leading up to this moment in time, where I get my degrees and Edward's out of the Navy. The business is all we ever talk about, and it's getting so close to being realized. It's an exciting time. There's only one thing that could derail our plans.

"You just gotta keep yourself alive over there, " I say.

It feels like I'm always telling him this shit, and I know he's tired of hearing it, but Edward's the type to throw himself on a grenade to save his men. He needs to understand his suicidal behavior is unacceptable.

"This tour isn't going to drop me in a combat zone." He glances over his shoulder and then leans across the table. "If anything, I'll be fucking training Arabs all day and then jacking off at night. You don't have to worry."

"Yeah, that's what you said the last tour." I gesture with my beer to his jagged, protruding scars that cover his right eye and neck. "It's still a man's war over there."

"A man's war as opposed to what?"

"Animals live in harmony with each other, " I say with a shrug. "Man is the deadliest and most violent mammal on earth."

"And what about that lion that takes down the gazelle and rips out his throat? That's some violent and bloody shit too."

I give the nod towards the half-eaten steak on his plate. "How do you take your gazelle, rare or medium rare?"

He laughs. "This is cow."

"Yeah, and my point is, we wage wars against other men for power and wealth. Millions will die for these materialistic causes. The Lion was just trying to get his grub on. He kills to survive. There's no comparison."

He studies me without saying a word for a long minute, but I hear what he's thinking as if it's being said out loud.

"Buddha ate meat." I pick up my bleu cheese burger and bite into it. "And so shall I."

"You can keep on with that Hindu bullshit of yours, but sometimes violence is necessary to bring peace and balance into this world."

"You can easily negotiate peace with words."

Edward laughs, but soon his tone turns serious. "What savage understands negotiation? Let alone the words it involves? No matter how good your intentions are, bad will slit your throat the first chance it gets."

"Then my throat gets slit," I say as he shakes his head. "I'm not going to endorse violence. It just begets more violence."

"You will resort to anything to protect what you love. Trust me. Hopefully, for your sake, it never comes to that."

We've had this discussion many times before, but neither one of us is willing to budge. We're both stubborn as fuck and set in our beliefs. I'm the healer, and he's...well, he's the one who is refusing to heal.

Edward sensing this could go on all day decides to change the subject. "What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?"

"School, plants, smoking, surfing." In that order. "You know, the usual."

"The usual, huh?" He quirks an eyebrow. "Have you hooked up with anyone?"

"I don't have time for that sort of distraction," I say with a snort, but a beautiful girl pops into my head and Edward catches it.

"Bullshit! Who is she?"

I refocus that image to another face, one that's safe and one that I can talk about with him. "No one really, just some chick I met a while back ago at this frat party. We hung out a few times, but nothing happened. It's just…" My sentence lingers there because it doesn't matter how smart or fun Amy was, things with her were never going to progress. She was studying criminology, anti-legalizing marijuana, and she voted for Bush. A triple whammy. "I ended things before they could start."

"Why?"

"There was too much shit going on. You were coming down. I had finals, and well..." I say, but there was only one main issue on why things with this girl would never work out, and it was a biggie. "She wasn't going to fit with us."

"Fit with us?" He pulls the bottle from his lips slowly and narrows his eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

I stuff my hands in my pockets and finger the joint that's itching to be lit and smoked. It's like a stress relief ball.

"She was nice, but I wasn't interested enough to try, and she wasn't willing to accept my relationship with you. It was a no-win situation."

"Jesus, Jasper, not this shit again." Edward groans. "We've tried the thing with the girls before, remember? How well did that fucking turn out?"

There are a few attempts of ours to choose from, but the main one that sticks out is Maria. She was my first girlfriend. I thought I was in love. However, this chick had only one goal in mind, and that was Edward. He was untouchable to girls back then, and Maria saw me as a gateway. I didn't mind that she liked him. The idea of sharing her with my best friend was kind of this 'new age' shit I'd read about from my mom's Cosmo magazines. I only wanted to make her happy, and Edward only agreed to it to make me happy.

It lasted a week. Slowly, Maria started calling me less and less and hanging out with him more and more. Our threesome became a twosome, but when she told Edward she was in love with him and always had been, he bailed.

