A/N:

Recap since this chapter was a bit longer coming than planned - Bella and Edward are recently married after a whirlwind romance. Bella and Jasper are best friends and up until Bella met Edward were friends with benefits. Bella came home early from a conference and found Edward and Jasper naked and intimate on the couch. Bella knew that Jasper had a crush on her husband and one night she drunkenly told Jasper she was okay with them being together as long as she was there, all the while assuming that Edward was kinda vanilla in the bedroom. Bella was very excited to find her two fave men in this position and invited herself to the party! All three were tucked up cosily in bed when we left them. Here is the morning after from Jaspers perspective.

Chapter 3 – Missed Opportunities

~Jasper~

Sunlight filtered through a gap in the blinds at the window and played across my closed eyelids, waking me slowly from what I was sincerely hoping was not just the best dream of my life. As consciousness sprung to life, I was reassured when I noted the warm soft skin pressed along the length of my body and the soft little puffs of breath tickling my ear. I cracked open my eyes slowly and my heart flipped over when I realized that Bella's pink tipped nipple was immediately below my lips.

I could feel her heart beating steadily under my ear and I nuzzled against the softness beneath my cheek before darting my tongue out and licking the pink strawberry delight. I felt Bella shudder softly beneath me and murmur in her sleep, too low for me to hear. The slight movement nudged Edward's arm beneath her breasts, which in turn caused the long firm fingers gripping her waist to nudge against my chest. My cock, which was pressed tightly against Bella's hip, twitched in response.

I didn't want to move and face the consequences of our actions last night, just yet. I wanted to stay in my pretend world where every morning I would wake to the feel of Bella and Edward beside me. A dream that I was realistic enough to know would not come to fruition, even after all of the amazing developments last night. I had never seen two people so in love as Bella and Edward, so I didn't delude myself into thinking last night had meant as much to them as it did to me.

You see, I had been in love with Bella from the first time I had met her in our senior year at school. I had never told her. In fact, I had never even hinted at it. I met Bella when we both started at Forks High School after the summer break. My family moved around a lot when I was younger, my father being in the military and all. I guess I should have been used to being the new kid at school, however, usually the schools were large and I could get lost in the morass of students. Here in this tiny little school in this tiny little town, I was the tall and lanky new boy with the buzz cut, who stood out amongst all the muscle-bound jocks with full heads of hair.

As was usual for me when attempting to adapt to a new environment, I sought sanctuary in the library at lunch times, basically hiding out from the mortification of sitting by myself again. After 5 tortuous days, I again made my way through the stacks to a cubicle well hidden in the last row. I opened the book I had found on the civil war and became lost in the stories of another time. It took a while for the sound of someone crying quietly on the other side of the partition to permeate through the world I was creating in my head; however, once my attention was caught, I was finding it difficult to ignore.

The crying continued without abatement for some minutes until I could no longer stand it. I stood up from my chair and rounded the cubicle, seeing immediately that the girl crying had long dark brown hair that reached all the way down her back. I was a sucker for long hair and it looked so soft and silky, I couldn't help myself so I reached out and picked up a strand to rub through my fingers. The girl must have sensed my presence as she abruptly sniffed and whirled around to face me with flaming pink cheeks.

"How long have you been standing there watching me?" the girl demanded, on the defensive immediately.

I held up my hands and quietly informed her that I had been reading in the other cubicle and had been concerned when I heard her crying.

"Is everything alright?" I asked her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The girl laughed mirthlessly, "Not unless you are a magician and can replace those bitches, Jessica and Lauren, with my best friends from Phoenix."

I laughed, knowing first hand the lash of their spiteful tongues in class, "Sorry, no magic, but I can listen if you want to bitch about them."

I found out that day that Bella had only moved to town a few weeks earlier than I had and she had thought that she had become friends with Jessica and Lauren. Once the novelty of hanging out with the new girl had worn off, they had reverted to their normal selves. The last week had been a litany of nasty comments about her lack of trendy clothes, her boring brown hair and eyes, her lack of make-up and being the police chief's goody two- shoes daughter.

Today they had started on the absence of her mother and she had fled to the library to stay out of their way. I shyly admitted to hiding out as well, although Bella confessed to not understanding why such a cute boy was worried about being picked on. I blushed, and once Bella realized what she had said, she blushed as well. By the end of lunch, we had become firm friends and agreed to meet in the same spot next week.

