SM owns Twilight. I just play with her characters.

Chapter 2

XXX - Real Life - XXX

The week after the wedding was an endless array of long days and even longer nights.

Tanya was off on her Honeymoon to Hawaii for two weeks and I had to pick up all of her work load. Needless to say that even if I was busy, I still couldn't help but be a bit jealous of her and who she was with.

What I wouldn't have done to be on that trip with her man.

Sometimes, I ended up sitting at my desk at work simply staring into space as my brain went off to some deserted island. Well, almost deserted. There was one other person there of course. He was tall and had the most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen. Every time he touched me, it was like my skin was on fire. By the time I'd come out of my reverie, I'd need a run to the bathroom, desperate for dry panties.

By the time Friday came around, I met up with Alice for lunch and prayed that she wouldn't bring up anything Edward or Tanya related. I didn't know anything about her cousin other than what Tanya had droned on about, and truthfully, I hadn't really listened. After seeing him in the flesh, I wished that I had.

I'd never been so attracted to a man before in my entire life. It was pure carnal attraction. The kind of thing you only read about in romance novels or smutty fan fiction but never think you're going to experience.

Thankfully, Alice didn't bring up anything even close to the wedding; instead she insisted I meet one of Jasper's friends, Emmett.

Apparently, he was dreamy and totally my type.

I reminded her about my rules and that I certainly would not date anyone right now. I was busier than ever and didn't need the distraction. She said that this Emmett guy would be a great distraction for me since he also didn't do relationships. I was happy about that and agreed to go out with them on Saturday night.

If anything, I could fuck Edward Cullen out of my system.

That thought left me wet and wanting to fuck Edward Cullen altogether. Which in turn lead me to go home and have a blast with Mr. Perfect.

Wonderful.

I woke up to a rainy Saturday morning and made my way to the library where I lost myself in quiet solitude with my iPod and Jane Austin. I did that often, just to get out of the house.

On sunny days, I'd check out something new and go to the park. Sometimes I would bring lunch, other times I would grab something at the market. Always alone was my sacred ritual.

Saturday was a day for me, away from work and everything that it entailed.

I had brought my lunch with me and had stayed at the library until 3:30. I then went home, took a shower and called Alice.

She let me know that we all had reservations at Eclipse, an up and coming restaurant that also housed a bar and dance floor on the second floor.

I agreed to meet her at her house around 6:30 since our reservations were for 7:30 and she wanted to spend a bit of time with me before going. Emmett would be waiting for us at Eclipse. Part of me couldn't wait to meet him, part of me just wanted to get this shit over with.

Alice had told me a little bit about him. He sounded like a nice enough guy. But at my age, nice enough guys aren't usually single.

She told me that Emmett owned his own business and had been friends with Jasper for years.

Apparently, he was supposed to be at the wedding but couldn't attend due to a family emergency. Alice was being a little evasive but I left it there, all I wanted from the guy was a good lay and maybe a phone number for future use.

Love 'em and leave 'em. Right?

Getting ready for this evening was easy enough to Alice's dismay. I had opted for some black skinny jeans and a sparkly silver halter top combined with black heels and simple jewelry. Alice had tried to dress me up at some point early on in our friendship but I had put a kibosh on her whole project and let her know that if she ever tried that shit again, I would disown her, permanently.

Nowadays, when she sees me, she just shakes her head and keeps it to herself. For an evening like this one, she most certainly would have had me in a dress. No way in hell was I wearing one of those, unless it's a wedding, funeral or Christmas.

I wore my hair up in a tight ponytail and let it dry naturally, making the hair curl and wave beautifully. My make-up was simple, a bit of foundation, blush, mascara and light lip gloss. Nothing over the top, just enough to enhance my natural beauty. As trite as it sounds, I know I'm pretty, I'm just not into flaunting it too much.

I made my way up to Alice's apartment and gave her my best smile when she answered the door. In true Alice fashion, she looked me up and down, contemplated my 'look' and to my surprise, she smiled gleefully.

"You've learned well, grasshopper." She said as she motioned me to come inside.

I just told her to fuck off and launched myself onto her sofa. Jasper came out of the bedroom looking calm and collected and all hot and Jasper-like wearing his signature boot-cut blue jeans, classic band t-shirt and fedora.

I'm not big on brand names and couldn't tell you the difference between something expensive versus something cheap from Target, but I can tell you that whatever Alice had on was not cheap.

The girl knows how to dress but, as opposed to me, she just never limits herself budget wise.

I, on the other hand, have a eye for a good bargain and could never understand why people would pay so much for something to be worn a couple of times a get thrown out because it's out of style.

After some needless primping and pruning, we all made it to Eclipse. Jasper and Alice walked ahead of me and I followed as our maître d' ushered us to our table.

The three of us sat and casually waited for Emmett to arrive. I had never seen him so when the maître d' brought over our fourth party, I was rendered speechless.

He was going to be fun, I could already tell.