He vowed never to get caught up in my shit again, but I can be annoyingly persuasive.

"But that's just one bad example," I argue. "It's not indicative of all future experiences."

Edward raises his hand to call the server over. "Your optimism is naive. Three people in a relationship can't make it work. It's an odd number. One person has to be left out to make everything even."

"I refuse to believe that."

"Doesn't make it any less true." He heaves a sigh and rubs his hands over his face. "Look, it's gotta be one way or the other. You can't have both worlds."

"And I agree with you." I lean over the table and pull his hands away. He straightens up but doesn't push me back. "That's why I ended things with her."

It's a dick way to be, but why waste some girl's time or give her the wrong impression? My two main priorities were Edward and the cannabis.

"What if you meet that girl who changes your mind and you fucking fall for her?"

He's accusing me of lying, but it's only to mask his fear.

I know that feeling all too well.

One day, maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day, Edward will find someone and move on from me. Our friendship and brotherly bond will always be there and remain intact, but that one thing we've had since we were fourteen will be taken away by another person.

It's inevitable.

However, what if someone came into my life and made me rethink my priorities? What then? This girl would have to be something unexpected and beyond my expectations, but how fucking likely would that chance encounter be?

"Not very likely," I say to myself but in turn answer his question.

"We'll see."

I pull out my wallet from my front pocket and drop down a couple of hundred-dollar bills. I'm sure the tab will only come to ninety bucks or something, but I don't need the change. "You ready?"

Edward slams the last bit of his beer and bobs his head. "Let's go."

*()()*

My day to day life is putting one foot in front of the other. There's no preconceived purpose in my step. I surf the waves and follow the currents. It's easy and uncomplicated. Then there are times when I plan everything down to the littlest of detail. This weekend shows my meticulous side to make things perfect.

I went to great lengths to ensure Edward feels at home. He didn't want to go to Laguna for these six days, in fear he may never want to leave, but he wanted to be close to water and close to me.

Like I told him, wherever he decided to land, I would be there to pick him up.

"What do you think?" I close the hotel door and lean against it. "Not bad, right?"

"Not bad at all." Edward drops the duffel bag at his feet and sits down on the bed. He pulls off his hat and looks over at me. "It's been a long time."

My throat tightens. "For me too."

Edward nods and glances down at his hands. He's cracking his knuckles repeatedly. That's a nervous tick for him. I would suggest we smoke the joint I have in my pocket, but he can't in the Navy because of the frequent drug testing.

"Just because we talked about it, doesn't mean we have to."

He keeps his gaze down. "I want to."

The hesitancy and shyness we feel right now was unusual, and it creates this suffocating tension.

I want to be with Edward, but unsure if I should make the first move or wait for him. He has just gotten off a plane and must be exhausted.

Do I woo him?

Jesus, would he even let me?

"I'm totally out of my realm here, man." I want to run my hands through my hair and curse under my breath when my fingers meet tight braids. "But this thing between us, I don't understand it or know why I feel the way I do, but when I see you, I just…"

"Fuck it!"

Edward springs up from the bed and comes at me in two large strides. He slams his body into mine and pushes me up against the door. Grabbing my face, my best friend kisses me. I'm stunned by the strength of his mouth and the force behind his need, but I want this as much as he does, and it doesn't take me long to react.

My hands take his face and hold him there. He grunts and shoves his dick into my leg. I lose all control as the attraction and love for him spike to incredible levels. Slipping and sliding my tongue with his, I push him backward. He's not used to being led, but he knows where I want him and goes willingly.

We can't stop kissing, and our hands move blindly from our faces and down to our clothes. I'm yanking on the belt to Edward's slacks, and he's ripping the buttons off my shirt. I'm shaking, and the simplest of tasks seem damn-near impossible, but I don't want to stop tasting his mouth.

Edward tumbles to the bed, and I land on top of him. He hooks his fingers in the waistline of my jeans, tugging, and forcefully trying to get them down.

I'm further than he is, the belt tossed to the floor, and his pants unbuttoned. I slip my hand down and grab him. He groans at the contact, simultaneously biting my bottom lip and ramming his hips into me. Pressing my forehead into his, I stare into his eyes as I stroke him.

