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Chapter Thirty-Three

Edward never mentioned the city and state listed on my license.

So I didn't offer an excuse.

It was easy.

But it was eating me alive.

He obviously read the word Texas. The man was literate; that much I was sure of. Who stares that intently at a license if you're not reading it? Unless he was memorizing my photo. But that clearly wasn't the case seeing as how it was was an awful photo, so I'm sure some sort of laughter would've escaped his lips.

What was wrong with me? What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn't I just tell him the truth about Renee? What was holding me back from just spilling my truth and feelings? Surely the fact that he would stare at me like a crazy person had nothing to do with it.

Because that's exactly what he was doing as we sat in the parking lot at Black's waiting on Emmett's ass. Edward was staring at me with the oddest expression, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to run me over with his car or kiss my non-photogenic face.

And to make matters worse, his face was very photogenic.

I almost wanted to curse Emmett because he was the reason why I had to show Officer Collin my license in the first place. But that was a bit silly, wasn't it? Blaming Edward's brother when it wasn't actually his fault.

My fault.

It was always mine.

It was my fault for not updating my license with my current city and state. But that gets a little tiresome having to get a new license every six months. I don't need to go into great detail about how traumatizing and dreadful an experience at the DMV can be. I don't need to blather about the neglectful mother and her four year old child who spilled apple juice on my book before crying over said spilled apple juice for an hour. I've clearly let that go.

All of my ridiculous hatred for the DMV faded away when Edward's grip on the steering wheel tightened and he turned to look at me.

"What do you want to do?" he asked casually, despite the tightening of his jaw, flaring of his nostrils, and narrowing of his eyes.

But I was probably reading too much into his expression. Any other day I would find his expression to be thoughtful and even sexy. But right now all I could see was some sort of concern and mostly judgement.

"Um. Well. It's after midnight. What do people usually do after midnight?"

Subtle was obviously not my middle name and he knew that for a fact after seeing my license.

Edward's gaze burned into me and stayed locked in place, even as Emmett enthusiastically opened the back door and threw himself in the backseat. Rosalie wasn't far behind him.

"Who here agrees August second is the best damn day of the year?" Emmett hollered and raised his hand before letting out a whoop, whoop!

"It's August third," Rosalie added before smiling at me. I gave her a tiny smile in return and faced forward.

"I'm not talking about what day it is. I'm talking about what day is the best, babycakes."

Rosalie didn't laugh at his pet name. "At least you didn't get arrested this year."

"Yeah, he just tried getting poor Bella over here arrested," Edward added this time, glancing in the rear view mirror at the drunk that is his brother.

I heard a smack accompanied with an ow, what the fuck?.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it ain't a birthday until someone gets arrested or naked."

Everyone groaned in response.

"Well at least you didn't relive your birthday from three years ago when you decided to poop in a bucket outside the vet clinic," Rosalie pointed out nonchalantly.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, not because I was shocked but because I was trying to keep my mind off Edward.

"Oh, come on! Like you've never pooped in a bucket before." Emmett shook his head clearly no longer impressed by me and my need for indoor plumbing.

"No. I can honestly say I haven't." And that was the truth, as it would be for most people.

"No...shit?" Emmett asked seriously before his booming laughter shook the car. "No, no. I heard about this family who lived in a storage unit and the chick made her little bro poop in a bucket. It all worked out though cause the creeper that owned the place fell in love with her or something."

"I heard the kid who pooped in the bucket was named Emmett," Rosalie said as Edward laughed quietly beside me.

"No way. You made that up," Emmett insisted.

"Why would I make that up?"

"Because sometimes you're a bitch."

Another smack and an ow filled the silence.

"Domestic abuse!" Emmett screamed. "Did y'all see that?"

"No," Edward and I said simultaneously.

"I kind of like it when you're rough, baby," Emmett drawled, eliciting another smack. "I'm hungry," he suddenly cried.

"Five thousand calories in brownies didn't do it for ya?" Edward snickered as he pulled in front of a small house about five minutes from Black's. "Sleep it off at Rose's and I'll see you tonight for Sunday dinner."

"Some brother you are," Emmett pouted and grabbed the back of my seat. "Hey, Portland? Thanks for the brownies."

"You're welcome."

"If Alice weren't such a hoity-toity bitch," Emmett started and Edward immediately groaned, "I'd totally invite you to eat Chicken Marsala tonight."

And with that, he shut the door and groped Rosalie all the way to the front door.

"'You'll have to forgive him," Edward whispered as I stared straight ahead. "He's..."

"Drunk."

"And you'll have to excuse Alice she's..."

I waited for him to fill in the blank this time.

He never did.

A/N: kitcat681 owns the self storage and the poop buckets. It's really disturbing, but I love her anyway. Check out her story Self Storage. It's complete & totally cute. Thanks for reading.