Somehow, Edward and I make it through brunch with Jake and the remainder of the weekend without it being too awkward. In fact, Edward and I hardly speak to each other until Sunday night when I'm lying in bed reading, and I hear a tap on my door.
"Come in," I call out, not looking up from the pages until the door opens, and I hear a throat clear.
"Hey, I just wanted to talk for a minute, if that's okay?" Edward is shifting back and forth on his feet and won't look me in the eyes.
"Yeah, sure." I set my book down and sit up. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to apologize again. I feel really bad that I didn't stop us, and I want to make sure that you're okay? I mean …" He takes a step closer to my bed and stops suddenly. "I like the idea of being friends with you, Bella. I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't like that, but—"
Sitting up, I pat the mattress next to me, inviting him to sit down. "No, I've been thinking the same way. I mean, I don't remember anything really; little pieces here and there." I laugh. "I didn't know I had an erogenous zone behind my knee."
He laughs. "You're ticklish there. It was just a theory I had."
"Well"—I cough to cover a laugh—"I didn't know that, so thank you? Look, at least, it was someone I know and not some rando from the bar. And we were safe; ultimately, that's all that matters. But, I'd really like for us to be able to put this behind us and move on." I extend my hand for him to shake, and he looks at it for a few seconds before grasping it firmly.
"Deal." He stands, reaching for my door before turning back to look at me. "I know it's weird for you, I think more so than Jake to deal with me bringing 'guests' back here all the time. I can't promise it won't happen, but I can try to be more discreet."
"You live your life a certain way. I get it," I say, waving him off.
"Might be time for me to change the way I'm living," he offers, and I laugh.
"Don't tell me one night with a woman way out of your league has you reforming your ways." Quirking my brow, he smiles.
"I'm not necessarily saying that. I'll talk to Jake though. You shouldn't be alone here so often."
"I have pepper spray, and I can swing a baseball bat."
"Can you? Do you like batting cages?" His eyes light up like a little kid on Christmas morning.
"I do. Wanna go sometime?"
"You're on, Swan." He ducks out of my room and pulls the door shut behind him. I go back to reading, feeling confident that Edward and I might not end up best friends, but we'll be just fine.
**BoU**
Three weeks have passed since the incident, and Edward and I have yet to spend any one-on-one time together. To be totally fair, I've found a million reasons to be out of the house right around the time he usually gets home from work so I don't have to run into him, but still.
We've been texting each other, which is … interesting. He's actually taken the top spot in my recent texts, displacing Jake to number two. And where has my best friend been in all this? I assume still taking it like a champ from his new boyfriend, who I have still yet to meet. Jake has all but moved in with this guy.
I'm currently sitting on the couch in the living room, eating a bowl of ice cream and planning my escape for the rest of the day when I hear the front door open downstairs. I sit up slightly, trying to decipher who's coming in. When I hear the tell-tale sounds of Edward unlacing his boots, I jump up as quietly as I can and slide into the kitchen to dump my bowl in the sink and shuffle across the house and past the stairs before he can see me.
"I can hear you up there, Bella," Edward calls out for me, and I stop in my tracks just as I reach my door. I see him pop up the stairs, smirking.
"Oh, hey. I didn't realize you were home." I reach for my doorknob, and he laughs, humorlessly.
"Are you avoiding me?"
"What? Of course not. I have to go." Again, I move to my door, but he's down the hall and reaching for me in an instant.
"Yes, you are. I haven't seen hide nor hair of you for almost a month." His nostrils are a little flared, and his cheeks are flushed. I can smell the scent of his deodorant mixed with the stink of a hard day's work, and my knees go a little weak.
"I'm not avoiding you," I whisper shake out of his grasp. "I'm just embarrassed."
"I thought we talked about this. I … I don't want you to be embarrassed." He leans against the wall opposite me and sighs deeply. "Do you not want to be friends? Is this you trying to put some distance between us? I get it, really."+
I don't want that, at all. I want to remember and that makes me more embarrassed than anything else. "I don't want that. I'm sorry."
"You okay? Are we good?"
"Yeah, we're good. Sorry."
He nods, walking to his room and barely closing the door so he can still talk to me. "Good because I've had a shitty week, and I'm ready to hit those batting cages. What do you say?" His voice sounds a little muffled between the door, and I assume he's changing clothes.
"I could be down for that. Could we do go-karts too?" I ask as he steps back out into the hall.
"Sure. You wanna put some shoes on?" We both glance down to my bare feet, and I run into my room to grab socks and my sneakers. "Let's go." I slip into my socks and shoes downstairs and reach into the closet to grab a sweater before Edward pushes me outside and down to his truck.
