EPOV
"Edward, I don't want to be here. Let's go home."
"No."
"I'll let you do whatever you want to me if I don't have to set foot inside that house."
"As tempting as your offer sounds, we're going in. She offered to help and we don't know shit about weddings." I take the keys out of the ignition and pocket them so Jasper can't drive off when I get out of the car.
"Last offer," he says while I stand at the open car door staring at him with a smirk. He wants to be difficult today. I can understand his apprehension about his mom, but I don't want him to waste his life hating her. I want Jasper to free himself. I want him to be happy. I don't want him to think of his childhood home as enemy territory.
"What's the offer?"
"I'll give a blowjob, right here, right now, if I don't have to go in."
I pretend to think about it for a second. "I I'll let you fuck me into oblivion if you get out of the car, go inside the house, listen to what your mother has to say and then we're heading back home so you can have your dirty way with me."
Jasper looks like he's about to spring on me. "You're driving me crazy, Edward. You expect me to sit and listen to my mother while I'm thinking about fucking?"
I gave him a devilish smirk. "Yes. Let's go!"
He pouts in the cutest way, sighs and gets out of the car, stomping off to the front door. I'm behind him, trying not to laugh. "I love you, baby!" I shout and he gives me the middle finger from behind, making me lose the battle. I break out in laughter. I catch him up at the front door and decide to make him smile. "You love me too, right?" I try to sound whiny because it makes him smile. He loves to know that I need him.
"I do," he grumbles, playing stubborn. "But you're not my favorite person right now." He refuses to look at me and I start to laugh again, even if I understand.
Jasper is lucky to have a woman like Heidi in his life. I didn't see it at first, but now I do. She's a mother and she's not afraid to climb down from her pedestal, well, after being thrown off, and realize her mistake. Jasper is a wonderful man and Heidi now realizes that she has a great son and should be thankful for such a gift. No one stole him from her. He never lied about himself until after she made him do it. She told me how stupid she feels for all the years of making Jasper live a life he didn't deserve and it's going to be hard to get him to see how sorry she is.
I agree. My fiancé is like his mother in that sense. Both of them are incredibly stubborn. However, he and his mom need to mend their relationship. They have to fix it. I'll never be able to make him understand how jealous I am of his opportunity, so I'm doing everything in my power make him not waste it.
I'll never get his chance. I'll never have parents who love me and still want me after everything. Edward and Elizabeth will never apologize for the shit they put me through for the sake of my inherited fortune. They'll never relinquish their high horse for humility. I'll never hold my breath for that impossibility. I know I have Esme and Carlisle, but the apology isn't supposed to come from them. It's supposed to come from the parents I grew up with.
I should just be happy with where my life is. I have Jasper, Tanya, Jake, Emmett, and I'm a son whose real mom loves him. I'm a stepson whose stepdad loves him. I'm a big brother, whose little sister wants to know him. I should be happy with that. I have a lot.
"Hey, where are you?" I feel her hand on my shoulder and I realize she and Jasper are staring at me with concern.
I plaster a smile on my face. "A million miles away, Heidi. A million miles away."
Heidi smiles, as she rarely does, and nods. She steps back and lets us into the house. It's a beautiful home. Luxuriously designed and compliments the Whitlock wealth nicely. Heidi is a rich woman and her home shows it.
"Are you sure you're okay, Edward?" she says as she waywardly eyes Jasper, who hasn't spoken to her since we crossed over the threshold and step into the foyer.
"I'm fine." I smile. "I would be better if Jasper says 'hello' though."
He narrow his eyes at me and then cuts them to his mother. "Hello, Mother."
"Mom."
He sighs and grumbles about not wanting to be here and rolls his eyes at my correction. "Mom."
I smile widely. "Good! Let's get brunch started and hope we don't kill each other by the end of it."
Heidi bursts out into laughter, shocking Jasper. She links her arm in mine and walks us ahead of Jasper out to the back patio, which is also luxurious designed. "Heidi, do you downplay anything?" I ask, looking around.
She looks at me like I'm weird. "Why should I? I'm rich and I like it."
