Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Hearts to Legna989 as always for her multitude of beta services. Also to RedVelvetHeaven who listens to me talk about this crap way too much.
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."
Peter 4:8
Jasper Hale
I woke up to Bella smacking my head and squirming beneath me.
"Get off! Oh my God, get off, Jasper it's 11:15!"
"It's early, go back to sleep," I mumbled, rolling off of her and onto my stomach.
"No, we're not supposed to be asleep. I was supposed to be home over an hour ago. Damn, where is my phone?" I heard her rummaging around before she let out a pathetic-sounding groan. "Five missed calls. Five missed calls. Jasper, get up please."
She slapped my back and then sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Hey Alice, you c-… what? She called you? What did you say? Oh crap, so she knows I'm here. Well, you could have said—I don't know, anywhere else! Never mind, don't worry about it Ali, it's not your fault. I'll see you tomorrow, provided Renee doesn't kill me."
I heard her phone slap shut and I turned to face her. "So…what's going on?"
She stood up, grabbed my arm and tried to yank me off the bed.
"We fell asleep. I'm late, and Renee knows I'm here, so she's not going to be happy. Would you please just get up and take me home? Get up!"
I shook her off. "All right, all right, calm down."
As I dragged my ass out of bed, she scanned the room. "Where is your shirt? God, Jasper why are you like, never wearing a shirt?"
The girl was tweaking. I wrapped my arms around her and held her in place. "Because you're always taking it off, sweetheart."
"Oh. My. God. Get dressed now. How are we even going to get out of here? Your parents are probably home now and we're going to get in trouble for being in here with the door closed again. You're such a bad influence, you know that?"
I dropped my arms, releasing her. "I'm not even sure why your mom is worried. You're clearly doing her job for her. Don't worry about my parents; they'll be in bed by now. Just grab your stuff."
When we got to the car I opened the door for her and she hesitated before getting in. "I'm sorry about the no shirt thing…I was just freaking out. You take so long to wake up." She frowned, and I was tempted to kiss her, but opted to mess with her instead.
"That's all right, I understand. From now on I'll just keep my shirt on."
"I'm sorry! Normally, I am more than okay with you not wearing a shirt," she said as she ran her fingers back and forth along my stomach.
"You're such a bad influence, you know that?" I said, grabbing her hand.
"You're going to keep using that until I feel like shit, aren't you?"
I kissed her forehead. "Nah, I won't even need to, you torture yourself. Get in the car. I thought you needed to be home like, yesterday."
"Ugh. Can we go to Mexico instead?"
"I would love to, Brown Eyes, but you know they're not letting my ass across the border with you. Besides, I thought your mom was pretty hands-off. Why are you so worried?"
"I don't know I just…I hate when she gets that look on her face, like she's all disappointed."
"Oh yeah, a look, that's a pretty bad punishment."
"Shut up. Not everyone can be like you and not give a shit. Some of us are still a little scared of our parents."
I snorted. "Honey Bee, even if I did give a shit the Rev would still treat me exactly the same. That's why I stopped giving a shit in the first place."
She pursed her lips. "That makes me mad. What's with all the nicknames tonight anyway?"
"I don't know," I responded, laughing, "You're being all sorts of cute tonight."
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Sweet Meat."
I gripped the steering wheel and gave her the evil eye. "Don't you make me pull this car over, girl. I'll give your mom something to be disappointed about."
We pulled up to her house and her mother was sitting on the front steps.
"Shit," she whispered, grabbing the door handle.
Before I got to the other side of the car, she was already out and walking towards her mom.
"I'm sorry, Mom, really! We were watching a movie and we fell asleep. My phone was on silent."
I followed Bella up the lawn. Her mother looked me up and down with the same unimpressed expression she wore when I met her the first time. I put on my best Eddie Haskell face.
"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Swan. Like she said, we both fell asleep." I knew her mom was calling bullshit on me in her head right now, but the retarded thing was, it was actually true—minus a bit of PG-13 action.
"It's Ms. Dwyer. I'm no longer married to Mr. Swan," she said.
"Right, sorry, Ms. Dwyer." I flashed her the pearlies and gave her my puppy dog eyes. It was very important that I keep Bella out of trouble and in my pants.
She smirked a bit and turned to Bella. "Baby, you know I don't like to give you a hard time, you're always good about coming home early, but when we couldn't reach you it really had us worried. Phil isn't too pleased right now."
