EPOV
The sunrise streaming through the windows blinded me as is shone through the windows. Had we really been drinking that long? I couldn't do the math, and I swore if I had to hear Emmett cry anymore in his drunken stupor over missing his 'Rosie' I was gong to vomit. "Em," I slurred lazily, "Stop whining about your woman. Men like you and women like Rose are exactly why I like to keep it simple and uncomplicated. Women are clingy possessive bitches and for some reason men turn into sniveling babies around then when they think they are in love." I finished my small, somewhat intelligible rant and leaned back on my stool, swaying back and forth slowly as I attempted to keep my perch upon it.
If the fucking thing would stop moving, we'd be just fine.
Emmett looked up at me heavy-lidded, moving his hand to support his head as he cocked one eyebrow up and practically belched out, "then what exactly is your problem about your 'situation' with Bella, bro? I'd think you'd be giddy with relief that she's not making a play for your heart and shit."
I laughed heartily, shaking my head at my older brother, "giddy, Em? What are you reading seventeen magazine now or some gay shit?"
"Fuck you bro. It's just a word. It sort of just popped in my head and shit." He replied defensively. "But seriously, besides the T-shirt, what exactly is your problem? Casual hot sex? That's your MO, man. Why not just have fun and enjoy the ride?"
I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was so melancholy about Bella just leaving last night, I just was. She had this way of getting under my skin, and if I wanted to continue this little… whatever the fuck we were doing, I would have to toughen up my game.
"You're right Em. I got to stop over thinking stuff. I'm going to end up as high-strung as Jasper." I chuckled.
"This is all because of that Kath.." he started, before I cut him off.
"Don't you dare go there, Emmett! This is your only warning. Do not mention her!" Emmett looked like a little boy who waiting to be punished for stealing a cookie. I took a deep breath, and shook the thought out of my mind.
I started thinking about the fight with Jazz earlier, which sobered me up a bit. I was still pissed about that, I have this gut feeling that Bella's little pixie friend had grabbed Jasper's interest, and although I had no issue with that per se, he needed to tell that little bitch to back the fuck off my business. Taking her side over the one of your best friend who has been by his side during the tough shit over the years was unacceptable in my eyes. Even though I knew I was going to forgive the bastard, I was hoping he would come clean that he was following the advice of his dick more than his brain at the moment.
Can't blame him for the slumberparty idea tho. Totally got laid. Although the way she came to the door indicated we were getting some pussy that night regardless.
Whatever the end result, his ideas were given with good intentions, and I had appreciated his effort in that regard. But the more I thought about him and Bella's friend, the more suspicious I became that she would drive a wedge between us. Hindsight is 20/20 but even in my mind-muddled state I realized now that she is probably the reason he attempted to knock me out in the office. Over-gallant fucker.
I glanced over at Emmett, who looked about ready to roll right off his stool. "Dude, you are like 200 pounds of solid tank, how the fuck are you wasted?" I joked, as I poked him in the chest, resulting in him loosing what remained of his balance. He toppled off the chair, guffawing like a hyena. He lay on the floor a few moments, holding his stomach while tears formed in his eyes as he continued to laugh at only God knew what, until he heard the doorbell ring.
"Rosie?" he asked the air, whilst glancing back and forth, his jaw slack, blinking rapidly. I shook my head and got up to head for the door.
"Rose wouldn't ring the bell, you ass," I countered as I stepped over him and approached the door. I threw it open; revealing a rather stressed out Jasper, fist raised to further knock on the door, I would imagine.
"You aren't going to punch me again are you, fucker?" I mocked as he looked at me shocked while lowering his hand. His tensed up stance relaxed as he looked me over and a relieved smile crossed over his face. Then the fucker hugged me; how fucking emasculating can you get? "Dude, are you high? Get the fuck off me!" I shouted while trying to wiggle free of his surprisingly strong grip. He was strong for a little fucker.
