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Thanks & puffy hearts- A Jasper For Me, Ffaddward, & Livie79.

Chapter Eighteen

After turning down my third suggestion of bathroom sex, Bella patted my cheek and got her ass back to work. Which was fine, I guess, since I liked watching her ass do just about anything.

That is, until she sauntered past Grease Monkey, whose eyes followed where she had just walked from and, well, he glared. At me. And I was pretty sure he growled.

I was forced to retract my last thought about Bella. I did like watching her ass do just about anything except work with him.

Grease Monkey apparently had issues, and not just ones of anger. Seriously, he worked in a bar, for Christ's sake. Why was it necessary his arms resemble Donkey Kong's?

I made my way towards Emmett, who was focusing extremely too hard on the NHL playoffs. I knew he was dying to ask what Bella and I had talked about, but he kept quiet as I sat down next to him.

"Look at that grease monkey," I scoffed. Emmett stole a glance towards the bar as I said, "His arms, dude. No one needs arms that big. He looks like Donkey Kong, right?"

Emmett nodded and said, "You jealous? Cause your arms have been lacking lately. I don't think kicking my ass in FIFA is considered a work out."

"I'm not jealous." I really wasn't.

He slid my beer across the table, trying not to smile. "Bella's biceps are bigger than yours."

"What the fuck?" I lifted my arm and flexed. Yeah, so I didn't really compare to Grease Monkey, but there was some definition there.

"Don't even worry bro; Bella isn't into the big, burly type."

"How do you know?" I asked hesitantly, still staring at my bicep.

"Cause she turned me down when I came onto her." Punching the fuck out of his arm only made him laugh harder. "See, that would've done a little more damage if you worked out like that guy," Emmett said, pointing at Grease Monkey with his beer.

"Screw you."

"Yeah, yeah." Emmett went back to staring at the TV. As if he had ever been interested in hockey before tonight. "Ben is on his way. Told him about your new job."

"Cool," I replied, not letting my voice give anything away.

"Rose might stop by after she gets off work at nine."

"Sweet."

Emmett huffed, turning his head away from the television. "You gonna make me ask?" he finally blurted out.

Standing, I turned my chair around to sit in it backwards. Once I was settled with my elbows on the table, I said, "Bella tried spring rolls."

"Congratulations to her. But what'd she say to you?"

"She apologized. I apologized. I don't know. It was a little anticlimactic, but I think we're good. At least for now." I shrugged, trying to not appear too enthused. "I'm sure we will have to talk later."

"Why aren't you two fucking in the bathroom right now?" Emmett asked seriously.

I spewed beer all over the table. "Trust me, I tried."

"So, you two christened Ben's parents guest bed, huh? Way to go." Emmett raised his eyebrows a few times.

"Subtle," I snickered, refraining from raising my eyebrows.

We slowly drank our beer and watched ESPN as we waited for Ben to show up. Well, Emmett watched ESPN. I discreetly watched Bella. That was more interesting to me than NHL playoffs anyway.

Twenty minutes later, I realized I had lost track of Bella, so I turned around and noticed her walking over to our table with a smirk.

"My shift is almost over, so I'm going to head home and go to bed," she said. "Just...thought I'd let you know."

With a cheesy smile, Emmett said, "Hi, Bella. You're looking good tonight."

"Hi...Emmett," she said with an easy laugh.

Grabbing her wrist, because fuck if I was going to let my brother hit on her, I pulled her into my lap. "You're leaving? You don't want to celebrate with us?" I asked playfully.

"What are you celebrating?" Bella asked, looking at me, then Emmett.

"Your boy here is gainfully employed," Emmett announced, patting me on the back.

She shifted in my lap, causing my dick to get hard. And I was pretty sure she did that shit on purpose, too.

Bella slightly smirked, letting her hand rest on the back of my neck as she asked, "No way?"

Emmett smiled, seemingly more proud than I was. "Way."

Bella stared at me, moving her face closer to mine. There was a static between us that was un-fucking-real. I wanted her. I wanted a bathroom. I wanted sex.

"Since when?"

"Since when what?" I asked, confused at what she was asking me.

"Since when did you get a job?"

"Oh. Like...twelve hours ago? I wanted to call you, but yeah. Carmen, Seth's mom, mentioned an opening with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, so I applied last Friday to be a Case Manager."

