Wow! I mean, wow! I was so overwhelmed by all your wonderful reviews, faves, and alerts. Thank you for caring so much about this story. It means so much to me. You can wash Jasper and Emmett or Bella and Rose. Take your pick!
The next few chapters will be lighthearted and fun. We've had a few weighty issues that we've dealt with and it's time for a break. The chapters will still address some important points though.
This chapter contains lust, pool, and typical male behavior. Oh, before I forget, look up Brad Paisley's songs "Ticks" and "I'm Still A Guy" on YouTube. You'll see what Rose and Bella mean by the songs fitting Em and Jasper to a T.
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only please.
Rosalie's POV
New Year's Eve came and went and now we were a few days into the new year. I was taking a week off from work so we could get away from all of the chaos at home. Fortunately, Peter is just as good as I am with cars so he's running the shop for me while we're on vacation. With Psycho Bitch coming home and Mike being changed, we needed a break from the family—just the two of us.
Mike was surprising. He wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be, in fact, he was pretty cool. He had matured a lot since high school and he was pretty sure of himself. When Bella jumped in to change him, my initial thoughts were to pull her off of him and snap the kid's neck. Then I heard the selfish bitch screaming about how she didn't want Bella changing her mate. Rage took over. I wasn't about to let her fuck with my baby sister anymore so I clocked Alice with an uppercut then kneeled down to help Bella change Mike. The deed was done and afterwards, Bella and I simply held onto each other for comfort.
Emmett and I were taking some time at our hideaway in Gatlinburg, Tennessee—Emmett's boyhood home. We had two hideaways, one here and one in Rochester, New York where I grew up. The townhouse in Rochester was a recent purchase, but Gatlinburg has been ours now for decades. Emmett had been keeping tabs on his family and somehow managed to find out that they were in financial trouble and would lose the family home. My husband, who has a heart of gold, purchased the land and house and allowed his family to live their lives out there as long as they maintained the property. I went in acting as an intermediary between them and their anonymous benefactor. As soon as I saw all of his brother's babies, my nieces and nephews, I knew that we had made the right decision. We even funded their college educations so they would be able to make something of themselves and have a chance at a decent life. Five years ago, Emmett's older brother died at the ripe old age of 97. He left a handwritten note to his benefactor in a sealed envelope in Emmett's old room—it simply read: "Thank you, Emmett. Now it's my turn to look after you. I love you little brother. P.S. How did you get such a knockout for a wife?" How he figured out that Emmett was his benefactor was a mystery to us. It's just one of those mysteries in life, I suppose.
We had driven a few hours west to Nashville so we could tour the Music City for a change. Emmett was a huge country music fan so it was fitting that we were here for a short two day visit. We were in a men's shop called Abernathy Road where Emmett was going crazy shopping for the first time ever.
"Rosie, look at this stuff? Hey, how do I look in this leather jacket? Do I look sexy, baby? Do I turn you on?"
As I was eyeing my husband, I was suddenly overcome by an incredible urge to ravage him. I licked my lips and started furiously kissing him. My wandering hands made their way into the front of his pants and I was stroking his dick in the middle of the store.
"Uh, Rosie, sweetheart, can we wait until we get back to the hotel. Baby, everyone's staring at us. Um, don't stop whatever you're doing cause it feels incredible. Shit! Rosie, I'm gonna blast my load in your hand."
My husband came with a grunt. What the hell made me put on a such a public display? That's so unlike me. I had no idea what to do with my sticky hand so I wiped it on one of the shirts they had for sale and bought the shirt too. The poor salesman looked disgusted as he threw the shirt into a bag as quickly as possible.
After leaving the store, we then headed to cute little ladies clothing boutique that I saw along the way. I was in the fitting room trying on a dress when Emmett suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He ripped the dress that I was trying on right off of me and in no time we were fucking like rabbits inside the fitting room. "Yes, Emmett, yes, Emmett, yesssss!" I screamed as I shuddered to my peak and his teeth sunk into the area above my collarbone.
When we walked out of the fitting room, it seemed as though the horrified eyes of everyone in the entire store was on us. We quickly paid for the ripped dress, purchased another one just like it, then left the store. "Hope you enjoyed the show!" Emmett hollered on his way out.
"I don't know what came over me, Rosie. I had a sudden urge to mate with you."
"It's okay, Em, I really liked it. It was amazing. Besides, I deserved a little payback for that handjob I gave you in the middle of the other store."
We were walking hand in hand back to our hotel when, again, we were both struck with an overwhelming feeling of lust. Emmett dove into an alley and claimed me right up against a building.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, as we tried our best to straighten out our disheveled clothes. "I needed you to take me right then and there. If this keeps up, we're going to have to start carrying a bag of clothes along with us."