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. It was a total fluke."
I still had the look of sorrowful regret plastered on my face when she turned back to me.
"Jasper, thanks for bringing her home safely. If you don't mind I'll have Bella give me your phone number. I know it'll never happen again, but if we ever can't reach her for some reason, at least we'll be able to contact you." She gave me a very knowing smile, as if to say, I know what you're up to and you're full of shit. It was borderline sexy and I was tempted to ask, Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Dwyer? But I figured the humor might be lost on both of them.
"No problem. Goodnight, and sorry again about the mix-up," I said, before turning to Bella. "'Night. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
She waved and turned towards her house with her mom. I was relieved that I would not have to deal with an angry step-dad tonight.
As I drove home I couldn't shake this weird feeling I had. That whole spiel at Bella's place felt very boyfriend-y. I decided all this fucking cuddle time was screwing up my brain and I was in need of a good old fashioned hang-out with the boys
So, first I called James, the professional party-goer.
"James speaking, how may I help you?"
"J-man, we need a bonfire party… what do you say?"
"I think we could arrange that. I'll call some people. Call Peter and tell him to deal with the logistics. I'll get the guest list going. Is this going to be a girlfriend-safe party? Are you bringing Jailbait?"
"Shut the fuck up, don't call her that. I don't know yet…maybe."
"Okay, I'll go ahead and put you down as +1. Actually, bring her, and tell her to bring Alice. Wait—tell her to bring a bunch of high school chicks. Is Rosalie coming?"
"What the fuck, James, are you planning a gang bang? Don't bother; even the high school girls don't buy your weak game. That Alice chick inexplicably seems to like you, why don't you just focus on her for now."
"Oh man, you are so whipped now. Wait, do you want me to wifey her so that we can go on couples' vacations together? Hey, can we swing?"
"Hanging up. Call me when you're not a cocknob."
"Fuck you. I'll call my peeps. I'll talk to you later, honey."
I hung up on him and pulled into the driveway. When I got to my room I called Peter.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he said upon picking up. "I haven't talked to you in a bit."
"Peter, my brother. As my most organized disciple, I've decided to bestow you the honor of pulling together another desert shindig," I said, grabbing my tobacco and rolling papers off the nightstand.
"Sounds good. We can go to the place we went last time off Four Peaks Rd. My dad's got a bunch of firewood we can use too."
"Marvelous. James is working on a merry guest list." After I finished rolling the cigarette, I lit it and dropped the ashtray in my lap.
"Awesome, so the skank to normal people ratio will be 10:1 right?"
"I'll try to rein him in as best I can."
"Are you bringing Bella?"
"All right, what the fuck? Are we a single entity now?"
"Pretty much. You guys are the Brangelina of our little world."
"Dude, don't fence me in. Don't fucking couple us up against our will. And did you just say Brangelina?"
"I did. Deal with it. Listen, you're somewhat regularly seeing a cute high school girl who thinks you're the cat's pajamas. Quit whining like you're so hard done-by. And by the way she's seventeen, so I can guarantee you she's not against the coupling. You don't do casual relationships in high school, Jasper."
"Okay, Dad, I appreciate the lecture, especially since you are so experienced with women and dating, what with the two girlfriends you had in the past ten years. Oh, and speaking of cat's pajamas, should you be asleep snuggling with yours right now?"
"That's right, pal, keep deflecting. I know deep down you're just upset because Bella made you her bitch."
I took a deep breath and resolved not to let him egg me on. "Can we talk about the bonfire please? So…Saturday?"
"Saturday it is. I'll get the stuff. See you then."
"Later, asshole."
No sooner had I hung up the phone and leaned back against the headboard than Rosalie came barging in my room.
"Could you put that disgusting thing out? Mom and Daddy are going to kill you if they smell that. Are you retarded? I can smell it in my room."
"Rose, what the hell do you care? You're always fucking going on about how Daddy is going to kill me for this or that. What do you care? You're not the one doing it so fucking relax for once."
"If you keep shit disturbing and getting in trouble all the time they're going to send you away, you know."
"Where? They already fucking made me come here. I'm already in prison, Rosalie. What are they gonna do, make me go back? With pleasure, little sis, with pleasure."
Her nostrils flared and she glared at me. "Fine, why don't you just get a job and make some money and then you can just go wherever the hell you want?"
