Author Note: Thanks for the great response to this story! Everyone is crossing their fingers that Bella and Jake took care of all copies of the incriminating photos.
Congratulations to MsAndreaRenee, who was the only one to guess this chapter's title from Whitesnake and Survivor (Is This Love), or the similarly named Is It Love from Mr. Mister.
Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.
Chapter 19 – Is This Love
"Oh!" My eyes fly open to a brightly lit room and a head of messy reddish-brown hair between my legs. He kisses, laps and sucks, and just generally… loves me.
Edward may not have quite said those three little words last night, but… I think… it was implied. And even more scary, I think I love him, too. Maybe it's fast since we've only been dating for a month, but…
He completes me. God, that is so cheesy. I enjoy every minute we spend together, whether we're out and about or alone and naked.
But the naked part right now is fucking awesome. Back in high school, Lauren used to enlighten us as to which guys were grossed out by going down on girls, which were crap at oral sex, and which ones she'd let eat her out anytime, anywhere. I never knew whether to believe her or not.
I know now that she wasn't exaggerating about how good it can be with a guy who knows what he's doing.
Now that I'm awake, Edward intensifies his efforts, adding a finger inside me and speeding up his slow, gentle movements. I shudder and shake when I finally come.
"Good morning, beautiful," he smiles, looking up at me and licking his lips.
"Why is it morning already?" I moan.
"Hey, it's not my fault you jumped on my dick twice during the night," he laughs.
"Yes, it is! He was… looking at me. He looked needy."
Edward laughs, slapping the side of my ass as he gets up off the bed. "Want to shower with me?" he asks, waggling his eyebrows. Somehow I don't think he means just to get clean.
"Let me go use the bathroom first," I propose, getting out of bed.
Ow! Ow! Ow!
My lady parts feel like they've been hit by a truck. Or repeatedly pummeled by the Biggest Dick Ever. Oh my god, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to walk correctly again.
After I've peed, I brush my teeth then turn on the water in the shower. I'm shocked when I see a new bottle of body wash on the shower caddy. It's strawberry scented, so it's clearly meant for me.
"You like?" Edward asks, stepping into the shower and wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"I love it," I respond, touched by the gesture. He didn't get any shampoo or conditioner, but then he wouldn't have any idea what kind I use. Unless he's got some freaky hair fetish.
He squirts some of the new body wash into his hands, rubs them together, then begins spreading the soap all over my skin. I smile when he pays extra close attention to my breasts.
When he's finished, I stand under the spray to rinse then decide to wash him. I start with his back, totally enjoying the chance to squeeze his ass. Edward has a very nice ass. Coming around to the front, I wash his chest then bend down to lather up his legs, totally skipping his very needy looking dick.
"You missed something," he pouts.
"Did I?" I ask innocently. Bending down again, I wrap my hand around the BDE, then suck the head into my mouth. I twist my hand a little as I move it up and down the length of his shaft.
After a minute or so of mostly concentrating on the head, I get brave and decide to see exactly how much of that monster will fit at least somewhat comfortably in my mouth. I know the trick is supposed to be to relax your throat, but that's really hard to do, and I end up gagging with several inches in my mouth.
"He's too much for you, huh?" Edward teases. "You know, you don't have to deep throat. I'll come just with what you were doing before, unless…"
"Unless what?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Oh my god, I think I could come just from the way you're looking at me," he moans. "But I meant that I could come inside you."
"Oh no!" I protest. "My lady bits need a break."
"Not my fault," he sing-songs. Just for that I oughta bite him.
Instead, I suck the head of his cock back into my mouth, continuing to use my hand on the rest. Only this time, I look up into his eyes the entire time. It's definitely better this way, getting to see the pleasure on his face. Pleasure that's because of me.
"If-if I were you," he pants, "I'd pull my mouth off now."
Oh shit! Yeah, I don't want a big glob of his spunk in my mouth. I've heard that shit's nasty. Pointing the BDE away from me, I tighten my hand and within 10 seconds, he erupts with a loud groan.
I watch with pride as his jizz runs down the drain. I did that. Me.
