Chapter Ten: Raining on Tuesday

A crack of thunder resonating through the beach house woke me from a blissful sleep filled with dreams of Edward and magical, hypnotizing kisses being trailed from the crook of my elbow to my neck. Sitting up quickly in bed, I glanced out the window and noticed that there was rain to go with the thunder and lighting as big, fat raindrops pelted against the window rapidly. I couldn't tell the exact time because there wasn't a clock on the bedside table, but from the low lighting outside, it must have still been early.

Sighing to myself, I fell back against my pillows and pulled the blankets up to my chin, wishing that the kisses hadn't been a figment of my imagination and that I could close my eyes, open them again, and that Edward would magically appear under the sheets like a genie. Rainy mornings, in my mind, were always equated with sexy afternoons spent tangled in the arms of a lover and, right now, I wanted Edward to be that lover. I blamed the Keith Urban song and Jasper for introducing me to it sometime during college when he had gone through that weird country music phase.

As my mind wandered back to Edward and what I wished he were doing to me, it inevitably traveled back to the kiss we had shared the night before. Before long, my mind was one big pile of mush and the raindrops against my window had lulled me back to sleep.

When I woke again a couple of hours later, the rain was still coming down, though the raging storm had passed over us. I rolled over and flopped my hand around on the bedside table in search of my iPhone. After locating the piece of technology, I unplugged it from its charger and pulled it to me.

Eight o'clock. Why on earth couldn't I sleep past that hour?

Figuring that everyone else was likely still in bed, either attempting to rid themselves of epic hangovers or just catch a couple of extra hours of sleep, I decided to shower and make myself presentable for the day. After all, my hair was probably a huge rat's nest of sleep and mini-make out session, so a shower was necessary.

I stumbled through my morning routine, unable to get the mind numbing sensation of Edward's lips on mine out of my mind, and dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a white boyfriend tee, leaving my hair wet and wild to dry naturally. I didn't bother with make up, instead only swiping a bit of strawberry Chap Stick across my lips. Theme of the day: simplicity.

By the time I was as presentable for the day as I was going to be, the alluring scent of coffee was floating up the stairs and filling my senses. Oh, I needed it.

In the kitchen, I found Jasper, his head buried in his arms as the coffee brewed.

"Rough night?" I asked in what I hoped was a sincere tone. I'm pretty sure, though, that my voice was unintentionally sarcastic.

He grunted in response. The coffee maker made a noise to announce that it was finished brewing.

"Coffee's done," I told him when he didn't make a move for the dark liquid.

"Not mine," his muffled voice said in response.

I didn't ask any further questions, choosing instead to play finders-keepers with the freshly brewed java.

My hand was wrapped around the handle of the coffee pot when another one covered it. I knew that hand; it was Edward's.

"That's my coffee," he purred into my ear, his voice deep and still a little husky with sleep. I whimpered and hoped Jasper still hated life enough at the breakfast bar to not look up and see the expression on my face.

I tried to cover my reaction. "Care to share?" Looking over my shoulder, I batted my eyelashes at him flirtatiously.

His lips formed a hard line. "Sure."

Oh, he looked delicious. His hair was still damp from a recent shower and he was dressed simply in a black t-shirt and jeans that hung loosely on his hips. His green eyes were smoldering, passionate.

I grinned and pulled the pot away from the machine and poured some into my mug, keeping my eyes on his. "Thanks," I answered nonchalantly. I broke his intense gaze when really, all I wanted to do was push him up against the counter and kiss him again.

Upper hand, Bella, upper hand.

"Mmhmmm," he murmured as I handed the pot to him.

"Movie day!" Alice announced as she bounced into the kitchen and threw her arms into the air.

The day was, I realized, playing out in an eerily similar fashion to Sunday—not that I was objecting. The sun had gotten the best of my pale skin the day before and, unless Alice wanted a tomato standing in the Maid of Honor position in the wedding photos, it needed a little bit of a break.

Edward rolled his eyes briefly and lifted his mug to his lips. While his attention focused on our perky friend, I took the opportunity to appraise him fully for the first time that morning. I didn't notice anything different from my initial ogling, except that he was beautifully barefoot, looking relaxed and comfortable without shoes and socks on.

"I've got to do a bit of work," Edward said after swallowing.

I turned to him, frowning. An Edward pillow had been provided to me during the last TV/movie marathon and I wasn't reluctant to admit that I wanted one again.

He noticed the look on my face. "Didn't you say you had some stuff to catch up on, too, Swan?"

Um…huh? Sorry, but could you repeat yourself? I was too busy daydreaming about how perfect of a pillow your chest and shoulder are.

"I…uh," A good response was failing to come to mind.

He smirked. "Something about editing?"

