Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to SM. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story.
A/N: Happy New Year! My #1 resolution is too get back to writing regularly, so*fingers crossed* my almost 2 year old starts going to bed at a more regular "toddler appropriate" time! Thanks so much for all the reviews from the previous chapter, your words really mean the world to me and I'm so sorry this chapter has taken me this long to get out. Life gets heavy sometimes and then the holidays struck, but things are starting to regulate again. Big thanks to my awesome beta, Wendy! You rock girlie and I'm lucky to have you!
If you're still waiting for a TMF update, I'm working on it again. The fluff was hard to write when my RL wasn't so fluffy, but I'm putting all of that behind me and diving in head first again. Hopefully I'll have the next Care Bear and Stalker chapter posted by the end of the month. Here's to a great 2014!
Chapter 3
Masen Makes A House Call
*Edward*
The moment our eyes met, Bella's smile doubled and her cheeks flushed, which instantly created a smug smirk across my own lips.
She was happy to see me.
This was good.
Very good.
"Oh! Hi! Edward, right?" The sound of her voice had caused my dick to swiftly shift in my pants. "Sorry, were we being too loud? We can't find our flashlights and half our stuff is still boxed up. Then, Alice fell trying to tie the one book-light we found to the top of our ceiling fan." Bella explained with a nervous laugh.
I was both tongue tied and absolutely lost in her stare.
When I didn't say anything in response, she slowly pulled her hair back behind her shoulders and shifted her weight in front of Jasper and I.
"I, um, we…,"
Yup, words had apparently decided to become my own worst enemy.
Pathetic, Cullen. What the hell?! You get paid for your smooth talking skills and now you've got nothing?!
"Ha, well lucky for you we actually came over to see if you needed anything. Here's a few spare flashlights, and a little something to help pass the time without any electricity tonight." Jasper spoke up, thankfully saving my ass.
I felt like an idiot, she'd just… her smile… followed by sudden shyness… for some reason it had taken me by total surprise and rendered me pathetically stupid.
"Oh! Awesome! Thank you so much! Hey Alice, some guys just showed up with flashlights and liquor. No duct tape or rope though, so I think it's safe to let them in." Bella shouted with a light chuckle following her words into the dark room behind her.
"No duct tape? Pft! Where's the fun in that?" Another voice swiftly yelled back. I could see the frame of a tall slender woman making her way towards us and instantly felt Jasper's elbow shoot upwards into my ribs.
"Jesus bro, you weren't kidding!" He whispered into my ear. "These two are going to be a lot of fun to have right next door!"
"You have no idea." I muttered back, all the while starring at Bella's gorgeous ass in her tiny little plaid boxer shorts after she'd turned to wait for her friend to join us at their front door.
Alice wasn't at all what I'd expected. She had an exotic presence about her. A dark tan and long straight black hair with what looked to be streaks of bright red highlights mixed in. I already knew her presence was driving Jasper mad. She was without a doubt, sexy as hell, but she had nothing on Bella.
By the look on Jaspers face, though, you would have thought he'd just laid his eyes upon the world's most exotic and intoxicating creature. He was officially on a mission to mount her memory onto his wall of completed 'Spread Thy Legs and Arch Thy Back' quests.
"And what shall we call the two of you? Bert and Ernie?" Alice questioned as her eyes carefully scanned my best friend and I from top to bottom then side to side.
These girls like their Sesame Street references. I couldn't help but laugh to myself remembering the first conversation I had with Bella over the phone just a few hours ago, when we discussed our ABC's riddled with sexual innuendos.
"I'm Edward. This is my buddy, Jasper."
"Oh! So, you're the guy who lives next door?" Alice asked giving me the once over. She turned to smile at Bella and nodded her head, "You're right, Bella. He is super cute."
"Shut it, Ali."
I laughed at Bella's obvious embarrassment and playfully bowed my head in front of her friend, "Guilty, as charged, I suppose." When I lifted my chin to glance back up at them, Bella was grinning in my direction but her smile didn't last long. The moment our eyes locked she jerked her head to focus her attention onto Jasper. I could almost see her cheeks turning a light shade of red shadowed under the moonlight that was shining down upon us from where we were still standing outside of their doorway.
"Yeah. Bella told me about you, Edward. Not you though. Do you live next door, too?" Alice asked my best friend.
"Nope. I live about fifteen minutes away, close to the beach."