"It sure smells like you've been having a hell of a good time. Jesus. Dude, I have been looking everywhere for you! Have you been here all this time?" He released me from his man-hug and looked at me expectantly. Emmett, who managed to crawl his way to the hall, peered around the corner. "This was my last resort, and your brother over there has his phone turned off." he jerked his chin towards Emmett, who just shrugged.
"Hey Jazz, yah he's been here since Rosie left in a huff. We've been doing the brother thing, come on in my man!" He leaned on his arm again, lounging on the floor like the village idiot as he motioned Jasper into the room with his free one. Jasper looked at him confused, tilting his head to the side. He then looked back at me.
"Wait a sec. Rose knows you are here?" he asked, pointing down.
"Yeah she knows, alright. Emmett grew a pair and told her to shut her fucking trap and she stormed out." I muttered while glancing at Em, who looked like he was going to cry. "You stop that shit, Em." I pointed and shouted at my drunken brother. He dropped his head and it clanked to the hardwood floor. "She had it coming! I would swear that bitch had a dick the way you go all pussy for her. She basically wished me dead, you would have been wrong to not stick up for me!" I never did care for Rose, but my brother loved her, so I kept out of it as much as possible. But seriously, how could two men that were my shadows growing up, through all the bullshit, let a pair of tits get in the way of our friendship?
"I don…don't regret anything I said bro." Emmett defended, "I just wish that she would understand that although I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her, you are my brother and I'm not going to let her treat you like an asshole anymore. If she can't respect my family, then I guess that is all there is to say. But it doesn't mean I am not fucking depressed about potentially losing the woman who is the love of my life." His voice cracked on that last word, and he started to roll himself in a ball.
I rolled my eyes, wondering deep down how true Rosalie's feelings for my brother really were. I hoped she wasn't a money grubbing little whore, because both Emmett and I were pretty fucking loaded, even without any of our business prospects. They had been together forever, and she seemed to love my hulk of a baby brother, but that fucking mouth! I'm sure he could find much more conductive things to have her use it on, other than flapping it constantly and treating people like dog shit.
As I looked back at Jasper I noticed that his face was turning red, and his hands formed into fists: both of these events were key indicators that Jazzy was about to lose his shit over something. And just as soon as the thought was out of my head, Jasper hissed, "Seriously Emmett? That love of your life made me worried sick that Edward fell off a fucking cliff today! She swore she had no idea where he was, and that I should probably check bridges and cliffsides for his ass! I thought something horrible happened, dude. That shit is NOT COOL!" he exhaled and his face returned to normal color.
"Awwww, you were really worried about me, Jazz?" I asked, making this goofy face and batting my eyes at him exaggeratedly.
He took in my ridiculous lovey-dove face and chuckled, before asking "Listen, are we cool dude? You took off pretty heated. I know how you get, and I was … well I was worried."
Worried I might kick the shit out of somebody's ass like I did last time somebody turned on me.
"Yeah, we're cool. I might have overreacted earlier. I was pretty steamed. But…" I poked him in the chest to get my point across, "Keep your lady friends and such out of our friendship man. You owe me that much. What I do with other ladies is not their business. I don't give a shit whether they are best friends or fucking sisters. Keep the two separate, dude." I was really serious about this. I didn't want or need friends who would stab me in the back, and if that was the direction Jazz was going, it was best to get it out in the air right now.
Jasper nodded. "I gotcha, man"
We stood there for a moment, before deciding to drag a limp, barely conscious Emmett by his hands and feet up the stairs to his bedroom. He was a heavy motherfucker. I'd seriously have to go look at just how much of a dent we'd made into his alcohol supply to make him this out of it. We finally made it to his room and plopped him on his bed.
"Guys, you think Rosie's going to come back?" he slurred, and then pouted. For the love of god.
"Don't worry about that right now Emmett, you just need to sleep this shit off. Because if she comes back, you won't be any closer to being out of the doghouse."I assured him.
Before he passed out I added one more thing. "Hey Em…I really am proud of you for sticking up for your blood. Thanks man."He nodded and he dozed off with a lazy smile covering his face.
