Chapter 4 – Hands Down

Our crew turned out to be quite the powerhouse, and things were going really good. Well, most things. There were still a few things about my business partner I didn't know, but I knew one thing. He was incredibly naïve, and I still didn't know the story behind that. I was sure it would be interesting.

It felt as if everyone was now picking on Edward, like the class geek in high school, and I really didn't like that. They'd tease him in ways he didn't fully understand in his naivety, and it would embarrass him. I was not sexually adventurous or experienced in any way, but even I had picked up on the names of different sex positions and acts during high school and college. Our naive boy hadn't, and the others were amused by his innocence. I was getting annoyed by their escalating antics.

I was pretty sure Edward wasn't happy with the atmosphere their attitude was cultivating, either. The fact that Jasper flirted with every female who walked through our doors didn't help. Not to mention he seemed to have some weird obsession with my butt. Every time I looked over my shoulder, Jasper's eyes were on it, and then he'd give a little head nod to Edward, who'd be silently fuming. I did have a fairly rounded and curvy backside, but I was just relieved he never made a move on me or tried to smack or grab it.

One morning, I walked in on a conversation I really didn't want to hear, but was glad I had been there to stop. "Please, Edward, would I lie to you about something as important as this?"

"I don't see how a piercing could give me more confidence in the…you know…"

"The bedroom? I swear, it would. You can't go wrong with a Prince Albert. You're guaranteed to hit that spot. You just have to jack off before, so you have the stamina to use it right."

I wasn't positive where that piercing was, but I could guess, and I had to put a stop to it. "Boys, what are you up to?"

"Nothing," Edward squeaked nervously.

"I was just having a discussion with Edward about dick piercings," Jasper said casually.

"What piercings?" Apparently, Edward hadn't caught on that genital piercing was what Jasper had been talking about.

"Back me up here, Bella. A Prince Albert straight up and down with a nice big stainless steel ball to hit that sweet spot is something every girl would love, right?"

Edward covered himself. He was clearly in shock and trying to protect his goods. I stepped between him and Jasper. "There'll be no piercing of Edward's private parts. I'm sure it's great all on its own."

Edward let out a little squeak behind me. Jasper was wearing a cocky smirk. I turned around and yanked Edward by his arm, leading him into the back room. He kept his hands over himself the whole time, and he was a blushing mess. The poor thing was just too adorable. I was pretty sure he was on the verge of going into shock, but calling an ambulance would be bad for business.

I reached up and grabbed his face in my hands and tilted it down to mine, so he could look me right in the eyes. "Edward, I'm not going to let Jasper near your nether regions, I promise. Are you going to be okay?"

He was still looking at me wide-eyed. I finally pried his hands apart and hugged the poor thing. His arms were slow to wrap around me, but he held me tight once they did. He put his nose in my hair and breathed in deep. "I'm sorry I'm such a freak," he whispered so softly I almost missed it.

I'd swear I was on the verge of firing Jasper for making Edward feel that way. I snuggled my face into his chest, trying to hide how upset I was, because I didn't want him to think I was mad at him. I squeezed him harder, and once I knew I had things under control, I stepped back and looked up at him with every ounce of sincerity in me. "You're not a freak, Edward, not even close."

His eyes finally met mine, and I hated seeing how broken he was. I ached to comfort him. I yearned to make everything better. My fingers somehow worked their way up into his hair. It was silky and just the perfect length to play with, but still look clean cut. "I swear you're not a freak. You're perfect just the way you are." My whole body felt charged, and we were both struggling to breathe now.

There was a loud banging on the door, and Jasper shouted, "If you're done humping your crush, I need the room for a piercing."

Edward jumped across the room like I was on fire. I could tell he was on the verge of a panic attack again. Jasper opened the door, wearing that cocky smirk of his, and I slapped him, hard. I didn't know why. I'd liked to have blamed it on PMS. I hadn't hit anyone since Jake, but I full-on slapped Jasper, knocking him into the doorframe.

He didn't seem pissed, just bewildered. I didn't think he'd figured out what had happened yet. "You're an ass!" I growled and stormed out the back of the shop, trying to minimize the scene I'd just caused.

