Disclaimer - We don't own Twilight or the characters, but we do have a wet...I mean, soft spot for a geeky Edward.

Initial Pass - The first pass a Jammer makes through the pack. No score is awarded on this pass; it is only used to establish the Lead Jammer

Chapter 2

"Dude," Emmett says, nudging me with his shoulder. "Cherry is looking at you."

"Whatever, man."

"I'm serious. Would I lie about a thing like that?" he asks incredulously.

I breathe heavily out of my nose and take another drink of my beer. "It's probably just because I gave her a lift over here tonight."

"I don't know. I mean, she's like, looking at you," he pauses. "Wait a minute." Emmett turns on his barstool and squares his shoulders. "You..." he says, pointing his finger at me. "...Gave her..." he continues, redirecting his finger toward the table where Cherry is sitting with her teammates. "...A ride here," he finishes, tapping his finger on the bar in front of us.

"Yes," I say, trying to act like it's no big deal, because it's not...right? "Her car broke down and she needed a ride." I know where he's going with this and I don't like it one fucking bit, because it just turns up the volume of the doubts floating around in my head. I know that Cherry has a reputation and I know that I'm not her type, but fuck me, I want to be.

I turn slightly, looking over my shoulder. She's looking at me and when she sees me looking at her, she smiles a crooked smile and turns back toward her friends.

"I can't believe she asked you for a ride."

"She didn't ask. I offered. She was beating the shit out of her car and I told her I didn't think that was going to fix it."

"Man, I'm surprised you still have your balls left. From what I hear, that chick is a man-eater." Emmett looks back over his shoulder, with a mesmerized look on his face. "I've actually heard that about several of those girls," he says with a smirk, his gaze focused on a target.

I turn around to see the long legs and blonde hair of Barbie Apocalypse. Her hair is in a high ponytail and she still has her bright blue eyeshadow on from the bout. Looking at her, she appears to be all "Barbie", the beauty-queen-meets-girl-next-door type, but watching her in the rink, you know where the "Apocalypse" comes from. She completely destroys her opponents. "What I wouldn't give for her to eat me. Matter of fact, I'd pay her."

"You're such a man-whore."

"You just wish you got the amount of ass I do," he smirks, slamming his empty beer glass down on the bar. "Wish me luck. I'm going in." He smacks me on the back and walks over toward the table where the team is sitting.

Emmett and Barbie have played this game of cat and mouse forever. Basically, Emmett makes crude comments and she practically slaughters him with her verbal abuse. One thing's for sure, though, he's persistent. That's gotta count for something.

"Can I buy you a beer?" Cherry's raspy voice is quiet, right at my ear, and it goes straight to my cock.

I clear my throat and turn around, showing her my nearly-full glass. "Just got a refill, but thanks, though."

"Let me buy the next one?" she asks, helping herself to Emmett's vacant barstool.

"I think this will be my last one for the night, otherwise, I'll be needing to ask you for a lift." I laugh, taking a sip of my beer.

"Right. Well, maybe I can buy you one next time."

I know I should say "yes", because that would mean that I would get to talk to her or at least see her after next Friday's bout, but I can't. "You don't owe me anything." She doesn't owe me. I would give her a ride anywhere, anytime.

"Sure I do. You gave me a ride over here and you didn't have to."

"No, I didn't, but I wanted to." I want to do a lot of things. Shit. That was probably too much. I'm sure it sounded desperate as fuck. I rub the back of my neck, willing the awkwardness hanging in the air to dissipate.

"Well, thanks," she says, turning to face me.

A guitar starts playing up on the stage and a low voice begins singing into the mic. I'm not really a fan of country, but this guy is pretty good. I've heard him play a few times.

"I love when they have live music," she says, turning toward the stage, and propping her elbows onto the bar.

I hear her voice, but I can't take my eyes off her tits. My mom would kill me for this. She would tell me it's degrading to stare at a woman's chest, but they are like a force field. I'm sure it's the most douchebag thing to do, but the way she has them pushed out there like that...each mound displayed in the most spectacular way, I simply can't look away. My mouth is salivating.

"Hey?"

"What? Sorry," I say, trying to clear my head. "What did you say?"

"I asked if you ever come and listen to the bands that play here."

"Oh, yeah. All the time."

"Really? Me, too. I love live music. There's just something about the way a musician gets lost in his song, you know?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." I say, my mind drifting, wandering. "It's like they're in another world, completely enslaved to the lyrics and the melody."

"Exactly," she says earnestly, looking at me like she has seen something for the first time. "There's this one guy who plays here occasionally. He's one of those. The kind that get lost in their music. I swear, it's like the whole place could clear out and he'd never know. I think that's what I love about him so much; he's not playing to impress people or anything like that. It's like he's just playing because it's his passion."

She pauses, watching the guy on stage.

I swallow another drink of my beer, unsure of what to say.

"You've gotta do what you're passionate about," she finally says, turning back toward me.

"Is that why you skate?" I ask.

"I guess so. It's kind of a weird thing to be passionate about, but I am. We all are. If we weren't, we wouldn't play. No one wants to get their asses kicked over something they don't love."

"Well, that really shows. You're fucking amazing out on the rink. Have you skated for a long time?" The fact that I just cursed in front of her doesn't seem to bother her, but I'm mortified. I push my glasses back up my nose and swallow loudly when I see her give me a small smile.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asks, a look of complete confusion on her face.

"For talking like that in front of a lady. It's rude. I apologize."

For the second time tonight, she throws her head back and laughs hard and loudly. Her laugh turns into some sort of giggle combined with a snort, which is fucking adorable, but I'm clueless as to what's so funny.

When she catches her breath, she tries to put on a calm serious face, as she says, "I'm not sure what's funnier." She pauses for a moment, still trying not to smile. "You apologizing to me for cursing, or the fact that you called me a lady!" She laughs lightly again, her eyes never leaving mine.

