Chapter Three- Peyton's Party.

Peyton's party is everything you hope a party will be- music and dancing and free drinks and good food and everyone happy and laughing and enjoying themselves. I'm right in the centre of things, exactly where I want to be.

I'm aware of Royce watching me, and I let him know that I know with flirting sideways glances and the occasional smile when our eyes meet. Neither of us approach the other yet though, letting the anticipation and heat build.

Inevitably we end up in the hot tub towards the end of the night. Girls first, stripping off dresses and jumping in in bikinis and underwear, while the boys watch. Then Royce and a couple of his buddies jump into the hot tub too, causing a tidal wave that sweeps all of us girls off our seats. There's shrieking and laughter and a lot of under-the-water groping as everyone struggles to find a place.

I feel a pair of strong hands wrap around my waist and I'm pulled back through the water and onto Royce's lap. For a moment I laugh and let him hold me, tinglingly aware of his powerful thighs under my ass and the way his arms feel so strong as they encircle me, before I wriggle off his lap and sit beside him. Royce watches me with amusement and then deliberately shifts his thigh so that it's pressing against mine under the water. I pretend not to notice.

"Beer?" Royce reaches behind him and brings out two cups, offering me one.

"Sure." I take it and sip, making a face. I like beer well enough when it's cold, but this is half warm and flat and tastes vile.

Royce laughs. "Cocktail girl?"

"I don't mind beer." I tip the cup back and throw the rest down. I'm already pretty hammered and don't need to be downing beers like that right now, especially not in a hot tub, but Royce's dark eyes focussed on me so intently are making me feel flushed and reckless.

"You're not wearing your blue one."

"My…what?"

Royce's hand brushes across my shoulder and my skin tingles. "Your blue one, with the strings…" he says, touching the shoulder strap of my bikini top. "You know, the one you were wearing last time Peyton had a party."

Oh. The blue string bikini I wore last time had fit and looked great when I was standing in the change room at the mall but I'd spent most of the party with the bottoms riding up my ass and the top threatening to spill my boobs out every time I moved. "No, not tonight…"

"I liked it." Royce's hand is still caressing my shoulder, playing with the strap of my bikini. "But this pink one is nice too."

He's watching me for my reaction as he touches me. I'm trying to play it cool but I doubt I'm fooling him. He's known for being a player who gets any girl he wants, and although I'm determined not to just fall over myself in getting with him, I'm not immune to his charms. He is the best looking guy at school and holds an almost magnetic attraction for me. Even in the heat of the tub I can't stop my shiver when his hand strokes my thigh under the water.

My friends tease me all the time about being a virgin and laugh that I'm 'saving myself'. I know they think it's weird, especially given how much I date, and they think that I'm just not interested in sex. But it's not that. Actually, considering how frequently I masturbate I'd guess I'm as interested in sex as anyone and more than most, to be frank. And maybe that's part of it too. I've always been able to get myself off, so why would I bother with some guy who's only interested in what I can do for him?

The other thing is that I hate the way guys talk. The double standard is disgusting and I want no part of it, but I've never dated anyone long enough to trust them with that part of me. In that sense I am 'saving myself'- I'm waiting until I find someone that I want to have sex with, someone who is going to want me to enjoy it too, and someone who isn't just going to ditch me the next day.

"Rosalie! You look thirsty!" Peyton swoops down on me, holding a bottle of tequila in one hand and bourbon in the other and beaming. "What's your poison, darling?" she asks in an affected voice as she laughs, leaning forward over my head.

"Bourbon," I say with a giggle.

Peyton hands the tequila to someone and then pulls my hair to tip my head back. "Open up!" she sings, and then tilts the bottle.

I gulp, but she pours too fast and the alcohol splashes out of my mouth and runs down my chin and drips on my breasts. I wave my hands wildly at her as Peyton laughs gleefully and finally stops trying to drown me.

Everyone else is laughing too, as I cough and try to get my breath back, feeling the alcohol burn my throat. I feel stupid, and my eyes dart to Royce to see what he's doing. He's smiling, and then with a slow wink he leans forward and deliberately licks the trail of bourbon from where it ends at the edge of my bikini top covering my breasts, all the way up my chest and neck to end at my mouth, where he presses his lips against mine.

Oh fuck, that's… I can't even think straight. Royce's mouth was hot and the trail his tongue laid on my skin feels like it's burning. For a moment I don't even hear the laughing and wolf whistles, but then someone slides into the seat beside me and throws an arm across my shoulder. It's Nate, one of Royce's friends.