"Come on, honey, let's go back to the hotel and I'll make love to you, soft and tender, the way you like it." Em whispered. I shivered as he ran his tongue over his mark.
We made it back to the hotel in record time and climbed into the elevator. Just as the door's shut, we were both struck again with a desire to rip each other's clothes off. By the time we got to our floor we were stark naked. Fortunately it was just the two of us on the elevator. Unfortunately when the doors opened there was a housekeeper with a vacuum, a room service attendant with an empty tray of food, and a family of four waiting to get inside. The parents instantly shielded their kids' eyes.
I held my head up high and exited the elevator saying "excuse me" as I walked past them.
"Mama, that man had a big pee-pee." I heard one of the children saying.
"He sure did." The mother breathed dreamily.
Emmett and I both looked aghast at each other as we finally made it to our room. "What the fuck was that?" We both announced simultaneously. We sat in front of the TV completely flummoxed until it was time for us to leave. This time Emmett carried a backpack filled with clothes with him.
"These are great seats, Rose! Second row!" Em exclaimed.
"I got these tickets as soon as they were released, Em. I know how much you love..." I narrowed my eyes as I caught sight of the happy couple that were making their way to their seats in the row in front of us. I put my finger up to my lips to silence my mate, but I was too late.
Just as they made their way to the two open seats directly in front of us, my mate opened his mouth. "Jasper, you fucker! Have you been sending lust to us all day? Do you fucking realize that we had to walk naked out of our hotel elevator in front of children? One of the kids said that I had a big pee-pee. Do you realize how fucked up that is?"
"Oh, hey Em, Rose? What brings you folks to Nashville?" Jasper greeted us casually.
"Don't you hey us Jasper Whitlock! I gave Emmett a handjob in the middle of Abernathy Road. We scared the shit out of all the customers and employees."
"You didn't?" Bella questioned her husband.
Jasper simply looked at Emmett and said, "Consider it payback for the kilt incident."
"What kilt incident?" Bella and I asked at the same time.
"Um...Riley and I told Jasper that we all wore kilts to spinning class and he showed up in one." Emmett said, ashamed. "We told Peter that he had to wear a tutu, though, and he actually believed us."
Bella and I both started laughing.
"Oh my God! I would have loved to see that." I giggled. "Peter in a tutu and you in a kilt? Why didn't you guys research it on the internet? When did this happen anyway?"
"The night sissy was changed." Emmett said. "I guess we were so caught up with everything that night that we forgot to mention it.."
"That was an awful night. I think we were all focused on something else." I shuddered at the thought of the events that evening. I honestly thought that my sister was dead. Everyone was completely unhinged. Emmett and Jasper looked as if they were going to set themselves aflame when they arrived on scene and I probably would have joined them. Thank goodness everything worked out okay.
The opening act soon started and we were all jamming along to the music. It was now time for Brad Paisley. As soon as he came on stage, the entire audience stood up and roared to life. Jasper pulled Bella in front of him and Emmett and I climbed over the seats to join them in the front row. Our husbands were singing along and swaying to the tunes. As soon as Brad Paisley started playing "Ticks," Em and Jasper high-fived each other and announced, "It's the scenting song!"
I listened to the words and sure enough it was the scenting song. No wonder they like Brad Paisley so much. I chuckled when I heard, "I'm Still A Guy" because the words described Em and Jasper so much. Bella nudged me while she was listening to the song too. "Rose! This song was written for our hubbies. Maybe Brad Paisley's a vampire? I mean he sings about scenting and he's got the male vampire persona down pat."
As soon as he left the stage. The audience started holding up lighters and screaming for an encore. This part was a bit disconcerting for all of us. I mean, come on now. Someone could accidentally light us on fire and "poof" we'd be gone. Brad Paisley came back out on stage, played one final song and was done for the night. We followed the droves of concert goers out of the venue.
"Hey, it's still early. You guys want to go for drinks?" I suggested.
"Sure! We'd love to." Bella agreed.
We found a place with pool tables called Buffalo Billiards. I knew Jasper, Emmett, and I played pool from time to time, but I was pretty sure Bella didn't play. No better way to find out than to start playing. Emmett racked up.
"Why don't you break Bella?" I suggested.
Bella nodded. Jasper and Emmett were both mumbling instructions to her, then abruptly stopped when she executed a perfect power break. "I'll take solids," she said, then proceeded to sink every single solid ball on the table—saving the eight ball for last.
Jasper, Emmett, and I were standing aghast at the end of the pool table with our arms crossed in front of our chest and our jaws hanging open. Jasper was the first to break the silence. "Uh, baby, who taught you how to play billiards?"
