18
The Hunk
When Edward asks Rosalie to make him her special espresso brew, she tilts her head to the side.
"Why? Up all night screwing your girlfriend's brains out?"
"No. Why would you even want to know that? We were up most of the night talking. Apparently, she didn't think we've been in a relationship." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "I mean, we've been intimate—stop looking at me like that. I probably should have said affectionate, you pervert. I thought it was implied. I mean, I spend all of my time with her. Maybe it's my fault because I haven't asked her to be my girlfriend or taken her out on a date."
Rose looks confused.
"Um, Ed. How the fuck are you going to take her out when she can't even leave her porch?"
"Well, it's going to be tricky. I'm going to have to get creative after tonight because I'm going to set the bar high."
People are knocking on the locked door because they were supposed to open a few minutes ago.
Rosalie turns around, hands on her hips, and starts yelling.
"We're having a fucking conversation. Give us a goddamn minute!"
Edward shakes his head and walks by her to unlock the door.
"Stop being such a bitch before we're both out of jobs. Jesus Christ, Ro."
He apologizes to each customer as they enter the bakery before hiding out in the kitchen. He's not going to let his sister or anyone else ruin today for him.
He's already prepared everything for the second bake of the day, so he decides to take a selfie for Bella.
His tongue pokes out, and his eyes are crossed.
I hope you're as excited for tonight as I am. This picture better not end up on Facebook.
You're not funny. You know I have no use for Facebook.
I'm really excited too.
His phone chimes with another message, and he laughs so hard the sound echoes off the walls.
It's a photo of Bella, and it looks like she had a two-year-old do her makeup. Bright red lipstick everywhere.
The caption reads:
I never learned how to execute the whole makeup thing. How did I do?
You will never not look beautiful to me, Sugar. But please wipe that shit off your face before it stains, and feel free to throw out the rest of your makeup. You don't need it. I prefer you natural.
Sir, yes, sir. It was just a quick job after you sent me that goofy selfie. I felt it was only fair that I reciprocate with one of my own.
You mean you gave me some pretty great blackmail for the next time your sister comes over?
Get back to work, slacker. I've got stuff to do. See you later, Honey.
Okay, Sugar. Love you.
Edward hits send and realizes what he just sent. It's too soon. Right? He knows he's in love with her. But after last night Edward knows this might cause problems. He would never tell her for the first time in a fucking text message.
"Fuck. ROSALIE!"
He's scrambling with his phone when his sister pops in.
"If you burned something again, I'm pulling the batteries out of the smoke … What the fuck, Ed?"
He's pacing back and forth, mashing the screen. "How do you unsend a text? There's got to be a way to make a text disappear right? I mean ... Shit." He tries to calm down, but his voice is high-pitched and panicky. "Siri, how do you unsend a fucking text message?"
Siri is offended by his language and doesn't respond. Instead, Edward gets a text message. He can't breathe. He's going to vomit. He's so scared to open it that he all but throws the phone at Rosalie.
"Please tell me that I didn't just get dumped via text message," he pleads.
Rosalie looks at the screen for a second. "Eh, I think you're good, but I don't know because the two of you are fucking strange. Read it."
Edward does.
Um ... Okay?
He contemplates for ten minutes before replying to her simple message with one of his own.
I'll see you tonight, Sugar.
He tries not to obsess over everything. He tries really hard, and he fails miserably.
When Rose offers to do the cleanup, he rushes out, stops for some essentials, and sneaks into his house.
Edward feels triumphant when he shuts his door without alerting his beautiful neighbor. His beautiful neighbor who might hate him now. He showers and changes into a pair of dark wash jeans and a nice shirt. He's so nervous. First date, palms and top lip sweating nervous. But also nervous about what he's planning on doing. This could go one of two ways, and he's really hoping it ends well.
Edward finds the notebook he used so long ago that it's gathered dust, grabs a pen, and starts writing.
So ... I figured that you've probably been obsessing about my text vomit earlier. Trust me, I have been obsessing ... over how to do this. I decided to go back to the beginning to bring us to where we are now. I know you might be confused, Sugar. It's understandable considering your past. But I know deep down, you know we're more than that. We are stronger than anything life throws at us.
I can honestly tell you that I love every single bit of you.
I started loving you the day I moved in and blocked the peephole you haven't used in months.
I knew my feelings for you were growing every time I sat, cramped on your porch, having dinner with you every night just to get to know everything about you.
I love you despite the fact that you have an unhealthy addiction to soda.
I realized I truly loved you when we found out that you were incredibly bad at making souffles and thought instant pudding would make a good substitution.