Her son scoffs and rolls his eyes. Heidi suddenly looks uncomfortable. "Hey," I say, looking between them. "I'll have none of that. We're here to talk about my wedding and the fact that I'll be a handsome devil on that day."
"So what will I be doing?" Jasper asks accusingly.
"You'll be standing at the altar ready to say nice things to me that make me feel wonderful about myself." I'm dead serious, but Heidi isn't winning her struggle to hold back her laughter. She's smiling so broadly, you'd think the woman hasn't smiled in years.
"Is this what being married to you will be like?"
"I'll throw in a few things," I tell him.
"Like what?"
"We'll have sex on anniversaries."
Heidi loses her battle and Jasper looks taken aback. I fill him in. "I've been helping your mom get use to sex jokes. Say 'thank you'."
"You're crazy, but thank you, baby," He says with a kiss to my cheek. His hand is on my knee and slowly moving up my thigh as his lips make their way to my mouth where he kisses me sweetly yet soundly on the lips.
Heidi's laughter stop and I pull away. I know what Jasper is doing and I won't do it. "Stop it."
"What?" he looks innocent enough but I know what he's doing. He's making her feel uncomfortable. Punishing her.
Heidi waves a hand over the food before I can say anything to Jasper. "We should eat," her voice cracks.
I mouth to Jasper to apologize to her and he cocks an eyebrow at me and then ignore me. So I do it for him. "We're sorry."
Heidi shakes her head. "It's alright. I know what my son is doing, and frankly, I deserve it."
Jasper looks stunned to hear her say it. It isn't my first time. She and I have talked. We wouldn't be able to be comfortable with each other, as we are, if we didn't. Heidi isn't alright with everything yet. She's learning to accept Jasper as a gay man and the concept of him wanting men. What she truly and totally understands and has admitted to me that she loved, is how much Jasper loves me and I love him. Love is what she understands the most.
I dig into my food, wondering if I should withhold sex when we get home. Heidi speaks again, "I know what I did. I'm sorry and I know I'll have to spend a lot of time proving myself to you, Jasper."
"Do you know what I remember?" he interjects. "I remember coming to you and Dad and being honest. I remember telling you I'm gay and then what did you do?"
"Jasper, I wasn't thinking," Heidi admits. "I was foolish."
"What did you do?" he asks. His anger is rising.
Heidi resigns and looks ashamed to say what she's about to utter. "I slapped you in the face."
Jasper slaps his hand down on the table, making it shake beneath his blow. "That's right! And now you want in! You want me to forgive you? You want to pretend you like Edward because what? He's rich? What is it, Mother? What's up your sleeve?"
"Hey, don't insult my intelligence," I interrupt him. "She can't use me to do shit! She wants to know you. She wants a relationship with you. She wants to give you what I would love to get from my father and aunt! I'll never have this so if you don't want to be here, then go. I was just trying to give you something I'll never have. Leave! I'll find my way home." I push my chair back and get up. I look at Heidi. "We'll talk again about this. I don't know what he wants…" I nod toward my silent, stunned fiancé. "But I want something small and intimate. I don't want a fucking showcase. I'm no one's propaganda! Do what's best for us. That's your apology to me."
Heidi nods and gets up. She wipes a tear away and fakes a smile. "Thank you, Edward. We'll talk soon."
"Yeah." I stomp away from my stubborn man. He's calling after me but I don't turn around. I make my way outside to the car.
He runs up to me. "Baby, I'm sorry, but she's using…" I throw him his keys.
"I'm going to Tanya's."
His face drops. I know what we'd talk about before we went into his family home and he acted the way he did. The sex. That'd flown out the window now. I don't want to touch him right now.
Jasper doesn't say anything. He unlocks the car and we get in. We drive back into the city in silence, minus, the music coming from the radio, which I switched to rap a while back when he tried to talk to me. We pull up at Tanya's. It's best to call it that now. I'm living with Jasper. I just don't feel like being in the same space with him at the moment. I get out and slam the door. I walk off and I hear the other door close. He's following me in. We ride the elevator in silence. It dings on the floor I want and I get out. We walk to Tanya's door, with Jasper two steps behind me.