I jammed the cigarette into the ashtray and threw it back on the night table. "Why are you in here busting my balls anyway? I've had a shitty fucking evening so if you don't mind, could you just back the fuck out the door and go back to where you came from?"
"You're such a dick."
"So I've been told. Goodnight, sister."
I turned around before she even left the room and buried my face in my pillow. It smelled like Bella's shampoo. I sighed, and reached over, feeling around the nightstand for the remote. I turned the TV on in the hopes that it would distract me until I fell asleep.
. . .
Having actually attended a handful of classes all week, I decided to treat myself to a day off, so I woke up at the crack of half past two on Friday and hopped in the shower first thing. I told Bella I would pick her up at school and I had to haul ass to make it there by three-fifteen
When I pulled into the parking lot she was leaning up against some red van talking to Edward, the very same Edward who had been mysteriously absent from our household as of late. I could handle Edward's little crush on Bella—in fact it was rather amusing—but what I didn't appreciate was how she had been acting around him. Ever since the day he so conveniently broke her fall by the pool and she blushed that very particular shade of red, I'd had my eye on both of them. Not to mention, I had never seen two people take a class project more seriously; it was as if they were researching a fucking cure for AIDS.
I parked the car and sauntered over to them. I looked cute as hell in my black sleeveless T and blue jeans, and wee Bella most definitely took notice. Don't think I didn't catch her looking me up and down as I approached, much to the chagrin, I am sure, of Mr. All-Star in the soccer uniform.
"Hello, Miss Swan," I said, flashing her my prettiest smile.
"Hey, hold on one sec," she held her finger up and turned to Edward.
Hold on? Did she just put her finger in my face?
"Okay, so then all we have to do is write up the findings and the how-to instructions. So you don't have practice or anything Thursday? I'll come by then."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
I stood there waiting just as patiently as I could for her to kindly acknowledge my existence.
"All right, I have to get to the game. See you later, Bella. Later, Jasper." He quickly nodded to me before running towards the field.
"Okay! Let's go," she said, turning her head up to signal that she wanted a kiss.
"Oh, why yes Miss Daisy, where can I take you?" I said, refusing to lower my lips to hers.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Well, that rather lackluster greeting may have bruised the old ego a bit…"
She rolled her eyes. "What was I supposed to do? Pounce on you, knock you to the ground and maul you?"
"That would have been a much more appropriate response, yes."
She laughed. "Shut up, you know I'm shy."
"Yes, much more so around Edward, for some reason." The mere mention of his name always brought the same look to her face. She tried to remain stoic, but there was a brief flash of panic or shock.
"Whatever. You do look good today."
"Go on…" I said, batting my eyelashes.
She grabbed the belt buckle and snickered. "Heh. Hale."
"Hale yes, honey. And you do not grab a man by his belt buckle," I said, yanking her close to me, "unless…"
She giggled, "Shut the Hale up."
We got in the car and I turned my attention to the stereo. "What do you want to do?" I asked her as I cued up "T for Texas".
"Can we get tamales?" she asked, with a glint in her eye.
"Yes ma'am, we can." I pulled out of the school parking lot and headed towards the highway.
Bella leaned over and began kissing my neck, up to my ear and down along my jaw.
"What's gotten into you, missy?"
"Just making up for my lackluster greeting."
"Well, this is more like it, but sweetheart, you're putting Pearl in grave danger right now." Bella rarely made the first move, but that just made it so much hotter when she did.
"Sorry, Pearl!" she laughed, returning to her side of the car. I smiled and moved my hand to her knee.
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
She shrugged. "Alice wants to go dress shopping for a dance at school, but I don't know. They're going to go to a boutique and I won't be able to afford anything there anyway, so I'll just be watching. I told her maybe I'd go next week but I don't want to waste my Saturday doing that. Why?"
"We're having a bonfire in the desert. We do it every so often and it's a pretty good time. You should come, you can bring Alice along too." After all of Peter and James' teasing I was becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Sounds like fun, I'll check and see if Ali can come." She looked so pleased that I almost didn't care about all the shit my friends were going to give me.
We got tamales and hung out for a while and then I dropped her off at her friend Angela's place, before heading out for beers with James.
. . .
I got to Bella's late Saturday evening and since I was talking to her on the way, she was already coming out the front door when I pulled up. She was wearing a pair of tight knee length jean shorts, a white shirt and a red flannel button down, looking like some cute 90s throwback.