Edward helps me to my feet, planting two quick kisses on my lips. "That… was fucking awesome," he declares.
"Even though I couldn't deep throat?" I ask, my insecurity getting to me.
"Even then," he laughs, handing me the shampoo bottle.
A couple minutes later, Edward and I are out of the shower and drying off with his big fluffy towels. I didn't take the time last night to pack a new outfit, so I have to put on yesterday's clothes.
"Do you want me to go bring back some fresh donuts for breakfast?" he asks as soon as he's dressed.
"Krispy Kreme?" I ask excitedly.
"Sorry, no. It's not a chain. It's pretty good though. I don't want to chance going out with you."
"Ok," I agree, looking for my purse so I can brush my hair.
When Edward comes back with the donuts, we eat them while we start writing out the story we plan to give the Dean, should James make good on his word and squeal on us. Once we're satisfied that we have an explanation for everything, he makes a copy of our script with his printer/copier that I can take with me and memorize. I'll also need to get Alice and Jake on board with at least part of it — just in case — since I plan to say that I was with them at Dave & Buster's that night.
The week passes with no calls or emails from the Dean and no run-ins with James Hunter. I don't even see him around campus, but then I never did until last Friday.
Emmett checks with one of his buddies in the computer lab and learns that James has only sent something to the print queue once since the night Edward and I went to Dave & Buster's. He printed 20 pages to the black and white printer, not the color one, so it's most likely a paper for class and not any kind of photos.
That doesn't mean we're 100% in the clear, but it's looking pretty certain that James never printed the incriminating photo. And we've — hopefully — deleted his only proof against us.
After much begging and pleading via text, Edward agrees to take two of our dinner and movie plans on Saturday night — as a double date with Alice and Jasper. We're going to Chesterfield Valley, which is about a 30-minute drive from UMSL. I can't imagine anyone going to the movie theater out there when nearly a dozen are much closer to campus.
I do feel a bit bad for making the first official introductions without Jake, but he's in Michigan with the basketball team this weekend. There will be another chance for him to meet Edward.
Edward and I are meeting Alice and Jasper at the restaurant, since the two of them are taking a brief shopping trip beforehand. Jasper's mom's birthday is coming up, and Alice has gone along to help him pick something out.
The Italian restaurant Edward has chosen is very cute. On busy nights they won't seat you until the entire party is there, so we stand off to the side for a couple of minutes until the others arrive.
I put my hand on Edward's arm and begin the introductions. "Edward, this is Alice Brandon, who took me under her wing on my first day in a new high school. And this is her boyfriend, Jasper Whitlock."
Edward gives Alice a smile and then reaches out his hand for Jasper to shake. "I'm Edward Cullen," he says.
The hostess shows us to our table and we place our drink orders with our waitress, who hands us the short menus before describing several specials.
"Don't order the lasagna unless you want leftovers," Alice suggests. "Seriously, I've been here before and the portion is huge. Nothing else is quite that bad."
"Maybe I like leftovers," Edward smiles.
"Since he cooks about as well as you do," I point out, earning a playful glare from both of them.
"Oh, and Bella," Alice adds, "the pizza is a thinner crust but it's not St. Louis style."
"You mean it has real cheese?"
"Yes," she laughs, shaking her head. Only St. Louis natives seem to enjoy that odd cheese. It's fine on salads, but that's it.
"I'm with you in the anti-provel crowd," Jasper smiles, and I reach across the table to high-five him.
We place our orders, and our waitress is back after just a short time with our salads, which come highly recommended by Alice.
"I hear you want to go into politics," Edward says to Alice.
"That's the plan," she nods. "My mom leads a local charity, but I'd like to make even more of a difference. That's why I started going on these Habitat for Humanity trips as soon as I met the minimum age requirement. That reminds me — we need to choose a trip for this year, Bella. We don't have to do a youth trip this year; we could do one of the regular adult ones and maybe go to South America."
"If my parents let me," I reply, rolling my eyes. I'm 19 and could do it if I want, but… I need help paying my way. They're probably not going to want to pay for an international plane ticket.
