Chapter 20
"Hey, get me another one," Edward calls as Pete makes his way to the bar across the dimly lit pool hall.
Edward leans back on his bar stool and watches Mac and some kid named Seth rack up another game. The teenager has skill, but Mac has a finesse that comes with experience. He laughs when Seth's face falls with the power of Mac's break.
"Aw, hell, man," Seth whines as Mac proceeds to usher each ball into its pocket as smooth as butter.
Mac straightens and points his cue, "Not another old man joke out of you, pup."
Edward barks out another laugh. "You've been schooled, son."
Mac grins over his shoulder at his buddy. Edward nods and takes another swig of his longneck. It's good to be back together. He's missed just being. Over the past few years, he'd been so focused on proving himself and running from his demons he had lost this.
Mac smacks him on his back as he picks up his beer from the table behind Edward.
"Who's gonna humiliate me next?" Seth calls as he racks the balls. He freezes over the table as the door swings open, and the silhouette of a bombshell goddess in a clinging tube dress and six-inch heels pauses in the doorway.
She continues into the room with the door closing behind her, and the place comes back to life. Seth straightens and swallows nervously as the luscious blond runs her hand over his shoulders as she passes.
"Hell girl, don't torment the little man," Mac says as Rose give him an evil smile and steals his longneck.
Edward leans forward. "What cha doin' here, Rosie?"
She flips her hair and pins him with her glare, but he just laughs and takes another swig. "Thought it was time to crash this boy's club," she says with a sniff.
Mac wraps his arm around Rose's waist, and he reclaims his drink. "I'm glad you're here, Rose," he says as he signals to Pete for one more.
Pete returns with a tray of beers and hands one to Seth with a pat on the back. "Don't tell your mom."
Seth cuts his eyes to Rose and smirks at Pete. "I don't drink and tell."
Edward puts his longneck on the table. "Finish racking them," he says as he chalks his cue.
Seth freezes again over his task as the door swings open and a curvy pinup silhouettes against the bright sun.
"Aw hell, we're never gonna get a game going at this rate," Edward groans as he snatches the triangle from the kid.
Appreciative murmurs follow Lottie as she makes her way to the safety of Pete's lap. He welcomes her with a pat to her hip and passes her the beer in his mouth with a deep kiss.
Her eyes dart around the room before settling on the pool table in front of them as Pete pulls her against his chest and begins fingering the tear at the knee of her fishnet stockings.
She focuses on Seth's break as Pete's hand slides under layers of skirt.
Determined to up his game in front of the men, Seth grins as he pockets three balls in a row. He shoots Rose a cocky glance as he swaggers around the table looking for the perfect shot.
Edward steps behind him as Seth takes aim and smirks at Mac and Pete as the kid folds under the pressure with the white ball bouncing off the felt. Defeated, Seth leans his stick and picks up his beer as Edward shoots two balls in one pocket. Mac reaches around Rose to pat the boy on the back. Seth gives him a grimace, but a wide grin spreads when Rose blows him a kiss.
Pete watches Edward lean in to take aim and runs his open mouth over Lottie's neck as she shudders. He offers her a swig of his beer, and with flushed cheeks, she takes a deep pull as the last ball yields to Edward's mastery.
As Edward saunters over to the table to reclaim his bottle, the door opens again, and a woman-child makes her debut. He drops his head knowing what's coming and takes a deep pull of his beer as the petite frame sways gracefully across the room to perch on the tall bar stool that overlooks two pool tables. Edwards wills her to look at him. His lips quirk as she juts her jaw and focuses her attention on the two groups of marks before her.
Edward takes a step toward Bella, but Rose catches his arm. "So it's true?"
He looks over at the love of his life twirling her hair around her finger as her slender legs swing and he nods. "Yeah, my baby's a shark."
Rose's eyes widen in disbelief as Mac moves behind her to get a better look at his buddy's girl at work.
The gang watches as Bella teases with a table of rough bikers and a table of young townies. She laughs at their antics to impress her as she sips the soda the local boys bought her. One of them offers to teach her how to play with the hopes of getting close and as she feigns uncertainty the older, bearded bikers protectively offer to have her play with them.
Edward, knowing the score, drops next to Mac and sips his beer as Bella's shot bounces off the felt. She giggles and shrugs and the bikers buy her another soda as a consolation prize. Bella spends the next half hour bouncing between the two tables as the men become more and more competitive in keeping her attention. Where the bikers are teasing and fun loving, the townies are flirting and suggestive. It amazes everyone who knows shy, sweet Bella as they watch her manipulate the two groups of men with subtle ease.