"Nice. You and I may have to have a sleepover one night." Alice cooed suggestively, before reaching out to run her index finger down Jaspers chest. He laughed at her obvious interest and she responded by tugging at the center of his shirt to bring him inside their apartment. I found myself rolling my eyes and shaking my head when he declared that his car was ready and waiting right down stairs. Bella, thankfully, looked equally embarrassed by her own friend, so I wasn't feeling totally alone during our shared awkward moment.
"Yeah. So that's Alice," she snickered, once they were a few feet away from us. I smiled down into her eyes, and she responded by swinging her arm back, signaling for me to join them inside.
"She seems, fun."
"Yes, that tends to be the popular opinion amongst most of our friends." Bella shared with a crooked grin. "She's mine though, so I love her."
When I saw her stumble over a box in the middle of the walkway, I immediately reached out to catch her in my arms, successfully preventing her from falling into a half-filled bookcase positioned against the wall.
"Careful, there." I warned, right beside her ear, my teeth close enough to bite her smooth skin. I somehow behaved myself and instead took in a deep breath while letting the scent of her sweet perfume take over my senses. "Those boxes can be crazy fast. They'll jump right out in front of you, when you least expect it."
Her body stiffened against mine and she let out a nervous laugh before taking an abrupt step out of my arms.
"Sorry. It's so dark in here. I'm still learning my way around."
"That's okay, Bella. Things are always more fun in the dark." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Thankfully she didn't run.
She instead laughed with a nervous flip of her hair and then linked her arm through mine to guide me into the kitchen, while continuing to completely avoid my stare.
"Okay, well, we don't have much for mixers but I've got a bottle of diet coke?"
I studied her every move as she reached up on her tip-toes to take four plastic SOLO cups down from the opened cabinet, where she stood pressing her belly into the counter top. I felt my dick twitch over the sight of her tiny shorts rising up just above the crease where her tight little ass met her flawless legs. When she spun around before I could redirect my line of vision, I smirked knowing I'd been caught appreciating the view. She rolled her eyes with a hidden grin, obviously begging to be released across her perfect lips, as she handed me a cup from her hand. When our fingers touched, I swear to God, a bolt of electricity rocketed up my arm and down my body.
She flinched, apparently having also felt the zap our connection had created, and took a step back, "Sorry. I tend to be doing that a lot lately. It's the carpet I think." She explained with a sudden frown. I smiled and nodded my head, before glancing back out into the living room to find Jasper and Alice talking closely in front of the opened sliding glass door that led out to the balcony.
"You should feel lucky to have carpet here in SoFlo… it's a rarity around these parts." I impulsively teased, hoping it would help her relax a little.
My best friend was without a doubt on a mission. I'd seen him at work before, but there was something slightly different this time. I watched him lean in and touch Alice's arm as he whispered something into her ear and then stifled a laugh over the scene as it continued to play out a few feet away from where Bella and I stood. When her best friend giggled over my best friends words and leaned her body back into him with absolute purpose, we both new our BFF's would most definitely be getting laid tonight.
Lucky little shits.
"Pst… I think your friend likes my friend." Bella whispered softly, after bumping my arm with the soda bottle she had been holding in her hand.
I smiled and shook my head pretending to disagree with her, "Nah. He's just making sure your first weekend in Miami is memorable for all the right reasons, and not all the wrong ones; like the fact that it's Hurricane Season and you've moved in at the height of it," I toyed.
She laughed, avoiding my eyes again, and then shifted her weight nervously beside me, "Oh, my weekend has already been fairly memorable."
I couldn't help myself; I had to bite this time. Figuratively.
"Really? Memorable, already? And why's that?"
Bella spun away from me to grab up the liquor bottle on the other side of the kitchen and let out another quiet laugh, "It's a girls God given right to have a few secrets, Mr. Cullen. Changing the subject... I thought the worst of the storm was supposed to have come thru last night?"
"Fair enough. To answer your subject changing question, it did come thru last night. Strong and hard, as a matter of fact."
It was just too easy… I had to go there, but I'd successfully kept a straight face with every word, even when her eyes had looked up at me in panic. "These are just the remaining feeder bans. All it takes is one good gust and a single tree branch on a transformer and then we're all screwed. We lose power in this building with a simple thunder storm sometimes." I casually explained, as I poured some soda into the cups she'd setup in front of me at the counter.
"Super. Too bad you weren't around to give me a heads up when I scouted this place and signed the year lease."
"Psh… don't feel too bad. After seeing you and learning you might become my neighbor, I would have kept that as my own secret until you signed your name on that year lease." I easily teased some more, and then smiled down at her again. She smirked to herself and shook her head, obviously understanding what I was implying, before flipping her hair back behind her shoulders.
"Make mine a triple shot would you, B?" Alice requested from across the room.