On Monday morning, I was actually looking forward to school and my planned assignation with Bella in the library. Jessica had been particularly nasty to Bella that morning as Mike Newton had paid close attention to Bella in gym class and everybody but Mike, knew that Jessica regarded him as her property. The whole lunchtime was spent dissecting Jessica's every comment and a discussion of Mike Newton's manly perfection.

Yes, I was forced to listen to Bella catalogue all of Mike Newton's finer points for the better part of 30 minutes and as each minute passed, my heart plummeted further into my stomach with the knowledge that Bella only saw me as a friend. It was my own fault. I had sat there through the whole diatribe and agreed with everything Bella said. I argued with myself that I would rather have Bella as a friend than as nothing at all, so I kept quiet about how I really felt.

I can't believe that Bella never noticed my reaction to her close proximity. Some nights, sitting next to her on her bed doing homework, my mind could not help but stray to the things I wanted to do with Bella on her bed. I was permanently erect throughout high school and I was finding it more difficult as time went on to hide my feelings from her. Bella excused my jealousy when I found out she had accepted Mike Newton's invitation to go to winter formal as protectiveness. When I found out the day after the dance that she had lost her virginity to that creep, it took everything I had in me not to beat him to a pulp when I overhead him bragging about it to some of his jock friends. Like the best friend that I was, I consoled Bella the next week when Mike finally asked Jessica for a date.

The rest of high school passed pretty much in a blur, I had filled out finally and let my hair grow into a shaggy mop. Suddenly, I was being pursued by the popular girls and one day, after coming to the conclusion that Bella would only ever see me as a friend, I had started dating Lauren. I don't think Bella ever forgave me for dating her nemesis but Lauren was the exact opposite of Bella and I needed that for a while.

Lauren was a demanding girl so when she found out that I was still a virgin, she decided that it was well past time that I popped my cherry. While fooling around a little one night in my car, and without asking me, she scooted over, lifted her skirt and, straddling my lap, she slid straight down onto my cock. That was it: no fanfare, no romance and no self control. Lauren had just stroked me to within an inch from orgasm and the combination of surprise and warm pussy sent me straight over the edge. I was mortified, and worse was yet to come. The following Monday it was all over school about my less than stellar performance and, by lunchtime, Lauren was hanging off Tyler Crowley's every word.

I was not upset when I realized she had moved on from me. Lauren had made what should have been a special experience into something sordid, and I was actually thankful to be able to hide in the library, away from her cackling laugh. Bella found me soon after and pulled me into a hug, which I shamelessly prolonged, my face buried in her sweet smelling hair. Bella confessed to me then that she had actually been surprised when Lauren and I had started dating a few weeks ago, as she actually had thought I was gay. I blushed. Although Bella was my best friend, I had not told her two of my biggest secrets.

The first, as you know, was that I was in love with her. The second was that I was attracted to both men and women. No one had caught my eye here in Forks, but at my last school, I had had a major crush on my best friend, Peter. Sometimes I would see something in his eyes that made me wonder if he too felt the same way, but I was too scared of the repercussions to act on my burgeoning feelings just in case I was wrong.

If there was to be any hope of anything between Bella and I, I thought it prudent to keep my second secret to myself. So instead, I snorted and gave Bella a noogie. Bella promptly forgot the direction of our conversation and we easily settled into a bitch session about the assholes in this school.

All too soon, the school year came to an end and we were forced to go our separate ways. It had always been a tradition in my family to join the military and I was no different. Being brought up in that life, I had made the decision a long time ago to follow in my father's footsteps and joined the army. I was starting basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia. Bella had been accepted into Harvard Business School in Boston seeing as how she was hell bent on getting out of Forks as soon as she could.

Our parting had been bittersweet and we had promised each other faithfully to stay in touch. To our credit, we did stay in touch by text, email and phone calls. My training was gruelling and time off was at a minimum. Then one Friday, six months after training had commenced, I had four days off and I used them to surprise Bella at her dorm.

Earlier in the day she had told me that she was staying in that night and painting her nails so I felt confident that we would be able to catch up in person. I could barely contain my excitement at seeing her again and hoped that this time she might see me as something more than a friend.