"Oh, my dad taught me how to play on his pool table in the basement. He'd play whenever his friends came over and they'd always teach me some new tricks. For some reason, my mom would always date guys who played pool too so whenever I'd have to tag along on a date, I'd end up in a seedy pool hall with them. They'd always teach me some moves, just to make it seem like they liked the kid too. Then, when Phil moved into my mom's house, he brought a pool table with him. I was always alone when I wasn't at school or working so I'd kill time playing pool." She admitted.
Well fuck, that's a surprise. Bella could hustle pool with the best of them. I'm definitely bringing her with me next time I want to burn off steam and hit the pool hall. Emmett had no idea that I hustled pool once a month for kicks. Men were so gullible, they see a pretty girl and they think that they could make a quick buck. I usually played a couple of shit rounds then I'd go in for the kill. I once made ten thousand bucks off of an asshole who was cheating everyone left and right. He didn't know when to quit and kept bumping up the bet once he started losing. Shithead.
We played a few more rounds of pool then quit when it was clear that no one could best Bella. Jasper and Emmett were swearing up a storm insisting that they were off their game. I knew the truth, though, they sucked at pool. Edward beat the shit out of them all the time and he was good. All of them weren't nearly as good as I am. I just let them win from time to time to stroke their egos—men needed that. Bella could kick my ass at pool clear across the country. Oh the fun sis and I were going to have together. I chuckled at the thought.
The four of us walked back to the hotel. It turns out that Bella and Jasper were staying at the Hutton Hotel just like we were. They were even on the same floor. We parted ways and agreed to meet in the morning to check out the Belle Meade Plantation and then the Grand Ole Opry later.
"That was so weird, running into Bella and Jasper. Who would have thought that they would have been at the Brad Paisley concert in Nashville of all places?" Emmett mused. He must have noticed that I was off in my own world because the next thing out of his mouth was, "Penny for your thoughts?"
"Em, do you think we should tell them about our hideaway in Gatlinburg?" I asked. "It's just Bella and Jasper and I doubt they'd tell the others. They respect people's privacy more than anyone."
"Let's think about it, Rosie, I kind of like the idea of Gatlinburg being just yours and mine." Em pulled me onto his lap and kissed me. I just let myself relax into his strong chest. My mate made me feel safe, secure, and loved. On the worst days, I'd find myself falling back into that dreaded memory of the last day of my human life. Emmett was so tuned in to me that somehow he'd know—he'd coax me back into the present using his gentle words, sometimes he'd just simply hold me.
We knocked on Bella and Jasper's door around ten in the morning. Since we were leaving Nashville tonight, they let us leave our bags in their room. After touring the plantation, Jasper and Emmett wanted to go to Abernathy Road so Bella and I decided to go shopping elsewhere and meet up with them later at the hotel.
As soon as we were out of hearing distance, I spoke. "Hey, sis, want to go back to Buffalo Billiards?"
"Okay, Rose. I'm game for anything." Bella said. "Besides, I never say no to a game of pool."
"Have you ever hustled pool?" I asked casually.
"N...no." Bella looked worried. "Do we really need to?"
"Yes! This is an order from your big sister! We have a rare moment away from our walking scenting machines and we're going to take advantage of it. Besides, you know you like to let naughty Bella out to play. Now how much cash do you have on you?"
"I don't know—um, let me see." Bella did a quick scan of her wallet. "Six hundred dollars."
"Okay, good. Hand it over!"
"All of it?" She hesitated.
"Yes, all of it, damn it! Hand over the fucking cash now!"
My sister reluctantly gave me the cash. "Why did I just give you six hundred dollars, Rose?"
"Well, duh, we need some play money. I have seven hundred bucks. We're going to set a hundred aside for drinks and wager twelve hundred. When we get there, I want you to follow my lead. Oh and you need to fuck up the first few games—no clean breaks, make like you're Jasper fixing the house or something. Oh, and when I order two Jack Daniels straight—that's your cue to bring your A-game."
We got to Buffalo Billiards and found an empty table. It was mid afternoon so the place was crawling with sharks. I ran up to it, looking all excited, and squealed. "Oh my God, Jessica! Look a pool table. I've always wanted to try it. Do you know how to play?"
Bella got the picture really quick. She jumped up and down like Alice at a fashion show and replied. "I have no idea Lauren. Maybe one of those really hot guys can show us. You know what, forget it. I think I figured it out. I think we just throw those golf ball looking thingies into one of those triangle thingies and hit them with those long sticks so they go into those holes."
Bella and I proceeded to randomly rack up the balls and find pool cues. Every single shark had their eyes trained on us. I broke first, making sure to fuck it up. We then took turns screwing up every shot, sometimes missing completely. "Jess, I can't seem to put the golf balls into the holes."
"Ahem! My name is Floyd Parker. How can I be of assistance to you beautiful ladies." A greasy pool shark slinked over to us. He was eyefucking us up and down while waiting for an answer.
"Ew." Bella whispered so only I could hear.
