DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the intellectual property of the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
-Chapter Eight-
I fidgeted in my seat and couldn't seem to keep my body still. The thumping of my heart echoed in my ears. Even my poor nails had fallen victim to my overwrought nerves. I'd bitten them down to the nubs.
Every few seconds or so, like a compulsive tick, I would peek over at Edward and try to gauge his mood.
Nothing.
There were no signs of stress, and his face was entirely at ease. He even drummed his thumbs to the beat of the music against his steering wheel.
It was just me—and I should be nervous. I was meeting Edward's parents for the first time, which was a massive step into coupledom. Except, we weren't a couple, which made this situation weirder.
Edward wouldn't even kiss me but thought it was perfectly natural to take me home and parade me around to his parents.
Really?
How in the world was he even going to introduce me?
"Hey, mom, hey, dad, I would like you to meet the girl who tried to break into my car. She's homeless, and I've known her for less than a day. This is Bella...wait, what's your last name?"
That wouldn't be awkward at all.
"We're here, Kid," Edward said, rubbing my knee and pulling me out of my panicky, inner chatter.
Leaning forward to look out the front windshield, I saw we were at a pool hall. Main Street Billiards, to be exact, was not what I expected.
"Are we meeting your parents here?" I asked, confused, glancing back at him.
"My parents?" he asked, his eyebrow cocked.
"You said that I was going to meet—"
"No, I said that I was going to take you to meet my family. I never said anything about meeting my parents."
"Oh," I replied, somewhat relieved but even more confused now.
Parents were a sore subject for Edward, and I could relate. It was odd, and I didn't know why, but I wanted to flesh out his deep secrets and hidden demons while praying to God that he would leave mine alone.
"Are you nervous?" he asked.
"Well, maybe…wait, why are we doing this again? You know, the whole meeting the family thing?"
He laughed, shaking his head. "It's not what you think."
"Oh, so there is no diamond ring in it for me then?" I grumbled bitterly.
"Jesus, Kid, what is with you? Zero to sixty in a second flat. Look, if you want a diamond ring, you gotta learn how to fucking steal it," he said, unbuckling my seat belt. "But before you go and do all that, you gotta meet the people who will help you do it."
"That's profound."
He glared at me. "Just get out of the fucking car."
It was fun getting him all hot under the collar and fired up. It was so easy to do, too. I loved it. Heck, the way I figured it, he deserved every bit of it for half the shit he pulls with me.
The pool hall was packed with people, and they all stared at Edward as we entered. It was an even mixture of hostile looks and fascination. He commanded their attention, and that made him hotter.
It was challenging to keep up with his long legs and easy stride. He kept looking over his shoulder and back at me, ensuring I was still there. I wanted to laugh. If Edward slowed down, he wouldn't have to wonder.
"Yo, Eddie!" I heard a loud and familiar voice boom. "I called and texted your ass, what were you doing that were so important that you couldn't get back to me..." His eyes landed on me as I peered from behind Edward. He smiled knowingly. "Oh…I get it. Hey there, little Bella bug, how are you?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "She's not fucking five, Em."
"Nope, I am just seventeen. Practically a kid to some people," I said pointedly at Edward.
He clenched his jaw and smiled tightly.
"Ooh, she's got spunk, Eddie. Can we keep her?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Edward said, winking at me.
He took my hand, a simple touch, but a strong surge of heat flooded through me, and I stared at it in awe. If that sort of lightning bolt effect happened by him just holding my hand, I could only imagine what kind of effect he would have if he touched somewhere more intimately.
"Here," Edward said, leading me towards the nearest stool, "have a seat."
"Thanks," I said.
He handed me the menu. "Order something."
"Okay," I said.
Edward glanced around the pool hall once content with ease; his face had turned severe. "Where is everybody? I told those assholes to be here at six sharp. It's six-fucking-thirty."
"How the hell would I know?" Emmett shot back, chalking up the tip of his pool stick. "I don't keep fucking tabs on them."
"What about your woman?" Edward asked. "Where the fuck is she?"
"I'm here," Rose shouted over the music, rushing towards the table with two pitchers of beer in her hands. "Calm down."
"Now all we're waiting on is Jasper and Alice?" He leaned down and whispered into my ear. "They're going to love you."
"Great," I said, averting my gaze and looking back at the menu.
He never played fair.
Edward patted me on the leg and gestured at Emmett, telling him to rack the balls. As he walked to the other side of the room to get a pool stick, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I glanced over to my right and caught Rose just staring.
"Hi," I said, somewhat uncomfortably.
"Baby Bella," she smiled, "you're still here?"
"Lay off, Rose," Edward snapped.
I turned around, startled by his sudden reemergence, and hadn't even noticed that he had returned.
"What? I was just asking her question. That's still allowed, isn't it?"
"Not when you're being hateful," he said, giving me an apologetic look.
She gasped. "Me? Hateful? Never."
"Careful," he said.
It was a warning.
"Whatever," she said, blowing him off. She turned her blue eyes back to me. "Seriously, you look like a smart kid, what the hell do you see in that tyrant?"
There were times when I would see the tyrant or a detached demeanor in Edward, but it was when he was dealing with other people. Granted, I hadn't known him for all that long, but with me, he was different. The glares he would give weren't cold or hateful. They were flirty.
"Um, well…" I paused and glanced over at Edward at the pool table.
