A/N Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

BPOV

A little more than a week after we'd gone bowling with Emmett, the team had another off day. It was rare for this time of year for the Sidewinders to get days off this close together, but very welcome. I for one was not complaining. Instead of spending the day with the out with the guys, I had offered to help Alice out at her store for the day. While my fashion sense left a lot to be desired, at least according to Alice, but she welcomed me to her boutique whenever I had free time to help with her back, inventory and general maintenance. The one rule that Alice had instituted upon my coming to her shop was that I was not allowed to assist the customers in making any choices under any circumstances. I thought this was a little harsh, but she insisted. Granted there was this one instance when Alice had run out for coffee and I tried to help an already frazzled woman pick out an outfit for a wedding. To say it didn't go well would be an understatement. By the time Alice had come back the woman was freaking out and throwing clothes around the store, so of course Alice blamed it on my fashion ineptitude. The rule was probably a blessing in disguise though, I didn't have Alice's social skills or way of making strangers feel at ease.

The past week had gone quite quickly. The team had a three-game series in Tempe, so Jake and I traveled with the team, staying in the same hotel, but luckily with Mike still suspended, things were fairly quiet. For the most part Jake and I kept to ourselves, but Emmett did join us for dinner one night which was surprisingly nice. I did enjoy his company and he kept us laughing through the entire meal with his stories. Emmett insisted on learning everything there was to know about me before the night was over. He asked question after question, wanting to know the strangest little details. This normally would have irked me, but he seemed genuinely interested in becoming good friends and he gladly reciprocated, answering all of our questions about him. He also kept slipping little anecdotes about Edward into conversation throughout the night. The stories all had the same theme, Edward was horribly shy, incredibly focused and the most loyal friend Emmett had ever had.

Of course I still saw Edward everyday in the clubhouse, and we traded glances from across the room, but that was the most interaction we'd had since the coffee debacle the week before. Sometimes Edward's stares were cold and hard, while others they looked pained and anguished. There were still others glances though fleeting and much fewer, in which his sparkling emerald eyes shone with what looked like hope. I couldn't figure him out. I also wasn't sure why I wanted to. I needed to be focusing on my job and my own life that was finally coming back together, not the mysterious and ever-changing eyes of Edward Cullen.

Aside from keeping busy with the road trip and work, I'd also spent a lot of time with Alice. I didn't realize how much I missed our girl time together. We spent a couple late nights talking, watching movies and pigging out on our favorite junk foods. It had been too long since we'd had make your own sundae night in our kitchen and aside from the container of Jimmies I spilled all over the floor, it was a complete success. (Those little suckers get everywhere! We were still finding them on our kitchen floor, but sundae night was worth it!). I hadn't realized just how far into myself I'd reverted, but this past week had shown me what I was missing and I wasn't planning on letting that happen again.

At the boutique I'd managed to organize Alice's backroom, which is quite an accomplishment. I do not understand how she ever finds anything in the cluttered mess, but hopefully my morning of hard work will make things a little easier for her.

I had just come back from getting us some sandwiches from the deli across the street (Alice had wised up after the coffee incident and now sent me on all the errands while she stayed in the store to assist customers) and we sat down behind the counter to eat when the bell rang that we had a customer. The store had a steady stream coming in and out all morning with quite a few spending their hard earned money on Alice's merchandise, but it had slowed down about a half hour ago so we decided it was finally time for lunch. We didn't bother to look up as the door jingled, figuring if the customer needed help they'd interrupt us. I was just starting to tell Alice about the apprehension I was feeling about Mike's suspension coming to an end soon. I wasn't sure whether he'd finally wise up and see that torturing me was hurting his baseball career or that he'd want to harass me as retaliation for the suspension. With Mike one could never tell.

"Bella?" a thick southern drawl questioned, interrupting Alice who was about to give me her opinion on the Mike situation.

I quickly turned and spotting a curious looking Jasper.

"Jasper, hi!" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he laughed.

Just then a tall, willowy blonde who would look more at home on a runway in Milan than a boutique in Tucson, walked up to join us.

"Jazz, this place is amazing!" she said with an accent that mirrored Jasper's. "The clothes are so much better here than back in Texas."

"I'm glad you like it here," he laughed. "Bella, meet my sister Rosalie. She's just landed an engineering job at Howard & Manuel, one of the big firms downtown, and now of course she needs new clothes."

"Nice to meet you Rosalie," I said extending my hand. "If you like the clothes, you need to meet my friend Alice Brandon. This is her shop and she's designed most of the things here."

I turned to Alice and was surprised to see she looked a little shell-shocked and realized that the usual chatterbox hadn't said a word since Jasper walked up.

"Alice, this is Jasper Whitlock. He plays for the Sidewinders," I said, continuing the introductions. "And his sister Rosalie."

I looked over to Alice, hoping that something would jar her from her uncharacteristic silence, but as I followed her gaze to Jasper, I realized that once he'd gotten a good look at Alice, his expression mirrored hers. I wanted to laugh, but I didn't want to embarrass my best friend. It was just so rare to see her at a loss for words like this.

"Rosalie," I started, trying to cover the silence and tension that was filling the air thanks to Alice and Jasper. "How come you picked Tucson?"