"I'm sorry," he says as I knock. I don't answer. "I'm really sorry. She gets me angry. I didn't know you felt so strongly about me making up with her."
I turn to him. "I don't expect it to be easy!" The door opens and Tanya is standing there, stunned silent by my anger. She knows how bad it can get. "I don't even expect to like her. But Jasper, she's your mother. Despite how dumb she acted, she loves you and thought in some twisted way, the bullshit was for the best. It's not. It wasn't. I showed her that. She's capable of change. Yeah, we had to fucking knock her ass off her fucking pedestal first but the shit happened! And now, you want to be this…child! You want to huff and puff and blow her down. Take the fucking upper hand, and show her how wrong she was…with words! Not fucking tonguing me down in front of her!" Tanya jumps out of my way and I stomp into the place. Jake is there.
"What happened?" he asks, looking between us, from his place on the couch.
"Go ask your best friend," I sneer at him and storm off to Tanya's room.
I walk in and kick off my shoes. I take off my glasses and throw myself down on her bed and close my eyes. "Wedding planning not going well?"
"Fuck off."
She laughs. "Heidi got what she deserved."
I open my eyes, hating the fuzziness sometimes, and sit up. "I was wrong to come here."
Tanya pushes me back down. "I'm not finished. She got what she deserved, but now, Jasper sees the truth. He was saying that when I walked off. So you will never the same opportunity with your parents huh?"
"I'll never have the Masens tell me how sorry they were for treating me the way they did," I tell her. "I guess, I'm jealous, but I also don't want him to waste his chance of getting his apology from Heidi."
"You're right," Tanya sighs. "He shouldn't."
"Why are you agreeing with me?" I ask. Tanya doesn't sound like Tanya. She isn't cussing. "Why are you so calm?"
"I guess that idiot attacking me put some things into prospective for me," she says. "He could've killed me, E. And for what? Look at all I would have left behind unfinished? Jasper should forgive her. I'm not saying today. But someday."
"I'm sorry about what happened," I say solemnly, pulling her down into my arms. "Here I am, thinking about me. I should've done more. I should've killed the bastard!"
"No," she says determinedly, squatting me on the chest. "I don't want you hurting anyone. I'm okay. Jake's helping. It's nice to have his ass around."
"So you can fuck him any time you want?" I smirk at her, and she laughs, pinching me.
"His cock does come in handy."
We fall out, laughing. We talk some more about how scared she was even though she was fighting Sam off. We talked about the Masens and how sorry we both were I didn't know Esme all along. We decided this fucked up road we both took in life was for the best. It brought us together.
We fell asleep in each other's arms.
I wake up to see that it's night through Tanya's windows. She's curled up in my arms. I smile and kiss her forehead and then extract myself from her hold. She mumbles and turns over. I put on my glasses and my shoes. I walk out of the room, gently closing the door behind me. I expect Jake in the living room, but not Jasper. He looks up at me and Jake gives me a small smile. Jasper looks tired but expectant. "I'm sorry for the way I acted," I tell him.
He shakes his head 'no'. "I'm the one who's sorry. You have to give me some time though. I can't readily believe her. I still think she's pretending."
I nod. "I know, love. I didn't expect you to. I was just so angry. I'm sorry I took it out on you like that."
He gets up and walks over to me. He pulls me into a hug and I melt into his arms. He'll always do this to me. He'll always be my home.
Tanya wakes up a little while afterwards. She comes into the living room, wiping sleep from her eyes while chastising me for leaving her all hot and bothered in the bedroom. Jake almost believed that we were fooling around in the bedroom. Jasper laughs it off and she starts to flirt with him, making me glare at her, and Jake pout.
"We should order some takeout," I announce and Jake jumps up, offering to do it.
"I know a place!" He runs off to the kitchen with the phone at his ear before I can say anything else. When Tanya stops bothering Jasper and heads for the kitchen, I ask Jasper what's wrong with his friend.
"What's wrong with Jake?"
"He wants to marry Tanya." Jasper springs it on me so suddenly. I also bite my tongue.
"What?"