I sat down on a crate in the back alley, and I didn't realize I was crying, until Edward knelt in front of me, and in a wonderfully old-fashioned gesture, he handed me his handkerchief. "And you thought you were the freak," I laughed blackly.

His sweet green eyes were full of obvious concern. "Maybe we're the normal ones in a room full of freaks, and that's why we feel so out of place."

I chuckled, liking his explanation, and nodded in agreement.

It was close to lunchtime, so, coward that I was, I hid out until Jasper had left for his break. Edward was cool about letting me know when Jasper had left. I came in and sulked in my booth. I had a feeling the others knew something was up, because they were all quiet. At least they didn't glare. Angela came back from lunch and brought me a drink. Jessica, Tanya and Rosalie all left to go get their food. Jasper still hadn't returned, and I wondered if he was going to quit. I had been on the verge of firing him before, but sanity won out, and I knew having someone to do piercings and tattoos was a real benefit to the business.

I was stunned, when he returned from lunch with a small bouquet of flowers. That was the absolute last thing I'd expected from him. I was sure he'd shout, sneer or quit, but he apologized instead. I took the flowers and thanked him, not sure what to do.

Rosalie didn't look happy about his response. I think she was expecting him to lay into me, too, and was disappointed when he didn't.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper. I don't know what got into me."

"I do, and it's cool. I'd been pushing it lately." He looked up at Edward and smirked. "I just hope things are cool between us. I promise to lay off you and Edward."

"Thank you." I wasn't sure what he meant, when he'd said "you and Edward," but I'd take it. I pulled him down and kissed the cheek I'd slapped. "I hope it doesn't bruise."

"I've had worse, so I don't think it will. If it does, I can always get powdered up by Jessica. You sure pack one hell of a slap."

I laughed, only half amused. "Yes, well, Jacob could be a little too handsy. You're lucky I took it easy on you."

"Jacob?" Edward asked.

I realized then that I'd never told anyone about my life. I wasn't ready to share everything, but I guessed I needed to give some sort of explanation. "Yeah, long story, but he's an ass I know who thinks he's God's gift to women and doesn't like to take no for an answer." I noticed everyone tensed up around me. I clutched my flowers to my chest and jumped a little, when Edward touched my shoulder. "He never...I was always able to fight him off, so it's not a big deal. I'm going to go put these in water."

It was turning out to be just an all-around awkward, shitty day.

I was surprised, when Rosalie followed me into the little kitchen. "I can teach you some defensive moves," she offered.

"My dad was a cop and taught me some, but thanks for the offer. Like I said, I can kick Jake's ass when he bugs me. I just avoid him now, though."

"Has he ever, you know, hurt anyone else?"

I looked up at her worried face and shook my head no. At least I was pretty sure Jake had never tried to do anything like that to anyone else. "I doubt it, he just feels like I owe him something. He's always had a thing for me, and…" I stopped, not ready to share about my family yet, "it's not mutual," I said a little more firmly, so she'd know I didn't want to talk about it any further.

I decided to call it an early night and went home long before closing. I was sure Edward could handle locking up just fine. I soaked in my little tub and covered my eyes with my hands, wishing the day away. I only hoped that a good night's rest would be enough to distract everyone from what had happened.

Of course, God hated me, so the next day was even worse. I really regretted saying anything about Jacob, because when you spoke of the Devil, he appeared. Lo and behold, Jake sauntered into the shop with that cocky smirk of his the next morning. I decided to do my best not to say his name. I had a feeling he'd get stabbed with a pair of shears by more than one person if they knew who he was, and that'd be bad for business.

"Bella, baby, look at you, you look fantastic! I heard you'd opened up a shop here. It looks great," he said, moving in too close for comfort. I had my shears in my hand, and I poked him in the chest to keep him from hugging me. "Come on, baby, don't be like that."

"Did you want something?" I asked politely, trying to hold it together.

"You know what I want," he leered. He grabbed the tip of my shears, but luckily for me, I had another pair and poked them further down, toward the family jewels.