I gave her a quick kiss and opened the door for her as she threw her bag on the floor and got in. We stopped to pick Alice up and then headed out onto the highway.
At mile marker 203, I made a sharp right and then another onto Four Peaks. We pulled up to the bonfire site trailed by a cloud of sand. As soon as we stepped out of the car, Peter was heading over with a beer in his hand for me.
"Hey, man, looks like we did all right on short notice," he said, handing me the beer.
I took a swig and looked around. "Not bad, I don't know who half these people are."
"Friends of friends of friends I guess. Looks like everyone was in need of a party." He turned to Bella. "Hey, Bella, how are you doing?"
"I'm good thanks, how about you?" she responded in her cutesy polite voice.
"Excellent, I'm glad you came," he said, looking pointedly at me. Bella introduced him to Alice and then he gestured towards the fire. "C'mon, let's get you girls a non-alcoholic beverage."
"Non-alcoholic?" Alice whined.
"Don't ask, don't tell. I will not concern myself with what you put in your cup."
Bella looked back and smirked as Peter led them away. I waved her off and turned to lock the car.
"Well, if it isn't Pearl and her owner." I recognized the voice instantly. Velvety, a little bit husky, and with the slightest Spanish accent. Maria.
Maria was my go-to girl since about a month after I moved to Phoenix. I met her at Rogue West where she worked as a bartender. She was gorgeous, and she was wild. She had a Bettie Page tattoo on her arm, she'd get up and dance on the bar at least once a night, and she could drink most of the patrons under the table. I had to work my ass off to bag her, and when we did get together, it was very much at her leisure. She was the only girl I'd ever met who was fully okay with a very casual arrangement. That was until she started dating someone a couple months ago, and we sort of dropped what little communication we had.
I turned around slowly. "Maria, now what brings you to this part of the desert? Night off?"
"Yes, one of the few. I heard these little bonfires were not to be missed." She moved closer to me. "And when I heard an old friend would be here, I just had to come check it out."
She stepped closer still and she was wearing only a tight black vest and a push up bra, and Lord have mercy, I couldn't not stare.
"What happened with that boyfriend of yours?" I asked, backing up slightly against the car.
"I got bored," she said. "You look good, Jasper. I had almost forgotten…"
I took a deep breath and looked to my right just in time to see Bella and Alice heading back to the car. When they caught sight of Maria practically hanging off my jock, they both stopped short. Alice looked at me like she wanted to tear my balls off. They stood there for a minute until Maria followed my gaze, and then they slowly began to approach again.
"Hey…" Bella said tentatively as they approached. Alice was still glaring at me.
Maria waved to them and smiled a mildly bitchy smile. "Hi, I'm Maria." She turned back to me. "Oh, Jasper, is this your little sister?"
Alice just about fell over and Bella just looked at me with her big confused doe eyes.
"No this is my uh…this is Bella, and her friend Alice," I stuttered like an idiot.
"Your, uh, Bella?" Bitch would not let it go, of course.
I put my arm around Bella and pulled her closer to me. "Yeah," I said, hoping that would be enough of an explanation.
"Ooh, okay," she said. She gave Bella the once-over and smirked to herself. "Makes sense. Listen, I'm gonna go catch up with James, it was nice seeing you, though. You should come back to Rogue soon." She punctuated with a wink and I really wanted to roll my eyes at her.
She turned to walk and Alice's eyes narrowed. "I'll be back," she said, storming off in Maria's direction.
"Wow." Bella laughed nervously. "Did Alice just get possessive of James?"
"I don't even want to know," I said. I moved in front of her, and she leaned back against the car. "So that girl, Maria, she was just…"
Bella cut me off. "You don't have to explain, Jasper." I almost would have felt relieved if it weren't for the expression on her face.
"I don't mind explaining," I said. "I haven't seen her or spoken to her in a couple of months."
She nodded and looked down at her shoes. "So…you guys aren't…"
"I told you, I haven't been with anyone else. I wasn't lying." I grabbed her waist and she placed her hands gently on my forearms.
"Okay."
"You keep me busy enough, girl," I said, trying to lighten the mood. I ducked down to meet her eyes and smiled. She smiled back and let me kiss her.
I grabbed her hand and led her around to the back of the car. I helped her up to the trunk and then grabbed the cup from her hands. "What are you drinking? Juice?"
"I don't know, some kind of punch."
"Be careful with that. So, what time do I have to get you home tonight?"