Jasper and I started leaving the room when we heard Emmett mumble 'fuzzy' and his hand grabbing the air. I sighed, grabbed the raggedy stuffed bear from the floor and put it into his hands. Jasper had a smile playing on his lips.
"Don't ask man, just please don't ask." I begged.
A day had passed, and I decided to go all recluse and not leave my loft, focusing completely on work. I turned my cell off and blocked out the outside world. It was just around noon, and I got some paperwork done, and was starting to draft some emails when my phone rang. It was the front desk of my building.
"Yes?" I picked up.
"Mr. Cullen, this is Damon from the front desk. You've just had a package dropped off. Would you like me to have someone bring it up to you?" he asked.
"No, it's fine. I'll be right now" I answered, pulling on a shirt. I was curious, trying to think about how I could have a package during the weekend. UPS and FedEx didn't deliver…
I reached the lobby and walked over to Damon.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Cullen. Here you are" he ducked down and fetched a brown bag, handing it to me.
I peered in and saw my Sex Pistols shirt folded neatly in the bag. It smelled of fresh fabric softener. Damon cleared his throat to get my attention, and I glanced up at him expectedly.
"The woman who dropped it off said she'd be in the lounge if you wanted to see her, otherwise she'd leave in 10 minutes. If I'm not being too out of line, sir, I'd definitely go." He blushed slightly and went back to his computer business. Bella made quite an impression on him, obviously.
I sighed and walked into the lounge and saw Bella sitting at a booth. Her hair was sporting natural waves and I saw her foot nervously shaking. She glanced at her phone. I stood up straighter and approached the table.
"Thanks for bringing my shirt back" I whispered, sneaking up behind her. She smelled of freshly picked strawberries. I inhaled deeply.
She jumped slightly, and then nodded as I sat down. "No problem" she answered quietly.
She had on knee high boots with skinny jeans and a loose pink tank. She didn't have much makeup on, and she didn't need it. She looked absolutely beautiful, and I realized that this was the first time I'd actually looked at her in the daylight without her pussy being my target. But of course, I blurted out the first thing I thought of when my eyes traveled over her prominent collar bone, that sexy dent at the bottom of her neck, and her slight cleavage.
"Fuck Bella, you look hot, you really do." I said appreciatively with a smirk. "And look at that, you're not even in your fuck-me-now outfit!" I added with an animated expression.
"See, this is exactly the behavior that makes me loath you. Who damaged you to make you so damn rude? Huh? Who hurt you and why do you take it out on other women?" she said, her jaw set. She was trying to press my buttons, trying to get me to open up to her. Well fuck that shit; this girl had a big mouth for such a tiny girl.
God how I would love to put such mouth to better use right now. Or gag her; that would shut her up.
See fucker! She's right! Look what Katherine turned you into. This girl is trying to understand you.
Shut the fuck up!
"Listen, if I wanted to talk about my past and feelings I'd call my fucking shrink, okay?"
Her eyes turned sympathetic, though they still held some emotion between hurt and anger.
"I really feel sorry for you, Edward. You think you're winning because you're rich; you have these whores falling all over you, and because you're gorgeous? You're not winning; you're just a rich, popular, gorgeous asshole. Nothing more, apparently." She then sat back, totally calm.
A blonde male waiter walked over to our table, probably since we were silent for more than a second, I presumed. The last thing I wanted to do was eat.
"Hi, I'm Brady and I'll be your server today, can I start you off with something to drink?" he asked politely.
"We'll both have the raspberry tea, thanks" I snapped and he scuffled away.
Bella was looking at me with her nostrils flared.
"What?" I asked.
"I can order for myself, and who says I like tea?" she countered.
"I know you like tea because that's what you ordered at the Ritz when you took my client Stefan out to lunch, and don't insult me by acting all equal-rights on me. I wasn't attempting to demean you or turn you into a kept woman, I just ordered you a fucking drink that I know you enjoy. You ask me about my idiosyncrasies, what happened to your sexy ass to assume all men want you barefoot and fucking pregnant in the kitchen?"