"The answer is still no," I said firmly, doing my best to not cause a scene. It was terrible. I was the one who really caused the most trouble at our place.

"I need a haircut and a shampoo." He ran his hand through his hair, giving me that look, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't try anything with everyone around us, at least I hoped not. I decided it would be best if I took him myself, because if he introduced himself to anyone, I was sure they'd mess up his hair and ruin our reputation. Jake was a loudmouth, whiny brat, and I knew he'd do his best to slander the shop and ruin our business if he didn't get his way.

I led him to the back, thankful the shampoo chairs were all visible, but that didn't stop him. His hand slid up my thigh, but I was able to grab his finger and nearly snap it. "Hands to yourself," I growled lowly, hoping no one else had heard or could see what was going on. When he tried it again, I purposely got shampoo in his eyes and nearly drowned him by spraying the rinse hose up his nose. He sputtered and jumped around frantically. I just smiled innocently. "Sorry, I was distracted. Don't touch me again, especially since I'll have shears so close to your face. I'd hate for something to happen while I'm cutting your hair."

"You're being a damn drama queen, Bella."

I wrapped up his head and led him to my chair. I knew how he usually wore his hair, so I didn't even bother to ask how he wanted it done. I started in the back, knowing that once I moved around to the front, he'd start something again. His eyes were focused on me, watching me in the mirror a little too intently for my liking.

As predicted, when I moved to the side, ready to trim around his ears with my clippers, his hand came up to my breast. I promptly bopped him in the nose with my elbow. "So help me, Jacob, if you touch me again, I'll shave you bald."

"Don't be like that, baby," he tried to cajole me. What a fool.

"My shears are sharp. I know you don't want me to stumble and accidentally stab you with them, because I'd sure as hell aim for your crotch."

The jerk had the nerve to roll his eyes at me. I moved to the other side of his head and saw Jasper glaring from across the way. I looked over at him, wondering what was going on, when I noticed Edward frowning, watching us closely as well.

I finished up with my clippers and stepped in front of Jacob, needing to put them away and grab my comb to trim the top. His hands went right for my ass, and I swatted them away, only to be yanked back into his lap. Before he could touch me any further, I was pulled from his grip, and then he was punched in the face by Jasper.

"What the fuck?" Jake cried, as he was yanked up out of the chair and then knocked back down into it by another punch.

Jasper was rearing back, ready to beat the shit out of him further, but I stepped in, grabbing his fist. We really didn't need the legal problems that it could start. They all looked confused, when I interrupted the beat-down. Rose stepped next to me and was whipping and twirling two pairs of shears. She looked downright scary.

"You need to leave, Jacob." I grabbed a paper towel from my station and shoved it at him to cover his bloody nose. "Don't come back," I warned, and Rose stabbed a pair of her shears into the wooden partition, as she growled menacingly at him. They stuck deep, like a throwing knife, making Jake jump a little. Her glare was freaking psycho.

Tanya nearly choked him while taking off his cape, and Edward kicked the chair, spinning it around and yanking him out of it. Jake stumbled a little, as he was marched out by Edward and Jasper.

"You keep your hands to yourself!" I'd never heard Edward sound so furious. "If you ever touch her again, you won't be walking!" He shoved Jacob out the door, making him fall onto the sidewalk. There were a few customers sitting in the waiting area who had seen everything and had heard what had been said. They glared at Jacob, as he struggled to his feet and took off. I just hoped they would spread the truth about what had happened, before Jacob could spread his lies.

I leaned back against my counter, completely embarrassed. Edward pulled me into his arms, soothing me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, that was just handsy Jacob," I said, hiding my face in his chest.

"He needs his ass kicked," Rose said so seriously that it made me chuckle, until I peeked at them and saw Tanya nod yes firmly with no mirth at all.

"He'd deserve to get his ass kicked by a couple of angry women," Edward growled.

"Consider his ass kicked," Tanya said without hesitation and pulled the stuck shears out of the wall and twirled them with just as much skill as Rose.

It was then I realized that it was very possible they somehow secretly were ninjas. If that was the case, Jake was screwed.