She shrugged. "Renee and Phil are out of town for a game."
I really appreciated how she just casually dropped that shit on me, as if I wasn't going to angle for an invite. "Really? They left you home alone?"
"Yeah, it happens quite often, but I usually go over and stay at Alice or Angela's place. I don't really like being home alone."
"So, what are you going to do tonight?"
"I don't know, I might stay with Alice if she decides not to camp here or…maybe if you're not doing anything else you could come stay…I mean I just like having someone else in the house."
"What else could I possibly be doing? Of course I'll come stay." My pleasure.
She smiled, and then it melted to a concerned frown. "Okay, but that wasn't like a sex invitation, just so you know."
As if I would ever entertain the idea that she might possibly be willing to have sex with me. Absurd. "I'll be on my best behavior. I'll even sleep on the couch if you want."
"No, you don't have to sleep on the couch," she said. She knitted her brow and looked as though she had something else to say, so I waited. She gulped back her entire cup of punch and then after a moment she spoke again, "Jasper, I was wondering…"
"Yeah?"
"Remember that dance I was talking about? It's the Junior/Senior dance and traditionally it's supposed to be seniors taking juniors, like passing the torch or whatever, but everyone brings whoever they want now." She was talking fast, and all I could think was no, this cannot be good. "So, anyway, everyone already kind of has dates and I know this sort of thing makes you barf and I can't even believe I'm asking you but do you think maybe you could go with me?"
I had to think fast. There was no fucking way I was going to a high school dance but she was already looking up me all expectantly and damn if she didn't know how to tug at my heart. I didn't want to hurt her feelings but there was no way in hell I was going to that dance.
"I don't know Bella, I mean, a high school dance? I'm 22. It would be a little weird."
She frowned. "I know, but like, we can just go for a bit. I don't even want to, but my friends will make me, they think it's such a big deal. It would be embarrassing to have to go alone."
"Why do you have to go alone, you're prettier than all your friends," I said, tugging a strand of her hair. "I don't see why they would have dates and you wouldn't."
"Because while I was hanging out with you, they all paired up it seems. I'm not asking you to go like, as a boyfriend thing. I mean if anything it's just a favor, really."
"Bella, you've got to understand—I just don't do school dances. I'm sorry."
She nodded and smiled. "It's okay, I figured as much."
"I'm sure there is someone left to go with. I'm sure one of those guys would prefer to take you over their date anyway." I didn't love the idea of some 17-year-old trying to put his grubby little paws on her all night, but I loved the idea of me going to a fucking dance even less.
"Yeah, maybe," she said, looking at her lap. I felt like shit but I stood my ground.
I was about to continue justifying when Alice and James came back over to the car.
"You guys are being anti-social!" Alice said. She had a cup in each hand.
Bella gave them both another one of her sad smiles. "You're right," she responded, sliding off the trunk.
"Let's get you some more of this sizzurp you're drinking," James said, throwing his arm around Bella.
She followed him into the crowd without looking back. Alice was right behind them but I grabbed her arm and held her back. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"This dance thing, you guys are going to buy dresses for it?"
"Yeah, are you going? Oh my God, she was so scared to ask..."
I cringed. "Uh, no, I can't go—but she mentioned that you were going to a kind of expensive dress place tomorrow."
"Oh, right, Betsey Johnson. Why are you asking?"
"Well, she said that she couldn't really afford to get a dress there so she was just going to watch you girls shop. Listen, I feel bad that I can't go but I want to buy her the dress. So can you let me know how much you think you'd need and I'll give you the money. Just find a way to get her to pick a dress and then get it for her. You don't have to tell her I paid for it, you can say you did or something."
"Jasper, you don't have to. I mean, it's not the dress she cares about."
"I know, but I just want her to get something nice. She probably cares more than she knows, and anyway I just want to pay for it, so will you help me or what?"
"Yeah, that's nice of you. I'll get her to try stuff on with us."
"Okay, I'm going to give you my number. Give me a call when you know how much the dress is and I'll bring you the money."
We exchanged numbers and before she trotted off to find Bella, she told me again that it was really nice of me to buy the dress, but that was bullshit and I knew it, too. The money was nothing and I just kept hearing Alice's words over and over in my head: it's not the dress she cares about. I felt like an asshole, and the more I heard those words, the worse I felt. After an hour or so of watching Bella try to have fun, I gave up—or rather I gave in.