Well, of course I had something to do that involved editing. I was, after all, an editor.

Oh, right, he was trying to help me. Did he want me to work with him? Or just pull me away from the group?

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, have a couple of chapters to edit for the book I'm working on." I pulled the answer completely out of my ass. Sure, I had brought my laptop with me and, yeah, I could always get a head start on things, but there was nothing pressing that needed to be done.

Edward grinned at me. "Maybe we could set up in the kitchen?"

I nodded. Yes, he did want to sneak me away from the group. I smiled at him, pretty sure that every single tooth in my mouth was showing.

"Sure," I said.

Alice stomped her foot in defiance. "You have to watch movies with us," she bit out.

"Sorry, Al, just for a couple of hours?" I pleaded with my eyes as I spoke. Sure, I hadn't told her about the situation with Edward yet, but hopefully she would be able to take some sort of hint. "Important stuff."

"Just let them, Alice," Jasper emerged from death to say. I wanted hug him, but was afraid it might send him back to the Valley of the Dead.

She contemplated this for a bit, but finally answered. "Fine," before stomping off into the living room to wake Emmett, who I noticed had fallen into a comatose state on the couch.

After breakfast, everyone assembled in the living room while Edward and I set up our charade in the kitchen. At least, I thought it was still a charade. Judging by his actions, however, he could have been serious about the whole work thing.

He pulled out his laptop, sat it on the table, and actually began to work on something. I did the same, pulling up the chapters I needed to edit and pretended to read them and add notes. Really, though, all I did for half an hour was glance between the screen of my laptop and the perfect bone structure of Edward's face.

I wanted to touch him again, wanted to feel his hands on me as his lips forced mine apart and his tongue caressed mine. And the little bit of stubble that he was letting build up on his jaw line…I desperately wanted to feel it beneath my fingers. Doubt flooded my mind, though, as I feared that he wouldn't want to go there with me again.

"I hope you realize it'll be happening again." His heated statement from the night before echoed in my mind.

Or did he?

I was rereading the same sentence for the tenth time since sitting down at the table when a plan to test his will formed in my mind.

Sliding my bare foot across the tile of the floor, I casually brushed it against Edward's, keeping my eyes on the screen of my computer as our skin touched. To make it appear that I was working and not intentionally brushing my foot across his, I tapped my fingers across the keyboard. Random, disorganized letters popped up in my blank word document as my foot met his.

I could hear his fingers briefly stop their clicking movements across his keyboard, but he made no other move to signify that he felt my advances.

Oh, he wanted to play that game.

Slowly, I ran my foot further towards him, brushing it across his ankle before I lifted my leg at the same time that I lifted his jeans with my big toe. As my foot moved higher, I pushed the arch into his calf that I had made bare, placing teasing touches up and down the length of his lower leg.

My ministrations were met with more faltering on the keyboard, this time combined with a sharp inhale of breath. His eyes never left the computer screen.

On the inside, I did a happy dance because I had managed to have some sort of effect on him. Without meeting his gaze, I pulled my foot back and acted as if nothing had happened.

Things were calm for a few minutes and I actually managed to read an entire paragraph when, suddenly, Edward's foot was sliding up my calf. I couldn't even attempt to mask the gasp that flew out of my mouth as his skin met mine.

Damn him. I should have worn pants.

Refusing to look up and meet his eyes as his foot moved higher, I focused on a random sentence in the chapter. I probably should have chosen an entire paragraph, but at that moment, all I could handle was a short stringing together of words.

"I'm so damn dehydrated," Jasper complained as he trudged into the kitchen. I could hear the whiskey hangover in his voice.

Edward's foot fell away in a swift, sudden move. "Sucks, man," he said in a normal, completely unaffected voice.

"Damn Emmett," Jasper mumbled from where his head was stuck inside the refrigerator. When he was entirely visible again, a bottle of water was in his hand.

"Getting a lot of work done, you two?" he asked. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

I nodded lamely and Edward answered, "Sure."

He nodded and disappeared back into the living room.

Edward shot me a look that said, 'That was close,' before his foot was sliding up my calf again. I was pretty sure that footsie had never been this damn sexy in grade school.

An hour later, I had only made it through two pages. On average, each paragraph took me ten minutes to get through. Edward had continued to tease me with his feet and sometimes with his fingers, reaching across to brush my hair out of my face or trail his thumb across my wrist.

It was torture and I feared that eventually the weird sexual tension in the room would bubble over into the living room.

"Bella," Edward whispered and I immediately forgot everything that I had read in the past two minutes.

I looked up quickly and noticed the intense, lustful look in his eyes.

Uh oh.

"Yeah?" my voice cracked as I answered.

