Bella's POV

"I've made a decision."

I looked up expectantly as Alice hopped up onto the counter, swinging her bare feet like a child. "You've finally come to your senses and you're dumping Jasper?" I teased.

She rolled her eyes. "No. He's stuck with me. I've decided that we need to have a roommate only cookout. That means no significant others like Mike and Rosalie. You've been bragging about your fucking burgers, prove it missy."

I laughed. "I have not been bragging. I made one comment a month ago. I'll make food, but I haven't been bragging."

"Whatever, Tex." We both looked up as Emmett came into the kitchen. "You know you think your shit is badass."

"Probably because you keep telling me it is," I rolled my eyes at him. "So when are we doing this cookout?"

"Tonight. You have everything you need for burgers?"

I shook my head. "No, but we can do a quick grocery run. I've got a recipe for garlic parmesan fries that are fantastic."

Emmett's eyes lit up. "I fucking love you, Bella."

I laughed. "So you're up for a grocery store run?"

"Fuck yeah. Let me drop my shit." He disappeared down the stairs and Alice smiled at me triumphantly.

"We're also going to play Truth or Dare, so get lots of beer."

I groaned. "Seriously? I haven't played that since like, 6th grade. We always ended up having someone running around without a bra on."

"Have you ever played with guys?"

"Nope."

"It's way more fun with guys."

"What's way more fun with guys?"

Alice looked at Emmett, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Truth or Dare."

His face broke into a huge grin. "Fuck yeah. I get to go first."

"Let's just go get the food," I grumbled.

Emmett laughed as we headed out. We climbed into my car and got to the grocery store quickly. There were advantages to being in a small town. We grabbed a few pounds of ground beef and some potatoes. I had most everything else at home, but we grabbed a few extra items just to be sure we had it.

"So you have any interesting romantic prospects?" I asked Emmett as we pushed the cart through the aisles.

He shook his head and tossed a bag of chips into the basket. "No, not really. They're all pretty focused on school. I need a girl who likes to have fun on top of being a good student."

I grinned at him. "Good luck with that."

"No shit."

We paused in the bakery and contemplated the sweets. "We need a cake," Emmett decided finally, grabbing a chocolate cake with thick chocolate icing.

I laughed. "Why do we need a cake?"

"Because cake makes everything better," he shrugged.

I couldn't argue with his logic so we placed it in the cart. When we got home, Jasper and Edward were already outside starting up the grill and arguing. Emmett grinned.

"Looks like the ladies need help figuring out how to start a fire."

I laughed. "You get on out there then. Alice can help with the food."

He grabbed a six pack and headed outside to sit with the others. Alice and I quickly set to work on the burgers and fries.

"So, anything new with you and Edward?" she asked casually as she popped a hunk of cheese in her mouth.

I frowned. "I've been going on dates with Mike and he's still with Rosalie. What do you think?"

She shrugged. "Just asking. You two still seem pretty cozy."

I sighed. "It's so weird. I almost feel like we're dating but not dating. There's no forward motion, but no real withdraw, either." I shrugged as I made a careful pile of patties on the plate. "It's annoying, but kind of comforting."

"He's an ass."

I laughed and held out the plate. "Take the asses the meat and tell them not to burn it while I put the fries in."

She rolled her eyes and hopped down from the counter and sashayed out of the kitchen.

I sighed as she disappeared and turned my attention back to the mess. I started to clean up for lack of anything better to do. The potatoes were in the oven and didn't need much attention. I was just exhausted from the school week and the dances with both Mike and Edward. Mike wanted more and wasn't being terribly subtle about it. I knew I wouldn't stay a virgin forever, but the thought of ending it with him, his sloppy wet kisses and hands that seemed to have extra digits made me physically ill.

I put together a couple platters of add ons for the burgers and the condiments and took everything outside. There was a small card table we were using for our buffet table and I was doubtful it would hold everything. I carefully set the plates down and headed back inside to finish cleaning up while they cooked.

It wasn't long before we were all sitting around outside, enjoying the last rays of summer sun on our skin.

"Damn, Bella, these are the shit," Emmett moaned in appreciation. "What's your secret?"

I grinned. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret."

He rolled his eyes and took another massive bite.

"Fries are good, too," mumbled Edward.

"Thanks. Now y'all know better than to doubt me." I winked at him and he flashed a grin back at me before taking another bite.

Alice and Jasper were having some private conversation on the glider while the rest of us chatted easily in our camp chairs. We finished up and started to do the little bit of clean up left. Alice and Jasper stayed outside to put out the still smoldering coals while Emmett and Edward and I carried empty plates and the table back inside.