"We found our bitch, sis." I whispered back to her, then turned to Mr. Greasy. "Why Floyd, how kind of you. My sorority sister and I are trying to figure out how to play pool and we'd be tickled if you taught us how to play.
Floyd, of course, obliged. After a few rounds, Bella and I made like we improved enough to sink some shots. I saw Floyd motioning to an equally oily friend of his. His friend immediately appeared at the table. "This is my good friend Wes Crisco."
Bella and I looked at each other with perplexed expressions on our faces. "Did he say Crisco as in Crisco Oil?" Bella whispered.
"Yeah, he did. His name's kind of fitting, don't you think?"
"Ladies, since you two have improved so much, we thought maybe we can have some fun and place a wager." Floyd said.
"Ooh! I've never bet anything before. I've never even played the lottery. What do you think Jess?"
"That sounds like so much fun Lauren! Let's do it!"
"Wonderful!" Floyd clapped his hands together. "I really hate to ask such a personal question, but how much do you have?"
I took the cash out of my purse and openly counted it. "Um, we only have twelve hundred dollars. Is that enough?" I asked innocently.
Floyd and Crisco's eyes widened greedily, they both flashed creepy smiles at us. "Perfect! That's exactly how much I have." Floyd showed us his money. "You girls are quite good so I'm sure you won't lose. I've never had such quick studies."
"Okay Floyd." I said. "How do we do this betting stuff."
"It's really simple. If you win, I give you twelve hundred dollars and if I win, you give me yours." Floyd smirked at Crisco.
"Ooh! It is easy!" Bella giggled and batted her eyelashes at Floyd and Crisco.
"It's a bet then!" Floyd and Crisco both extended their hands to ours to make the deal.
Floyd racked up the balls. "Lauren, why don't you break first?"
I did a clean break and took stripes. I sunk most of the balls in until I fucked up and sunk a solid in.
Floyd took his turn and sunk in most of the solids, until he tried bouncing a ball off of the side and missed.
I quickly took the opportunity to sink the remaining striped balls in, then sunk the eight ball.
Floyd looked annoyed. He quickly recovered and flashed his greasy smile at us. "Lauren, I told you, you were good. You've won." He handed me our winnings.
Crisco then jumped in to the conversation. "Ladies, how would you like to play one more game. Now, I happen to have twenty-four hundred dollars on me, which is exactly how much you have. You girls are on a lucky streak, I want to give you a chance to double your money. What do you say?"
"Uh, I don't know. I don't want to press our luck." I said.
"Come on, Lauren. These guys are obviously upstanding citizens. They've been nothing, but nice to us. Can you show us the twenty-four hundred? I think it would make Lauren feel better." Bella said.
"Sure, Jessica." Crisco counted his cash out.
"Well, I guess just one more game." I said.
"You won't regret it." Crisco assured. "Can we buy you fine ladies drinks? Some wine, perhaps?"
"We'll take two glasses of Jack—straight." I stated. They looked a little startled, but ordered the drinks for us. As soon as the waitress brought the drinks, Bella and I both downed them in one go. She nodded at me acknowledging that she was going to bring her A game.
"Your turn to break, Jessica." Crisco smirked.
Bella rolled her eyes and did a power break. "I'll take solids." She stated then sunk every single solid ball in, ending with the eight ball. "Pay up guys." She ordered to a stunned Floyd and Crisco.
Crisco reluctantly handed over the cash. "Another game?" I asked sweetly.
The grease balls both shook their heads no.
As Bella and I left the pool hall, I heard Crisco chastising Floyd. "We were fucking played by those bitches! I didn't even get a chance to sink a ball in! Fuck!"
We hightailed it back to the hotel. In the elevator, I split the money evenly between us and we ended up with twenty-four hundred dollars each. "Not bad considering we both started off wagering six hundred, don't you think?"
"Oh my God, Rose! That was such a blast! We have to do this again!" Bella said excitedly.
"Don't worry. I plan on taking you with me. Just don't say anything to our mates. You know how fucking overprotective they get."
"My lips are sealed." Bella made like she was zipping her mouth shut.
We got back to Jasper and Bella's room where our mates were sitting on the floor going through their purchases. They had a bunch of bags from Abernathy Road and about fifty bags from Bass Pro Shops. They each grabbed a rifle out of one of the Bass Pro Shops bag.
"Why the hell do you guys have rifles?" I asked.
"We're going hunting." Emmett stated.
"Hunting?" Bella and I both blurted out.
"Yeah, hunting. I invited Jasper to Gatlinburg and we're gonna go hunt deer." Hmm...it seems as though my husband has conveniently changed his mind about telling Jasper and Bella about his boyhood home.
"I hate to tell you this guys, but we don't need guns to hunt deer." I reminded them.
"We're hunting deer for sport, silly." Emmett stated.