It's a fucking struggle right now to keep my calm. Just being with Edward in this way after all this time is getting me closer than I like. I haven't come prematurely like some teenager in years and refuse to let that shit happen now.

Clearing my mind, I kiss him again and double my efforts. It's slick from just the pre-cum, and my movements are getting faster, more frenetic. Edward's breathing hard, unable to keep pace and moans against my lips.

I sit up and remove my hand, but he follows me, gripping my neck and pulling me back down to his mouth.

Edward's trying to stall the inescapable. He wants this, but it's been a few years, and that guilt he used to harbor about his sexuality lingers.

"Trust me," I say as soon as our lips part.

He barely nods, but concedes, lifting his hips just enough for me to pull his pants down to his ankles.

I grip him and squeeze. He grunts as his cock twitches. My eyes follow the path of the teardrop of pre-cum as it rolls down his shaft. Our eyes always keep each other's as I lean down and capture that drop with the tip of my tongue. Trailing the salty path back up to the head of his penis, I flick the slit and suck it dry.

"Shit." He puts a hand on the back of my head and nudges me forward. He wants more.

I take him all the way into my mouth until my chin his flush with his pubes. Deliberately, I pull back and suck in my cheeks to create a suction. He loves and hates when I do this. The quick gratification suits him best. Fuck them hard until you bust. I'm enjoying the moments between us and the prolonging of the act. Sex to me is an experience and not a necessity to nut.

Taking him into my mouth again, I pick up the tempo. He's got both his hands on my head, pushing me down just as his hips come up. It gets hectic real fast, bobbing and sucking at a pace I can't contend with, and I grab him at the base of his dick to slow it down. My hand and mouth are in sync now, a musical quartet of a natural and steady flow.

"Fuck!" He hisses through his clenched teeth. "Come here."

I'm being brought up to his lips and into a kiss like no other. He sucks on my tongue, no doubt tasting himself, and shoves his hands down the backside of my pants, grabbing my ass. I grow even harder when he sticks a finger into me.

Edward flips me over on my back. I slip off my jeans as he removes his top fatigue and undershirt. My eyes widen. My best friend has put on twenty pounds since I last saw him. He's not the lean surfer boy I used to know, but a man.

It's intimidating and a turn on.

That's when shit becomes a blur, and it reminds me of our first time together. We were young, inexperienced, and looking for a release. The confusion we felt during that moment when our feelings materialized into a physical act was chaotic and messy, but it changed everything.

Today isn't unlike that day with the want and need we have toward each other, but we've grown since. The unsure, uncoordinated fourteen-year-olds are men now and know what works. Edward feels vulnerable with me and needs to be in control. I understand this and get on all fours. He spits in his hand, rubbing himself and lubricating my hole. My body tenses as I brace myself for the uncomfortable penetration.

There's pressure, and Edward goes slow and eases his way through. It's too dry. I'm gripping my dick to distract from the pain. He pulls out and spits on his hand again. This 'pull out and spit and go back in' happens several times until it's good and there's no discomfort.

I know this first time will be quick.

Edward hasn't been with anyone in over six months. He needs the nut. The guy's been complaining about how much his dick has been hurting and jacking off isn't doing shit for him anymore. Sometimes, it only makes matters worse.

Nothing beats the real thing.

"Fuccck!" He's got a death grip on me as he loses his hold on the world and smashes his body into mine.

The strain in my balls is building, and I'm feverishly stroking my cock. It's fucking intense, and without warning, I come all over my hand. I jerk away, but Edward jerks me back. My balance is thrown off, and I can't keep myself up under the burden of one arm, so I'm back to all fours again. I make a mental note to clean the comforter—then god-damn! All that courtesy shit becomes second to the pleasure as Edward's cock pressed against my prostate and keeps the jolts of my orgasm going.

"God, fuck—shit!" He doesn't pull out as he comes.

My arms are weak and shaky. I won't be able to hold myself upright for long. The stress of the day, mixed with copious weed, delicious food, and the excellent company feels like a heaviness on my back. Logic tells me the weight is Edward, but I work well with metaphors, and suddenly it's the world that's out of breath and resting on me.

