Chapter 15

He got up and leaned against his favorite, worn bench. Right against the corner I'd gotten a nasty bruise from. Arms lazily crossed, mirroring his bare feet as he stared me down. One side of his mouth curled up, ready to let that serpent tongue out and lash at anything I said.

My knees threatened to buckle under the weight of his soulful, sad, mad, unstable eyes that were blazing right through me.

Waiting.

Anticipating.

Daring me like the God he knew he was.

So, I spoke to God.

Chin up. Tits out.

"Where is everybody?"

A slow smirk graced his face. "Afraid to be alone with me? I don't bite."

"Yes, you do." His eyebrows shot up at that.

"Well, only when I'm asked."

"Where is everybody?" I repeated, less patient.

He lit a smoke, even though Carlisle told him all the time not on the bus. The smoke blew out of his mouth like a string of poetry. I wanted to grab handfuls of it and hold it to my chest. "They went in that bar over there." He nodded towards a dive called Basket of Cheer out the window.

"Why didn't you go?" I could feel my face blushing, the red creeping up my chest to my neck and across my cheeks. Not my place to ask anything of him.

He shrugged. "Seen one shithole, seen 'em all."

"Carlisle went too?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on Yorkie."

"I thought you–" I sucked my words back, but much too late.

"You thought I what? Was the one he had to keep an eye out for?" He smiled, but his eyes narrowed. I looked for a forked tongue to escape his mouth.

"No, I didn't mean–"

He put a hand over his heart. "I'm a good boy."

A laugh escaped me. A surprising, harsh HA of a sound.

Edward turned to crush his cigarette out. Endless seconds until he'd gotten all the embers.

He turned back to me, his green eyes dark and all I wanted to do was touch them. Place a finger on an eyeball so I could feel inside him. Feel a part of him maybe no one had. "Wanna go see what they're up to? Have a drink?"

"In the bar?"

"Can't very well see if you're standing outside. I don't think they have many windows."

Panicking, I kicked myself for having been born too late. "Um, I should really finish the VIP passes for the next venue."

He waved a dismissive hand. "Days away."

"My handwriting is terrible. It'll take me days."

He surprised me by chuckling. His eyes lightened when he did, and I didn't know if I liked the light or the dark better. "I'll get someone else to do it for you."

Part of me wondered if he knew my age but was trying to make me squirm. Trying to cut down all my excuses to make me confess out loud.

"I don't want to go to the bar." I can't go to the bar.

I saw a flash behind his eyes. He stood to his full height, making the bus feel crowded. His threadbare Marlboro t-shirt rose an inch above his low waistband like it had been washed a hundred times. I did my best to not back away as he slowly approached me, but instinct made me move until I was pressed against the cupboards.

"Did you just say 'no' to me?" His head cocked to one side, his sharp jaw jutting out, ready to cut me.

"I…"

"People don't say 'no' to me." He shook his head, the tiniest hint of a scowl forming.

I had nothing to say. Wordless. Breathless.

"I'm not sure how to feel right now." He moved closer, slithering towards me across the blue carpet. "Do you know how many girls would jump at the chance to make me happy? Hmm? To do my bidding?"

"At least four in the other bus." Shut up shut up shut up!

He stared at me. At my stupid mouth. "That is true… but they're not here. Besides, I asked you to go. Do you really want to disappoint me?"

Swallowing, I paused, then shook my head. I didn't want to. I wanted him to like me, as pathetic as that was. Wanted him to want me to go with him.

He leaned in exquisitely closer. "Good girl." I could feel his breath on my cheek, could feel the heat radiating off of him. Every part of my body tingled, woke up. His smell, that tobacco and whiskey and something that was just him poured over me.

His lips hovered over mine and I shut my eyes, waiting for them to land. "You're very pretty, do you know that?" he asked and the ache in my belly was decidedly lower. I was sure he could hear my heart thundering. "Tempting."

That's when I felt it, the faintest ghost of a touch between our mouths before he quickly backed away. "So go ahead, see what they're up to. Report back."

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"I didn't say I was going with you, just asked if you wanted to go check up on them." He turned and leaned against his bench.

My cheeks flamed, hot adrenaline running reckless through my body. Another cigarette touched his lips, hanging there, not lit and I wanted to slap it away. It bobbed as he spoke. "But… I'll go with you if you ask me nicely."

I wanted to call him a prick, wanted to scream at him for wanting to embarrass me and make me feel small, to make me think he wanted me. "I won't." Is all I managed to get out.

He turned with narrowed eyes, but his lips soon turned into a smile. Blinding. Trying to kill me. Jekyll and Hyde.

"You're spunky." He lit the cigarette and slid his feet into a pair of worn flip flops. Shuffled closer to me as he worked his toes in.

One finger flicked me under the chin. "I like it."