"Well, you're definitely a lady."

The silence is back for a moment as we both sit there, staring at each other. Cherry gives me a look like she's trying to figure me out before giving me a smile that can only be described as 'devious'.

She lowers her voice to a near whisper and leans in, accosting me with her intoxicating scent that's a little sweet and a little spicy, just like her. "Don't tell anybody, but before all this..." she sweeps her hands over the tattoos on her arms, "I used to be a figure skater." She raises an eyebrow. "If you ever repeat that, I'll kill you."

I believe her. "Your secret is safe with me."

"So, do you play any instruments?" I ask, pointing back to the guy on stage, wanting to avoid talking about my murder.

"No. I always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, but I was too focused on sports and school. There just never seemed to be enough time."

"Well, it's never too late to learn."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"I could teach you."

"Really? You play?" She turns her head and looks at me, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I play...dabble in a little songwriting. I used to give lessons. I'm sure I could teach you."

Her lips spread into a stunning smile. "I'd really like that...love that, actually. If you're serious."

"Hell yeah, I'm serious." What the fuck? Am I serious? Can I be in a closed room with her, without mentally undressing her the entire time? Damn it! Get your shit together, Cullen! I take a large drink of my beer, using its powers for courage to get through this.

"Sweet! So, when do we start?" Her whole face is lit up with excitement.

"As soon as you want to. Whenever. You just let me know."

She thinks for a minute. "How about on a Saturday? Can you do Saturdays?"

"Saturdays work great for me."

"Okay, not tomorrow, but how about next Saturday?"

"Sounds good." Sounds really good. Seeing her twice in a week sounds so damned good. I'm trying so hard to keep a calm and cool exterior, but I feel like I'm about to lose my shit. I feel like I'm in 7th grade all over again, and Layla Sweeney just asked me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance...mixed together with the first time Brandy Williams touched my dick. It's that good.

"Well, I'll see you next Friday?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." I smile at her, wanting to reach out and touch her so bad...her hand, her arm, the strands of hair falling across her face...but I don't want to push my luck. Guitar lessons will have to be enough for now.

I watch her turn around and start to walk off, letting my eyes settle on her fantastic ass.

She turns around abruptly, completely catching me in the act of ogling. I swallow hard and give her a smile, hoping she didn't see that.

"I didn't even ask you your name," she laughs.

"Edward. Edward Cullen."

"Edward Cullen," she repeats, letting my name roll off her tongue. God, how I want to hear her say that again...preferably naked, screaming it. I'm such a pervert. What the hell is wrong with me?

She smiles and turns back around, giving her ass a little extra shake as she walks back to her teammates.

I'm tempted to do a fist pump into the air, รก la John Bender, but I play it cool.

When Cherry approaches her table, a rather large man slaps her firmly on the ass. I almost start doing the sign of the cross in his memory, because I expect her to lay him out. But instead of whipping out her claws or taking him out, Cherry slaps him playfully on his shoulder.

The guy is covered in tattoos from his wrists to his massive shoulders, and a large eagle is sprawled across his neck. His jet black hair is spiked up and a bandana is wrapped around his forehead. From the looks of the leather jacket he's wearing, he could be in some sort of motorcycle gang or something.

As I'm making my assessment of him, he turns Cherry around and pulls her to him roughly. His mouth descends on hers and he kisses her. I should look away, but I can't. He's doing exactly what I wanted to be doing just a few moments ago. He has exactly what I want in his burly hands. He's everything that I'm not, and he's probably everything that she wants.

He's the kind of man that gets a girl like Cherry. Not me.

The euphoria I felt from knowing that I was going to get to see her on a regular basis, and perhaps get to know her better, has flown out the window. I was completely fooling myself for thinking that I ever had a chance with her.

Turning back around to the bar, Marcus is standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face, shaking his head.

"What?" I challenge.

"Nothing, man. Remember? I'm a bartender. What happens at the bar, stays at the bar."

I tip my glass up and finish off my beer.

"You sure you don't want another?" I'm tempted to say 'yes'. I'd like to follow up another beer with a shot of tequila, but I know how that would end. It would be ugly and messy and I'd end up sleeping on Emmett's nasty-ass floor or his couch, which is worse, because I know what he does on that couch.

"Nah, better not."

"You playing here next week?" Marcus asks, trying to change the heavy mood that has settled at the bar. I hate to tell him that it's a futile attempt.

"Yeah, I'll be here Tuesday and Thursday night," I tell him.

I wish I could go back to her just being Cherry, someone I admire from afar. Now, I've smelled the fruit. I haven't tasted it, but I know it smells sweet, and probably tastes that much sweeter.

I don't know how I'll make it through these guitar lessons. I might have to mysteriously break my hand or something. Surely there is some way to get out of this.

A/Ns:

Jenny Kate: Well, shit! Cherry has a boyfriend?!

Jiff: Whoa. I did NOT see that coming! Okay, maybe I did...

Jenny Kate: I wonder who it is?

Jiff: Well, it's only Chapter 2. There are many possibilities. Who would piss off our readers the most? ;-)

Jenny Kate: Bwahahahahaha. *evil laughs* Damn, it's so much fun playing around with these characters.

Jiff: Yes, it is! Our readers know that we won't mess with the characters TOO much, though. We just like to keep things fresh!

Jenny Kate: We'd love to hear your feedback! Tell us what you think about the story so far...what are you thinking about the "boyfriend" and Cherry...and poor Edward?

Jiff: We'd also like to say HI to all of our new readers! We are blown away by all of the favorites, alerts and reviews we have been receiving! Thank you so much! As always, special thanks to Mauirgirl60 for her wonderful beta skills!