I set to work storing leftovers while the boys worked on washing up dishes. It didn't take long before we grabbed new beers and headed back outside.

Alice and Jasper were still working on putting out the fire when we settled down in seats. I claimed the glider and Edward took the other end, Emmett threw himself across us, nearly knocking our drinks over. At our laughs of protest, the loving couple turned around, surprised.

"Ha ha, you get the camp chairs," I sang as I attempted to free myself from Emmett's hip bone. "Get off me you git. I can't breathe."

"Git? What are you, British? You need to lay off the Harry Potter," he teased as he climbed off carefully. He settled himself into a camp chair, resting his feet on the arm of the glider by me.

I made a face at him, then moved so I was leaning against Edward. Jasper took the other camp chair and Alice settled comfortably into his lap. Emmett produced drinks for them from somewhere and we all sat, chatting easily and drinking. I was comfortable and sleepy and the alcohol was making me sleepier. I snuggled against Edward's chest, grateful he was such a hot body.

"You don't mind if I take a quick nap, right?" I mumbled against his shirt.

He chuckled softly. "Snooze away, but if you drool on my shirt…"

"Bite me."

"You wish."

I grinned and poked him in the side before sitting up. I yawned and looked at the others.

"Are we seriously going to play Truth or Dare? If so, we should do it now or I'm going to fall asleep. Otherwise, I think I'll go to bed."

"We definitely are," beamed Alice.

"What are, in 5th grade?" snickered Jasper.

"Shut up. It's fun. As grown-ups we can do all sorts of crazy shit. I'll go first. Alice, truth or dare." Emmett grinned evilly.

She rolled her eyes. "Truth."

"Weenie."

"Bitch."

He laughed. "How often do you masturbate?"

Her eyes bugged out of her head. "What the hell? No, don't worry about starting with something easy, just jump in there why don't you."

He grinned, but we were all listening for her reply.

"I don't masturbate," she said crossly. "I've got Jasper."

"Yeah, but I'm not around all the time," he pointed out with a grin.

Her scowl deepened. "I, unlike you perverts, can go a few days without needing to get off, thank you very much. It makes the inevitable orgasm so much better that way."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, Alice. Fess up. You do it every morning don't you?"

Her face turned pink, pretty much confirming my accusation. The whole group burst out laughing and she buried her face in Jasper's neck. He laughed and rubbed her back, whispering something in her ear. She looked up at him and grinned, then turned to me.

"Oh durn," I muttered.

"Bella, truth or dare."

I groaned. "Which is worse?"

"No idea. Why don't you pick and find out?"

I rolled my eyes. "Truth."

"How often do YOU masturbate?" she sat back looking triumphant.

"Foul!" shouted Edward, startling me. "You can't ask the same question you were just asked. New question."

Emmett nodded his agreement. "Yeah, no fair. You have to think of your own shit, plagiarizer."

She pouted, then looked thoughtful. "Ok, how many guys have you kissed?"

"What?! Lame," Emmett grumbled into his beer.

Alice shrugged. "She's a lightweight. And I can't think of anything else."

I rolled my eyes. "That is pretty lame, I must admit. Counting Mike, four."

"Just four?" Jasper looked really surprised. "I thought you were like, the hottie of the high school."

I shrugged. "I may have been the hottie, but I didn't get around like that. I was pretty tame in high school."

"Did you at least have sex with one of the other three?" demanded Emmett.

I felt my face turn pink. "I don't have to answer that, it's not my turn to answer anymore."

He laughed. "You so did! You're embarrassed to talk about sex!"

"I hate you."

"No you don't," he grinned at me through the darkness. Edward was chuckling beside me and Jasper and Alice were laughing too. "But you can go now. I'll definitely keep all this in mind for the future, though."

I made a face at him and looked around the circle thoughtfully. "Jasper."

He rolled his eyes. "Dare."

I grinned. "Nothing major, but I'd like to see you perform a lap dance."

He laughed. "I can do that." He lifted Alice up and stood up himself. She sat down in the chair and looked up expectantly.

"No no, not Alice." He looked at me surprised. "Not me either. Emmett."

My declaration was met with silence. Then loud guffaws of laughter came from Edward.

"Fuckin' SWEET!" he crowed. Emmett scowled, but Jasper shuffled over.

"Sorry dude," he muttered.

"Wait," Alice exclaimed "we need music." She ran inside and turned on the radio on the stereo, flipping through stations until she found a dance remix of something. She returned with a huge stupid grin on her face.