Mac nudges Edward as the local kids huddle near their table. They break their huddle and swagger to the bikers and throw down their challenge—winners pay out and keep the pretty little thing as a trophy.
"That's enough," Edward says as he stands.
Pete tightens his grip on his girl who agrees with Edward and reaches for his friend's arm. "Hey, trust her, man. She knows you're here; we're here. Let's see where this goes."
Edward catches Rose's eye, and with her lips pressed into a tight line, she nods.
Edward pulls out from Pete's grasp and leans against the wall with his pool cue in hand and ready.
With a chivalrous air of protecting the girl's honor, the bikers accept the challenge.
With a predatory air, the young townies boast of victors receiving the spoils.
And Edward's eyes rest longingly on the little lamb sitting sweetly between them.
"God damn," he whispers.
Bella cheers the bikers and is sweetly consolatory toward the hot-headed townies as the heated game progresses. When the bikers shut down the cocky kids, the clatter of thrown cue sticks accompanies curses. Edward, Mac, and Pete stand ready and watch the bikers move Bella to the safety of the bar as the others shout for a rematch.
Edward groans when Bella steps into the middle of the young men and runs her hand down the arm of the leader, offering consolation and a way to win back their money and pride—one game against her—winner takes all. The leader, Jimmy, smiles wickedly at the snarling bikers and shouts, "Rack 'em up, boys!"
The bikers try to talk her out of it, but she just giggles and asks one of them to chalk her cue for her as the townies fist bump.
Jimmy breaks and pockets two before missing. Bella gives him a sympathetic pat as she studies the table. Her first shot sends three balls into two corner pockets. With a wicked grin, she looks over her shoulder as the room freezes and then breaks out into cheers and curses.
Everyone in the house is around the table now, and Bella finishes Jimmy off with skill and ease before looking up to meet her Moondoggie's heated gaze.
As the men try to recover from what they'd just witnessed, Bella slips through the crowd to buy a round for both tables before tucking a twenty in her collar with a wink and a wave as she walks straight into Edward's arms. She buries her face in his chest breathing him in, and he holds her against him until her trembling subsides.
"Hot damn!" Mac barks out a laugh and lifts his bottle to the tables of men laughing as they grab longnecks off the passing trays.
"Holy hell, where the hell did you learn that?" Pete asks as their group walks back to their corner.
She gives a self-deprecating shrug. "You pick up life skills as you go," she says with a shy grin as everyone laughs.
"Sweets, you sure know how to make an entrance," Moondoggie says as he kisses her hair and wraps his arms tighter around her.
"You're not mad. The girls wanted to see what I could do with pool. I didn't mean to upset your time with the guys."
"Baby, I'm glad you're making friends, and your hustle is amazing. Just do me a favor and never do it without me there. It takes years off my life."
She smiles up at him, and he can't help but kiss her nose as Pete racks up a game against Mac. Edward perches on a stool with Bella between his legs. She rests her arms on his thighs as he kisses her hair.
A leathered, buxom waitress places a coke float, complete with a cherry on top, in front of Bella. Her eyes go round with delight, and the waitress says, "Compliments of Buck. He said it was the sweetest hustle he'd ever seen."
Bella looks for Buck who smiles under his thick beard and waves. She lifts her drink to her lips, but Moondoggie snatches it and makes a show of takinga deep tug from the bendy straw before lifting it in salute to Buck and handing it back to Sweets. She blushes as she takes a tentative sip and hums in rapture before she sends a bright smile to the friendly bikers across the room.
Seth plops down on the stool between Edward and the stunning Rose. Mac grins at Rose across the pool table as Seth fumbles to talk her up. After giving Mac a smoldering look of promise she flips her hair and turns the full force of her attention on the teenager causing him to shrink back a bit.
"So Seth, Pete says you're good under the hood. Is that true? How good are you? Would you like to take a look under my hood?"
She bites her lip as his Adam's apple bobs, and he squeaks, "What kinda car you got?"
Rose leans forward, and Seth reaches for his drink.
Bella's voice drifts over and invades their game of cat and mouse. "Moondoggie, you want my cherry?"
Seth chokes and shoots beer out his nose as Pete misses his shot and scrapes the felt.
Edward barks out a laugh, "Yeah baby, nobody but me." Pulling her closer against his chest, he sucks the maraschino cherry into his mouth before kissing her cheek. "Mmmm, sweet like you," he growls against her neck, feeling the victory of the tiny shiver that runs through her lovely, little frame.
As Seth runs for the bathroom, Lottie scoots onto his vacant seat. "God, Swan, you're such a Pollyanna."
"What?"
Lottie just shakes her head and grabs her hand. "Come play with Rose and me." With that statement, all activity within earshot comes to a screeching halt, and Rose gives a throaty laugh.