Bella paused for a second, then said, "That's awesome. Really, Edward."

I squeezed her thigh and smiled. "What, no joke about me being immature enough to hang around kids?"

"I was getting there," she snickered. "What's going to happen to Seth?"

"Nothing. I told them I didn't want the job if I couldn't still be Seth's Big Brother. The poor kid is stuck with me."

Bella laughed, running her fingers through the back of my hair. "Poor kid, indeed."

Emmett suddenly yelled Ben's name, causing Bella to slightly jump. We both turned around as Emmett motioned to catch Ben's attention.

"Benjamin." I nodded towards him, keeping Bella in my lap. "What took you so long?"

"Dude, I got hooked on some show; When Animals Attack or some shit."

"That's a good show," Emmett agreed.

"This lady was on top of a building, working or something. I don't really know what the fuck she was doing, but get this...a flock of pigeons attacked her, causing her to fall off and become road kill."

"That's awful..." Bella said as the rest of us laughed.

"That's life," Ben snickered. "So, I heard you're employed. That mean this round is on you?"

Tapping the top of Ben's beer bottle with the bottom of mine, it began to rapidly foam and overflow all over the table.

Emmett howled. Ben glared. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Not that I don't enjoy a nice sausage fest, but I really need to go get some sleep." Bella stood and patted my leg once.

"You don't want to hang out later?" I questioned, keeping my hand wrapped around her wrist.

Bella tsked me and said, "Distraction, remember?"

"Not a distraction if we're both sleeping." I smiled slyly.

"Dude's got a point," Emmett added, raising his eyebrows.

Bella flipped him off and said, "Nice try. I'm sure I'll be asleep by the time you guys are done celebrating."

"Then leave your door unlocked for me."

"Yeah, cause that's totally safe. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine. I give up," I said as I dropped her wrist. "I didn't want to hang out with you anyway."

"Oh, shut the hell up. You boys behave," Bella warned as she walked away.

Ben leaned over and said, "Dude. I never thought I'd see the day."

"What?" I questioned, but I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about.

"You're fucked," Ben and Emmett said simultaneously.

They were so fucking right. But that didn't keep me from flipping them off.

"So, we getting shitty tonight?" Ben asked, changing the subject. "Since we're celebrating and all."

"Nah. I'm sticking to beer. But I can go get us another round," I offered.

I went to the bar to grab some beers, checking around to see if Bella had actually left. I noticed a shady looking guy standing a few feet away from me; something about his demeanor felt off.

Barely two minutes later, some random waitress served me the beers, and just as I turned to leave, I overheard the guy ask the waitress where Bella was tonight.

What the fuck? Who was this guy, and why the hell was he looking for Bella?

I noticed Emmett, Ben, and now Rose, had set-up camp over near a pool table, so I walked over and set the beers on an empty table nearby.

Ben handed me a pool cue in exchange for a beer.

"Hey. Who's that guy over there? The blond one," I asked Ben and Emmett.

Emmett ignored me to talk with Rosalie, but Ben scanned the bar. His facial expression suddenly changed as he looked away and pretended to be very intrigued with the tip of the cue.

"James. Bella's ex." He frowned for a second before nodding towards the pool table. "Hey. You should break."

"That's James?" I asked, suddenly very aware of his every move; too sly for his own fucking good.

"You know him?"

"Nah." I set my beer on the pool table's felt and popped my knuckles. But I was about to introduce him...to my fist. Yeah, that was pretty lame. That's why I didn't fucking say it out loud.

"Em?" Ben reached out, slapping a hand across Emmett's chest. "Edward's about to do something he's going to regret."

"Yo. What's going on?"

I pointed in James' direction, narrowed my eyes, and gave Emmett a death glare. "That fucker is dead."

"Whoa." Emmett laughed uncomfortably. "Let's not murder anyone tonight, okay? Maybe tomorrow, but tonight we're celebrating your new job."

"New job implies he had an old job," Rosalie snickered.

"Rose, not now!" I yelled. "Y'all don't get it. He fucked Bella up."

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked slowly, trying to sneak glances in James' general direction.

"He fucked her over!"

"That's the douche who cheated on Bella?" Rosalie asked. She was a little faster than Emmett, I'd give her that.