We were all cracking up as we watched Jasper give the most horribly awkward lap dance to Emmett. Emmett kept grimacing before he finally shrugged and put his hands on Jasper's hips and started getting into the joke. I leaned against Edward's chest I was laughing so hard at Jasper's hip thrusts and booty shakes. Finally the song ended and Jasper resumed his seat, an embarrassed grin on his face.

"Dude, you both enjoyed that WAY too much," Alice gasped as she came back from turning off the radio and collapsed against Jasper.

Emmett shook his head and drained his beer. "I'm getting refills, anyone want anything?"

We all held up our empty bottles which he collected and disappeared into the house.

"Well, I guess that means you're up, Edward," Jasper chuckled.

Edward shook his head. "Truth, I guess."

"Pussy."

"Do you blame me?" he laughed.

Jasper shook his head. "Ok…where's the weirdest place you've ever had sex?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Easy. Glass elevator in the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas."

My jaw dropped and I twisted around to see him. "Seriously? What skank let you do her in a glass elevator?"

He looked at me. "Rosalie."

I snorted, bursting into laughter just as Emmett returned with everyone's drinks.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, resuming his seat and taking a sip.

"Not much, just Edward confessing to doing Rosalie in a glass elevator in Vegas," I laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "Amateur."

"Oh, you've done better?"

"Sure have. I did a girl in the Ferris wheel at the state fair." He sat back satisfied.

"I'm surrounded by deviants," I said incredulous.

"Prude."

"Man whore."

Edward grinned at me. "You know you want me."

"Whatever."

"Edward, you're up. I guess you have to ask Emmett," Alice interrupted with a laugh.

"Fine. Emmett, truth or dare."

"Dare."

"French Alice."

"Dude, not cool," Jasper protested.

Alice rolled her eyes and walked over to Emmett. She leaned down and they kissed, using tongue, very quickly. She then gulped down some of her drink and kissed Jasper. "Stupid asses," she muttered.

The game went on for a while, getting more and more asinine. There was a strip tease, a naked jog around the house and an order of 5 pizzas to a house down the street. Alice confessed that in the past, she had fantasized about other men during sex, Jasper confessed he was an ass man, and I copped to not having had my first kiss until I was 17. We'd all drained two full beers and were sitting in comfortable silence.

"All right," said Emmett, a sly grin on his face. "I'll close out the evening with one final go. Edward, truth or dare."

I looked up at Edward's face in the dim light. I'd long since resumed my position against his chest, my legs thrown across the arm of the glider. He rolled his eyes. "You've been waiting for me all night haven't you?"

"You know it. Your ass is mine now."

"And you claim you're not gay," I snickered.

Edward groaned and sat in silence for a minute. "Dare, I guess."

Emmett grinned, triumphant. "Kiss Bella."

I froze, shocked. I sat up and stared at him. "Wait, we already had that dare," I protested.

"So? I'm not copying it verbatim. You said French. I said just kiss. It's up to you two if it's a French kiss. You bitches have been dancing around saying you're 'just friends.' Prove it."

"What. The. Hell!?" I exclaimed.

Alice and Jasper started at Emmett in shocked silence, then Alice let out a low breath. "Even I didn't go there," she said softly.

My face was so hot, I knew it was bright red. "Well, on that note, I'm going to bed," I muttered, standing up. I was drunker than I realized and I toppled over, landing awkwardly on Edward's lap. He wrapped his arms around me, chuckling softly in my ear. "No, really, I'm going to bed. You people are deviants." I grumbled as I pushed against Edward and headed inside. I turned at the door. "You know, we've all got school tomorrow."

"Oh, come on, Bells, it's just a kiss," Jasper pointed out. "He's got a point. If you're just friends, it's not a big deal, right?"

I scowled at him and looked to Edward for support. He shrugged. "It's just a kiss, right?"

Edward's POV

She chewed on her lip and stared at me, thinking. She finally huffed and sat down across my legs. "Fine, but then I'm going to bed."

She put her hands up and grabbed the sides of my head and pulled my face to hers, crushing her lips against mine.

The others were grinning at us. I gave them the finger before wrapping my arms around Bella's waist and pulling her closer to me, tilting my head slightly to deepen the kiss. She moved one of her hands to the back of my head. She tasted like burgers and beer and something else, something uniquely…Bella. I moaned softly in the back of my throat and she sighed against my mouth.

Suddenly she pulled back, her face flushed pink and her eyes dark. She rested her forehead against mine and brought her hand back to my face.

"Happy?" she asked Emmett, her breathing ragged.

No one answered so she pulled herself off of my lap and headed inside, slamming the door behind her. I stared at the others in shock.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked hoarsely.

"That was the hottest fucking kiss I've ever witnessed. I felt a little pervy sitting here," admitted Alice. "Are you sure you two are just friends?"