"Can you, uh…" He lifted his right index finger and pointed to his computer screen. "I have a grammar question."

I shook my head, telling myself that the look in his eye was my imagination. "Oh, uh, sure."

Leaning forward, I was waiting for him to turn his laptop to show me his point of inquiry, only for it never to happen. Instead, he reached forward and cupped my chin between this thumb and forefinger and pulled me forward.

A quick peck on the lips and he pulled back, leaving me standing there dumbly with my eyes closed and lips gaping.

"Hey guys." Damn Rose. What was with her and Emmett? "Can I join you two in here? Why are you standing? Bella, why are your eyes closed?"

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.

"I need a drink," Edward and I said at the same time. I turned to him, eyes wide. He smirked.

"I'll get it," I said. "Beer?"

He nodded. "That's fine."

After retrieving two beers from the refrigerator, I lumbered back over to the table to find that Rose had set up her laptop at the head of the table, effectively sitting herself in between Edward and me.

"Guys," she said as we twisted the caps off of our Bud Lights, "it's not even noon."

"I don't care," I said at the same time that Edward said, "I'm on vacation."

She scrunched up her nose. "Who gave you two bitch pills this morning?"

We both glared at her and chose not to answer.

"O-kay, well," she paused, "I guess we should get to work then."

By lunchtime, I had actually made significant progress in my work, but the quality of what I had done was questionable; between the two of us, Edward and I had gone through a 6-pack.

After finishing off my third beer, I looked up and my eyes widened.

"Oops," I said, looking across the table and giggling at Edward. I wanted to kiss him so badly it almost hurt.

"Yeah," he chuckled as he shot me a devastating grin, "oops."

Rose was annoyed. "I hate you two sometimes," she mumbled as she pounded so furiously against her keyboard that I feared for its safety. "This is just like that time you thought it would be fun to bring a damn flask to the study room during finals."

"Whatever, Rose," Edward said with exasperation. "You're just upset you didn't think of it first. And besides, Emmett started it and you joined in."

xXx

Edward POV

May 2007, Freshman Year

(248): You would get kicked out of the study lounge for being drunk the Monday of finals week.

"The fuck, Em?" I asked as Emmett reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a shiny silver flask.

Jasper, Emmett, and I were sitting in the study room that was nestled on the first floor of our dorm, preparing for the finals that we all had in the morning. Or, at least, Jasper and I were. Em was drinking and the girls were on their way down to join us.

"What?" he asked innocently as he twisted the cap off and took a sip.

I stared at him, mouth agape, and tapped my pencil against my literature notebook.

"Don't you have a final tomorrow?" Jasper asked, breaking his concentration and glancing up from his political science book.

The three of us may have been known for our partying skills but I, at least, knew how to separate work and play.

Emmett shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I do," he said, "but I've come up with a system. I get an answer correct on the review that our TA posted online and I take a swig of Jack. I get a question wrong, well, no whiskey for Emmett."

"You can't be serious."

Jasper turned to me. "He's serious." He didn't seem concerned.

By now, the blonde girls with obviously fake breasts that were studying together at the table in the corner opposite from us were shooting daggers of death in our direction. From the looks of it, we were being a little too chatty.

I threw my pencil on the wooden table and sighed loudly, reaching up to run my hands through my hair as I leaned back in my chair.

"Hi guys!" I heard a chirpy voice from the doorway. Alice.

I turned in the direction of her voice and grinned. For a little hyper thing, she could somehow always manage to keep Emmett, and the rest of us, in line.

Behind her was Rose, who I knew could keep him in line for sure if Alice failed. Bella was third to enter, her hair tied up on the top of her head and a pair of glasses I had never seen before perched on the bridge of her nose. She was no match for Emmett, but she knew her shit when it came to Lit, and for that I would be eternally grateful.

"Bella," I called, momentarily distracted by Emmett's drinking habits, "just the person I needed to see."

"I won't help you with your English final," she deadpanned.

Well, damn. "Why the hell not?"

"Because," she sighed with exasperation as she dropped her books on the table. "I have a final to study for, too."

"Emmett has liquor," I bribed with a hopeful smile.

She frowned. "And?"

"Maybe he'll share?" It was a long shot, but I tried it anyway. "Or I'll make him share."

The look Emmett sent it my direction told me that there was no chance in Hell he had been planning on sharing. Oops. To make his point, he stated firmly, "I won't share."

I gave him a pointed look but he didn't back down.

"Please, Bella," I pleaded. Biology, chemistry, and physical science I could handle, but Literature…not exactly my strong suite.

She rolled her eyes and flipped open a notebook. "No," she said with finality.

I gave up and turned to Emmett. "Give it," I said. If I was going to learn this shit on my own, I was going to need a drink or two.