She blows a kiss to Mac as she follows Lottie and Bella to the next table. Mac and Pete forfeit the game and Edward joins them to enjoy the view of his girl laughing and teasing as she teaches the girls how to hustle at pool.
Seth, Buck and a few of the bikers join them and enjoy the show the girls put on. Rose is sex on legs, but around Bella's carefree presence, she forgets to work the room and steps out of her heels to just have fun. Lottie is more reticent as men crowd around the table but when Pete moves to her corner and offers her his blue jean jacket, she relaxes and focuses on Bella and the Barbie with an occasional trip to Pete for reassurance.
Edward watches his Sweets, and marvels at her brilliance, her strength, and inherent goodness and can't believe that she chose him. He is her Moondoggie. He blinks against the stinging of his eyes.
Seth's "Ohh, Gawd," brings Edward back to his senses in time to see Rose leaning over Lottie to show her the trick Bella has just taught her. When Lottie makes the shot, the room explodes with whistles and cheers causing Lottie to glare and retreat to Pete, and Rose to slip back into her shoes with a flip of her hair.
Bella claps for her friends and bounces over to Edward to give him a smacking kiss.
He rests his hands on her hips as she throws her arms around his neck and leans forward to receive another exuberant kiss. "You ready to head back, Sweets?"
Her face is alight with rosy cheeks and loose, flyaway hair. She's beautiful.
"She looks over the room and sighs, "Yeah, I'll see everyone at the bonfire tonight, right?"
"Yeah, baby, Nurse Ratched said Bob could come for a bit. I wouldn't miss it."
"Ellen isn't that bad. She's very helpful, and Bob needs her. Don't encourage Dunny," she hisses with a playful swat to his arm.
Dunny hates the stranger stomping around his house and bossing Bob around, but the hospice nurse is actually kind and nurturing. She just has an unfortunate resting, bitch face that echoes of a harsh Louise Fletcher.
Edward laughs as he dodges her hand. "She's a little freaky, the way she lurks in the corner."
"She is not," she huffs as she tows him toward the door.
He throws a wave over his shoulder to shouts from his buddies as she pulls him into the sunshine.
~o0o~
The bonfire is raging, and the music is pumping when Moondoggie and Sweets join the crowd. He had asked her to take a nap before the party, and she had asked him to lay with her—cuddle led to a rub, a rub led to a challenge accepted, and they fell into an exhausted sleep just as the party was cranking up.
"Edwaaard!"
They turn to find a very drunk Seth dancing with his friend, Brody's, girl.
"Boy, you're asking for trouble," Edward shouts, giving a nod to the eager teenage hands grasping rounded feminine hips.
"Seth just laughs and steers his dance partner deeper into the mix of swaying bodies.
Edward grabs a beer from an ice chest and looks to Sweets. She gives him an accepting nod. "A Coke for me, please."
"I'm only having two beers since Pops seems to be in the wind and it looks like I'll be the designated driver to go and pick up Alice and Jasper from the airport."
Sweets peeks around Moondoggie's broad shoulders to see the handsome Moondoggie senior with his head thrown back in laughter and an imported longneck in his hand.
She gives her Moondoggie a squeeze and a pat to his jean covered ass and dances away from his grasp and into the waiting arms of a mutinous Mac. She giggles as he twirls her and brings her into a hip bump. She throws her hands in the air as K.C. shouts for them to 'shake their booties."
Edward watches his Sweets laugh and twirl as he makes his way toward his pops.
Carlisle tips his bottle toward the dancers. "She's having a great time."
"Yeah, she trusts Mac."
Carlisle nods and laughs as Mac pushes a biker away from Bella's swaying figure.
"Is she going with us to the airport?" Carlisle asks with a swig from his bottle.
"Nah, she should get some sleep. Once Alice gets a hold of her she won't rest until we get to the other side of the wedding." Edward says and stiffens when Mac puts his hands on Bella's waist and sways with her from behind. The only thing keeping Edward in place is the inch of space he sees between their bodies.
"Not even after that, if today is any indication," Carlisle murmurs.
"Whatta ya mean, Pops?"
Carlisle raises his eyebrows in challenge.
Edward nods with a sly grin and takes a swig.
Carlisle claps a hand on his son's shoulder and brings his bottle to his lips.
Edward shrugs and grins. "Yeah, well, the poor girl isn't gonna get any sleep for a long time to come."
Carlisle and Edward watch Rose slide up behind Mac and wrap her arms around him as his body closes the distance on Bella.
Edward lowers his bottle as his vision reddens around the edges.