"Yeah," Jasper says with a smile. "He's in love with her. He says he doesn't want anyone else."
"You're kidding me?" I think it's a joke, but my fiancé is serious.
He shakes his head. "No, I'm not. He doesn't know how to ask her though. Baby, Jake isn't used to this. He wasn't a relationship kind of guy. It's all confusing him, but he knows he wants Tanya in his life. It's the most definite thing he knows."
"I can't believe this," I chuckle and then joke. "What's with you two and hookers?"
Jasper frowns. "Quit fucking around. I don't like it when you call yourself that."
I wink at him. I'll never be able to stay mad at him, will I? "Don't say shit like that, love." I warn him. "I'm still mad at you and I have a good mind to fuck you into floor when we get home."
Jasper visibly shakes, in a good way, when I say that. He bites his lip and my cock jumps. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." I'm not kidding though. I know he's willing to try and bottom for me, and I know I'll make it good for him. "I bet your tight ass will feel damn good around my cock too." A small look of nervousness passes over his face and I qualm it. "Don't worry. I'd make it good, baby."
He smiles.
Dinner comes from a great Italian restaurant and Jakes is nervous throughout it. Tanya asks him numerous times what's wrong and he mumbles some crap. Jasper eyes me knowingly and I eye him back suspiciously. Is Jake going to do it now? Is he going to propose to Tanya now? Tanya makes us raise our glasses in a toast to life with her after dinner, and just as we all clink our wine glass, Jake blurts out, "Tanya, will you marry me?!" It's loud and shocking and my best friend is frozen in her seat with her wine glass stuck midair. Her mouth is open and she closes it slowly, swallowing hard. She takes a deep breath and puts her glass down.
Jake continues to blurt out things. "I'm in love with you, Tanya. I can't stop thinking about you. One of my female associates came on to me the other day in the office, and before you, I would've had that ass on my desk and fucking the shit out of her!" He shouts that part and I jump and laugh. Jasper pinches my leg under the table. Tanya is staring at him with a mixture of emotions playing across her face. Jake goes on in her silence. "I can't get an erection if I don't think about you. I look at other women and I don't even think about fucking them, I think how great you look or a blouse some other chick has on would look on you. I know you didn't have the greatest childhood. I know you don't trust men outside of Edward. I know marrying you will bring you closer to Sam, but I won't let him touch ever again. I love you so much. I'm falling for you. I'm in love with you and..."
"Shut up!" Tanya yells. Oh shit, is she going to say no? She takes a minute. She closes her eyes and re-opens them. She takes slow breaths. She puts her head down on the table and she picks it back up and then she repeats the process.
"Uh, Tanya?" I say.
She looks up at me and they're tears in her eyes. "Is he for real?"
"Yeah, T," I smile at her. "He's for real."
"I can't. I don't know." She's crying. "I don't know how to be a wife. I can't be anything but me."
I nod at Jake to answer that one. "I don't want anything else but you," he tells her.
Jake pulls a small black box from his pocket and gets down on one knee. I'm so happy for Tanya, I'm squeezing Jasper's hand when Jake says, "I've fallen in love with the most amazing woman. I can't see myself with anyone but you, Tanya. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
She nods fervently and smiles like maniac. "I will! Yes, I'll marry you!"
Jasper and I are smiling on the ride home. We talk about Tanya and Jake getting married from the car and into the loft. I'm so happy for them. Tanya has been my world. She saved me when there was no one else there. I'll always have her back just as she'll forever have mine. It's an honor to know that I can trust her to a guy like Jake. He'll do anything to protect her.
"I'm so happy," I sigh, walking over to the couch and taking a seat. Jasper is quiet. He looks far away and nervous about something.
"I'm very happy for them too," he says, his voice cracking a bit.
Oh I know what this is about. "But you'd rather be doing something else?" I cock an eyebrow at him, getting up from the couch and going over to him. I kiss his mouth and he opens it to me. It's soft and spine tingling but filled with trepidation. I move away.
"Did you mean it?"
What's going on? "Mean what, baby?" I ask.