"Yes."

"Dude's got blonde hair..." Emmett trailed off in shock.

That's when it hit me. This was the blonde douche who was at the bar trying to talk to Bella a few months ago.

"Go beat his ass," Rosalie said with authority. "If you don't, I will."

After the shock of Rose's tone wore off, I nodded and knew what I had to do.

Honestly, I didn't actually know what I was supposed to do; I had no idea how to go about this. Should I talk him up for a bit? Pretend I know him, offer to buy him a drink, then attack when he wasn't ready? No. I didn't want the fucker to think I was gay. I couldn't go with friendly; I had to go with hostile.

So I walked over and said the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, blonde douche."

"Excuse me?" James smiled slowly, assuming he'd misheard me.

"You're lookin' for Bella, huh?"

He glanced around the bar, maybe searching for Bella, then focused on me. "Who the hell are you?"

Tilting my head back, I let out a chuckle. "That's none of your God damn business, and neither is Bella."

James stood from the table and stared me down. "What's your deal?" he asked in a dark tone, tilting his head to the side. "Do I know you?"

"Nope."

"Then what is this about?" James stepped back, giving me space. He obviously didn't see me as a threat. I'd have to change that.

"Leave Bella the fuck alone, do you hear me?"

His face flicked with recognition. "Ah, I see what this is about now. You know Bella. Were you wanting to compare notes?" James cackled, causing my anger boil over.

So without hesitation, I decked him, mid-cackle. The fucker deserved it.

He stumbled back as I shook out my hand. Punching someone in the face wasn't as easy as it looked, especially while sober. Examining my knuckles, which were now bleeding from contact with James' teeth, I laughed at his confusion.

"The fuck is your problem?" James hissed as he brought a hand to his lip and inspected the blood that covered his fingers.

Only a few people around us noticed the confrontation, so I stepped forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt with both of my hands, bringing his face close to mine.

"You fucked her up; I fuck you up," I spat, literally, in his face. This was going to be fun.

He pulled out of my grip, and that's about the time when people began to notice what was going on.

From behind me, I heard Emmett yell, but I couldn't give a fuck. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I wanted this asshole to pay; I wanted him dead, but I also didn't want to go to jail. You see my dilemma.

James was still a little shocked, so I made the mistake of turning slightly to see what Emmett was yelling about. That's when James sucker punched the fuck out of my jaw.

Slightly stumbling backward into his table, I cursed loudly. "Fuck you! Fuck. You!" I lunged forward before Emmett could grab my arm.

James stood in place, ready for whatever wrath I was about to lay upon him. Swinging my torso, I threw my weight into the next punch, waiting for the satisfying sound of my knuckles making contact with his eye, but the fucker dodged it.

"Hey! You two!" Someone of authority, at least that's what I assumed, yelled across the bar.

Before I could throw another punch, Grease Monkey pulled me back with his iron grip and baby-oiled arms. I fought against him, trying to release his grip on me, but his arms were so fucking oily...

"Back the fuck up, Grease!" I screamed as he pushed me out the back entrance of the bar. "This doesn't involve you! Donkey Kong! Asshole!"

As we busted through the doors, I tried to catch my breath, which was a little hard since I was still worked up. Emmett was two seconds behind us.

"He sucker punched me, Em! Did you see that shit?"

Emmett just nodded in shock as Rosalie stumbled outside.

"Nicely done. Although, I would've thought you'd at least get two hits in. And I think someone just called the cops."

"Fuck!" I screamed and rubbed my good hand over my jaw. "What is your problem, man?" I hissed, staring at Grease Monkey. "You should be beating the shit out of that fucker, too! Not holding me back!"

"No, shit. You don't think I hate him, too? I was there when he pulled that shit on Bella. I had to watch her go through it."

"Then what the hell? Let's go back in there and-"

"That's gonna make Bella feel better, huh?" Grease Monkey asked seriously.

"No. Probably not." My breathing began to slow. "But it made me feel fucking better."

"I get it, alright? I know why you felt like you had to do that, but I don't think Bella is going to see it that way."

"She doesn't have to know!" I spat. "At least now he will leave her alone. She should at fucking least appreciate that."

"I'm with him," Emmett agreed. "No one tells me much, but from what I do know, that blonde dude deserved it."