As soon as my plane had touched down, I had hailed a cab and directed it straight to Bella's place. I decided I could check in to the hotel later, but I couldn't wait any longer to see her. I was still wearing the army fatigues that I had donned early in the morning and hoped Bella wouldn't mind that I hadn't taken the time to change into civilian wear.

On my way through the university grounds, I came across a flower bed with pale pink and white tulips, Bella's favourite. I sneakily reached out and snagged a handful of the not quite open buds to give to my girl.

I found her dorm room easily and was just about to lift my hand to knock when I heard the sound of Bella moaning coming from the other side. My heart plummeted at the sound. Bella had told me only a few days ago that she had broken up with yet another boyfriend before it had gotten serious because it just hadn't felt right. Judging by the sounds coming from the room beyond, Bella had quickly found someone else to replace the loser.

My hands clenched at my sides, mirroring the pain in my heart, as I watched dispassionately as the mangled remains of the flower posy scattered over the floor in front of Bella's door.

Thank God I had not told Bella I was coming. It would have been too mortifying to have blurted out my feelings for her only to find that she already had someone else in her life. I leaned my forehead against the door just to catch a whiff of the heady scent that was Bella's and then I was leaving. No sooner had I rested my weight against the door than it sprang open, the catch obviously unhooked. What greeted my eyes was like a scene from my favorite porn movie. Bella was stretched out on the couch with her back to me and entwined with a busty blond woman. Better yet they were both naked and were lapping at each other and moaning.

My cock was rock hard in an instant and straining against my trousers. I couldn't help but moan and adjust myself. Too late, the noise alerted the tall blond and her head lifted from its enviable position between Bella's legs. She smirked at me and her eyes followed the movements of my hand.

"Well, hello soldier," she drawled.

Bella's supple spine twisted and she peered over her shoulder in shock. Bella made a strangled sound and turned a bright red as she whispered my name, "Jasper?"

I nodded and swept my hat off my head. "And what do you think you're doing, little missy?"

Bella stared at me in shock and then giggled. It was then that I noticed that her eyes seemed a little glazed and unfocused. I sniffed the air and sure enough detected the faint scent of the pot the girls had obviously smoked a little earlier. Combined with the empty shot glasses on the table, I could safely say my darling girl was a little bit wasted.

Just as I had come to this conclusion, I started looking around the room for something to cover Bella up with. I was brought up as a gentleman and Bella naked was just becoming a little too hard to resist. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could see in the living room and too late, she launched herself at me. I had managed to avoid Bella seeing my reaction to her for a full year. Now, when she was slightly wasted, she noticed straight away and it was my undoing.

Bella was naked and pressed hard up against the length of my body and her arms were entwined around my neck. She started to kiss my cheek as was normal but kept going, peppering kisses over my face and pressing her lips against mine. All this time, my arms were at my side but Bella suddenly took my face in her hands and ran her tongue across my lips. With a groan of defeat, I wrapped my arms around her and opened my mouth to her persistent tongue. My hands swept up and down Bella's spine feeling her naked soft skin for the first time.

I couldn't hold back a deep groan when Bella ground her wet heat into my throbbing groin. It was like all my Christmases had come at once. Bella and I, together in this way, was more than I could ever hope for. My fantasy was rudely shattered with the whiny voice of Bella's flatmate behind my ear demanding to be included as she ground herself against my ass. I was annoyed with her intrusion and hoped Bella would tell her to fuck off and leave us alone together, but to my infinite dismay, she looked at me with a question in her eyes.

My bewildered mind took too long to answer and when the flatmate slipped her hands to my front and palmed my aching cock unexpectedly, I could not hold back the groan at her touch on my sensitive skin. Bella's face dropped for a second before she giggled again and said, "Tanya, how selfish of me, of course we can share."

I have often wondered what would have happened if I had said that Tanya should go and pushed her away from me. I wonder if things would have been different between Bella and me. I guess I will never know, because that night, I succumbed to the pleasures of Bella's flesh and there was no way back for me. Tanya offered me a joint and Bella got out some more shots. Soon my mind was blissfully blank and I just followed where Bella led that night. I would take willingly any scrap that Bella would send my way. I had no pride where she was concerned.

