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Chapter Thirty-Two

I was grateful for Emmett's social butterfly-ness because Alice was no longer in sight once the bar began to fill up. Then again, she and I were both extremely short so it may have just been I couldn't see her above those who weren't challenged in the height department.

With the social butterfly-ness came Emmett's ability to be outgoing, and that outgoing characteristic forced him to perform a striptease.

"You're all gonna love this," he assured as he removed his shirt and wore a polka dot birthday hat.

It turns out when it's your birthday you're allowed to consume three Irish Car Bombs in a row before you stand on the bar and remove your clothes to "It's My Party".

"Not your typical striptease song," I mused to Edward as we looked on in horror.

Edward snorted as we walked to a high top table near the back. "Yeah, but he's not your typical guy."

I nodded, somehow seeming to forget that little fact. "What are the chances of him getting kicked out?"

"Hate to disappoint you but, since Rose works here, we will be forced to endure the striptease all. night. long." A voice spoke from the other side of Edward.

"Hey. You finally made it," Edward said, doing some sort of hand shake with the man. "This is Bella. Bella, this is Jasper."

"Nice to meet you." I greeted him happily enough, until he mentioned he was Alice's husband.

My facial expression must not have been kind because Jasper snorted and said, "I see you've met her."

"Alice likes to make things difficult," Edward answered for me, keeping his eyes on Jasper.

"Eddie! You gotta come up here with me! I can see down every girl's shirt!" Emmett hollered from the bar.

Jasper shook his head while laughing hysterically and asked if Emmett had any sugar. Edward pointed at me with his beer.

"Guilty," I said, covering my face. "In my defense, I didn't think he'd eat the entire container of brownies."

"Then you must not know Emmett." Jasper laughed and patted my back. "I'm going to go find Alice. I'll catch you two later."

We said goodbye and I was focusing on not peeing my pants as Emmett slapped his own ass when Edward pulled my arm. His back was against the wall and he spread his legs apart so I could stand between them.

"Hey." He searched my face for a moment.

"Hi."

One of the nice things about Edward was his mood stayed the same, regardless of whether or not he was eight beers in. Definitely wasn't the case for his brother.

"Thanks for coming with me tonight," he said softly and all of the background noise seemed to disappear.

"What else would I have been doing?" I joked, ignoring the intensity of his stare.

"Well," he cleared his throat, breaking his trance, "I know I'd be bored and would have to brood by myself."

"It's always nice to brood with someone," I agreed as he poked my side.

"At least you agree."

"Of course." I sighed, thankful for our little moment in the dark, smoky bar.

Edward's focus was suddenly somewhere behind me as he muttered, "Oh, great."

"Party's over, Emmett!" A loud, authoritative voice called from the front of the bar.

We left our drinks on the table and Edward pulled my arm as he walked over to Emmett and his almost bare ass.

"But I didn't even get to take my briefs off yet!" Emmett boomed as he slid off the bar. "I'm sure everyone would agree that's the best part."

"I'm sure Officer Collin would agree that's indecent exposure," Edward said and I stifled a laugh at Emmett's confused expression.

"Let's go get some fresh air," Officer Collin instructed as he grabbed Emmett's arm.

"Hey! It's my birthday!" Emmett hollered. "Rose! Rosie! I love you! Don't wait for me!"

Edward told Emmett to shut up and that he wasn't going to prison as we walked outside, the sudden chill of the air causing me to gasp.

"How much have you had to drink tonight?" Officer Collin asked Emmett.

"No limit tonight. It's my birthday," Emmett said loudly as he pulled his shirt over his head. "And Bella made me special brownies."

"Who is Bella?" the officer asked and Emmett pointed at me.

"What?" I laughed. "He...he doesn't mean-"

"The brownies you made me," he explained as the officer narrowed his eyes at me. "She makes awesome brownies."

"Ma'am? Did you provide this man with marijuana brownies?"

"What? No!" I shrieked.

Officer Collin looked irritated. And scary. "What exactly did he mean by 'special'?"

"Like...special birthday brownies, I guess? I don't..." I looked at Edward.

"Officer." Edward put his hands up, trying not to shake with laughter. "My brother doesn't mean special, illegal brownies. He himself is special, if you haven't noticed."

Officer Collin was still trying to place me when he asked me if I had any identification on me.

"Of course." I fumbled and removed my license from my wallet.

There was absolutely no reason for me to be so nervous. I knew I didn't bake weed brownies. Did I?

Officer Collin stared at it for longer than necessary, probably just to be a jerk, before tossing it against my chest. "Take him home. I don't want any more disruptions this week, Emmett."

"Sir, yes sir!" Emmett saluted and then broke out into a dance.

"Did your brother just almost get me arrested by insinuating I gave him weed brownies?" I asked in shock and amusement.

"Emmett!" Edward slapped his chest, forcing his dancing to end. "That was-"

"Fucking funny, right? You should've seen your face!" Emmett howled with laughter as he pointed in my direction. "Uh, no Officer! I don't...special...what?"

"We'll see if I bake you any brownies ever again." I rolled my eyes and Emmett snatched my license from me.

"Quite a looker. And what do you know! She's of age." Emmett winked at me.

"Don't wink at her like that, you jackass!" Edward grunted as he jumped on Emmett's back, trying to pull him into some sort of headlock. "And how about you try to not get her arrested?"

Emmett shook furiously from side to side, knocking Edward off his back into the dirt.

"Damn! Why do you have to fight dirty?" Edward sighed, not moving from the ground.

"Looks like the only thing dirty is you!" Emmett laughed, tossing my license on Edward's stomach. "Gonna go tell Rose I made bail. I'll be back."

I stood there, silent, not sure if I should laugh or run. Instead, I sat on the ground next to Edward.

"You're going to get your dress dirty," he murmured and lifted my license to inspect it. "Ah. So you are of age. Good to know."

"Real funny."

It was quiet, save for the crowd inside Black's cheering for, I assume, Emmett's second striptease.

Edward narrowed his eyes, still inspecting my license for some reason. He cleared his throat, stood and reached down to help me up.

"Ready?" Edward asked before handing me the license.

While he was dusting off his jeans, I took a moment to inspect the license myself. The city and state were listed as Austin, Texas.

I realized all too late the game Edward and I had been playing.

He would never ask and I would never tell.

A/N: It's all fun and games until someones begins a striptease to "It's My Party". That's all I'm sayin'. Thanks for reading!