"For sport?" I asked. "What about the blood?"
"Oh, we've got this all figured out. We're gonna hunt first, then hunt for sport." Jasper explained.
Bella who had her forehead in her hands, shook her head, and looked up. "Why?"
"Well, we went to Abernathy Road and they sold non-firing replica guns there. That got Em and I talking about how we used to go hunting when we were kids. So, we asked where we could get hunting gear and we were directed to Bass Pro Shops. Let me tell ya, that was the most awesome store in the world. They had all sorts of hunting rifles and hunting gear. They even have this spray shit to mask your scent." Jasper said excitedly.
"Oh and we found out that they have one in Foxborough, Massachusetts. We can go there with all the guys when we get back." My husband said looking like a kid in a candy store.
Bella's eyes scanned the room—they bulged out when she zoomed in on the object standing up in the corner of the room. My jaw dropped when I saw what she was looking at. "Is that a canoe?" She asked.
"Yeah, Sissy. Ain't it great? Jasper and I are going canoeing when we get back to Gatlinburg."
"How the fuck are you going to canoe in the middle of winter?" I asked.
"Hey, the Native Americans used to do it all the time. I don't see why we can't." Jasper defended.
"Now, let's get the gear loaded up in my Jeep, Jasper. If we leave now, we can make it to Gatlinburg by nine pm."
"Hang on, where the hell is Gatlinburg and why are we going there?" Bella asked.
"Gatlinburg is the town where Em grew up in. I'll explain everything to you on the way." I said.
"Um, okay." Bella said then brought up a really good point. "It's nice that you guys want to load everything up in your Jeep, but where the fuck are Rose and I supposed to ride?"
The two dumb fucks gave us confused looks. Duhhhhhhh! Geez! They get so caught up in their shit sometimes.
"I got it!" Jasper exclaimed. "Em and I will ride in his Jeep with the gear and you girls can rent a car."
"Great idea, bro. Let's roll!" Em and Jasper called up a bellhop to have them bring their items down. They were lost in their own world and had completely forgotten about me and Bella.
Jasper gave Bella a lingering kiss on the lips. "Would you mind checking out for us, baby? Emmett and I want to get a head start before the traffic hits."
"Whatever you say, Jasper." Bella replied sweetly as her husband hopped into Emmett's fully packed Jeep. Our mates waved goodbye and left us standing there in the lobby like idiots.
"What the fuck was that? They're suddenly so buddy-buddy that they completely forget about us?" I complained.
"Rose, Rose, Rose." Bella smiled mischievously as she shook her head. "Let's look at this as an opportunity, sis. Our mates are obviously caught up in their bromance and we've been asked to tie up all the loose ends. I happen to have a hotel room that I'm going to get charged for through tomorrow morning. They're not going to let us check out at this hour without charging us for the day. It's already after five so all the car rental offices in town are closed and the only way we'll be able to rent a car is if we go all the way to the airport. I don't feel like hailing a cab and going all the way there, do you?"
I gave my brilliant sister a sly smile. "Oh, no sis. The Nashville traffic at this hour is horrific. There's no way we can rent a car now. We'll have to wait it out until morning so we can rent the car out of a local office. Too bad. Let's go pick up a change of clothes for tomorrow and get our nails done."
"Sure, then we can go to the Grand Ole Opry like we planned since the numbnuts seemed to have conveniently forgotten about that." Bella suggested.
"I like that plan—after that, we'll have to go to a honky tonk and get some drinks. Maybe we'll even have to grab a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels to bring back to the hotel." I added.
Bella and I quickly grabbed some clothes, underwear, and toiletries for tomorrow at a Target. What a great idea my sister had—we were able to get it all done in one stop. Never in my life did I think I'd set foot in a Target. Alice had warned us not to go in—stating that their clothes were extremely poor quality and, therefore, beneath us. Foolishly, I believed her. The clothes here weren't bad at all and the prices were incredible. I made a decision right then and there to shop at Target more often.
"Bella? Do you shop at Target a lot?" I asked.
"Yeah, Vicky, Irina, and I usually do a combination of Marshalls, Target, and Old Navy when we go clothes shopping. Some stuff, like tank tops and basic tees, we do at Walmart. There's no point in spending an arm and a leg on clothes." She said.
"I feel like such an idiot Bella. To this day, I only shopped at the stores where Alice told me I could shop. I put so much faith in her shopping knowledge that I never ventured elsewhere. I noticed that even Edward has changed his style lately. He looks more laid back."
"That would be Riley's doing. He took him to American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch to shop. The fucked up t-shirts—he found on his on. Maybe we can go shopping together when we get back home." Bella suggested.
"That would be so nice. Sometimes, I can't help, but feel that I look snobby and pretentious, Bella." I admitted.
"It's what's inside that counts, sis." She said, simply.