"Hey, man," I say with a grunt.

"Sorry," he says and falls beside me on the mattress.

I unlock my elbows and collapse face first into the pillows.

We don't speak for a few minutes. Edward's head isn't fogged by his dick anymore, and now he's struggling with the repercussions of what fucking around with me means. I'm not concerned with titles or defining sexuality. Most people aren't me and need to put things they don't understand into a box. I've told Edward many times that I'm not gay, and I do like women, but he's the anomaly in my world. The love for him as my best friend became too strong for me to hold inside and expressing it outwardly was the only way I knew how to lessen the concentration.

If I were to suppress it, I would spontaneously combust into flames.

"When you get a girl, this shit has got to stop," Edward says, and when I glance over at him, he's got his hands covering his face.

"Do you think that I don't know that?" I ask. It saddens me that any woman who gets serious with me can't know about my past or my feelings for my best friend. Everything I say to them will feel like a lie. "Unless…"

Edward chuckles. "You won't give it up."

He's got every right to be skeptical. The perfect idea in my head will never come to life, but it doesn't stop me from hoping that the stars will collide and align for us.

"It's a tall order, I know."

"Man, you're asking for the impossible!" Edward's got fire in his voice. "Even if there was a girl who was okay with fucking two guys at once and the guys fucking each other from time to time, what about me?"

I'm shaking my head confused. "What about you?"

"Don't I get a say in any of this? You choose the girl and convince her to be with us, but you can't control my feelings or force me to…" He sighs. "I don't fall in love just because you want it enough. You should've seen that when you brought in Maria, Jen, and…"

"Kirsten," I answer with regret.

"Yeah, you pluck out these women and force them on me, but it never happens. I get off on the fuck, but that connection you think will spring up like a bud of weed is just a delusion. You need to move on from the dream and get a fucking girl to love."

I get up and sit on the side of the bed. "You've got a point, but…"

"Fuck!" Edward's up too, but he's getting dressed. "I love you, man, but you're more damaged than I am."

"Where are you going?" I ask.

He's in full fatigues now, and it's impressive to see how pristine and smooth the fabric looks on him. "There's a corner store a block from here, and I need a beer."

I nod.

It's his escape when he can't smoke weed. The moment he leaves I'm going to finish off the joint I've been salivating to have since his plane landed. We'll need to get our heads right if we're going to get shit straight this week. There are limited hours in a day, and our business will come before anything—that means love, friendship, and family.

Which reminds me.

"I forgot to tell you about Charlie," I say as Edward's putting on his hat and heading for the door.

"What about that fucker?"

Charlie Swan is a retired DEA agent, an old friend to my parents and an even closer friend to Edward's deceased parents, but Edward and Charlie have always clashed. They were two strong personalities, stubborn and their beliefs and rarely able to compromise. I kept the peace between them because we'll need Charlie when he finishes his 'sabbatical' or mental health leave and goes back to work. That ally in the DEA will come in handy in our business.

It doesn't hurt that the guy is a big fan of my chronic.

"His daughter is coming down to live with him next month."

Edward scoffs. "Did her mother die or something?"

I shrug. "Not sure. Charlie only mentioned it a few months ago as he was leaving my house."

"Well, he better stay the course and not let his kid ruin our plans."

Edward hates when shit gets complicated.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," I say and put on my pants. "From the way he talks, they're not that close. She doesn't visit him and…"

"You need to find out how this will affect our business," he interrupts.

"I'm seeing him next week. I'll find out more then. If it becomes an issue, we'll drop him."

Edward likes that plan and salutes me as he goes.

When I blaze up on my joint, I feel a tinge of guilt for lying to my best friend. Charlie was more forthcoming about his daughter. Her name was Isabella or Bella. Charlie says she gets angry when people full-name her. She's sixteen, a junior in high school, and lives in Phoenix. The mother couldn't control her anymore and asked for Charlie's help. I guess the girl likes to steal. That's why she's moving out here. Her dad's an old cop and will shape her up.

It was a last-ditch effort to reform their kid.

None of that interested me until Charlie slipped up and showed me a picture of Bella.

I sigh and fall back on the bed as her face comes into view. "Game over."