My body instantly froze at the sound of Bella's alias.
The very name I'd moaned while vigorously rubbing my cock just last night.
The very name I'd ordered to come for me, less than twenty four hours ago.
Even Bella seemed to freeze the moment that single letter made its way from her best friend's lips to her ears.
Her friend noticed her reaction right away, "Oh sorry. Are you still tender from last night, honey?" Alice devilishly questioned, once she and Jasper had joined us at the other side of the counter. "I have to remember that name is reserved for someone special now."
I literally almost spat my drink from my mouth.
"Shut your face, A… as in ASS-hole." Bell instantly growled, and then pushed her friends drink towards her, sending some of its liquid onto the surface of the marble countertop.
"Okay, okay. I'll behave, honey. So, Edward, what do you do?" Alice asked, turning her attention towards me and catching me completely off guard. Jasper snorted and leaned back in his bar stool while he waited for me to answer.
My mind was spinning and coming up absolutely blank with a good and decent lie. I glanced back at my best friend again, but he offered me zero assistance.
"I, um… I just started a job at a call center." I choked out, and then purposely took another long sip from my drink to help buy me some more time.
"Like tech support?" Bella questioned, seeming slightly bored by my fake employment.
Ohhhhhhhh, if you only knew the kind of support I gave out, B.
"Something like that." I smugly answered, unable to hide my grin this time.
"Yeah, he does lots of supporting. He's found his true calling, at that damn call center… lucky fuck." Jasper muttered the last two words and then quickly took his own cup to his lips to hide his Joker like smile.
"I go to UM. I'm an English major. Minoring in Journalism. One more semester till I graduate actually." I further shared, this time selling a bit of truth and also impressing Bella a little more.
"Oh cool, a real live college scholar. I wasn't sure if your kind really existed out here." Alice snickered, and then bumped Jaspers shoulder to question him on his own back ground.
While he gave his history lesson, I got busy thinking about how Bella, B, had mentioned that she'd seen our ad after picking up a New Times on campus, so I was a little confused about Alice's remark. I'd figured that meant Bella was a student as well… since she had supposedly been on campus for some reason.
"So you two didn't move down here to go to school?" I asked, after my friend finished up with his Intro to Jasper.
"No, I just graduated from Duke with a degree in Marine Biology, and then landed a job down here at the Miami Seaquarium. Bella decided she couldn't live without me, so she packed two bags and jumped into the moving truck with me the day I set out to leave our hometown behind. Left her boyfriend and everything, all for little old me." Alice shared casting her friend a playful wink.
"You can't be trusted on your own Alice, you know that." Bella snickered before gulping down the last of the caramel colored liquid from her cup. She seemed a little tense now that Alice had brought up the so-called boyfriend; whom I already knew was a dismal performer in the bedroom when it came to getting her off.
"Boyfriend, huh?" Jasper questioned, before shooting me a thumbs down with his hand positioned behind his back so that only I would see it.
"Yup, Jake. We've been together since the tenth grade. Alice failed to mention that he transferred to USF in Orlando to get his Master's degree," Bella replied with a roll of her eyes, "because of that, it made absolute sense for me to move to Florida with her."
"You didn't have to move to Miami though. Orlando is just as fun and that's where your man is. You chose me over him for a reason, and you will let me revel in that fact for however long I may choose to do so, Bella Swan!" Alice teased, and then blew Bella a kiss from the palm of her opened hand.
"He's living in a dorm, Ali. There was no way I could afford to get a place on my own there. I had no choice. It was either stay back in Hicksville all by myself, or follow you down here, and pray you stay out of trouble when I visit Jake on the weekends."
"A dorm?! What is he doing, having a premature midlife crisis?" Jasper questioned with a laugh, obviously making fun of Bella's boyfriends living situation.
"No! He didn't get to experience a real college life when he got his bachelor's degree back home. It's just for the first year. Why am I even explaining this to you? Leave him alone. You don't even know him. Jesus." Bella snapped, obviously feeling agitated for having to stand up for her so called 'man'.
"Don't mind her. Her panties are still in a bunch over the fact that Jake made his decision to transfer out of state without even taking a second to discuss it with her first." Alice explained with exaggerated sadness in her tone.
"Okay well. Thanks for the booze, guys, and the flashlights. I'm going to go drown my supposed heartbroken sorrows in my room while I finish unpacking my things. I'll see you around, Edward. It was nice to meet you, Jasper. Alice… goodnight."
I felt like the rug had just been pulled out from underneath me. We were having a good time. Even casually flirting, and in the blink of an eye, she'd totally shut down and was now running away.