I really love my sister. She knew just the right thing to say to make me feel better.
We headed off to the Grand Ole Opry and were able to tour the building. It turned out that they only had acts scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. We'll just have to leave it for next time. The gift shop was open so we browsed around when we saw the most delightful pair of cowboy boots. We each got a pair for ourselves and our loveable, but idiotic husbands then left to find a place to get a manicure and pedicure.
My nails were an absolute disaster because I worked with cars all day long. The manicurist was horrified when she saw the state of my nails. It's pretty bad when your toenails are actually faring better than your fingernails. While we were there, we got our eyebrows waxed too. "We might as well get it over with." Bella wisely stated.
We headed off to the Wildhorse Saloon and had a couple of drinks while watching some live entertainment. I told Bella all about our secret hideaway in Gatlinburg and she was mesmerized by the tale of Em's brother. I asked her to keep Gatlinburg a secret and, just as I thought, she completely understood our need for privacy and even thanked me for sharing it with her. We grabbed a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels at a liquor store and settled in for the night at the hotel around midnight. An hour later, both of our cells chimed. It was our mates.
"What is it Emmett?" I asked.
"Where the motherfuck are you two girls? It's one o clock in the morning! You should have been here hours ago."
"Really? I didn't know that there was a set schedule."
"Well? Where the hell are you? Jasper and I are out of our minds worrying about you!" He yelled.
"Nice of you two to show you care all of a sudden." I said sarcastically. "Bella and I decided to drive up in the morning instead so we could tour Nashville a little more."
"What? How could you make a decision like that without us?"
"Hmm...let's see. Oh, yeah, we figured it would be okay seeing that you and Jasper made the decision to leave for Gatlinburg without running it by us first." I said. "Now, don't bother coming down here. Bella and I are safe in the hotel and just talking. We'll be there sometime tomorrow." With that, I snapped my cell phone shut.
Bella hung up a minute later with, "Next time, you'd better think about who you're speaking to before you decide to go all neanderthal on me, mister! Don't you guys dare run down to Nashville and disrupt Rose and my bonding time either. We'll get there when we get there sometime tomorrow!"
"Can you believe the nerve of them? They wanted to play with their new toys so they decide to drive up to Gatlinburg immediately and expected us to do as they say. Then, they freak out because we didn't drop everything and follow them there!" I seethed.
"Don't worry, sis, I told Jasper where he could stick it. He actually suggested that you and I run there right now. I told him to run straight to hell. I think I got the point across though." Bella looked just as angry as I was. We both uncapped our bottles of Jack Daniels and took a big swig.
"Rose? Can I ask you something personal?"
"Sure, Bella, what is it?"
"How often does Emmett scent you in a day?"
"Jasper going a little overboard, is he?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's just that he scents me twice in the morning before school and sometimes during the day, even. He pulled me into a janitor's closet once to scent me. He even scents me before I come home to Amherst to visit."
"Actually, Jasper's not as bad as Emmett is. Almost as bad, but not quite. Emmett scents me twice in the morning then he shows up midday at my job to do it again. As soon as I get home, he pulls me upstairs to scent me yet again." I paused. "You have to understand that scenting is a part of a male vampire's psyche—it's primal and instinctual. Believe it or not, the two biggest scenters in our family are Garrett and Carlisle. I think Emmett and Jasper stand out more because they have no qualms about doing it in public. I don't know what causes some men to scent their women more than the others, but there's no sense arguing the point so just go with it."
"Rose, there's something else bothering me—it's about Mike. Do you think we made a mistake in changing him I'm not so sure he wanted to become a vampire, Alice clearly lied to us about that as well."
"You know something Bella? Even if he didn't want to be a vampire, we can't dwell on it. We did what we thought was right at the moment, that's all that matters. Transforming Mike has actually helped me to forgive Carlisle for changing me. I finally understand that Dad changed me because he thought it was the right thing to do at the time. It took me seventy-five years to forgive him. I hold onto grudges a lot longer than you do, sis." I chuckled. "Hey, I have an idea! Let's get Daddy a pair of those cowboy boots before we leave Nashville tomorrow. I bet he'd get a kick out of them."
"Sounds great Rose! Check out isn't until noon anyway. I think the car rental place is in that direction anyway."
We spent the rest of the night bonding. We talked about a whole slew of things, from Amanda's prom to Charlotte's lack of restraint when it came to sex. I told Bella that I'd give Amanda a haircut and highlights since she's been itching to update her looks. Bella and I colored her hair for her right before Christmas. It was a really pretty blonde color now. I actually have a hairdresser license from the late eighties when I decided to go to beauty school on a whim. I soon realized that I hated it and got my license as an auto mechanic. I've been to college, of course, but I've never really been studious. I always preferred working with my hands.