She was talking to Felix and Peter when I walked over and took her hand.
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"
She nodded and I led her over to the car.
"Is that dance invitation still good, or did you find another date already?"
Her expression was blank. "Jasper, you don't have to, really."
"I want to. I don't want you dancing with a bunch of horny teenage boys."
This time she smiled brightly. "Really? You'll go?"
"I will dust off my formal wear."
She threw her arms around my neck and stood on her tiptoes. "Thank you! I'm so excited now!" she said, before kissing me.
"I have to admit, there is an added bonus. My presence there is going to piss Rosalie right the fuck off."
She chuckled. "Well, whatever it takes."
I looked around at the crowd by the bonfire and then back to her. "These parties aren't as fun as they used to be. Do you wanna go?"
"Okay, let me go talk to Alice and see if she wants to stay, or if she needs a ride."
She reemerged from the crowd a couple minutes later. "She's staying. We can go, but maybe you should like, text James or something and tell him to behave."
I led her around to the passenger side and opened the door. "All right, I'll tell him to keep it in his pants," I said, before closing the door again.
. . .
As soon as we got back to her house she did a quick sweep to make sure her parents weren't around. She was crazy paranoid like that, even though their car was gone and the house was dark. She also made me park up the street so that if they decided to come home early, she could hide me under her bed or something. Oh, to be in high school again.
She led me upstairs to her room. "Okay, just remember what I said. Just because you're sleeping over doesn't mean…you know, that I am going to have sex with you or something. Just remember that."
Sure, whatever you say, sweetie.
"Relax," I said, wrapping my arms around her waist. "I am just here to protect you from cat burglars and the boogey man."
She wriggled from my grip. "You're making fun of me!"
"No, I'm not. So, what do you sleep in? Some sort of lacy negligee-type deal from Victoria's Secret right? Or like a thong and pasties?"
"Oh my God, you are so gross," she said, shaking her head.
I surveyed her bedroom. For some reason I expected the walls to be covered with posters of unicorns and pages torn from Bop or Tiger Beat. I expected to see lava lamps and like "3rd Place" or "Participant!" medals from summer camp activities and shit like that, but instead her walls were bare except for two black and white photos tacked above her desk. One was with her mother and she was a few years younger. Her mom looked hot, she looked cute in a kid way, and I felt mildly skeevy. The second one was more recent and it was of her and a man I assumed was her father. He had an intimidating mustache and I was glad he lived in…some other state. They were sitting on a porch, he was laughing and holding a beer up, she was looking away, smiling demurely. She looked fucking gorgeous.
I looked away from the photo when I saw her walk past me, a pile of clothes in her hand. I grabbed her and pulled her back.
"Jasper, I…"
I cut her off with a kiss. She loosened up after a couple seconds of my sexy tongue magic and I grabbed the clothes out of her hands and threw them on the desk behind me. I inched her back towards the bed but she pulled away.
"I was going to get changed and wash up."
"I'll wash you. Hey, let's get in the shower."
"No way. I just know that's when Renee and Phil would decide to come home."
"Bella, they aren't coming home," I assured her, pulling the button-down off her shoulders.
"Jasper, I want to put on my sweatpants."
"Ew, sweatpants?"
"You know what? On second thought, I don't feel that scared. I think I am okay to stay home alone."
I grabbed the clothes off the desk and threw them at her. "Go. Put on your greasy sweatpants."
She scrunched her face at me and then left the room. I kicked off my boots and lay down on her bed. I grabbed her iPod and scrolled through it.
She came back in the room a few minutes later, making sweatpants look way better than they should.
"I didn't peg you for a Cream fan," I said, pressing play on "Strange Brew" as I watched her hang her clothes up.
"Well, Edward put that on there. But I like them."
"Edward? How exactly did he put it on here?" The little fucking weasel.
I hit the back button until I got to the menu. The song was on a playlist entitled "4B". The fuck?
"I was at his house working on Bio and I liked all the music he was playing, so he said he'd make me a playlist."
I scrolled the list quickly. Bob Dylan's "You're a Big Girl Now", indie-looking crap, The Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face", indie-looking crap, Led Zep's "Lemon Song", and "Apple Blossom" by the White Stripes.
Like hell, Edward, that is my fucking jam.
I got up and walked over to her. "Isn't that a little shady, him making you a playlist?"
"What are you talking about, Jasper?" she said. Her tone was dismissive, but she blushed. Excessively. Right.