"Oh, B! Come on! I was only teasing you! You know I love Jake!" Alice insisted, but it was too late. Bella was already walking away to head towards her bedroom on the other side of the apartment. "Sorry. She's still sensitive about it. The guy is a total prick. Truthfully, I can hardly stand him, but for some reason she refuses to see what the rest of us see, and still believes he walks on water."
"Sounds like a total dick." Jasper commented while he leaned over to refill our cups with another shot of alcohol.
"You have no idea. He treats her like garbage, but she'll never cut the cord. Anyways, no reason to pause our own fun. She'll get over it because she knows I'm right. I know that's why she came out here with me, instead of following him. Eventually she'll wise up and start admitting it out loud."
I glanced at my watch and let out a huff, "Is it really almost ten?! I better get going before I'm late to my second night of work."
"You go to work at ten 'o'clock at night?" Alice questioned, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Um, yeah. Tech support happens to be needed the most during the late night hours." Jasper instantly mocked, then shot me a wink.
"It was nice to meet you, Alice. If you guys ever need anything don't hesitate to knock. Jasper, behave." I gave them each one last wave and slapped my buddy on his shoulder with my hand, and then mouthed the words that I'd text him.
Quickly I made my way back down the hallway towards the front door, so I could grab my phone from my own apartment and head downtown for my second night of jerking off to strangers; while my mind thought about the one girl who had run off to her bedroom, without even looking me in the eyes to say goodbye.
When I got to the 'office', Emmett was already there waiting for me in the lounge room. "Welcome back, Mase! Aro was impressed with your numbers this morning. You really made him smile like a mother fucker, good job bro."
I glanced over at my coworker where he was sitting on the sofa with his feet kicked up onto the coffee table, and offered him a nod from my head. "All in a nights work."
"Well, he's offered you up a challenge."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" I questioned after flopping my body down beside him.
"If you can get a call to go over thirty minutes he'll double your commission for the night. I've got another twenty bucks on this one. Let's see if you cost me again."
"Thirty minutes? Pft, I can do that easy." I replied, my mind still a few miles away back at my new neighbors apartment where I'd left my best friend with two of the most surreal women we'd ever met.
"Well, get in your office and get to work, Cullen! It's not going to happen on the first call." Emmett challenged, "You're good, but not that good."
I laughed at his statement and then took in a deep breath before standing up again.
"Jesus, I hope you didn't drive over here, dude. You reek of fancy liquor. Not that we frown upon indulging a little before a shift, just make sure you don't stray far from a scripted character. 'I was drunk', won't get you out of trouble if you go setting up a meeting off site in person. Same rules always apply." He warned with a straight face and his finger extended in my direction.
"I can handle my liquor, thanks, and I'll still play by the rules. You have my word. See you on break."
"Have fun, Mase!"
I waved my hand behind me and made my way down the hall towards my room. On my way there, I passed two doors that were closed with their lights on indicating whoever was inside, they were on a call. I instantly found myself wondering what my other co-workers would look like. They were chicks that much I knew. Last night, they'd opted out during our allotted beak time, to keep taking calls, so I hadn't gotten the chance to meet them.
A part of me was definitely curious though.
After getting into my own 'office', I took my seat and signed on to my account to enter the chat room on the site. The usual blinkie's and dirty pics greeted me, peeking my dicks interest before I'd even gotten a chance to get comfortable in my leather chair. I considered sending Jasper a quick text to see how things were playing out, but I thought it would be better to leave it alone and try to get into character instead.
I needed to get my head in the game. So, I reached over to grab one of the more recent Hustlers from the shelf, sat back slightly spreading my legs before me, while I scanned its glossy pages and the women who blessed them with their phenomenal tits, and well-trimmed va-jay's.
I was surprised when my computer pinged before I'd even offered up a hello in the chat room.
I was even more surprised when I noticed the light of an incoming call appear on my screen.
After taking in a deep breath and repositioning my cock inside of my pants, I clicked on the button that would connect me with my first client of the night. I leaned back in my seat and ran my hand nervously through my hair.
"Hi there, what's your name beautiful?" I asked throwing my voice towards the mic on my computer.
A familiar nervous giggle projected itself from the speakers in front of me and I felt the hair on the back of my neck instantaneously stand up.
"Um. Hi, Masen. It's me… B, and thanks to my new neighbor, I'm horny as hell."
A/N: Yup I'm going to leave you there, and hope you'll come back for more.
My girl Stella made an awesome banner for this story. You can find it on my profile towards the bottom. ;)
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