Chapter 21

Bella took a deep breath and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It was only Edward. He'd been round her apartment before. So why did this time feel so different?

It had been a couple of days since Mike's unexpected visit and she was still feeling rocked by the whole thing. Rosalie and Alice had been great – again – at trying to get her back on track, but she didn't yet trust herself to be left alone with her own emotions. She needed company, someone to distract her from her broken heart. Alice was out on a date with Jasper this evening – it turned out they'd really clicked at the bar and were desperate to see each other again. And while Rose had been a comfort after the initial shock of Mike's reappearance in her life, Bella still hadn't fully forgiven her. So she'd pulled out her phone to call someone… and was surprised to find the one person she'd wanted to see was Edward.

She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he'd been so understanding when she'd first told him about her break-up from Mike. Maybe it was his ever-sunny outlook on life. Maybe it was because she could just be herself around him – no Rosalie telling her that everything can be fixed with a good screw; no Alice encouraging her to find love again. None of that mattered with Edward. He just wanted her to be happy, whatever that took.

Now he was on his way over to "hang out" and Bella felt inexplicably anxious. She mentally scolded herself. Don't be ridiculous, Bella. It's just Edward Cullen. Annoying, cock-blocking, dorky Cullen. Who you might find a tiny bit cute. She tried to ignore the last comment from her sub-conscious, and wiped off the lipstick she'd just applied. She didn't want to look like she was making an effort or anything…

oOo

"Edward, hi!" said Bella, opening the door to her apartment. She suddenly froze, caught in the uncomfortable moment of not knowing how to greet someone. Edward leaned forward, apparently going in for a hug, so Bella mirrored his movement only to realise at the last minute he was just taking his backpack off. Awkward.

"Hey Bella," replied Edward. "How are you feeling?" He looked like he really cared about the answer. Bella felt a little tug on her heartstrings. He really was such a sweet guy.

"I've been better," she shrugged. "I'll survive, though. Anyway, I believe I should be thanking you for giving Mike such a good send off the other day." She smirked.

"Aw, it was nothing," joked Edward, looking a little embarrassed at the memory. "You know, any time you need me to puke on an ex-boyfriend, just give me a call."

Bella laughed and shook her head, leading Edward through to the sitting room. "Seriously though, Edward. Thanks for coming round to hang out. It's just… difficult to be on my own right now."

"Hey, no problem, Bella. I totally understand. I'm kind of flattered that you thought of me, to be honest." He took off his jacket to reveal a navy blue t-shirt with some kind of logo on the front, a white star inside white and red circles. Probably another comic book thing, thought Bella. She couldn't help but notice this t-shirt was a little tighter than the ones Edward usually wore, and she was surprised to see the outline of his muscles bulging through.

"Well, you were my eleventh choice," she deadpanned, handing Edward a bottle of beer. "Everyone else bailed on me. So you'll have to do."

"Oh, well in that case…" laughed Edward, making to leave. "I'm just kidding." He sat down on the couch and opened his backpack, pulling out a flat green box. "So, it's kind of nerdy, but I hear nothing takes your mind of an asshole ex-boyfriend like a game of Scrabble."

"Scrabble?" laughed Bella. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly." He fixed Bella with a serious look. She could feel herself flush a little at the intensity of his stare, the golden flecks in his eyes flashing behind the lenses of his glasses. "And this isn't just ordinary Scrabble. This is Dirty Scrabble."

Bella threw her head back with laughter. "What? I've never heard of that before, Edward. You totally made that up."

He shook his head slowly. "Bella, Bella, Bella. The only reason you haven't heard of it before is because the first rule of Dirty Scrabble is: you do not talk about Dirty Scrabble. The second rule of Dirty Scrabble is: any words are allowed as long as they're rude."

"Okay Cullen, that sounds simple enough," said Bella, sitting up straighter on the sofa. "Bring it on!"

Edward chuckled, took a swig of his beer and set up the board. He kicked off the game with the word O-R-G-Y. Bella looked at her letters and used the 'O' of Edward's word to spell out F-O-L-D-S. "Folds?" he asked, puzzled. "What the hell is 'folds'? Do I need to explain the rules to you again, Bella?"

"You know, like, 'He ran his finger through her silky folds.'" Edward looked at her blankly. "Her vajajay," she explained, not without a little embarrassment. "You always read crap like that in erotic fiction."

"Oh, and you read a lot of erotic fiction, do you?" asked Edward, raising an eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"Only when I get desperate," Bella winked, causing Edward to chuckle as he wrote down her score on the little notepad that came with the game.

Several bottles of beer later, Edward was well in the lead after an impressive scoring B-U-T-T-S-E-X (on a triple word square), and the pair of them were in fits of hysterical laughter at every new word they laid down on the board. Mike felt like a distant memory to Bella; she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

Bella studied Edward's face as he pondered his letters to make the next word. He really was quite beautiful. She was surprised she hadn't noticed before. That may have something to do with the fact that every time you see him there's a naked male model wandering around, a voice in her head reminded her. She laughed a little to herself at the thought.

