A/N:
I'm a sucker for your comments on this one! I'm loving them more than the story, and you have no idea how happy I am that you think this is funny.
Once again, Yes, this is a B/E story. This is the last time I'm saying this, so if you chose to not read the AN, then that's up to you. I won't answer any more questions in reviews asking if this is B/E because I've already said it in every chapter AN xD
And, once again, if you're strict on B/E only being with each other (i.e. flirting, not necessarily kissing and dating) and can't stand reading about them reacting or even being attracted to others, this is definitely not the story for you.
I'm here to have fun with these characters, and they'll be put in really absurd situations :-P
Title: Three's a Crowd
Author: MarieCarro
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Bella and Rosalie are roommates and best friends. When the third friend of their BFF trio moves out to live with her boyfriend and her newborn baby, the girls need to find someone new, and it appears that someone just happens to stumble into their laps.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
CHAPTER 3
Edward woke up when the alarm he'd set on his phone rang through the room, but when he reached for it to turn it off, he found himself unable to move. Perplexed, he looked down and realized he was immobilized because Bella was absolutely draped over him.
She hadn't woken up by his alarm, but she reacted to his movements by tightening the hold she had on his borrowed shirt and the leg over his hips hooked him closer to her.
The alarm was still ringing on his phone, but Edward could barely concentrate on that because suddenly, a soft moan left Bella, right by his ear. It caused a surge to run through Edward's body and his morning wood stirred in his underwear.
He momentarily cursed himself for having accepted to move in with two girls he found so hot he sometimes felt like crying. He wanted to respect Bella's ground rules, but at the same time, there was nothing he wanted more than to wake her up and kiss her senseless before gladly skipping the test if that gave him the chance to go a round or two under the covers with her.
"Bella," he whispered, hoping it would be enough to wake her up, but it did nothing except making her move again, or more like rub the length of her body against his side.
He groaned and shut his eyes tightly. "Emmett's feet and his hairy toes," he mumbled to himself, hoping the image of his friend's feet would calm the emergency situation downstairs.
Edward had a good guess as to what Bella was dreaming about from the sounds and the movements she made, and while it absolutely killed him, he knew he had no choice but to let her finish her dream and then hope she'd release him. It had gone too far now. If she woke up prematurely, she'd be beyond embarrassed, and Edward didn't want to subject her to that.
He closed his eyes and waited, but then, the last thing he wanted to happen happened.
Bella's hand promptly settled on his crotch, and he drew in a sharp breath. He had to get away from her now.
Using whatever acrobatic skills he had, Edward slowly slid out of bed, tried to not scream when Bella's hand minutely tightened around his little guy, and ungracefully plopped down on the floor with a muted thud.
Out of everything that had happened, that was what woke Bella up.
"Edward?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Uuh." He stared up at the ceiling as he tried to come up with a good reason, but his brain refused to be a good sport. "It's good for my back."
Bella gave him a questioning look. "O-kay."
He cleared his throat. "I have to go to the bathroom," he said and quickly made his retreat, hoping Bella hadn't taken notice of the tent in his underwear. However, since the day was obviously not Edward's lucky day, he was soon met with another hurdle as soon as he exited the room.
"Oh! Hello," the woman on the couch said, and Edward immediately saw that it was Rosalie's infamous mother, and he wanted the ground to swallow him. "I have to say, Bella, you look very different in the morning," the woman said with a hint of a smile, but her eyes were hard and filled with judgment.
Edward was speechless. He couldn't think of a thing to say. The only thing he could do was strategically place himself behind one of the living room plants to hide his lower body.
"Baby? Is everything alright?" Bella called behind him before she appeared and pretended to be surprised to see Rosalie's mom. "Mrs. Hale! Hi! How are you?" she asked pleasantly before purposely placing herself in a position next to Edward that made their relationship appear more intimate than it was.
"Bella, sweetie!" Mrs. Hale exclaimed and stood up to greet her daughter's best friend. "It's so good to see you. How're your classes? And who is this young man?"
Bella didn't even miss a beat as she answered. "Classes are great, and this is Edward. My fiance."
Not for the first time since he woke up in the girls' bathtub, Edward wondered if he'd entered the Twilight Zone.
Mrs. Hale smiled at Bella, but still looked back and forth between them with worried eyes. "And he spent the night?"
Before Bella answered her, she turned to Edward. "Weren't you going to shower before going to class?"
He was beyond relieved when she gave him the chance to flee the surreal conversation. "Yes, I was." He gave Mrs. Hale, what he hoped was, an apologetic smile, but he was still reeling from shock. "Excuse me, ma'am. I have a test this morning, so I have to get going."