I even loved you when you spat that chocolate pudding all over me.
I love you on your good days, and I'll love you through every one of your bad ones.
Falling in love with you was as easy as burning that batch of Colossal Chocolate Chip Cookies was.
It's freezing out here, so if you could open the door and give me one of your big smiles and warm hugs, that would be great. -Yours, always, Edward
He slides the note under the door and knocks.
And he waits.
And waits some more.
When the door finally opens, Bella looks pissed. She's clutching the letter to her chest, but God, she looks furious. She's also crying.
"Sugar?"
"No one should ever have to start a first date in tears, Edward Cullen." She wipes her eyes. "But you managed to make me cry, Honey. I hope you're happy."
"Why would I be happy about making you cry? Why are you crying?"
"Because these are happy tears! I'm not used to happy tears, and now that they've started, I don't know how to get them to stop." She sobs.
Edward puts all of his first date supplies down and pulls Bella in for a hug.
"Oh, Sugar. What am I going to do with you?" He chuckles.
"I don't know. Love me?" She kisses him on his scruffy neck.
"Well, duh. I thought it was implied in my love letter to you. Better than a dumb text message, yeah?"
"The text message comes in at a close second to this letter. I'm buying a frame for it by the way." She smiles. "I wasn't freaking out all day just so you know. I was trying to figure out how to surprise you when you got home, but you snuck in."
"Feel free to surprise me now. I love surprises."
Bella smiles and steps into a pair of boots by her door. She's wearing his favorite knee-high socks with the dress he asked for.
"Okay. Go out and sit on the hood of your car," she instructs.
"Okay?"
"Just do it."
Edward walks out to his car, pulling his jacket tighter around him as he rests against the hood.
Bella's standing on the top step of her porch, hands clenched into fists at her sides and talking to herself as she takes the steps down at a snail's pace.
Edward wants to tell her to go inside and put a damn coat on, but she has this look of determination on her face that keeps him quiet.
When she steps onto the pathway, he wants to rush to her. He can see her hands shaking as she takes a step forward. She whispers to herself as she takes small steps and stops about halfway between the house and where he's standing.
"I really thought I could make it all the way, but I can't," she calls, her voice full of frustration.
Edward pushes off his car and meets her, hugging Bella so hard that her feet leave the ground. He walks them back into the warmth of her house and holds her until she stops shaking.
"You did so great, Sugar," he whispers into her hair. "I was very surprised."
"I had a plan," she mutters. "But I ruined it."
"What was your plan?"
"I was going to make it all the way to the car. I wasn't going to panic. I was going to tell you that I have never felt more loved in my entire life, and that I think I'm in love with you. I won't tell you until I'm completely sure."
"I wasn't expecting to hear it back, Sugar. I can see it when I look at you. I can feel it when you're near me. I just wanted to let you know where I'm at right now." He kisses her softly. "I am so proud of you. You're doing so great. I love you."
Bella smiles shyly.
"You better get the food off the porch before it gets ruined."
Edward grabs the take-out, the two-liter of cherry Coke he chose for the occasion, and a bouquet of daffodils he picked up just to make her smile.
He doesn't thrust them in her face like last time, but he does hold them away until she kisses him "hello". They get a little carried away, and the poor bouquet pays the price.
"They're still beautiful," Bella tells him before he can apologize.
"All right, our first date has officially begun. I hope you like Greek."
"I don't think I've ever had it, but I'm willing to try anything once."
She grabs glasses and ice while he opens containers and lights the candles in the center of the table.
Bella's eyes glow with happiness; the reflection of the fire flickering in the warm brown has Edward wanting to kiss her. So he leans over the table, careful of the candles, and pecks her softly on the lips.
He wants to tell her that he loves her again; now that he's said it, he never wants to stop, but Bella is easily overwhelmed, and he'd never do anything to make her uncomfortable.
Their eyes meet as Bella asks what he's brought for them to eat, and Edward realizes that she's maintaining eye contact with him. When he thinks about it, it's been a while now.
Another baby step. Another small milestone. And he can't even remember when it started.
"Some falafel, hummus, and olives to start us off." He places the appetizers in front of her. "I decided to play it safe with steak skewers and Greek salad for the main course."
Bella nods, eyeing that hummus curiously.
She picks up a piece of bread and dips it before bringing it to her mouth.
She tries really hard to give it an honest go, Edward can see that, but he isn't surprised when she spits the bite into her napkin.
"That is disgusting. The texture, the taste. Everything about it is awful," she says, downing half her drink.