"What's so funny?" asked Edward, running his hand through his messy bronze hair.

"Oh, er… I was just thinking what a great jawline you have," Bella admitted, too flustered to come up with a good lie.

"Ok-aaay," said Edward, slowly, taking a swig of his beer and drawing his eyebrows together in confusion. "Thanks, I guess. Did I mention you have a really lovely elbow?"

Bella laughed and threw one of the sofa cushions at him, which he ducked to avoid. "Don't make fun of me, Edward! I was only trying to pay you a compliment." He grinned, secretly pleased, and laid down his tiles to spell out L-I-C-K. The word conjured up a sudden image in Bella's mind, an imagined feeling of Edward's tongue on her naked skin, which crept up on her before she could think of something else. She could feel herself blush and hoped he didn't notice. She surreptitiously looked up from the board to checking he wasn't looking at her. He was. Intently.

She swallowed, and quickly put down her own tiles to make up the first word she could think of. S-U-C-K. Now it was Edward's turn to look flushed. The silence between them was tangible. What had started out as a funny game had somehow just taken a serious twist. Edward took a gulp from his bottle and noted down Bella's score, his eyes suddenly unable to meet hers. Bella picked up her own drink and took a sip, willing the chill of the cold beer to bring some much needed clarity to the fuzz of thoughts and emotions swirling round her head. Was she having a 'moment' with Edward Cullen?

Edward held the drawstring bag of tiles over to her so she could pull out some more letters. Only a few little plastic squares were left, so as Bella rooted around to pick them out, she could feel the heat of Edward's hand through the thin cloth of the bag. She felt her pulse quicken at the thought of looking up and meeting his eyes, both terrified and strangely hopeful of what she might see reflected in them. She didn't dare. Instead, she quickly placed her new tiles on the letter rack and kept her eyes fixed on them.

"Oh crap. I got a Q."

Edward burst out laughing, the weird tension between them broken almost as suddenly as it had appeared. "Bella, you're not supposed to tell me what letters you get!"

"Like it matters," she smiled, relieved to be joking around with him again. "You're winning by a mile. But seriously, there are no rude words containing a Q. Not one. Ugh, I give up!"

"You're admitting defeat? Come on, Bella, I thought you of all people had a bit more fight in you than that." Bella noticed a tenderness in Edward's voice when he said that.

"What can I say, Edward? You're the king of dirty words!"

"Amen to that!" laughed Edward, holding forward his beer bottle to clink it with Bella's. She took a drink and settled back into the couch, a sudden wave of tiredness washing over her. She yawned and checked her watch. It was pretty late.

"Sorry, am I keeping you up?" asked Edward.

"No, it's just, I haven't slept very well the past couple of days, what with Mike and everything. I've just been too stressed out to sleep. I think it's finally catching up with me."

"Well, I don't want to keep you up," said Edward, packing away the Scrabble. He paused, as if waiting for Bella to say something. She almost did. Part of her didn't want Edward to leave. He'd been a brilliant distraction – she'd barely thought about the incident with Mike all evening. And, if she was being really honest with herself, she'd actually enjoyed spending time with Edward. He made her feel… she wasn't sure what exactly. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. But she knew it felt good. Like the moment the sun bursts through dark storm clouds after weeks of rain.

But she was shattered, and she finally thought she would be able to get some sleep. With a heavy heart, she didn't protest at Edward leaving. She thought she might be imagining the look of disappointment on his face when he said, "Thanks for inviting me round, Bella. It's been really fun."

"Yeah," said Bella. It had been really fun. "We should do it again sometime."

"Oh, a re-match? You think you can take me on and steal my crown, huh?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely."

oOo

Lying in bed that night, Bella found herself still unable to sleep, despite the exhaustion she felt. But it was no longer her turmoil over Mike keeping her awake. Something else was nagging at her. Something she didn't feel quite ready to deal with.

Her phone beeped and she reached over to pick it up from her bedside locker – probably Alice telling her what a great date she'd had with Jasper. Bella unlocked the screen and pulled up the text message.

"Quim."

It was from Edward. What the hell? Then she remembered the game. A rude word with the letter 'Q.' She laughed to herself.

"Can you use it in a sentence please?" she typed and hit 'send.'

A few seconds later, the reply came through: "I want to run my fingers through the silky folds of your Quim."

Bella felt a flush of feelings she never thought she'd associate with Edward Cullen. She typed out a quick message and sent it before she could change her mind: "As long as I can touch your Quivering member."

His reply popped up almost immediately: "Only if we make it a Quickie. ;)"

"OK, I Quit (again). Goodnight Edward. X"

"Goodnight Bella. X"

A/N: Hmmm, methinks someone is finally opening their eyes to the hotness that is Edward Cullen! What do you guys think? Let me know in a review! Reviews will get teasers for the next chapter... and Mr July is just around the corner!

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

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