When my mind was pleasantly numb, the girls divested me of my clothes and laid me back on the couch. Bella straddled my stomach and taking my face in her hands kissed me senseless. I was awash with her scent and barely comprehended that Tanya had slid between my legs and had taken my cock into her mouth. I can't lie, it felt fucking fantastic, receiving head, but only because I was surrounded by Bella. Her slick folds rubbed against my stomach, her mouth devouring mine, her fingers slipping down and pinching my nipples. I cried out as I came in Tanya's mouth and had to hold back the tears that this was another thing that I had not experienced with the woman I loved.

Something cracked in me then and I switched off from emotion. I pushed Tanya away from me and slid Bella down to recline on the couch. I kissed her lips gently then nipped my way down to her sweetly pert breasts, palming them before taking the tip of her nipple in my mouth. I could hear Bella moan so I gently tugged on the end with my teeth. Bella bucked beneath me and I continued my journey down to her stomach.

My tongue swirled around her belly button and then I peppered kisses over the taut expanse gradually drifting lower and lower until I could feel her intimate curls tickle my chin. I looked up then as Bella was writhing around to see Tanya kneeling in front of her face rocking onto Bella's tongue. Yes, I was jealous, but the sight couldn't help but turn me on even more. I could feel my dick stiffening again as I finally reached my goal and breathed in deeply of Bella's arousal.

The first taste of Bella was exquisite causing me to moan into her folds. I could feel Bella shudder beneath me and I swiped my tongue along her slit again. The little nub was so engorged that I had only to flick it a few times with my tongue as two of my fingers slid inside her before Bella was coming around me, squeezing against my fingers. I wanted to be inside her when she did that again and as I started to ask her, she ground out, "Jazz, fuck me baby…please?"

I growled at her words and moved away to get my wallet. I withdrew a condom from its foil packet and slowly slid it over my aching cock. Finally, the moment I had been waiting for. Soon, very soon, I would be inside my Bella, making love to her. I turned to find Tanya slumped in the seat beside Bella with a satisfied smirk on her face and Bella watching me with her teeth biting down on her lower lip.

"Are you sure, Bella? Is this what you really want?"

She nodded, her eyes smouldering at me as she crooked her little finger, calling me to come to her. Like a marionette, I moved back towards the couch, my legs shaky as the thought of what I was about to do hit me. Bella clambered up onto her knees and presented me with her delectable ass. I groaned to see how wet Bella was for me as I ran my finger over the curve of her ass and down her soft pussy lips. I heard Bella groan and she pushed her ass towards me.

I was powerless to resist any longer and finally the head of my cock pushed inside Bella. She was so tight. As her walls undulated around me, I was lost in the bliss of being inside my girl. I ground my hips against her ass and pushed all the way in until I was totally sheathed in her warmth. I stayed still for a moment savouring the silken feel of her body totally enclosing mine until Bella started clamping down on me and whimpering. I withdrew slightly and rocked back in, again and again, until her arousal made her slick with need. I pulled out so that only the head of my cock was encased in her and slammed back into her, eliciting a groan from Bella and a growl from me. My hips pumped into her and my lips and fingers caressed her back.

I was starting to feel like I was losing my control when I decided that I needed to see Bella's beautiful face when she came apart around me. Pulling out for just a second, I flipped her over and placed her delicate feet on my shoulders before pushing my aching cock back into her, all the while gazing into her beautiful brown eyes. Bella was staring at me intently, her lower lip caught between her teeth yet again. I didn't take my eyes off hers as I continued to rock into her body and reached down to flick my finger over her little nub. Her eyes closed momentarily and I felt her clench around me and moaned deep in her throat.

One of Bella's hands was absentmindedly pulling at her nipple and I tracked her other hand to Tanya's body, vigorously flicking her nail across Tanya's arousal. As if she could sense my eyes on her, Tanya reached out and grabbed the hand I had wrapped around Bella's leg. She tugged until I let go and dragged it down her body. "Fuck me with your fingers, Jazz," she growled.

I looked to Bella for guidance, but her eyes were closed as she ground her body against mine and pleasured Tanya with her fingers. I acquiesced then and starting pumping into Tanya with two fingers. My mind was awhirl with sensation. Bella started a low keening and her legs tensed and dug into my shoulders. Her hips bucked into mine and it was all I could do to not spill my seed at the sensation. I concentrated on my fingers then and starting fucking Tanya with 3 fingers and none too gently, hoping she would get off soon so I could concentrate all my attentions on Bella.