We called the hotel concierge and had him set it up so that a rental car was waiting for us when we checked out. It worked out perfectly, we threw our bags in, made one stop for Carlisle's boots, then made our way towards Gatlinburg. When we got there, Jasper and Emmett were both waiting anxiously on the front porch. They led us inside the house, Bella and I were greeted with hundreds and hundreds of pink and red roses—our favorite flowers and a message written in black sharpie on poster board that read "We're sorry for being cavemen." How could we not forgive them after that.
The next day, Jasper and Emmett went hunting while Bella helped me strip some wallpaper off of the walls. They were decked out in camouflage from head to toe with a rifle in one hand and some gear in the other and, quite frankly, looked ridiculous. A few hours later, the guys returned hollering at us to come help.
I opened the door, took one whiff, and immediately shut it. "Hey! Why'd you go and shut the door on us for. You've got to help us get rid of this fucking smell!"
"What the hell happened?" I asked.
"Um, we were hunting and we heard something moving in the forest. We thought it was a deer or something so we aimed our gun at it. That's when we were sprayed by three skunks." Jasper said.
"Are you out of your fucking minds?" Bella yelled. "You're fucking vampires with highly tuned senses. You know what deer fucking smells like, how the hell do you fuck that up?"
"Baby, we were trying to hunt like humans do without using our senses." Jasper explained.
"No, shit!" Bella and I both shouted out sarcastically.
"Hold on then. I'll go grab a couple of black garbage bags. You can strip your clothes off and put them in there. I'll hose you both down before you come in. Bella can you grab some shampoo for them."
She grabbed the shampoo and I hosed down Dumb and Dumber as much as possible. They still stunk to high heaven. "Any idea of how to get rid of the stink?" I asked Bella.
"Actually yes. My dad got sprayed while he was hunting once. He had to douse himself in gallons and gallons of vinegar and tomato juice. We're also going to need tons of soap and shampoo for afterwards. Oh and we have to get rid of any towels they use until the stink's gone." Bella instructed.
"Okay, Emmett, you take the bathtub upstairs and Jasper, you take the one downstairs. Sit in the tubs and don't move until Bella and I get back.
We climbed into rental car and drove to the Walmart Supercenter in nearby Sevierville. "Welcome to Walmart. Have a nice day." Some weird, old lady in a blue vest greeted us as we walked in.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked.
"Uh, no. I'm just wishing you a nice day." She said, then added. "It's my job."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Do you like your job?"
"No, but it's work and I need the money." She said.
"Oh, well, it's good that you're working then." I responded before Bella pulled me away.
She was giggling. "They're called greeters. Every Walmart has them. Garrett actually started talking about the weather the first time he encountered one. Grab a shopping cart, Rose. Let's grab the body wash and shampoo first. We might want to grab more towels too."
Oh! I love this store. Walmart is actually a blast! We didn't have stores like this when I was human. They have everything from clothes to groceries to tires. Tires! What kind of a place carries groceries and tires? They do oil changes too—for really cheap! I'm gonna have to knock down the prices of my oil changes with competition like this. Their tire prices are low too.
We grabbed about twenty gallons each of tomato juice and vinegar. We cashed out and headed home to our skunk juice doused mates. "Rose? They're not gonna want to scent us are they?" Bella asked.
Holy fuck! I didn't think of that. There's no way in hell they're gonna scent us. I won't let them. "Bella, once we get home we stick together like glue. I don't care if Jasper sends us a year's worth of lust. We don't spend any time alone with them until they completely get rid of the stench. Got it, sis?"
"Got it." Bella assured me.
We walked into the house with our supplies and started off with Emmett. "Uh, sweetie. Bella's going to help me, okay?"
"Rosie, honey, don't you think that bathing's a bit personal?" My mate asked.
"No, think of this more like a medical procedure." I said. Bella and I scrubbed Emmett as best as we could with the vinegar and tomato juice. After we rinsed him off, we told him to shower using the body wash and shampoo.
"Rosie, I thought maybe you could help me shower." He winked at me. I ignored him and left the bathroom with Bella.
We, then, went to work on Jasper. "It took you long enough, babe, the little guy's been waiting for...uh, Rose, what are you doing in here?"
"We're scrubbing you down, bro." I stated. "Sit down." Jasper sat down, hard-on and all, on the tub floor. Bella and I doused him with the vinegar and tomato juice and started working on getting rid of the skunk smell.
"Okay, Jasper, just use the shampoo and body wash and rinse off." Bella said.
"Well, thanks, Rose. I think Bella and I can handle it from here." Jasper tried getting rid of me. You could tell he was sending Bella loads of lust by the way she was licking her lips.
"No dice, fucker." I said and dragged my sister out of the bathroom with me. "Not until you completely de-skunk yourself."
"Thanks, sis." She said gratefully.
"No problem."