Emmett was tall and quite good looking. His dark brown eyes and curly short hair were definitely a good combination but then, when he smiled, I swear I got lost in these dimples which then made me look at his lips. I licked my own and swallowed hard because this was going to be a long dinner if I couldn't just drag him home to play.

Just then, I unwillingly let my eyes travel down to meet his broad shoulders and defined muscles under his black t-shirt. His black jeans that were held up by a black belt hung low but still managed to hug his butt cheeks deliciously. I wanted to bite them, but figured I'd wait 'till after dinner.

He was no Edward, but this one I could have without breaking up a marriage. My girlie bits did a happy dance.

Jasper introduced us and I stood up and offered him my hand smiling my best flirtatious smile and looking up at him from under my lashes. Apparently, the male gender likes that shit.

We made casual conversation where Emmett told me about his body shop. New Moon was a pretty big deal in Seattle, they made custom made parts and accessories. Pimping rides was his specialty. I was impressed with his skills, too bad all I wanted was to kneel down in front of him and make him forget his own name. Fuck me, big boy.

Once the liquor settled into my stomach, and with empty plates of food in front of us, we talked about my job. That conversation led us to Tanya's wedding. I was then informed that Edward was one of his best friends.

Damned if I didn't see that one coming. My girlie bits retreated, I swear I heard them whimper.

I decided then and there that I couldn't fuck Emmett, it was just too much for me. He was too close to where I actually wanted to be.

Plus, he casually mentioned that he was dating Rose, one of the waitresses at the bar upstairs but that they had a fight which was why he hadn't made it to Edward's wedding.

I probed a bit more into that and Emmett let it slip that he wanted a commitment but that Rose did not. Our 'date', this date, was somewhat of a rebound, which was why Jasper had told me that Emmett did not want a relationship.

Alice was as surprised as I was to learn of all of this. On one of our many liquor induced trips to the bathroom, she gave me an out and said that I could leave at any time if I wanted to. I refused, stating that I had a date with Emmett and we were going to go to the club upstairs later.

If anything, I was going to help him get Rose back.

Nothing is better than a bit of competition to remind a girl of what she could have.

We walked back to the table where I laid it all out for him. There was certainly no way that I was going to sleep with him, or anything else with him for that matter, but we were going to have fun nonetheless.

I had met Rose a few months back. We had done a girls night out to celebrate Tanya's upcoming nuptials and she was there. She could be cold as hell but once you got to know her, Rose was a really nice girl. Emmett obviously wasn't over her and I could understand why.

The waitress came to our table and we paid our bill. I paid my own of course, lord knows Emmett was definitely not a real date and I wasn't going to let him pay for me.

Then, we headed upstairs.

As the four of us walked by the bar, I caught a glimpse at Rose who didn't seem to be too impressed by the situation. Not wanting for this shit to go on for too long, I winked at her and motioned to Emmett who had nonchalantly wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It looked like we were together so of course, as expected, she gave me the bitch-brow.

Yeah, I might not have survived the evening if it was a real date. Rose had some bitch-brow on her. I shuddered.

We found an empty table and I offered to get the drinks under the guise of speaking to Rose.

"Hi Rose, can I have four Buds, please." I plastered on a fake smile, trying to look the part.

"Coming right up." She didn't even look at me when she answered popping the "p" for good measure and I swear if she could have killed me with the tone of her voice, she would have.

The plan was working.

"He loves you, you know." I said right out of the blue while she had her back to me as she was getting the bottles from the fridge. I noticed her back stiffen minutely but she recovered quickly enough that had I not been looking for it, I wouldn't have noticed it.

When she turned to put the bottles on the counter, her expression had changed from cold to torn.

"That'll be twelve bucks."

Without another word, I handed her the money and went on my way back to our table with the beers in hand.

I sat down next to Emmett, gave him a smile and took a swig of my beer. At least tonight, one of us could be with the one he loves.

Wait, I did not just think that. I didn't love Edward Cullen. It was lust, all of it. I swear.

We drank and listened to the live band they had playing on stage. Sparkling Twilight was a new band but they knew how to rock it out. They did a few familiar covers from Theory of a Deadman to Stone Temple Pilots and sounded awesome despite their bad band name.

Rose came by later in the evening and took Emmett aside. When he came back to sit with us, he was beaming. Rose had agreed to speak to him after her shift and would be meeting him at his apartment to 'talk'.

He used air quotes when he told us about it. An obvious code-word for 'make-up sex' of course.

When we left, I hugged Emmett and wished him good luck before getting in the car with Jasper and Alice.

At least one of us would be getting some tonight.

I went home alone to an empty apartment, a cold bed and, of course, Mr. Perfect. Same-old, same-old.

A/N: As usual, a huge thanks to my best girls for encouraging me to go on. Srimmy and WitchyVampireGirl... you rock!

We didn't see much of Edward and Tanya in this chapter, we will in the next one. Tanya seems nice, I know... just keep reading.

Thanks to everyone for favoring, putting this story on alert and especially reviewing. Your words of encouragement help make this stuff readable.