She stiffened, and I realized that we almost constantly pushed each other's buttons, at times without even trying. I knew she wasn't purposely trying to get a rise out of me, or she wouldn't have taken the time to get all dolled up and bring me my shirt back. Maybe she wanted another round upstairs? And I wasn't really trying to be a dick. I just… well fuck it; I am a dickhead. It's what got me where I am today, and kept me from blowing my head off over that crap with Katherine.
Since Em and I had discussed the whole idea of enjoying the moment, and the hot casual non-relationship we were somehow involved in, I was determined not to let her sassy mouth get under my skin.
Easier said than done boyo, she seems to know exactly how to make you burn in fury.
I'd love to make her burn alright; fury wasn't my intention.
My line of thinking was in no way helping my situation, as thoughts of a naked and writhing Bella had my dick straining at my trousers and we hadn't even been sitting together for more than a couple of minutes, for fucks sake! I looked back at Bella, who looked as if she was in the midst of some kind of internal struggle. Either that or she was biting back some scathing comment, as the two of us tended to fight like dog and cat if we weren't in "the moment". In any event, I had decided to accept our arrangement as it was, as long as she wasn't going to continuously play chasing games with me. The fact that she was here was a good start; I had assumed she was going to wait for me to call her.
Not wanting to sit there talking to myself the entire time, I goaded her further, because as we all know, I am a complete dick. "No comment, Bella? Did I hit too close to home?"
She glared at me before answering, "Why Edward, I believe you said it so well before. If I wanted to discuss my internal dilemmas, I would make an appointment with a shrink. Could you recommend a good one, since you must need to see yours often?"
Why you smart ass little bitch!
Just when I was about to answer her back she leaned forward to tug on her boot, causing her shirt to open in the front, giving me a full, gorgeous view of her breasts being held up by her bra. Sweet mother of god. In less than a second I talked myself into the idea that Bella was not Katherine, and made a proposition.
"Fuck it. Bella I know you enjoyed the sex, and your company doesn't suck either as long as you're not running your mouth." She went to say something and I held up a finger. "I say, why stop something that's fun? We're two consenting adults, and you know the pleasure I can bring you" I smiled and I saw a shiver ripple through her. Yeah, she knew.
"Edward, I'm not one of your whores….I'm not just a number or a notch on your Armani belt," she said adamantly. I was breaking her down!
"I know you're not." I coaxed, unleashing my panty-dropping stare. "Come; let's go up to the penthouse. I didn't even get to show you the place last time, and it's a great day for a swim."
Up in the penthouse, the light streamed throughout the whole apartment. Bella was hungry, so I told her to make herself at home while I prepared us a chef salad. I heard her boot heels getting louder, so I knew when she'd strolled into the kitchen.
"This place is amazing. Your view is incredible, and I could get lost in your library" she looked at me and smiled. She still looked a bit guarded, so I decided to clear up the issue that had made her mad at me to begin with.
"So Bella, how long have you known Rosalie, exactly?" I asked. It wouldn't hurt to know this either, since I still didn't fully trust her with my brother.
"How do you know I know Rose?" she countered.
"Because Bella, I never forgot meeting you at your graduation. Sorry for fucking up your name when we first met." I gave an apologetic smile, turned around and went to toss the salad when she gently placed her small hand on my forearm.
She stepped between my arms, against the counter. She studied my face with a curious expression, her big chocolate eyes gleaming with happiness. She leaned in to kiss me and I opened my mouth to her. This kiss was slow, we took our time exploring each others mouths, our lips molding to each others. I took her soft bottom lip between my teeth and sucked and she let out a moan squeezing my bicep with one of hands. We broke the kiss and I rested my forehead against hers as we exhaled into each others mouths. The slow and deep, yet tender kiss we shared was different than anything I'd experienced with her. Just what the hell did I get myself into when I invited her up here?