Jasper and Emmett soon joined us in the living room. They now smelled like muted skunk mixed with tomato juice, vinegar, coconut scented shampoo, and Axe body wash. In other words, they were rank.
"Why don't you sit with us girls? Come closer." Emmett encouraged.
"How much of the tomato juice and vinegar did we use?" I asked.
"We still have about ten gallons of each left." Bella said. "I don't know if it's because of our heightened sense of smell, but this shit isn't going away."
"What the hell are we supposed to do and why are you girls standing so far away from us?" Jasper asked.
"You guys stink. Oh and don't you even consider scenting either one of us. In fact, don't touch us until you get rid of that odor."
"What?" Emmett and Jasper both blurted out.
"You know something. I bet you Mike would know what to do. Think about it? He owns an outdoor sporting goods store. All the hunters in that vicinity go to Newton's for their supplies." Bella said. "I'll call him."
"NO! Don't call Mike." Our mates desperately shouted out.
"Why not?" I asked.
"If you call him we'll be the butt of all jokes in the family. They'll never let us live this shit down." Emmett said.
"Good point. Oh, I know! Why don't we just research it on the internet?" Bella suggested wisely.
My sister and I scoured the internet and finally came up with what we thought was a possible solution.
"It says here that in order to remove the skunk stench from dogs the owners bathe their dogs in a solution of a quart of hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup of baking soda, and two tablespoons of dish soap. It says to double or triple the recipe depending on the size of dog." I said. "Apparently, the recipe is enough to de-skunk a small poodle.
We both started sizing up our husbands' tall frames. "About how many poodles do you think Jasper and Emmett equal?" Bella asked.
"I don't know, how many inches is a small poodle?" I asked.
"Hey, we're still here, you know." Jasper said.
"Yeah, what the fuck? We're not dogs you know." Em whined.
"You're right, dogs actually smell better than you do." I pointed out.
"Okay, Rose and I are going to grab the stuff we need to make the skunk stench remover. Meanwhile, why don't you guys try the vinegar and tomato juice again."
"You're leaving us again?" Emmett asked.
"Uh, yeah, we need to if we're going to get the Eau de Pepe Le Pew off your sparkly asses." Bella replied as she shut the door behind us. We then headed back to Walmart for more supplies.
"Sis, grab a box of hair color for your man." I said. "I don't know if you noticed, but his hair is stained pink from the tomato juice."
"Do I look like I know anything about hair color? You're the expert, you pick."
We quickly grabbed our stuff, went home, and started mixing. This time we delivered buckets of the solution to our hubbies while they scrubbed themselves clean.
An hour later, they came out of the bathrooms smelling almost like themselves. The skunk scent was barely detectable. We still weren't gonna let them near us though. "I ain't ever hunting for sport again. My hair is as pink as one of those roses—even my pubes are pink."
"Definitely, bro. Next time, let's go fishing instead." Emmett agreed with Jasper. "My skin actually feels raw from all the scrubbing and I'm a vampire."
Jasper, then turned to us. "Are you ladies gonna avoid us all night?"
"Yes." We both said without hesitation.
"What's it gonna take for our wives to give us some one on one attention?" Jasper used his sexy southern drawl and sent us both some lust. I grabbed Bella's hand, the keys, and both of our pocketbooks.
"We'll see you in the morning. Bathe in that stuff if you have to— just get it off of you." I urged before shutting the door and leaving. As Bella and I hopped in the car, I couldn't help, but smile. For the first time in five years, my brother, husband, and I were completely relaxed. Sure the men, stunk to high heaven from their encounter with the skunk, but they got themselves in that predicament by trying something that brought them joy as boys. This time last year, we were still worried sick about what could have happened to Bella, enjoying ourselves was the furthest thing from any of our minds. Now, however, that worry was lifted and we could concentrate on living our lives to the fullest. That would have never happened if it weren't for the little girl sitting next to me.
Yeah, I know—Bella wasn't exactly a little girl anymore. Physically, she was older than me by four years, but in actual age I was ninety-five and she would always be my baby sister. I glanced at the passenger seat and saw her peering out the window with wide eyes full of wonder. I grabbed her hand and smiled at her knowing that I would always protect her. A text buzzed in from Jasper at that moment. I opened it up to take a peek at it.
From: J Whitlock
To: R Hale
Take your baby sis hunting. She hasn't been in three days. I love you both. Stay safe. Jasper.
Correction, we would always protect her.
Gotta hand it to Jasper for throwing lust at an unsuspecting Em and Rose. I wish he'd throw some my way. Pretty selfish of the men to make decisions without including their mates if you ask me. I think they deserved what they got from Rose and Bella. Speaking of our favorite two girls, what did you think of Rose's thoughts on Bella? What about their newfound secret career as pool sharks? Let me know what you think. I'll always write back. XOXO