My wish was granted and Tanya swore like a trooper as she came around my hand. I whipped my fingers out and grabbed onto Bella's legs, hefting them further over my shoulders as I pushed her legs forward into her chest and kissed her passionately. This angle was so much tighter and I started erratically pumping my cock into her. The feel of Bella reaching her climax, clenching her tight body around me and chanting my name set me off. I growled as I released into her welcoming body, kissing her face over and over as I whispered her name.

We all fell asleep on the couch after that and I woke some time in the night alone with a blanket drawn up under my chin. I was always alone. I stared longingly at Bella's closed door and ached to be there with her; wrapped around her, holding her while she was sleeping, loving her. I almost stood up and followed my inclination but the sight of the closed door stopped me. While Bella and I shared a close bond of friendship, there always seemed to be a barrier around her. Bella always kept something back and I felt powerless to break through.

Somehow Bella assumed after that night that we were fuck buddies now and every time I came to visit her, we literally fucked like rabbits. I couldn't tell her how I felt now, not after she had seen me with my dick in her roommate's mouth and my fingers buried to the hilt inside her. I was too chicken to tell her how I really felt about her and too besotted to resist the lure of her body that she offered. I was caught in a trap of my own making and it was killing me inside a little bit more each time we came together. Our encounters were passionate and even sometimes a little bit romantic but always Bella's eyes seemed so far away and I struggled with the knowledge of how I felt about her.

The times between my visits to Bella lengthened. I knew that if I continued this way, I would lose a little bit of myself each time until there was nothing left of any value.

Bella dated casually between my visits but dumped every single man before things got serious. I hoped that meant before they had sex, but I really wasn't sure. I was starting to think Bella had some serious commitment issues stemming from her parents but that was one topic that Bella always refused to talk about. It hurt me that she kept things from me.

Our "arrangement" was several years old when I ran into Peter, my former school friend, not long after I had returned from my latest overseas posting. Peter was also in the army, and this time, he left me with no doubt as to his sexual persuasion when one night after a few beers at my apartment he leaned in to kiss me tentatively. I had always had a little crush on Peter and it did my ego good to be wanted for myself. I returned his kiss and over the next few months, Peter slowly and gently shared some firsts with me. Even though I knew I was attracted to men reasonably early on in my life, I had never physically been intimate with a man before now. I cared for Peter a great deal but things came to a head for us when we made a trip out to see Bella, in Boston.

Things started going wrong almost from the moment we stepped through the door. Bella flew to my side and enveloped me in an enormous hug before reaching up and kissing me. I could feel Peter stiffen at my side and I realized I had fucked up yet another relationship by not being honest. I hoped to salvage things before they got too out of hand when Tanya strolled into the room fresh from her shower, took one look at Peter's muscular physique and dropped her towel. That bitch strolled right up to him, palmed his dick through his trousers and announced how happy she was that I had brought a friend to play.

I closed my eyes in disbelief at Tanya's antics and when I opened them, Peter had walked back out the door and left. I rolled my eyes at Tanya; saw pity in Bella's eyes before losing all self respect and running down the hallway after Peter. He was slumped against the wall next to the elevator and the look of disgust on his face made my stomach clench.

"Please go away, Jasper. I know now why you can't say you love me. It was written all over your face when you saw Bella. It's more than the physical thing you told me it was, isn't it? You love her, don't you?"

I nodded and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Man, that is some seriously fucked up shit you have going on there. It's time to toss the trailer trash and tell Bella how you really feel."

"It's too late. Too much has happened. She will never believe me now, Peter."

"I'm sorry too, man, but I can't be a substitute any more. I'm gonna head back to base now and I think it best if we call it a day."

I nodded, defeated, and turned to make my way slowly back to Bella. She enveloped me in a hug as soon as I walked through the door, told Tanya to take a hike for the weekend so we could have the place to ourselves and then gently led me to her bed and pulled the covers up to my chin telling me to sleep. I wondered how on earth I could sleep at a time like this, but within 5 minutes of Bella's soothing brow stroking, my eyes drifted shut and I retreated to the blessed darkness.

