Glossary:
Underway- A US Navy term meaning that the ship has pulled out of port and is out to sea. "Hazed, grey, and underway."
Deployment- a scheduled time away from the normal duty station, usually outside of the United States.
I wake up to the persistent sound of buzzing near my ear, and when I crack an eye open, I groan at the light hitting my eyes from the window. Feeling around for my phone, I pick it up to see Jake's face plastered on the screen and swipe to answer it.
"'Lo." My tongue feels like sandpaper, and as I try to push myself up a little bit, my head swims.
"Are you just waking up?" Jake is basically screaming into my ear. He always drives with his windows down, making it impossible to hear anything. "I'm calling you and Edward to meet up for brunch."
Blinking a few times, I take in my surroundings. I'm not in my room. My room is painted a deep purple whereas this room … this room is forest green. I snatch up the blankets to my chest with a sudden realization that I'm naked in this bed.
"Bella! Are you listening to me?" Jake drags me back to the phone call for a moment.
"I'm here; sorry. I just woke up, trying to get my bearings." I let out a shaky sigh; if only he knew. I know who's room I'm in, and when I look to my right, I see an equally naked Edward Cullen sleeping soundly next to me.
"So, brunch. Are you in? Edward hasn't answered. Is he home? Can you talk to him?" Jake starts telling me where we're meeting, and I cut him off.
"Sure, Jake. Whatever. I gotta go. See you." I end the call and try to calm down, but it's useless. I can feel the panic and embarrassment rising up inside of me.
"Jesus, I thought you'd never get off the phone." Edward's voice is muffled in his pillow, and I shrink away from him, inching closer to the edge of the bed. "I guess we need to get up, huh?"
He finally picks up his head and gives me a lopsided smile that turns into a grimace fast.
"My head is pounding," he says as he flips over and sits on the other edge of the bed.
"Mine too," I whisper. "Edward, what the fuck?"
He turns around to look at me. "What?"
"We slept together? I barely remember anything from last night, and we slept together?" I'm close to shrieking. The panic has fully set in now.
"Hey, hey … we both knew what we were doing." Edward reaches over to me, grabbing my hand. "We talked a lot about this before anything happened."
"I don't remember any of it." I'm not scared; not of Edward. I've known him long enough to know that he's clean and careful; I'm just concerned that I don't remember anything.
"I'm sorry about that. I probably should have just ignored you when you came knocking at my door after I put you to bed." His face is pinched and pale. I feel like I could throw up.
"Did we use—"
"Yes, we did. You made sure of it." He clears his throat, and his cheeks flush. "Both times."
Groaning, I slide to the floor, pulling the blanket with me. "Oh my god. I'm so embarrassed."
"Okay." Edward gets up, and in the morning light streaming through the window, I get a great view of the body I apparently experienced last night. Rippling abs, thick thighs, broad shoulders, and the sheer size of him. I'm sure I'm gaping because he immediately grabs for some shorts on the floor, but Edward is packing. Like, porn star packing.
"Please don't be embarrassed. This could have happened to anyone." He offers me a hand to pull me up off the floor, and I take it. "I don't remember everything that happened last night, but a few guys were hitting on you when we went dancing. You kept turning them down, and you told me that if I had tried picking you up, you would have gone for it."
He took me dancing at the same bar I met him at two years ago. The same bar I would have gladly blown him in any of the bathrooms before he ignored me and went home with some blonde, big-chested chick.
I silently curse my traitorous mouth. "Drunk words are a sober man's thoughts." I offer up the quote that the boys pass around all the time.
"I guess so." He shrugs as I try to wrap his blanket around me tighter and pick up my discarded clothes from the floor. "I'm sorry, Bella. I should've stopped you, us. I—"
"No, look …" I guess I'm just as much to blame. "At least, it was someone I know, I guess. I hope you were gentle; it's been a while." I offer him a smile, but I'm sure it doesn't reach my eyes. I'm trying to salvage the weird roommate relationship that's been balancing on tenterhooks for months.
"Well, you didn't complain, so …"
"Ugh, okay. I'm going to shower in Jake's room. We need to leave in thirty if we want to meet him on time." I open the bedroom door and slip out and down the hall to Jake's room and shut the door.
I take a full minute to berate myself before forcing myself to calm down. I remind myself that while Edward is a gigantic player, I do trust him. He's never, ever given me any reason to not trust him. I can be mad and embarrassed at myself. But it happened, and it's over.
It'll never happen again.