Jasper swallows hard. "That you'd take care of me? That it wouldn't hurt more than it should. I've…I tried it, but it didn't feel…good." Oh! That's what this is about. He wants me to make love to him but he's scared.
I kiss his neck. Soft pecks along his collarbone. I run my hands down his body. I pull him into me. I bite down, gently, on his earlobe before whispering while I grind my body into his. "It'll only hurt for a second, baby. I'll make you feel good. I'll make the pain go away. I'll show how go it can be, love. I'll work my cock into you and make you feel how it is to be loved by me."
He moans and his head falls back. His eyes are closed and I start to unbutton his shirt. I back him up and he lets me lead his body to the wall behind us, on the way to our bedroom. "Oh, Edward." He's mine and I'll do everything to make him want this. I slowly undress him and myself. I kiss my way down his body. I cover him with soft, meaningful kisses while telling him to guide me with his words and when he asks I take him into my mouth, I oblige. He's hard and smooth on my tongue, his precum hits my tongue and I moan. I love having doing this for him. His moans grow higher and I let go and stand.
"Why did you stop?"
"Come on." I lead him to our bedroom, and leave him standing at the foot of the bed. I grab lube and condoms, making my way back to him. I throw them on the bed and kiss my way back down to his cock, taking the hardened dick into my mouth. I suck him hard and then lick slowly, and then suck hard again. It's maddening and he tells me so. I pick up the lube, knowing he's distracted by my mouth. I'm good at this. I've dealt with guys on a nervous edge before. They wanted to see what it felt like to be fucked. I don't think about them or Seth, and the fact that I used to do this for him. I think about Jasper and how good I'm going to make this for him. I pour lube on my fingers and work my way to his ass. He tenses when I touch him there and I relax my throat and take him down it.
"Uh! Fuck!"
I inwardly smile and work my way into his ass. I gently massage him until he stops tensing. I suck harder when I feel his cock swell and he shouts his release. I suck and lick him clean and then I pull away. I remove my fingers and guide him to lie down. He's a ball of nerves.
"You have to relax, baby," I urge him, while preparing myself. "I don't want to hurt you."
He nods shakily and lies down on his back. He closes his eyes and I roll on the condom and lube it, moving over him. I raise his legs and crawl between them. I lift the right one and place it over my hip. I kiss his neck and he turns and kisses my lips, moaning at the taste of himself on them. "I love you," I tell him, guiding myself into him. His eyes snap open and he trembles.
"Trust me, baby. Trust me," I plead with him, both in words and with my eyes.
He nods. "I…love you too," he says with a tremble. "You're not small…" He chuckles nervously and I push the rest of me inside of him and he gasps and slams his body up into mine. "Fuck!"
"Relax, baby." I'm fighting the urge not to pull out and slam back in. He's so tight. It's sweet torture. I want to fuck him so bad.
He's breathing heavily. He closes his eyes and opens them to me. He nods and I start to move. It's a slow, sweet death. It's everything I wondered about and could become addicted to. I try to go slow, but before long, he's bucking hips into mine and I'm ramming my cock into his tight hole. We're moaning loudly and giving each other every bit of ourselves. My orgasm has been coming on for, I don't give a shit, how long and I've been starving it off. I didn't want to stop. I want to fuck him until morning comes.
"Baby! Uh! You feel so good!" Jasper shouts, clawing at my back. Pulling me into him.
I slow my thrust to starve off my orgasm. I grind my body into his. Working my hips into a circular motion, knowing how deep my cock can go when I do it.
"Uh!" He arches and moans. "I can't…"
"Then cum for me, baby." I whisper to him. "Let me feel your tightness milking my dick."
I stop starving it off and start fucking him again. I want to come with him. We kiss and grunt into each other's mouth until I feel him tightening around me. He shouts and I still. I empty myself into him and the condom, and he cums on our stomachs. I kiss every part of him I can reach, including the head of his dick. I gently leave his body and get up, heading for the bathroom.
When I return, he's on his side and his body is shivering. I run to him though I'm slightly dizzying from being post coital. "What's wrong?" I ask when I see his tears.
He smiles through them. "Nothing."