"I'm not sharing, Edward."

My jaw clenched. "I'll go upstairs and refill it when it's empty."

The girls in the corner were clearly furious; one of them was making a move to stand and come over to chastise us.

Jasper noticed and decided to take care of the situation. We all watched with fascination as he stood suavely and strutted over to clear the air. As he spoke, their frowns turned to smiles and, within minutes, they were practically eating out of the palm of his hand.

"Thanks, ladies," I heard him say as he turned to head back to our table, a smirk and look of pride on his face.

"You get the hoes off our back?" Rose asked a little too loudly once he was seated. Surprisingly, they didn't seem offended.

"That I did," Jasper said, still smirking.

Alice was frowning. "What did you promise them?"

Jasper chuckled. "Nothing, Al," he assured her. "I just told them that we were having a big post-finals party and that they were invited."

"There's no party," Emmett commented.

Holding a finger up to his lips to quiet our friend, Jasper grinned. "I know that, Em, but they don't."

"I like it!" Rose exclaimed, evidently thrilled to have the bimbos off our backs. "Celebratory shot?"

My hands flew to my hair again, tugging at the strands. How on earth was I supposed to get any studying done if my friends wouldn't lay off the alcohol to study?

The flask was passed around. When it arrived in my hands, I couldn't just say no to the amber liquid hidden inside, so I took the shot. The burning sensation as it crawled down my throat calmed me, prepared me to tackle Lit…sort of.

Eventually, we were all taking a shot for correct answers to study guides. Papers were passed around the table, random questions and answers were called out and, soon, the girls in the corner of the lounge were angry again.

"Excuse me," one of them said as she swayed over to our table. "Can you guys, like, leave? Some of us are trying to actually study."

"Hells no!" Emmett bellowed, tossing a fist into the air. "This is our study par-tay!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "What are you studying, big guy?"

"Economics," he answered. "Supply and demand. You see, I've got this supply," he held up his flask. "And this demand," he gestured to the five of us.

Oh, the girl was fuming. "I'm going to get security. You know alcohol is prohibited in the dorm. I could get you all in trouble."

Bitch.

"That won't be necessary," Alice piped up, closing her books and beginning to stack them together. "We'll just go."

Emmett began to protest, but Rose managed to quiet him. The rest of us followed suit.

On the way out, Emmett turned to flip them the bird. "Later, bitches."

xXx

Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No I didn't." The weakness of her voice betrayed her, as did the smile she was fighting.

I turned to Edward to find him watching me, a smirk on his lips as his eyes found mine. He winked.

I tore my gaze away from him at the same time I felt his foot settle on my knee. I darted my eyes to Rose and back to him. He shrugged.

"More beer?" I asked, standing quickly as his foot fell to the ground. If he wanted to play the footsie game with Rose around, I was going to need more to drink.

Hadn't it been just yesterday that I had qualms about drinking before noon? This trip was turning me into a lush. All blame, I decided, rested on Edward's perfectly muscled shoulders.

He cocked his head to the side and answered. "Sure."

"Rose?"

She continued to pound her fingers against the keyboard. "Fine," she caved with a sigh, "bring me one too."

Pulling the refrigerator door open, I stared inside blankly for a moment before deciding to just grab an entire 6-pack again. What the Hell, right? Like Edward had said, this was vacation.

Dropping the drinks on the table, I fell back onto my chair and officially gave up on my work, choosing instead to check my e-mail.

I scanned through my inbox quickly. Mainly, it was filled with messages from stores and restaurants, announcing specials and new items. A few here and there were from authors I was working with; I ignored them. This was vacation. None of the messages really caught my attention, though, until I noticed a name that rarely graced by inbox: Edward M. Cullen.

My eyes darted up to see that he was, surprisingly, focused intently on the screen of his MacBook that matched mine. I realized with a grin that our laptops made us look like a too-coordinated couple that matched their outfits and electronics.

I opened the e-mail.

To: Isabella Swan

From: Edward M. Cullen

Subject: Challenge

Bella,

Remember our discussion on the beach? I'm thinking today might be the perfect time to follow through.

Edward

The perfect time, indeed.

I grinned and refused to look at him as I typed out a response.

To: Edward M. Cullen

From: Isabella Swan

Subject: Re: Challenge

Edward,

It's on. Hope you brought your big boy drinking pants.

Cheers,

Bella

I heard his computer ping to announce the arrival of my e-mail and smiled to myself. If I was so magnetically pulled to Edward sober, I could only imagine what the effect of alcohol would be.

A slow shiver ran up my spine and I reached for my beer, eager to get a head start.

Glancing at Edward, I noticed that he was doing the same. Oh, it was going to be a good day. And our poor friends had no clue what was going on…