"Thanks, Em."

"Okay, that was sweet and all, but did you ignore what the fuck I just said?" Rosalie interrupted, snapping her fingers. "The owner called the cops. You need to get out of here, Edward,"

"Go clean yourself up, okay?" Emmett said, patting my shoulder. "I'll close the tab. Meet me out front in a few, okay?"

"Hey, wait," Grease Monkey said as Rose and Em disappeared inside. "Bella will probably be pissed, but...that was pretty badass of you."

I smirked. It was, wasn't it?

"I do what I can," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Your hand my hurt pretty bad, huh?" Grease Monkey laughed.

"Like a motherfucker."

He pointed towards the door and said, "I'd go get cleaned up then get the hell out of here. No use getting in trouble over this nonsense."

"Yeah..." I trailed off. "Put in a good word for me, okay? I care about her." He nodded. "Thanks...Jake."

I had a feeling that'd be the first and last time I'd call him by his real name.

Hesitantly, I made sure the cops hadn't arrived yet so I could sneak inside. I entered the empty bathroom and made my way into the stall to take a piss. As I washed my hands, I examined the damage James had done. It wasn't too bad, but my cheek had begun swelling. Awesome.

Splashing my face with cool water helped a little. I'd definitely need ice for the swelling. And Ibuprofen. And maybe Bella.

As if the universe was playing a trick on me, Bella busted through the bathroom door that second and glared.

"What did you do?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, completely confused and slightly aroused at the same time. "I thought you were going home to sleep?"

"I wasn't home yet when Jake called me, so I turned around. You punched James?" She asked, looking a little more pissed than concerned.

"Um, yeah. I had an adrenaline rush," I said quickly. "Why do you look pissed?"

"Because I am!"

Leaning against the sink, I took in her appearance; she was livid, but I couldn't figure out why. "Explain yourself."

Shaking her head, Bella grabbed a handful of paper towels and pushed me out of the way to turn on the faucet. "No, you should be explaining yourself. Why'd you do it? Are you drunk? Were you just looking to fight or what?"

"No!" I breathed heavily, getting worked up all over again. "I'm not fucking drunk. I barely drank two beers."

"Okay." With one hand holding the wet paper towel to my cheek, she inspected the hand that punched James.

"I thought you'd be happy," I admitted as I stared down at her.

Bella narrowed her eyes at the swelling of my cheek. "You started a fight, over me, at my place of employment. What part of that did you think would make me happy?"

"I guess I didn't really think about it." I shrugged. "But...shit, that's a lie. The more I thought about it - about James and what he did to you - the more I wanted to fuck up his face."

"Okay. You're just being ridiculous now! Why violence, huh? Really? Violence is the answer?" Bella poked my chest, trying to get me to answer her.

"Not sure why you sound like a PSA right now, but yeah. Why not? If punching the shit out of his face is going to scare him away then it's obviously the answer."

"Obviously," she scoffed and tossed the paper towels in the trash can behind her. "You're obviously really mature."

"And you're obviously a fucking pushover. You're not doing anything to stand up for yourself! Christ, Bell! The dude pulls that shit on you a few years ago, then practically stalks you at work, yet you do nothing? Say nothing? I'm pretty sure if you told your bosses the situation, they'd help you out."

"I'm a pushover?" she asked. Of course, that was the only part she heard. "I don't stand up for myself?"

"No. You don't! I felt the need to do it for you. Be pissed off; I don't care. You're not getting paid anymore so you don't have to worry about being a bitch. Be my fucking guest."

"Oh, that's great. Really nice. Thanks, Edward. Thank you."

"I was trying to be nice. Apparently, you still think I'm being an asshole!" I sneered, but still felt the need to grab her face with both of my hands. "Look. Listen to me. I fucking love you. I love you. You don't deserve to be treated like that. I'm not good with words, so I was trying to handle the situation as best as I could."

Bella looked down and covered my hand with hers. "What if he hurt you, huh?"

I pulled back. "What?"

"What if you started that fight and...I don't know. What if he hurt you?"

"Is this about the size of my arms, cause...that's really shitty of you."

Bella looked at my arms questioningly and said, "No. What? Look what he did to your face."