I dropped my head into my hands and groaned softly. I felt three hands brush my shoulders as the others passed me as they went inside. I waited until I was sure I had control of myself and then followed.

I stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a couple bottles of water and headed upstairs. I could hear Jasper and Alice talking and laughing softly in their room as I passed by and saw the light was off in Bella's. I frowned at that. We always slept in her room. Maybe she was embarrassed about the kiss.

I stuck my head in the door and saw the room was empty but that her clothes were on the floor and the drawers weren't shut all the way. I looked over my shoulder but the door to the bathroom was open and the lights were off.

I continued up to my room and smiled when I saw Bella sitting on the floor in front of my bookshelves, holding a small wooden elephant in her hand. Her hair was in a messy braid and she was wearing pink shorts and a top.

"So we're sleeping up here?" I asked as I handed her a bottle of water.

She nodded. "I just didn't feel like sleeping downstairs tonight."

I shrugged. That worked for me. I headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I paused, suddenly realizing she'd hear me pee, but decided I had to pee too much to care. I came out when I was finished with the whole routine and smiled when I saw her laying on the floor her eyes closed.

"I got dizzy," she muttered, not opening her eyes.

I laughed. "Need help getting up?"

She rolled her head from side to side and pushed herself up and turned to face me, a goofy little smile on her face. "I'm good."

"Fuck, I'm tired," I yawned as I crossed to my bed. She nodded and held up an empty water bottle.

"Me too, but now I have to pee again."

I grinned as I crawled into the bed. "Good, get all the alcohol out of your system. I'll warm up the bed." I waggled my eyebrows at her suggestively and she rolled her eyes as she made her way into the bathroom.

I reached over and flicked off the overhead light and yawned again. We'd stayed up way too fucking late. The red numbers on my clock read 2 am. Shit. I had to be up in 4 hours.

The door to the bathroom swung open and the light clicked off. I could hear Bella shuffling across the room and then there was a soft banging sound and what would have been swearing from anyone else. Suddenly, she was falling on me, her elbow landing barely north of a region I happen to prize quite highly.

"Fuck, Bella." I grabbed her shoulders to keep her from moving.

"Sorry, but you're the dumbass who turned all the lights off. You know I trip over stuff sober in broad daylight."

"You wear heels a lot and you're typically dazzled by my awesomeness. Plus, I figured you'd be more graceful barefoot."

She snickered in the darkness. "Don't lie, you wanted me to trip and fall and be at your mercy. That kiss totally turned you on."

Holy shit, was Bella flirting back like crazy? This was new and interesting. I was stopped from further thoughts on the matter when her hand definitely made contact with my prized region and I hissed slightly, not necessarily from pain.

I wrapped my arms around her torso and dragged her up level with me on the bed. "Shut up and lay down before you render me sterile."

She giggled softly as I tossed her onto her side. She moved to get under the covers and lay quietly for a moment before the infernal hip wiggling began as she slowly made her way back towards me.

"God, would you fucking stop?" I grumbled.

"Sorry," I heard her mumble. "I think I had one or two too many tonight. I feel kinda weird."

"Not vomiting in the middle of the night weird, right?"

"No, just…flushed." There was a long pause as I contemplated that. She started shifting again.

"Christ," I mumbled. I reached for her and pulled her tightly against my chest. Normally we slept face to face, but spooning could work, too. I draped my arm lightly over her side, careful not to touch anything I shouldn't and she sighed softly, molding into my chest. I rested my chin lightly on the top of her head and closed my eyes, hurtling quickly towards the edge of sleep.

"Happy?" I mumbled.

Another little wriggle. "Yes, thanks. You're warm."

I chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head.

"You know I love you, right?" I asked affectionately.

"Yeah, I love you too, you big lug."

Fuck me, that was not just a kiss.

***

Tali: So, this was stolen from another story I'm writing based on my experiences as a hotel manager in Austin, TX and is based on an actual game of truth or dare. There was much alcohol consumed, so I'm not terribly sure what dares and truths took place, but I remember a guy who was just a friend being dared to kiss me. Then there was a weird incident with a Longhorns game jersey and me having to decide if I wanted to sleep with my friend/employee. Yeah....alcohol at 2 am on a week night in January isn't necessarily a good thing....lol

Also, the postings will have to slow a bit to at most once a day. Yesterday was a fluke. If I post twice a day, I'll be out of chapters by next Friday and I'm not sure when I'll get the rest of the story written. At once a day, I'll be at the end of what's written on the 28th. I will be out of town a couple weekends to see my mom, but I'm hoping to just take the laptop with me and post from there. If not, I'll double post when I can.

Enjoy!