"Of course." Mrs. Hale nodded, but as Edward almost ran to the bathroom, he still heard her worried words to Bella. "Sweetie, I would appreciate if you could hold off on inviting him over to spend the night, at least until you're married. I don't think it would leave Rose with a good impression if she's exposed to sinful behavior."
He didn't hear anything else before he shut the bathroom door and breathed out a huge sigh of relief.
~~TAC~~
"Welcome home, Mr. Swan," Rosalie said through a snort when Edward walked through the door. "Your wifey's in the kitchen."
Edward rolled his eyes at her. "It's been two months, Rose. When will that joke get old?"
She tapped her chin with the nail file in her hand. "Uh, how about never?" She grinned even wider. "Mom still asks me about when the wedding is."
"Then tell her it's on February 30th next year," he answered and placed the box in his hands on the table.
Rosalie immediately stopped teasing him. "Is that the cake?" Rosalie asked quietly and cautiously looked toward the kitchen to make sure Bella wasn't listening.
"Yeah." He curiously eyed the package she was pulling out from between the cushions of the futon chair, and placed it on the table next to the cake. "So what did you buy for her?"
"A really cute scarf," Rosalie replied proudly. "And it's not just cute. It works perfectly with my wardrobe as well."
Edward didn't really get the logic but nodded anyway. "Smart."
"Right?"
"Unfortunately, I have nothing to spend on a gift." He sighed, but then winked at her. "I guess I'll just have to gift myself."
Rosalie had already anticipated he would say something like that. "You should totally do that," she agreed with a mock-serious expression. "I hear the marriage bed is a little dry lately."
They both laughed at their equal silliness before Edward headed for the kitchen to wish Bella a happy birthday. He hadn't gotten the chance that morning as he had to hurry to class.
Bella was bent over, rummaging around the lower cupboard and she was wearing headphones while dancing and singing along to the music, so she didn't hear Edward approach her from behind.
Unable to pass up the opportunity, Edward started dancing along right behind her. When Bella turned around, she screamed in surprise and fright at finding him so close.
He laughed at her, and she hit him on the chest.
"Don't do that!"
"But it's so much fun."
Bella rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever."
He held up his hands in surrender. "If you're gonna be like that, fine. I was gonna surprise you with a proper birthday kiss."
"Well, go on then," she encouraged and turned her face to him to make her lips more available.
Edward leaned forward, but last minute turned his cheek to her. "Nope. You had your chance. It's too late now. I'll just go see if Rosalie wants it instead." He moved to walk back to the living room, but Bella stopped him by gently grabbing his arm.
When he turned back to her, she got up on the counter, her legs somewhat parted, leaning back to invite him in. "It's okay, Edward. I'm not strict on the rules today." Her words were soft and not a hint of teasing in sight. She even beckoned him forward with her finger.
With a wide grin, Edward closed in on her, and while he expected her to turn him away like she always did, he was happily surprised when she didn't, and their lips met for the first time.
Ever since he had moved in two months ago, and he had woken up in Bella's bed, he had dreamt of that very moment. Maybe it caused him to go in with too much intensity, but it didn't matter because Bella didn't mind.
In fact, she appeared to react just as intensely, and she locked her legs around his waist before leaning back on the counter to lay down.
Once both of them needed to come up for air, they were gasping and barely dared to look at each other; both embarrassed by their reactions and laughed awkwardly.
"Wow," Edward breathed out, and Bella cleared her throat.
"Heh, yeah. Thank you … for the … uh, gift," she said.
"The pleasure was all mine," Edward replied with a smile and then noticed that Bella's necklace chain had gotten stuck in his shirt pocket.
"We appear to be stuck together," Bella giggled, still riding high from the endorphins swimming in her brain.
Edward went with it. "Maybe that means we should go for an encore." He was smirking, and Bella found herself faltering. Apparently, she was the one without an immune system, not Rosalie.
They closed in on each other again, but just as their lips brushed against each other, Bella put her hand over his mouth.
"Sorry! No," she said even though she really didn't want to. "I think we should save that for next year."
"Right." Edward was very disappointed but tried to not show it. Instead, he focused on releasing the necklace from his shirt.
"Please be careful," Bella asked. "It means a lot to me."
"Yeah? Why?"
"I got it from my grandma. There used to be a really beautiful pendant on it."
"What happened to it?"
"I had to pawn it three weeks ago. You know, when we struggled with the rent?"
Edward nodded. "Right, yeah." He finally got the chain loose. "There you go."
"Thanks."