"Heeeey…shots off Rosalie's tits? I'll be in that." He grins at me lasciviously and then reaches towards Peyton. "Booze this way!"

I lean away from him, and feel Royce's body curve protectively around me. "Fuck off Nate," he says.

"Aww man, come on…" Nate begins, but then his words choke off as Royce jumps on him and shoves his head under the water.

"I said fuck off," Royce says as he lets him up, and Nate flips him the bird and laughs as he goes back to the other side of the hot tub. Royce turns back to me, eyeing me intently.

"Thanks," I say, self-consciously pulling my bikini back into place as I think about how much of my breast Royce must have licked. The alcohol has hit hard and the heat of the tub isn't helping at all- everything seems slightly dreamy and unfocussed.

"That's okay." Royce slides back next to me, closer this time, and with his arm wrapped around my back to hold me against his side. His breath tickles my ear as he leans closer. "I don't like to share."

"Oh, are you two hooking up?" Peyton leans over from behind us, one arm around my neck and the other across Royce's shoulders. Her eyes are red rimmed and she has a certain smile on her face that makes me suspect she's stoned.

"Maybe," Royce says casually. Below the water, where no one can see, his hand is caressing my hip.

"Oh, that is so adorable," Peyton slurs. "The quarterback and the cheerleader together…such a beautiful cliché!" She laughs and kisses my cheek before she looks at Royce. "I mean, Rosalie is a professional virgin so there is that to consider…"

"Peyton!" I'm furious, sick of my so-called friends always teasing me about that and really not wanting to get into the issue with Royce now. For god's sake, we're just getting close here, we haven't even made out yet!

"Oh, what?" Peyton giggles. "I'm only telling the truth…shouldn't Royce know that he's going to be limited to nothing but a bit of hand action, if that, from you?"

She's talking loud enough for everyone else in the hot tub to hear, and there's a lot of laughter. Angry and embarrassed I scowl at her and get out of the hot tub, ignoring the jokes and obscene comments that follow me. It's late, and everyone is drunk enough that my virginity is as good a joke as anything.

I stomp over to the pool cabana and grab a dry towel, rubbing briskly. I'm looking for my dress in the jumble of clothes scattered on a bench when I become aware of someone lounging against the door frame.

"Don't worry about me," Royce says, and I can hear the grin in his voice. "Go ahead and get changed, I can wait."

I stand still, looking at him. "I don't think I will."

Royce laughs and comes closer to me. "So it's true then, what Peyton was saying?"

I shrug, picking up my dress and smoothing it out so I don't have to look at him.

"We wondered." Royce seems amused. "The guys talk, and no one on the team has ever nailed you. We didn't know if you were giving it away outside though."

I scowl at him. "Screw all of you. It's got nothing to do with anyone else."

"Hey, don't get mad." Royce comes closer, and looks down at me with a smile as he rubs my arms, which are coming up in goose bumps. "You're right that it's nothing to do with them." He lowers his head and brushes his lips across mine. "It's not like I care…I think it's cool."

I shiver, and don't resist as he draws me closer until I'm pressed against him. The evening chill is swept away in front of the wave of heat and desire that washes through my body. "You do?"

"Oh yeah," Royce murmurs, kissing me again and running his hands down my back. "I mean…it might be something I want to change, but I like that you haven't been with anyone." He kisses me deeper, his tongue in my mouth, before he whispers, "I told you that I don't like to share."

I don't say anything. I can't say anything really, because Royce is kissing me in a way that sends my heartbeat racing and leaves no room for thoughts of anything but him. He doesn't want to share…he wants me. The stubble shadowing his jaw is rough against my skin but his lips are more than soft enough to make up for it. He tastes like bourbon.

I'm dizzy with the intensity of this. I've kissed a lot of people before, and it's been good and bad and messy and arousing and awkward and funny at times, but it's never been like this. I've never made out with someone who has kissed me with the confident assurance that Royce does, and I've never felt my whole body responding like I am now. It feels like my body is liquefying with heat and arousal, and time is measured only in the pounding beat of my heart.

Royce pulls away first. His breathing is heavier than usual as he looks down at me and then grins. "Woah babe, if you don't want me changing your virgin status right now in this damn pool house you'd better cut that out."