"Try an olive. It'll get the taste out of your mouth." Edward laughs, spearing a stuffed olive on his fork and offering it to her.
She hums happily and does a little dance in her seat.
She's so fucking cute.
"So much better."
Bella and Edward agree that falafel is not for them. The skewers and salad are a big hit though. Edward jokes that if they ever have Greek cuisine again they'll just stick to main dishes and olives.
They work side by side clearing the table, extinguishing the candles, and tossing all the food they didn't enjoy into the garbage.
When they're finished, Edward grabs Bella's phone off the coffee table, and she watches him unlock it to scroll for her playlist before he places it on the dock.
They tried really hard not to make it a big deal when they added each other's fingerprints to their phones, but it was a pretty big deal. He doesn't understand how that didn't prove to Bella that they were in a relationship, but he remembers she's inexperienced, and he can't fault her for that.
The beginning of the first song makes Bella smile because she immediately recognizes it.
He knows this is one of her favorites and holds his hand out.
She stands in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and steps forward until she's leaning in and her head is resting on his shoulder. She's soft and warm. Edward holds her in his big arms and starts moving them around the small space they have to work with.
They aren't So You Think You Can Dance material, but they manage to make it through a few songs without any squashed toes or broken furniture.
"I think I'm ready for you to knock my socks off now," Bella whispers as the song comes to an end.
"You gotta pick out a movie first." He lets her go, immediately missing her warmth.
It doesn't take long because Bella is prepared. She drops onto the couch and presses a few buttons on the remote. The beginning credits of the movie start, and Edward knows that she's seen it more than once but doesn't say anything.
Instead, he snuggles up beside her, pulling her legs onto his lap.
Bella's engrossed in the movie, but Edward can't help himself. His hands wander along the bare skin between the top of her socks and the end of her dress. She's so smooth and soft under his touch. He pulls back when he thinks he's pushed it too far; she grabs his hand and puts it back on her thigh.
"I'm not that fragile, Edward," she whispers. "If we're going to do this, feel free to touch me."
He squeezes and her thighs clench together on their own accord.
"I mean, I'm not ready for that. But you can touch me."
She doesn't wait for him to ask her if he's sure.
The words are on his tongue when she moves until she's straddling his legs.
"Feel free to touch me, Honey."
His hands settle on her perfect ass, but Bella has other plans.
She grabs his face, pulling him to her, so she can control his mouth. As Edward deepens the kiss, Bella pulls one of his hands off her ass.
Edward almost chokes on his tongue when she places his palm against the side of her breast.
"I'm serious, Honey. We might be on our first date, but you were right—we've been together for so long. I can't deny you the normal, well, what I think is a normal dating experience. This is about as normal as we're going to get under the circumstances."
"It can't just be about me, Sugar. You have to want it too for this to work."
Bella kisses him again, pressing his hand into her lace and cotton-covered flesh.
"I want this. I want this so much."
Edward smiles against her mouth and squeezes her tit, earning a breathy moan. She presses her chest into his hand, silently begging him to touch her with both hands. She's so warm and pliable, more than a handful.
Perfect.
She lets him take control until he's fondling her chest without so much as a thought.
Bella runs kisses up and down his neck, stopping to suck and bite the spot behind his ear, driving Edward wild. He can feel his body respond to the feel of her, and he knows they need to slow it down.
"Sugar, we gotta stop. We're walking a fine line."
She pulls back, nodding in agreement.
"So, how was over the clothes first base?" She giggles. "It was my first time."
Edward's eyes widen. Bella didn't go into great detail about her relationship with her asshole ex-fiancé.
"Bella ... are you a ..." He raises an eyebrow in question. "You know?"
"A virgin? No. I was stupid and naïve. But things were different with him. It wasn't often, I don't think I ever finished, and we never had the lights on." Her lips caress his ear. "But I can honestly tell you that everything with you is like it's my first time. You are completely different. You're so much better, Honey."
This pleases Edward to no end.
"Sugar, I can tell you one thing. If you don't think you have ever finished, then you haven't."
Like he planned, he walks her to the door, kisses her softly one last time, and goes home. He stops to take a much-needed cold shower before he falls into bed and picks up his phone.
He boldly sends her a topless selfie.
So ... What are your plans for tomorrow?
I love your chest. I am free indefinitely for you. Go to sleep. You have an early morning.
Thank you for a perfect first date, Honey. I seriously can't wait to see you tomorrow. Goodnight.
Hands down the best date ever. I'm going to have to get creative to top this one. I love you, Sugar. Goodnight.