Her fingers grazed over the spot between my ear and mouth that had begun swelling. I winced slightly; kind of realizing why she might've been upset. She didn't actually care if I started a fight with her ex – or maybe she did - but she cared more about me...at least, I hoped, otherwise her outburst was completely unnecessary.

"Nothing a little ice won't help. Not a big deal," I said, tightening my jaw. "It was worth it."

"What if he had a gun?" she asked with wide eyes. "Or mace? Anything could have happened..."

"Is that probable?" I smirked at her worry. "What grown man carries mace around?"

"You never know."

"Are you still upset?" I whispered, taking a step closer. "Because..."

"What?"

Glancing behind her, I reached over her shoulder and locked the bathroom door.

"Oh, no," she muttered. "Edward."

"Bella. Now, listen to me. I have some frustrations built up here...and..."

"Edward! The bathroom? Seriously. I don't think now is the time." She shrieked, but still not looking completely opposed to this at all. "You just got in a fight!"

"Yeah, over you. Cause I want you that God damn bad; I have to beat up every fucker who ever hurt you."

Bella looked torn. I knew she wanted it. I could fucking see her chest rising with each quickened breath.

"Don't be silly," she said in a low tone.

"Don't be so sexy."

Bella raised an eyebrow, thinking hard about something. Or maybe she was thinking about something hard...like my dick.

"I've always wanted to have sex in here," I murmured in her ear. Bella pulled away, slapping my arm. "Hey, I said I wanted to, not that I have."

Rolling her eyes, she sarcastically said, "Yeah, let's talk about your promiscuous past. That'll really get me in the mood."

"Then tell me what gets you in the mood, Baby," I whispered against her neck, letting my mouth travel to her earlobe.

She brought her hands to my chest, as if she were going to push me away. Instead, she yanked me closer by the collar of my shirt and moaned.

"Edward...distraction."

My hands roamed down the side of her hips as I pinned her between the wall and my dick.

"You feel that?" I asked playfully, pushing my hard dick against her. "That's what you fucking do to me," I said, almost angry.

"Fuck," she said.

"Yeah. Fuck." I leaned my head down, brought one hand to the back of her head and kissed her; ready to fucking take her right here, in this bathroom.

I brought both of my hands to the bottom of her ass and easily lifted her as I walked backward. With her legs wrapped around my waist, I turned around and set her ass on the counter of the sink, standing in between her legs. She bit her lip, and then I stopped, pulled back from our kiss and stared into her lustful eyes.

Was I really going to fuck Bella in a bathroom?

"I really, really want you," I murmured against her lips.

"I want you, too."

"Right here?"

She slightly moved her hips on the counter, trying to get closer to me. "No. Not here."

Laughing, but defeated, I said, "Okay. Fine." I kissed her again, because she had nice, soft lips. And if I wasn't going to get to fuck her, I'd at least kiss her.

As if on cue, Emmett began banging on the bathroom door. "Edward, what the hell? Come on, let's go."

"Gimme a second," I said as I stared at Bella. He probably had no idea she was in here.

"I know Bella is in there. You two better not be fucking. Cops are out here; we need to sneak you out the back while Ben is distracting them."

Bella laughed and hopped off the counter, hitting the door twice with her fist.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I was upset with you over hitting James. It was kind of nice of you, in a totally fucked up way."

"I'm a nice guy."

"I know you are. And you have to know I care about you, okay?"

"I know you do," I admitted. "More than you'd like to admit. I mean, you tried spring rolls for Christ's sake. That obviously counts for something." She nodded. "I bet you also like my dick, huh?"

What? I was fucking horny, and I had to ask.

She nodded again, blushing this time. "I do. And I don't want to have to visit you in jail, so..."

I kissed her. "Yeah, let's make like a tree and get out of here."

Bella laughed before saying, "I hate to break it to ya, but you're more Marty McFly than Biff Tannen."

If I wasn't sure before, I was definitely fucking positive now. I was in love with a girl who referenced Back To The Future to me in a nasty ass bathroom.

Ben and Emmett were right- I was fucked. Now all I had to do was wait for her to admit she loved me too.

A/N: Back To The Future reference? Check! There roughly 4 chapters left. I still got big plans for these two kids! Thanks for reading & see you next Friday!

P.S. If you wanna know more about that poor lady who was attacked by pigeons, check out Dirt Roads by winehoes (collab w/Livie79).