Beta'd by cejsmom and preread by twi-mom12292005

Chapter 8

EPOV

Photography, editing, surfing, dogs, working out, family dinners, dogs, over and over again. My life is pretty predictable and uncomplicated. I'm also not much for going out at night. My friends and I mainly hang out in the day time at the beach, working out, whatever.

My two closest friends, Emmett and Jasper, are great guys. Emmett is a gentle giant; tall, big, muscular, but a stand-up guy. He'd do anything for anyone. Jasper is tall, blond, soft spoken, but very intuitive. He always says or does the right thing to make people feel better.

I've known Emmet for most of my life here in the U.S., we grew up together. I recently met Jasper through Emmett, but I immediately liked him and his calm, easy going way. These two are the kind of guys you can bring home to have dinner with your family, and I do, Emmett is the only one who has been able to so far. Emmett and his girlfriend, Rose, frequently come to the Cullen Sunday dinners. Rose and Alice have become good friends because of this. Two strong-willed, opinionated woman, lord help us all when they're together. Jasper has been too busy, but I hope he will join us soon.

Both Emmett and Jasper are very successful in their respective careers. Emmett started his own construction company right out of high school; things are going so well that he barely works at all. As he often says. "The company practically runs itself". Jasper is an attorney. He is a corporate attorney and handles personal cases. Emmett hired him for a legal problem he was having, and they've been trusted friends ever since. I have retained him myself recently due to some legal issues with one of my neighbors.

They're both single, I mean not married. Emmett's been with Rosalie, for years. She is beautiful, tall, blonde and perfect for Emmett, but she can be a real bitch. She doesn't take crap from anyone, especially him, and is fiercely protective of all of us. She's a good one to have on your side. They live together in the huge house that Emmett built in Newport Beach, just south of where I live. Emmett has asked Rosalie to marry him, but she is not convinced that he is ready to settle down. I think they're perfect together, I think they could only stand living with each other.

Jasper has had a few serious, long-term relationships, but none that were heading anywhere. He's been terribly hurt by some of these women as most of them were not faithful. He often gets told that, "You're too nice," comment. I don't get that, too nice, is that possible? Jasper is on a break from women right now, so he and I understand each other. I'm sure that won't last for long, he likes being in a relationship too much. And he is amazingly smooth with the woman. It's fun to watch him work his magic on those rare nights we do go out.

I'm glad he's single right now as I need his full attention on my current legal issue. The owner of the neighboring industrial complex, Victoria Volturi, is suing me over excessive noise. This is ridiculous for several reasons; no one lives in her buildings, they are only occupied during the day, and there are two large parking lots with lots of land separating our buildings. When I was looking for property I took all of these things into consideration. I actually purchased this land and built on it, with Emmett's help. I tried to make a generous noise buffer zone around my building because I knew we would be noisy. I was already here and established when they built their industrial complex too close to my property. Yet, I'm being sued.

Victoria has visited me in person more than once and suggested, practically demonstrated how I could make these legal issues go away. She wants sex; she wants me in particular as I am a challenge to her, a conquest. The more I seem disinterested, the more interesting I am to her. I can't win. Don't get me wrong, Victoria, is a beautiful woman, early forties, reddish hair, a very curvy body that won't quit. She even went as far as hiring me to photograph her. Put it this way, I saw way more of Victoria that day than I ever wanted to. That overt sexuality is a real turnoff to me. I can't be bought or sold or whatever, so my legal issues continue.

My calm, comfortable life continues as usual, except for one thing, my mind keeps going back to the girl at the beach, the virgin. I find myself looking at her photos on my computer, looking for her when I go to the beach. Most annoying is thinking about touching her, her smell and dreaming about her. It's like she is in my head. I met her once, she provided some entertainment, we barely talked, yet I still think about her. My brain keeps telling me she is a "safe crush," unreachable. My heart says, maybe I'll see her again. Either way I wish she'd get out of my head and my dreams.

A/N

A bit of back story, an introduction of the boys, and another snippet into Edward's head.

What do you think? Why is he noisy?

Saw On The Road. It was great! KS was amazing!