"You know," he started, and Bella heard in the tone of his voice that he was going to tease her again. "If you miss having something hanging between your breasts, I don't mind staying in this position for a while." They were still, sort of, interlocked, because he was still standing between Bella's thighs.
Once again, their lips met for a short second, but Bella was reaching for a bowl behind her at the same time; a bowl full of ice.
"Edward," she breathed against his mouth.
"Mhm?"
She showed him the ice cubes in her hand before she shoved them inside his shirt. "You looked like you needed to cool off."
He started to jump around in the kitchen to get the ice out of his shirt, and Bella hopped off the counter to dance in front of him. When he finally fished the ice out of his clothes, he held it up in front of her threateningly.
"No," she said. "Don't."
He just nodded with a smile, and Bella took off running out of the kitchen. She didn't get far before he caught her and wrestled her down onto the couch while Rosalie cheered them on.
The doorbell rang, and Rosalie went to open it as Edward and Bella untangled their limbs from each other, still laughing hard.
Outside the door, their landlord, Fred Varner, stood with an uncertain smile. The building they were living in wasn't particularly big, and Fred liked to regularly visit his tenants to make sure everything was alright. Rosalie and Bella also happened to be his favorite tenants—he always insisted on them calling him by his first name—and it had become his mission to get to know Edward better.
"Hi kids," he greeted, but then turned to Bella and Rosalie. "Girls, would you mind if Edward and I spoke in private for a minute?"
"Sure," Rosalie agreed and she and Bella went to the kitchen.
Edward sat down on the couch and invited Fred to join him.
"Okay then," the older man started. "Edward, how do you like living here so far?"
"I like it just fine, Fred."
"And you don't think I'm intruding in any way, do you?"
"No, not at all."
Fred cleared his throat. "Good. Good. Actually, I was wondering about something. Have you gone out with a girl before?"
Edward blinked in confusion toward the question and wasn't completely sure how to answer him. "Uh, yeah. I have. What about it?"
"Just a little thing, really. You see, my niece from Idaho is visiting, and I was wondering if you could, maybe, take her out tonight? Show her the city?"
"Go out with your niece?" Edward asked for clarification. "Why can't you show her the city yourself?"
The man chuckled. "Oh, you know, my wife says I'm boring, and the girl should have fun while she's here, don't you think? You could take her out dancing or something like that."
"Right."
"Great!" Fred exclaimed. "It's settled then." He stood up and Edward mimicked him.
"Actually, Fred, it's not. I can't tonight," Edward said, and the older man's smile fell.
"Why not?"
"It's Bella's birthday, and we're celebrating. I'm cooking dinner for us." Edward walked to the front door to open it.
"But … but can't you postpone the celebration until tomorrow?" he pleaded. "My niece is going back home tomorrow night."
Edward shook his head. "Sorry, Fred. But thanks for the offer." He only said it to be polite because he honestly felt a bit uncomfortable with the thought of going out with the landlord's niece. Who said he wouldn't be kicked out of the girl didn't have a good time?
Fred left, and Bella and Rosalie re-entered the living room, giggling.
"Are you sure you've gone out with girls before, Edward?" Rosalie asked him as the trio sat down on the couch.
"You listened to everything?"
"Of course," Bella instantly confirmed. "And it was very sweet of you to reject him for my sake." She planted a kiss on his cheek.
Edward reached out and placed one arm around each girl. "Sweet is my middle name, but honestly, I didn't just do it for you?"
"You didn't?"
"No. I know you say the Varners' are good landlords, but I can't help but wonder why he asked me. He barely knows me, and now he wants me to take out his niece." He shook his head. "Something was weird about that, and I'd rather not risk being kicked out."
"Totally," Bella agreed. "I mean, who would cook our food if you were kicked out."
In response to her comment, Edward started tickling both girls, and they writhed as they tried to get away from him, their laughter echoing around the room.
The doorbell rang again, and this time, Fred let himself in.
"Hi again," he said, but Edward's sigh interrupted him.
"Fred, I thought I said no."
"You did, but I just thought it would be fun for you three to meet my niece." He leaned out into the corridor. "Tanya, come here."
The girl was their age, and Edward's jaw slackened when he saw her. She was definitely more attractive than he would have guessed, and the clothes she was wearing showed off her athletic build.
Fred gestured toward Edward. "Tanya, that's Edward right there, and the girls are Rosalie and Bella."
Tanya waved and smiled flirtatiously at Edward. "Hi there."
Edward swallowed hard. "Hi."
"Edward, can I talk to you again?" Fred asked and motioned for the two of them to go to the kitchen.