Of course, I didn't take Peter's advice, as I truly didn't think that I was good boyfriend material, moving around as much as I did. I would hardly ever see Bella and she deserved better than that.

A few years later, I saw the ad for a post with West Point. It was in New York State and with Bella having lived in New York on her own for a while now and working with the Securities Exchange Commission, it would be perfect. I would be only a short drive away and would be able to have a life outside of commissioned hours to commit to someone.

The first weekend I was free, I called Bella to arrange to come over to see her. As usual lately, my call went straight to voicemail and I left a quick message. Bella texted me back that she was looking forward to my visit. I smiled. Everything was finally working in my favor. Or so I thought.

Bella was luminescent when she opened the door to her apartment. I smiled widely at her glowing beauty and enveloped her in a giant hug. "I missed you so much," I whispered into her ear.

She smiled at me, "I missed you too, Jasper. You are my best friend."

Oh. No.

Just then another knock sounded on the front door and my heart squeezed with the knowledge that whoever was on the other side of that door put that glow into my girl and not me.

Bella literally floated to the door as she opened it to reveal the person on the other side. I felt all the air leave my lungs at the sheer beauty of the bronze haired man standing framed in the doorway. He was almost as tall as me with a long lean musculature, the face of a chiselled angel and a days worth of stubble I just wanted to run my tongue over. For the first time ever, I hoped that Bella had brought someone with her for us to play with.

It was always a forlorn hope because anyone could see that the two people standing in front of me were madly in love. I saw the angel start through the door and stop short at the sight of me already in the room. He took in my appearance and then raised an eyebrow at Bella. Bella quickly grabbed my hand and dragged me over to introduce us. I was in no way prepared for the words that left Bella's lips that day.

"Jasper, this is my fiancé, Edward." She paused looking at me for approval. "Edward, this is my best friend, Jasper."

Did she just say fiancé? Without conscious thought, I reached out my hand automatically and was shocked to feel a spark of electricity as our fingers touched. Edward pulled his hand away abruptly and rubbed his fingers. I laughed nervously and said something along the lines of looking after my girl or I would come after him with a sniper rifle. He laughed then and promised to spend the rest of his life making Bella happy.

I have no idea how I got through that evening without giving myself away but Bella's happiness was more important to me than my own. I could see that Edward made her happy and, as time wore on, I genuinely liked him and we became good friends. And, if I was being completely honest, my feelings for Edward were far from platonic.

Unfortunately, Bella must have seen something in my face one day a short while after they married, for she cornered me alone night when we were having a few drinks and demanded that I tell her the truth and admit that I was attracted to her husband.

I couldn't deny it. I thought Edward was seriously the hottest man I'd ever seen. Bella snickered at that when I told her and agreed but added the rider that I was the second hottest at which I blushed. A few drinks later and we were giggling on the floor watching Shaun of the Dead, a favourite movie of ours.

Bella turned to me after the movie, somewhat unsteadily and announced that she would be perfectly okay with me and Edward getting it on (her words) as long as she was there to watch and maybe even join in. My mouth dropped open in shock, however, I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Keeping up my best buddy façade, I drawled, "I just might take you up on that mighty fine offer, ma'am…one day!"

I couldn't get her words out of my mind after that. I lay in the spare room later that night and when Edward arrived home, I could hear him, far too clearly, making love to Bella in their bedroom. I lay there in my lonely bed listening to the sounds of Bella's moans and the rhythmic slap of Edwards hips against Bella's thighs. Silently I slid my hand down inside my sleep pants and pulled my erect cock out and started stroking my hand up and down, imagining myself there in the room with them. Edwards cock in my mouth and Bella's mouth wrapped around mine. My release flooded over my hands and stomach as I heard Edward's pleasure in Bella's body reach its heights. Afterwards I smoothed the cover down around my body and closing my eyes, I wished for the moon.

Were Bella's words all those months ago the catalyst for what happened last night? Or could there be more to it all? Oh how I wanted it to be more but my rational side scoffed at the idea. Why would there be more now when we had so many opportunities over so years to make something more of this relationship?

End Note:

Coming up next:

Edwards perspective. I for one am really interested in what led up to the scene that Bella walked in on between Edward and Jasper. So many questions...

.