I laugh a little breathlessly. I'm still in my damp bikini and Royce is wearing a pair of boardies…it's pretty clear that he's more than ready to move the making out on to the next level. "Okay," I say. I turn my back on him and look for my dress, but as soon as I spot it on the floor and bend down to pick it up I hear Royce's teasing growl. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck, his cock nudging up against my ass as he presses his thighs against mine.

"Or we could just find somewhere else," he murmurs, beginning to fondle my breasts.

My bikini bottoms are really not staying in place very well, but his hands on my breasts and his teeth on my neck are so distracting… it's only when the message alert on my phone sounds that I come back to myself and wriggle free of his grasp.

Are you coming home tonight? It's Jasper, checking up on me. My dad has never really enforced any sort of curfew and so Jasper and I have always had pretty free rein to go where we want and do what we want, but we always keep tabs on each other.

"It's my brother," I say to Royce. "I should get home." Be on my way soon I text back, and then quickly pull my dress over my head.

"Your brother…? Oh right, that Jasper guy."

I hide my smile. That Jasper guy. "Yes."

Royce sits on one of the benches, leaning forward on his knees and cracking his knuckles as he watches me find my shoes and slip into them. "Do you really have to go?"

I hesitate, but nod. "Yeah, I do." The pool house is starting to blur around the edges and as I take an unsteady step in my heels I realise how drunk I am. I want to go home and think about tonight and what kissing Royce the way I did might mean.

Royce laughs as he jumps up and slides an arm around my waist. "You're so fucking pissed. How are you getting home?"

"Cab," I say with a giggle, leaning against him for a moment. He's warm, and feels strong and steady. "I have to call for one."

"Come on then."

Royce walks me through the scattered groups of people still milling around on the deck by the pool, and they all stare. I know they're whispering, that they will all think we look good together, that so many of them will be jealous. You're so lucky Rosalie! I've heard the words all my life, and I turn my head and smile at Royce from under lowered lashes and he squeezes my waist possessively.

I call for a cab once Royce and I are in the relative quiet of the kitchen, and the dispatcher says one will be along shortly. I'm surprised and pleased when Royce walks out the front with me and sits on the steps to wait.

"Let me have your phone," he says and I hand it over without a second thought. "I've put my number in," he says a few minutes later, passing it back. "And I've texted myself yours."

"Okay." I play with the ends of my hair until Royce grabs my face and turns it towards his.

"I had a good time with you tonight. I hope you did too?" he says, eyeing me intently, and then when I nod his mouth comes down on mine and he starts kissing me again.

We stop only when we hear the impatient blare of the cab horn, and then I pull away and stand up hurriedly, pulling my dress back down straight. "I've got to go," I say reluctantly.

"Okay," Royce groans as he stands up and stretches. He grins at me. "Damn, you're sexy Rosalie…eat lunch with me Monday?"

I'm walking backwards towards where the cab is waiting, and I toss my hair and grin. Inside I'm dancing. "Okay then…but I really have to go."

At home I take off my heels by the front door and carry them in my hand as I stumble up the stairs. My dad probably wouldn't care that I'm getting home at 3am, but I'd rather not wake him up all the same.

Jasper wakes up when I trip over the top step and crash into the wall as I flip the light switch when I reach our floor. So do his friends, who are all grumbling in the light and shielding their eyes with blankets from wherever they've sacked out to sleep.

"Sorry guys," Jasper murmurs, switching the light back off and propelling me towards my room. "Go back to sleep….Rosalie, go to bed."

I've left my lamp on and the room is warm and inviting as I fall across the bed and smile blissfully at Jasper. "I love you, Jas."

His irritated expression fades, and he shakes his head with an exasperated smile and sits on the bed beside me. "God, how drunk are you?"

"Little bit." I giggle as I tug the bands and clips from my hair. "You should have come to the party tonight. It was really fun."

Jasper turns his back as I wriggle rapidly out of my dress and bikini and into some panties and a t shirt. "The guys and I had fun here," he says, not looking. "Played some games…it was good."

I throw myself down on the bed beside Jasper. "Royce King likes me. I kissed him in the hot tub and he's going to call me," I say cheerfully.

"Wonderful," Jasper says dryly, sitting beside me and looking at me with his eyebrows raised.

"It is wonderful," I say with a giggle. "He's so good looking, and…"

"I don't need to know," Jasper snorts, giving me a gentle shove. "Seriously Rose, kiss whoever you like, but you don't have to tell me all the details. Now go to sleep, and if you puke I'm not cleaning it up."

I laugh and roll over, hugging one of the pillows on my bed. "Goodnight Jasper."