He was stalking around it, reminding me of earlier today when I was his prey. His eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed in concentration as he plotted out his next move. Finally, he leaned over the table, lining up the stick with the ball, and his shirt rose, showing a brief glimpse of the handle of his gun.
It thrilled me.
The guy was a risk. He wasn't the healthiest thing for me to pursue, and heartbreak was the likeliest of the outcomes, but I couldn't pull away from him. What I believed to be safe was what eventually hurt me.
Edward was a gamble I was willing to put all my money on.
I turned back to Rose and smiled. "I see a Custom Colt."
While I was shooting a game of pool with Edward, the rest of his family showed up. Alice and Jasper strolled in around seven. Alice, the talkative one, went on and on about some problem with a guy who tried to screw them on a deal they had in West Phoenix and apologized for their lateness.
They handed Edward a wad of cash as penance. Seeing an exchange done so openly shocked me, but what did I know? If I hadn't seen it on Law and Order, I assumed it didn't exist.
The introductions were brief, and I'm sure if Jasper and Alice had been on time, Edward wouldn't have felt so rushed. But it wasn't long before we all met and knew each other's names, Edward was waving the guys outside.
Apparently, from what I gathered, they went to talk about business.
I watched his back until he disappeared around a corner, and when I turned back to Alice and Rose, they were smiling and staring at me expectantly.
"Tell us something about yourself, Bella. What makes you want to live a life of crime?" Alice asked, pulling up to me in her chair.
She was tiny, barely even five feet tall. She wasn't as intimidating as Rose with her looks, but she wasn't someone to be overlooked, either. The jet black hair stood out in a spiky pixie cut, and her make-up was dark and severe, but her clothes were demure and feminine. She was a walking contradiction, which spoke volumes about her to me.
I laughed nervously, scratching my head as I pondered how to answer that. It sounded so hokey to me now. But, when Edward said it, I wanted it. He had a way of making everything sound exciting.
"It's not a trick question." She assured me.
"Well, it's complicated," I said.
"She's got the hots for Edward," Rose chimed in.
I felt my face get red, and I grabbed my drink, gulping down its entire contents.
"Oh," Alice said, nodding in understanding. "I can see that."
"It's not all about Edward," I said in protest, and they both gave me a skeptical look. "What? It's not."
"Then what is it about?" Rose asked.
My mind searched for reasons that didn't revolve around him. The guns, the exhilaration, the danger, and everything had him attached to it. I wondered if I would still want this life if he were an accountant living in the suburbs. Did I want to be a housewife? Would being normal make me happy? Or did I want to be free of all that?
"I like not knowing what tomorrow will bring," I answered truthfully.
Rose chuckled. "You're an odd kid."
"Yeah, I know," I sighed. "I just wish people would stop seeing me as one."
"There's nothing wrong with being a kid," Alice said. "Most people never get the chance to be a kid."
"Not when the object of your affection uses that excuse not to date you," I said, my eyes landing on Edward as he paced outside.
"Wait," Alice said, sitting up in her seat. "You and Edward aren't a thing?"
I scoffed. "No…definitely not."
"But," she stammered, looking confused, "he's here with you. I don't…I don't understand."
"He just sees me as a buddy," I said.
Rose coughed. "Bullshit."
"No, I'm serious," I said, letting out all my pent-up frustrations.
"Bella, honey," Rose said, leaning over toward me. "There is one thing you have to know about Edward: he doesn't give a flying shit about anyone."
Alice nodded in agreement.
"What? What about his parents?" I asked, using the opportunity to get some entail on him.
"He doesn't talk about them," Alice said.
Damn it.
"Emmett told me that they were rich," Rose said.
Now we're talking.
"Rich? Oh, come on? He's pulling your leg. Why would Edward leave a rich family? No one chooses this life, Rose," Alice said, dismissing her.
Why did it choose you?
It didn't. I'm the exception.
"Hey, I'm just telling you what I heard, okay?"
They continued to argue about it, and I couldn't stop thinking about Edward and his chosen life. But what did that mean for me and my future with him if he was willing to leave a life of guaranteed riches and possibly a loving home?
"So, what are you telling me?" I asked, interrupting their bickering and looking over at Rose. "Are you saying that I should give up? That he doesn't give a shit about anyone—and that's including me?"
"No," Rose said, "what I'm saying is that you're not just anyone to him. Don't you listen?"
"What?" I was so confused. All this cryptic shit lost me.
"Alice," Rose said, exasperated, "will you please explain it to her?"
"Yes, please, someone explain this to me," I said, throwing up my hands.
"Don't worry, Rose, I got this," Alice said, cracking her knuckles. "Let me put it to you this way. If you were just anybody to Edward, he would have shot you when you were trying to steal his car."
"Oooh, that's true," Rose said. "Well put, Ally."
"Well, you know," she said, grinning.
I stared at their slacked jaw, trying to decide whether or not they were sincere, and they were. I couldn't contain my laughter. It was ridiculous.
"Edward would have never killed me."
"Exactly." They both said in unison as they clinked their glasses together.
As their words slowly dawned on me, Edward strode into the pool hall with Jasper and Emmett tailing behind him. He caught my eyes staring at him from across the room and smiled. It was genuine and sweet, knocking the wind out of me.
Right then, I knew I was his exception.