20

12:49 a.m.

"This coffee is crap," I say, bringing the cup from my mouth and wincing. Emmett glances over at me in surprise.

"You never bitch about coffee."

He's right. I'm not usually that picky about my caffeine. My only requirement is that it enters my system piping hot.

"You all right, man?"

I glance at him and set the cup down.

"Yeah," I sigh, shaking my head a little. "I'm just fucking tired."

Emmett nods, his own cup of tea still in his palms.

"You need a night off," he says sagely. "You're off tomorrow, right?"

I nod, my gaze scanning the nearly empty street.

"Yeah," I sigh. I still haven't gotten mom a gift. I'm going to be lucky if I find her a decent card before her party tomorrow.

Fuck.

I think about how I spent my day instead of shopping. I don't regret it, not one but.

I haven't told Emmett what I managed to get up to last night, though I know he'd keep it a secret for me if I asked.

Bella and I had fallen asleep at her place, but an annoying ingrained habit in me to wake up early had me up again less than two hours later. Thankfully, Bella had been pretty gracious about me waking up, and after she jumped my bones, I was able to go back to sleep. I'd woken up delirious, hungry, and almost late for work.

I'd barely made it to my shift on time.

I've been itching to text Bella all night, except I can't. Like a proper idiot, I forgot to get her number before I ran out for work.

"Dude," Emmett says, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What's going on with you tonight?"

I look over at him.

"I'm going to tell you something that has to stay between us," I tell him slowly. He nods, shifting in the car to give me his full attention. I take a deep breath, pick up my coffee, and chug it down. I wince as the mediocre taste sullies my mouth.

When I'm done, I look at him again. "I met this girl."

A large hand comes out, slapping me on the chest, and I grunt in surprise.

"Good on you, man. Tell me everything."

I frown at him, reaching up to rub my chest.

"She's…" I shake my head, unable to come up with exactly the way to explain her. "She's incredible," I say finally. "Funny, ridiculous, nerdy… she's so fucking hot but it's not the first thing you notice about her. She's just got this energy about her."

I glance at Emmett, a little embarrassed to be caught gushing. He smirks, but thankfully doesn't tease me or anything.

"Where did you meet her?"

I wince.

"Uh, last night."

I see his eyebrow go up. "You met someone after your shift? What did you hit up a bar or something?"

I let out a small breath. "No," I say slowly. I'm quiet long enough that he figures it out. I see the surprise cross his face, and I'm suddenly tripping over my own words trying to clarify it.

"She was my last call. She was drunk as hell and wanted a ride. It took me so long to get her name and address, I was off shift by the time she even got in the car."

Emmett doesn't say anything.

"I took her to a diner to sober up a bit and we got to talking and…"

I let my voice trail off. It sounds horrificially unethical, and it's burning me with embarrassment and shame to know that I let this happen.

I should have waited with her.

"Is there a consent issue?" Emmett asks, his tone flat. I look at him in surprise.

"What? Of course not. She was fully sober and gave me repeatedly clear verbal go-aheads." I shake my head. "I would never…"

Emmett nods. "It's not the best," he says slowly. "But I guess if you were off shift, and she doesn't file some sort of complaint, it'll be okay?"

I let out a breath, shaking my head. "Uh, yeah maybe."

I weigh whether I want to tell him who Bella's father is yet. I'll have to fess up eventually, but right now, I'm not sure I can handle anymore disappointment from him.

"What's her name?"

I look up at Emmett.

"Bella," I tell him.

He nods.

"Are you going to see her again?"

I smirk. "I hope so, though I was a dumbass who forgot to get her number."

Emmett laughs. "Rookie mistake," he chuckles. "I'm sure you won't have a problem finding it though. It sounds like this might be one of those universe moments, you know?"

I glance at him before turning my gaze outside the squad car.

I'm starting to get the sense that it is in fact, one of those universe things with Bella.