"Both of your fathers are doctors, by the way," I point out to Alice, trying to show that my friend and boyfriend have something in common.
"Yeah?" she smiles. "My dad's an oncologist. Yours?"
"My dad's an orthopedic surgeon in Springfield, Illinois," Edward replies.
"What about you, Jasper?" I ask. "Where are you from?" We hadn't gotten around to discussing that during our quick pre-game dinner last week.
"Kennett, Missouri — down in the boot heel," he answers, referring to the 25-mile-wide area in southeast Missouri.
"Home of Sheryl Crow," I smile.
"How do you know that?" Edward asks, looking at me.
"My dad loves her."
"Oh," he chuckles.
"The boot heel in general is a very poor, rural area," Jasper explains. "My dad's a lawyer — doctor and lawyer are about the only well-paying jobs in town. Well, actually there's an auto parts manufacturing plant a few miles to the east in Hayti, and I think the plant foreman lives in Kennett," he adds with a chuckle.
"What are you studying, Jasper?" Edward asks.
"I'm majoring in History," he replies with a smile.
"Do you plan to teach afterwards?"
"No, my mom teaches fifth grade, but that's never sounded like a lot of fun to me. No offense," he laughs. "Actually, I'm planning to follow my father into law; maybe I'll just get a paralegal certificate and maybe go on to law school. I'm not 100-percent sure yet."
Once our waitress has dropped off our entrees, we enjoy them mostly in silence for a few minutes before Jasper asks Edward the million dollar question.
"Bella said this is your first semester teaching?"
"At the university level, yes," he explains. "I taught high school English in Illinois for four years while I finished up my PhD." I notice that he left out the fact that it was in Chicago.
"Which do you prefer?" Alice asks.
"Definitely a university. I much prefer teaching classes to students who want to be there."
"And you're just filling in for someone, Bella said?"
"Yes," he nods. "Dr. Maltby had to take a leave of absence to care for his wife after she had a stroke."
"Did you find out about next semester yet?" I ask suddenly. He had said something about six weeks prior to the end of the semester.
"He will be taking next semester off, too," Edward says, smiling at me. "I found out earlier this week. They've asked me to stay on in the Spring."
"That's great," I smile widely at that. My boyfriend definitely has a job in St. Louis come next January — even if it means we need to remain discreet.
Once we've finished our meals, we make the very short drive to the Chesterfield Galaxy movie theater.
"Are we still on for Thor?" Edward asks.
"Oh! Daddy's Home 2 opened last night," Alice says, looking at the posters on the wall. "I love Marky Mark."
"Isn't that a Christmas movie?" I wrinkle my nose. "No Christmas anything until after Thanksgiving."
Alice pouts, but agrees, and our men go buy our tickets.
"He's really good-looking up close," she whispers as soon as they are out of earshot.
"All of him is beautiful," I reply dreamily.
"You've got it so bad," she laughs.
"Want popcorn?" Edward asks when he comes back with the tickets.
"You're kidding, right?" I didn't get the lasagna, but my chicken spiedini was big enough.
"Just thought I'd be polite and ask," he chuckles.
The theater is pretty full, but we do manage to find seats for the four of us together, though a bit closer to the front than I'd prefer. I pout a little because there's no way to sneak in a little hanky-panky surrounded by this many people. Isn't that what going to the movies is for?
Once the movie is over, I give Alice a quick hug before we go our separate ways. I'm spending the night with Edward — and I finally got smart enough to pack a small overnight bag. Go me!
A/N: So as the title implies, Bella thinks she may be in love with Edward! So far she's too chicken to be the first one to say it though.
Edward and Alice/Jasper have finally met on their double date, but don't worry, Jake will get a chance to intimidate Professor Cullen at a later date.
Next update on Thursday.
For a teaser: You don't want to know how much time I spent trying to find a good title for the next chapter. Nothing from the 80s had the right vibe. I finally settled on a song that was the first of four hits by an alternative band in 1992, but it counts as an 80s song since it also appeared on the band's 1989 debut album, hehe. The songwriter committed suicide in 1993.