"I wanted to be closer to my twin brother here," she said smirking. She'd obviously noticed the sparks of attraction flying off her brother and Alice in high-voltage waves. "I missed him once he left Texas to play baseball. Plus it was time for something new. What about you Bella, you don't look like an Arizona native?"

"What gave me away?" I laughed. "I'm originally from a small town in Washington, but I've always wanted to cover baseball and as soon as I was offered a job here I jumped on it. Let me tell you it is a big transition from the Pacific Northwest!"

Rosalie and I chatted for a few more minutes and I learned the she and Jasper were from the Houston area, she majored in mechanical engineering while her brother completed his history degree in two and a half years so he could get a jump start on his baseball career, and that the love of her life was a cherry red Camaro that she'd named Patrick. Despite her runway looks, Rosalie was completely down to earth and seemed just as genuine and friendly as her brother. It also appeared that she had amazing fashion sense, so I figured she would also get along well with Alice. We could use another girl to hang out with.

Speaking of Alice, while Rose (she told me she answers to both, just don't call her Rosie) and I were talking, Jasper and Alice had moved beyond blatantly staring at one another and were now talking animatedly.

"Well when I'm not playing baseball, I love to read and visit history museums," I overheard Jasper telling Alice.

Rosalie groaned next to me while I held in another laugh. While Alice was intelligent, she was not the history museum type.

"Jazz," Rosalie cut in sweetly. "How many times have I told you that you will not impress women with your knowledge of Civil War weapons?"

The smile quickly fell from Jasper's face, but before he could say anything, Rose turned to face Alice.

"You look like a sweet and smart girl," began Rosalie. "So I'm going to try to salvage this for my brother here. He's a great guy. You won't find anyone as caring or sensitive as my twin brother here. I'm hoping that you won't hold his obsession with history against him, there's so much more to him than that. He's free tomorrow night for dinner since the Sidewinders have an afternoon game. Would you like to go out with him?"

Without taking her eyes off Jasper, Alice responded to Rose breathily, "I'd love to."

Upon hearing Alice's answer, Jasper's smile lit up like a Christmas tree. I had a feeling he'd be smiling like a fool up until his date with Alice tomorrow night, but I was happy for them.

"Great now that that's settled Jazz, there are a few more places I need to go before we head home," said Rosalie. "Bella, Alice, it was great to meet you both. Bella, maybe we can hang out tomorrow night while the lovebirds stare at each other over a plate of spaghetti?"

I laughed, imagining Jasper and Alice in the scene from Lady and the Tramp. It wasn't that far fetched looking at their expressions.

"That sounds good," I told Rose. "I'm supposed to meet up with a couple friends after the game, but you should join us. Let me get your number, I'll call you when the plans are finalized."

"Excellent," she said. "See you tomorrow. Come on Jazz!"

With one last puppy dog look at Alice, Jasper followed his sister reluctantly out of the boutique.

"Isabella Marie," Alice shouted as soon as the door closed behind Rose and Jasper. "I can not believe that you have been holding that man out from me!"

"What are you talking about Alice," I asked, seriously confused.

"Have I not been asking you for months to set me up with a hot baseball player?" she asked as I groaned. "You kept telling me that none of them were good enough for me. That very sweet man that just walked out of my store did not seem to have any major flaws that should have kept you from introducing me sooner!"

"I'm sorry Alice," I began slowly. "It never crossed my mind to introduce you to Jasper. I wasn't trying to keep you away from a great guy or not set you up with any of the players out of spite, it just seriously didn't cross my radar. Jasper is always so quiet, marching to his own drummer, but always polite. He never went along with Mike's torturous plans and always asked if I was okay. Again, I'm sorry. I should have seen it sooner."

Alice glared at me for a few more seconds before breaking out into a grin and racing up to give me a hug. A sigh of relief escaped. I hate having Alice made at me.

"It's okay Bells," she said. "I forgive you. I know the last few months have been hard on you. And all that matters now is that I've met Jasper, and he seems wonderful. I can't wait until tomorrow!"

"I'm excited for you Ali," I told her. "It's been a while since I've seen you this excited about a date."

"It has been too long," she agreed. "So what are you and Rosalie going to do tomorrow? I heard you talk about hanging out with her while I'm out with Jasper."

"I thought I'd invite her out with Jake, Seth and I," I said. "Seeing as you'll be making googly eyes at Jasper all night."

She laughed, but didn't disagree.

"You should invite Emmett out too," Alice added. "I think he'd really like Rosalie. Plus he's always fun to have around."

I remembered Emmett's previous comments about having a preference for blondes, so I figured it couldn't hurt to introduce him to Rose. Alice may be onto something.

"I'll call Emmett when we get home," I told Alice. "You might be right about he and Rose hitting it off."

"Plus his mysterious roommate may finally decide to come out and play," she added mischievously.

I just shot her a look of disbelief before heading to the backroom to continue with the inventory I'd started shortly before lunch and the arrival of the Whitlocks. I didn't want Alice to see just how much the prospect of Edward possibly coming out with us tomorrow night intrigued me.

A/N Sorry this is late, it was supposed to be Friday's chapter, but I left it on my work computer and forgot to email it to myself at home and since I was ¾ of the way done I couldn't bring myself to rewrite it. I'll try to write another chapter today to make up for it!

And thanks again for all the reviews and encouragement. This is my first attempt at FanFic, so I'm grateful for all the reviews, keep them coming! I take positive and negative, so if you don't like something, let me know!