"Are you sure?" I worry if I'd hurt him and he's hiding it. "You can tell me if I hurt you, love."
"You didn't," he laughs shakily. "I'm just overwhelmed I guess."
I kiss him and clean us up before climbing into bed with him and after a few small, loving kisses, we fall asleep.
The morning light streams in, and I wake up to Jasper on top of me. He wants to try again and I take him. I give in to the pleasure of fucking him while he rides me and I smile at the look of absolute wanton freedom on his face as he cums.
We take separate showers at the fear we'd never leave the loft if we continue like this. Jasper complains in the car about feeling a little sore. He keeps moving around in his seat. I smile and smugly tell him he's the one who climbed on my dick this morning. I was more than happy to wait on him to adjust to the feeling of bottoming for me before screwing again. He pouts and says, he did it because he liked it and had wanted to feel me inside him again. I tell him later. Yeah, I can get addicted to his ass.
We kiss goodbye and go our separate ways. On my way to class, a few classmates wave at me and I wave back. I spot Oliver before he sees me and I don't beckon to him. My glasses feel like they're sliding down my nose and I push them up. I'm briefly wondering if my eyes will ever be able to not be irritated enough so I can wear contacts, when Oliver interrupts the thought with his chirpy greeting.
"Hey, Edward," he says, coming to walk alongside me and I notice for the first time how he looks at me. He licks his lips and bites into the bottom one when I look at him. I know I'm not throwing a suggestive stare but he seems to be responding no less. I scoff. I've got to nip this in the bud. It isn't happening. I've got a damn good thing that I'll never let go of.
"Hey, Oliver," I smile at him and watch him stare at my lips a little too long.
"Don't do it," I say seriously.
He chuckles lightly. "Do what?" That sounds a little too seductive for my liking.
"I've got a good thing going with Jasper and I'm not going to fuck it up, so if you think I'm hot or cute or whatever, that's great. Just know that I'm unavailable. I don't want anyone else," I tell him straight up. I've got no time to beating around the fucking bush. I've come too far to mess things up for myself now.
"He could be fucking someone else," he says defensively. "You know older guys. They think their time is running out so they can't stick to one person."
"Not Jasper," I say. I'll defend my guy to the end.
"How do you know for certain?" he says, getting in my face. I'll admit his breath is sweet. His body is tempting. Long legs, gray eyes, sexy grin. But I'm more into the guy standing behind him some ways off in the dark jeans, white Ralph Lauren shirt, and who has the finest ass in town. One I happen to fuck last night, and who is currently watching this exchange after coming around the corner a minute ago. That guy will always be everything I need.
"I just know," I tell him. I hold Oliver's gaze, watching him tremble beneath it.
"I love your mouth," he whispers.
"Like it from afar," I tell him, backing off. "I'm in a relationship I have no intention of leaving anytime soon. He's a wonderful man and I'm going to spend the rest of my life loving him. Have a good day." I walk around him and head over to Jasper.
"He's watching us," he smiles and hands me my phone and then fixes my glasses.
"Let him watch." I kiss him hard on the lips, smiling at the cat calls. When I pull away, Jasper looks like he wants to drag me somewhere. "Later, Professor." He growls and I walk away. Oliver huffs and stomps into class like a petulant child. Becky and Lily are whistling and teasing me all the way inside. Oliver chooses to sit on the other end of the room and that's fine by me. Today is going to be good.
I've only got two classes today and at the end of them, I text Jasper and tell him I'm heading to the coffeehouse for the late shift with Becky and Lily. He texts me back saying he'll pick me up from there and that he loves me. I reply I love him too.
Becky, Lily and I have a good shift, and on my break, I get a call from Heidi saying she's learned of Jake and Tanya's engagement and that she's willing to help them find a wedding planner. She's still a little afraid of Tanya so she goes through me to talk to her. I tell her I'll let her know.
"Good, because I've called top wedding planners and all I need from you and Jasper, for your wedding, is to choose who you want to work with. Jasper will be representing our family, of course, you, Edward, will be representing the new face of Masen. We're stepping away from the ruins of your father's debauchery and heading into a new era where your name can be one of integrity. And that'll be through you."