I decided to ignore her fucking disturbing reaction in favor of making her forget all about the poor-man's David Beckham. I grabbed the pair of jeans in her hand and tossed them on the floor. "Those greasy sweatpants are hot," I said.
"They're not greasy!"
She frowned and I kissed her mouth. I walked over the door, closed it and turned off the light. I pushed her back toward the bed.
"It's past your bedtime, young lady," I said.
She laughed and pulled the comforters back while I removed my shirt. She got in bed and slid over to the side closest to the wall. I unbuckled my belt and pulled off my jeans.
"Do you want borrow some sweatpants?" she asked, chuckling.
"No, I sleep naked."
She didn't say anything but I saw her look down at her lap.
"Should I turn on the lights? 'Cause you're cute when you're blushing. I don't want to miss that shit."
"I'm not blushing! Shut up."
I hopped onto the bed and sidled up next to her. "Come here," I whispered, grabbing her chin.
I kissed her until she relaxed again and then I lay back on the bed, pulling her down with me. She nestled her head into my chest and began to run her fingers along my stomach. Girl had no idea what that shit did to me, so I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine. I rolled over, nudging her onto her back and I slipped my hand beneath her t-shirt and began to do the same thing while I kissed her. Within five minutes, max, she was clawing at my neck and scalp and my fingers were traveling upwards. Every time I came close to her nipples I would slowly drag my fingers back down her stomach, to circle her belly button. I got her to the point where she couldn't even focus on the kissing and then I allowed myself a nice handful. And then a mouthful.
She was doing her whimpering and moaning thing when I shifted on top of her. I sat back on my heels and grabbed the sides of her sweatpants, tugging them down.
"Jasper, no," she murmured.
"I know, I know." I knew I wasn't getting any, but at least I could get some friction going. "Just the pants."
She didn't protest further so I yanked them off and threw them…elsewhere. I collapsed on top of her again, pushing my hips into her. Now, I quite enjoyed the feeling of my junk on hers with only two thin layers of cotton between us, but what shocked me was the sexy ass moan she let out when I pressed against her.
I ground myself roughly against her, kissing her mouth and her face, squeezing her tits. Her panting was driving me crazy.
"Are you sure you don't…"
"Yes, shut up," she gasped.
Ridiculous.
I moved my hand between us and snaked it into her panties. She most definitely didn't mind that, selfish brat.
I pushed a finger into her and pressed my lips against her ear. "Do you like that?"
She nodded a little but turned her face away from me. Apparently, dirty talk was too next-level for her.
So, I did what I knew she was comfortable with and kept going until she had had enough.
I rolled off of her and shook my head; so close, yet so far, from the Promised Land. I slipped my arm beneath her neck and pulled her against me. She surprised me, yet again, when she immediately began kissing my chest, before shoving her hand into my boxers. I groaned when I felt her hand close around me. I appreciated that the hand job had become Bella's new favorite thing, but a dry rub down with an inexpert hand could be a long, arduous process sometimes. Admittedly that little bump and grind got me pretty fucking close, but still, I suppose I was hoping for a little more tonight, even if I knew I was being completely delusional.
Imagine my wary glee when she started kissing her way down my stomach. No. Fucking. Way. Knowing Bella she'd probably slop me up and down above the waist and then happily snuggle into bed, not realizing that my balls were going to fall of because of her.
But lo! When her tongue hit my waistband, she merely yanked it down. I was sure was now dreaming, having fallen asleep during a porno or something. She sat up, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief because at least this made sense.
"I was thinking that I could…" she trailed off.
Yes. Yes, you may.
I waited for a moment, terrified that a poorly constructed sentence or sudden movement might alter our current course.
"It's not going to be good, though, just so you know. Just help me, or whatever."
Ummm, hot?
"Okay," I choked, feeling like a squeaky sixteen-year-old.
She shimmed down the bed and knelt between my legs. I bit my lip and thanked Jesus over and over again.
I squeezed my eyes shut and hissed when I felt her mouth on me. For a long time that's all I felt, just her mouth—on me—nothing else. Then there was the sucking, which she took very literally. It was pleasurable, but again, some movement always helped. I remembered that she was very open to instruction, so I tried to collect myself enough to provide assistance.
I propped myself up on my elbow and ran my fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face.
"Okay, do you want me to just…is it okay if I move your head a bit, just to show you?"