The three bodies sway in tandem and Mac begins to push back against Rose as his arms tighten around Bella.
"That's It!" Edward slams his bottle on the table behind him and charges into the writhing bodies, pushing aside anyone between him and his Sweets. The whistles and catcalls hitting his back hardly register as he reaches for Sweets.
Carlisle saunters over to Dunny and Bob and watches his son grab his girl out of his friend's arms and wrap himself around her. A lump forms in his throat. He knows that look on his son's face—home. Just like Esme, Bella is Edward's home.
The burly, bearded guys around Dunny and Bob whoop and cheer as Mac wraps around Rose once Edward takes Bella from him.
Carlisle slaps Dunny on the back and moves to find Esme for a dance.
~o0o~
"Mac will keep you company until you head to bed, Sweets," Edward says as he puts a burger cut in half on her plate.
She nods as she sucks on a strawberry and sways to the music.
"Lock the door when you get inside and make sure Mac walks you to the RV."
"Moondoggie, how did I survive before you came along?"
He drops his head with a sheepish grin, "I know, I'm an idiot, but you're my everything," he murmurs while he focuses on the strand of her silken hair he's wrapping around his forefinger.
"I love how you love me, Moondoggie. I'm not complaining," she says softly and lifts her lips to his in offering.
He claims them and growls as he angles her head to deepen the kiss. When he feels her smile against his kiss, he gives her one more peck and leans back. "I know—an idiot."
She giggles and slips her hand into his hand to follow him to the tables and chairs on the outer edge of the crowd.
"Mac, I'm trusting you with my Sweets," Edward says as he approaches the table of men. Two older men look up from their dominoes game and grin. Mac throws his arm behind Dunny's chair.
"You got it, brother. Sweetness and I'll dance the night away."
Edward starts to counter when he sees everyone, including Bella, laughing. "Yeah—fine—just keep her safe."
Mac leans forward and pulls Bella towards him. "Don't worry; I'm up to the task. Rose is sitting with Bob for a few hours, so Sweetness will keep me out of trouble."
Bella gives her Moondoggie a reassuring smile as she plops next to Mac and he throws his arm around her shoulders.
A disheveled Carlisle walks up and tosses the keys to him, "Let's go and get your sister, son."
Edward looks at the keys in his hands and Sweets leaning against Mac's shoulder.
"Go, Moondoggie, I'm tired. I won't be up for much longer, and Mac Man will see me home."
He leans down for a peck, and a nose nuzzle and walks away with Pops on his heels.
Mac watches his friend's retreat and hugs Bella up to his side. "He's crazy about you."
She melts into him and smiles at the wide shoulders moving away from her. "Yeah, he really does. Isn't that amazing?"
"It's wonderful to see, Sweetness—even better that you love him back."
"Easiest thing ever," she says as she stands. "I'm going to get a cookie and a Coke," she says as she looks between Dunny and Mac. "Can I get you anything?"
Dunny rocks forward, "Oatmeal—two, no—three—um—please."
She gives him a tender smile with a nod and looks to Mac.
"A beer, please."
She hesitates for a second before nodding.
"Thanks."
Mac stretches as Bella sways toward the service tables. "Dunny what we gonna do with this girl?"
Dunny smiles and ducks his head. "Love her."
"You too, huh?"
"Shut the hell up, but yeah," Dunny growls as Mac laughs and slaps his old friend's back.
"Me too, man. She's the real deal." Mac says as he watches her round the table and disappear.
"Yeah."
~o0o~
Bella finds the cookies and circles the tables of food to find the line of ice chests for Mac's beer. He likes Heinekens, and she finds them in the third chest. Victorious, she turns and unexpectedly bumps into a man.
"I'm sorry," she laughs and moves to step around him only to stop as he steps into her path. "Hey, I saw you with Mac. Are you his girl?"
She takes a good look at the guy blocking her path. He has rakish good looks and a sly grin that could mean trouble. He seems about Mac and Edward's age, but they have a good six inches on him. He's handsome, and she's pretty sure he knows it. He smooths back his thick, brown hair and waits for her response.
She takes a step back and shifts the food and drinks in her hands. "No, Mac's my friend, and you are?"
"I'm Garrett. I'm Mac's friend too, and you are?" He says as he holds out his hand with his most charming air.
She gives his hand a brief shake and withdraws it quickly to balance her load. "I'm Bella."
He grabs a beer from the nearest ice chest and turns to her. "Well if you have all you need, let's go say 'hi' to our friend, Mac."
Garrett offers his arm to the sweet, little thing. She smiles and begins walking beside him while leaving plenty of room between them.
He smirks to himself. Game on, baby girl.