"You sound more like a publicist than a mom," I comment.
Heidi scoffs and I can imagine her raising an eyebrow and giving me an icy look if I were in front of her. I'm not intimidated. She reminds me of Tanya in that way.
"Well, I am the head of a public relations company so forgive me," she apologizes sarcastically. "And I am a mother of a very powerful son and I am about to become a mother-in-law to an equally powerful son-in-law. So forgive me if I want everything to go fucking right."
I burst into laughter making a few customers look at me. What? I'm not talking to them. Besides, I'm on my break. "That's the Heidi I know!"
We talk a little more about me wanting a small affair for the wedding. She thinks it's a great idea. Surprisingly, she doesn't want a huge thing. She wants me to speak with Jasper and to get back to her. I promise her I will. I hang up and put my phone on vibrate. I'm sliding it into my pocket when she walks in. From the way her eyes move around the room, I remember the discomfort. Her clothes are entirely too revealing. She looks young. Maybe about fifteen or sixteen years old. I walk behind her as she strolls up to the counter. I go around it and I watch two guys eyeing her. Her eyes are beautiful; deep brown and soulful. She follows my eyes to their table and they wink at her. I scoff and her head flashes around to me. I remember the feeling. I know the look. She's going to get defensive so I squash it before it even happens.
"Some guys are idiots," I mumble loud enough for her to hear. "You can't even grab a coffee without some fool staring at your ass."
"I think it's a good ass, don't you?" Her voice is sultry. It's as seductive as the chocolate color of her skin.
I smile. "You've got a mouth on you."
"And other things." She gives me a once over. Becky and Lily are watching our exchange but I don't want to scare her away, so I ignore their questioning looks and focus on her. I can't lose focus. She'll close off from me and I want to know more.
"I'm not interested. Besides, what are you doing working on break?"
She looks taken aback and then smiles broadly. "Shit! You fuck around with it?" Meaning, you're a hooker.
"I used to be," I answer her coded question.
"Damn, life looks good on the outside," she says, giving me a once over.
I nod. "It is. So what will it be?"
"A cappuccino."
"Good choice," I smile at her.
"Thanks…?" She pauses, wanting me to tell her my name.
"It used to be Tony, now I go by Edward."
"Used to and still is Mercy," she says, stretching her for me to shake. "Mercy Blake."
"Edward Masen."
Mercy pays for her cappuccino and goes and takes a seat. Emmett and my co-workers are watching me as the place empties and I take a seat in front of Mercy. I start with what she knows. "So why do they call you, Mercy?"
She leans in, biting her bottom lip and then clicks her tongue. "Cause once I drop this pussy on them, that's what they'll be beggin' for."
"Damn girl," I laugh.
She laughs too. "So what made you give it up, Edward? I know it wasn't to work in a coffeehouse. You probably made way more out on the streets. Those closeted gays drop big money on your asses. Or was the old ladies that rocked your boat?"
"The closeted gays. I gave it up for love."
She scoffs. "Shiiitt…you must be fucking with me. What cock is good enough to give up money?"
Jasper walks in and spots me at the table with Mercy. She follows my eyes over to him. "Dayumm…that's how you rollin'?"
"That's how I'm rollin'." I smile and get up. I hold my hand up to him, telling him to wait a minute. I don't know why I did it, but I go over to the counter and grab a card with the coffeehouse's address on it from the bowl and write my name and cell number on the back. I walk over to Mercy and stoop down in front of her. Her eyes are guarded, but I can see right through her. She wants out.
"When you're ready to leave it behind, Mercy, call me. Night or day. Do you hear me?" She moves to be defensive again, but I hold a hand up, silencing her. "Don't justify it. Don't tell me how right it is for you."
"You don't know me," she says softly. "I'm used to this, Edward."
I ignore her reasoning. I know what I see. She wants help. "Just call me when you want out."
I walk over to Jasper. He looks from Mercy to me. "Who's your friend?"He says with a smile that asks so much more.
"Her name is Mercy Blake, and I hope she takes me up on my offer before it's too late."