She hummed an "mmhmm" and I threw my head back. "Okay, you could just keep doing that."
"Hmmm?"
"Yes, that."
I looked down again and placed my hands gently on her head. "So just, you know, move up and down a bit."
She started to get the hang of it and I was heaven, until she got a little too enthusiastic, went a little too far, and practically choked herself.
She sat back up for a second and I propped myself back up on my elbows. "You okay?"
"Ugh, Jasper, I don't know. It's too big."
Ugh? Never, in my entire life, had any woman made me feel so shitty about having a big dick. She sounded absolutely disgusted.
"You don't have to go down that far," I said trying to figure out how to explain that shit. It was getting downright clinical. "You can...here, just put your hand at the base and do like a half hand-job, that's the best way." I grabbed her hand and wrapped her fingers around me. Were I flexible enough to show her the rest, I would probably never leave my house.
After a few false starts she managed to somewhat get the hang of it, at least it was enough for me. She pulled her mouth away and was using her hand for a bit when I felt it slip off.
"Ow!" she whispered.
I sat up again. "What happened?"
"Nothing," she said, touching her lip.
"Did you just punch yourself in the face?" I somehow managed to abstain from laughing.
"No! Not really."
A small little chuckle escaped and I sat up. "Are you okay?" I asked, running my thumb along her lip. I kissed it and then she turned her head away and huffed.
"This is like…it's harder than I thought, I mean I don't know, it's like when you have to rub your head and pat your stomach or something, I mean it's not even that it bothers me but it must be so bad, and it's just confusing, and it can't even be like…working for you anyway…I just…" she huffed again, clearly getting frustrated.
I quickly rescinded my thanks to Jesus before pulling her over to me. I was getting really tired of the stupid conscience I seemed to have developed. "Hey, come here, you don't have to do this," I said, actually meaning it…sort of.
I lay back on the bed, taking her with me. I pulled her close and kissed her a few times. She jerked her head away from me and tried to squirm out of my grip.
"No, it's not fair. I feel bad! Let me try again, I just need to focus or something."
I shook my head and held her tighter. "Nah, it's all right, another time, okay?"
"See, you're like the first guy in the world to refuse a blow job, it's that bad."
"No," I said, kissing her nose. "I just don't want you getting traumatized or something. Plus, we should ice that lip."
She poked my ribs. "Stop."
She turned her face to mine again, no doubt to protest some more but I kissed her instead.
"I still feel bad," she mumbled a little bit later.
"Don't," I reassured her. "Okay, you know what? How about this…"
I pulled her on top of me so that she was straddling my hips. I grabbed her ass with both hands and pushed her against me, now only one layer of cotton between us. She leaned forward to kiss me, her hair falling around my face and tickling my neck. I guided her hips a bit until she found the rhythm on her own.
"Yes," I groaned into her mouth, "just keep doing that, okay?"
She nodded and pressed harder against me.
"Fu-uck." The urge to just stick it in her was overwhelming, but I behaved myself and didn't even ask, let alone beg.
I took a handful of her hair; I fucking loved all that hair all over the place. The other hand continued to push her ass against my pelvis until I felt the super happy cloud float over me.
"Bella...baby…"
She ground herself hard against me and kissed my neck. "Yeah?"
"If you were to try again now, I promise it wouldn't take much…"
She nodded and we kissed for a little bit before she slid down my body and gave it another go. Round two was a rousing success; she managed to not punch herself in the face, and I managed to make good on the "it won't take long" promise, clocking in at somewhere under a minute.
It was only a millisecond after I came that I realized we hadn't really had a "preferences" discussion, that is, if she even knew what her preferences were. If she didn't before, they became clear to both of us when she quickly looked around and then got up and ran from the room. I was too tickled to even be offended.
When she came back in a few minutes later her hair was up and her breath smelled minty fresh. She crawled back into bed and onto me and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. We lay there in silence for a while, I fiddled with her ponytail and she played with my fingers.
"Jasper?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"I think I should be thanking you…"
"No, not that…for the dance thing. I appreciate it."
Ugh, the dance. The shit I do for this girl.
I kissed her head. "No problem, Brown Eyes."
For those of you who are a fan of the J/B pairing, I wrote a one shot called "To Get Back Home" for LolaShoes and tby789's Love Through Lemons contest. It's short and sweet, so if you're interested please check it out :) You can find the contest info there too.