When we get to the entertainment center, Edward immediately starts pointing things out. "Look, they have bumper boats!"
"Have you never been here?"
"No, I usually just go down to base to the cages down there, but you wanted go-karts, so we're here." He holds the door to the arcade open for me, and it feels like I've traveled back in time to my childhood.
Leaning in close to Edward, I point out the air hockey table. " I threw up by that table when I was seven."
"You say that like you're proud," he tells me with a laugh.
"Well, I beat Jake in our game, and then he puked too, so …" I trail off with a shrug, and Edward laughs.
We hit the cages first and talk while we hit a round of balls for the first twenty minutes. I'm sore after my first bout, so I sit out the next while I watch Edward. He's got good form and hits every ball.
"So, why have you been ignoring me?" His question comes out of left field, and when I stutter to answer, he hits the next ball into the foul line.
He steps out of the box and comes up to the fence to talk to me. "What's going on?"
"There's sort of a part of me that wishes I could remember more," I tell him with a roll of my eyes. There's no sense in me not telling him; he deserves to know what's going on.
"Do you remember anything?" His eyes search mine as his tongue sweeps over his lips.
"I remember that your hands aren't rough, but I thought they would be. I do remember you asking me if I really wanted to sleep with you." I duck my head. "I just don't remember how you made me feel. And it's been a long time since I've felt … that."
"How long is a long time?"
"Um …" I can feel my cheek heat. "Close to a year."
"I wish you remembered it too." He sighs and picks up his bat. "I don't know if I can do anything about that though."
He walks back into the box, taking his stance and swinging at the next ball.
After we've exhausted our time in the cages, we go grab hot dogs and slushes from the refreshment stand inside and decide what to do next.
"I vote go-karts, then a round of mini golf," Edward says as he wipes mustard from his face with a paper napkin. "Then, let's go on the Ferris wheel."
"I'm down for all of that." Mumbling around my last bite, I look at him apologetically. "Except the Ferris wheel. I don't like 'em."
"C'mon."
"No, plus I'm wearing an old pair of Jake's basketball shorts, and it's starting to get cold. I'll freeze up there," I whine a little, but Edward just looks pointedly at the slush in my hand. "Ugh, fine. But when my teeth are chattering, you're going to have to crank up the heater in your truck to thaw me out."
We make sure to let some little kids beat us at the go-karts, and while we don't do too badly at mini golf, neither of us hit the hole-in-one on the last hole for a prize. "Time for the Ferris wheel!"
Edward is way too excited, but even I have to admit it looks pretty cool all lit up against the dark sky. We load up and start to rise over the city, but after a few minutes, we jerk to a halt to let other riders off and new riders on.
"Ugh, is it going to be like this the whole time?" Edward slings an arm around my shoulder as I shudder against the breeze.
"Once the wheel is full, we'll go around a few times, and we'll stop for a few minutes at the top too." Edward is speaking directly into my ear. His warm breath washes over me, and I can feel him pull me slightly closer.
His left hand reaches over to place both of my hands on the grab bar. "Hold on tight." He dances his fingers over my thigh and under the hem of my oversized shorts as the ride begins to move again.
"What … what are you doing?" He chuckles into my ear as his fingers slide into my underwear, and instinctively, my legs fall apart to give him better access.
"Just giving you something to remember this time." His lips nip and suck at my neck, and it takes everything in me not to make a scene. His fingers lightly traces my lips, sending a jolt of electricity through my body.
The tip of his middle finger is circling my clit as I white-knuckle the safety bar and turn to look at Edward. His mossy green eyes are hooded, but he captures my lips quickly as he presses his finger into my nub and catches my moan.
His tongue sweeps over mine in an all-consuming way, and just when I think that I'll come from him rubbing at my clit, he shifts his hand as we reach the top of the wheel and slides his finger into my center. This time, I do squeak out a little moan as his thumb finds purchase on my clit.
"Edward." All I can manage is his name, but he smiles as I grind into his hand as best I can. Our car is rocking slightly, and he tells me to just relax and stop fidgeting.
"Let me take care of you, Bella." Edward coaxes the orgasm from me and captures my lips as I release a shuddering moan. As I come down from the high and the wheel lowers us back to the ground, Edward tries to discreetly suck my juices from his fingers. The stink eye from the teenage attendant tells me that nothing about what we did was discreet.
"Edward, we need to get out of here before they kick us out." I'm pulling on his arm, dragging him toward the parking lot.
When we reach his truck, he gently pushes me up against the passenger door, swinging his head down to kiss me again. I can taste myself on his lips and tongue; it makes me claw at his back like mad.
"I need to get you home," Edward finally says after he pulls away. "I want to talk to you about something."