Edward complied, somewhat in a daze. He had gotten fairly used to being around hot girls lately since he lived with two of them, but seeing a third in the mix had almost become too much for him.
"Here." Fred offered Edward an envelope.
"What's this?"
"Look inside."
He opened the envelope and pulled out several large bills, and he gaped in astonishment. "This is 200 dollars. Why are you giving me this?"
"Because I really need you to take Tanya out tonight."
Edward exhaled sharply and started to say no again, but Fred fished out his car keys and handed them to him.
"I'll even let you borrow my car. Just entertain her, and I'll be forever grateful."
"What kind of entertainment are you suggesting, Fred? Because I kinda feel like I'm being pimped out here." Edward smiled to soften the jab he'd taken on the landlord.
Luckily, Fred had a sense of humor, but he was also completely serious when he gave a warning. "I don't want to hear of any shenanigans between you two, okay? Tanya's my niece. You do well to remember that."
In the living room, Tanya was talking to Bella and Rosalie.
"It's fun to visit, but I can't help but wonder if Uncle Fred has hit his head or something."
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
"He doesn't seem to remember anything that has happened since the American Revolution."
The three girls laughed heartily at the joke, and right at that moment, Fred and Edward came back from the kitchen.
"Right then," Fred said with a newly invigorated smile. "Tanya, come where. Edward has a question to ask."
Edward looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat several times. "I was just wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight," he finally said, his tone less than enthusiastic.
Tanya lit up. "I'd love to. Just give me a moment to change clothes."
Fred nodded. "Yeah, she just needs to freshen up a bit, but Edward will wait, right?"
"Sure," he replied and went to put on his jacket.
Rosalie was holding Bella's hand in hers because Bella was shocked to hear Edward was ditching them now. "Edward, what about Bella's birthday dinner?"
Edward leaned on the back of the couch. "It's in the oven. Just take it out in twenty minutes, and you'll be fine. I'll come home as soon as I can." He gently patted them on the back, but Bella barely felt it.
She had foolishly thought Edward would choose her birthday over a hot stranger because he was her friend, and maybe even a little bit more than that, but he'd just proved her very wrong. "But—"
Edward held up the door for Tanya. "After you."
"Such a gentleman," Tanya gushed and then waved goodbye to the girls. Edward left after her, but Fred lingered.
"That Edward's a great guy," he said to Bella and Rosalie. "You chose well when you let him move in here." He left as well, but the door remained open.
Bella, feeling infuriated at being dumped on her birthday, angrily slammed the door shut and leaned back against it, her arms crossed. "A fucktard, you mean," she fumed. Rosalie went up to her and gave her a comforting hug.
~~TAC~~
It was way past midnight when Edward finally returned home with Tanya. Since he'd borrowed the car from Fred, he was still sober, but Tanya had consumed more than one drink.
"Goodnight then," Edward told her politely and made the move toward the elevator, but Tanya stopped him.
"Don't you want to come in for a while?" she asked in a seductive voice.
"It's a little bit late," he tried.
"Doesn't have to be long. Just for a little bit?" she pushed. "I'm sure Uncle Fred as a couple cold beers in the fridge that we can enjoy. You haven't had the chance to drink anything tonight."
Edward still heard Fred's words in his ear, but he didn't want Tanya to feel rejected either, so he gave her a shaky smile. "I guess I can have a beer."
The two of them entered the apartment, and Edward hurried to find a chair to sit down in, hoping the cramped space would discourage Tanya from advancing anything between them. She had made it blatantly obvious several times during the night that she definitely wanted to explore him further.
Unfortunately, Edward's seating choice didn't perturb her at all, and she promptly slid down on his knee.
"Honestly, I don't feel comfortable knowing Fred is in the next room," he told Tanya, but once again, she didn't seem to care at all.
"Don't worry about him. Aunt Shelly says he can sleep through anything." Her tone was suggestive and she started to play with Edward's hair. "If you know what I mean." She traced his jean-clad thigh with her fingertips before rising from the seat to go fetch those beers from the kitchen.
Edward hadn't been able to stop his reaction to her touch so close to his crotch, and he was frantically trying to come up with something that would be as good as a pack of ice. When he didn't find anything, all he could think of was to blow air down into the hem of his pants as he would blow on a piece of hot food.
It was stupid, and not logical at all, but his brain wasn't functioning.
He even started jumping around and when that didn't work, he tried his last resort and lightly punched himself between the legs. It hurt more than he had anticipated, and tears welled in his eyes, so he sat back down. When he then realized he'd taken a seat on the couch instead of the chair, he was afraid Tanya would see that as an invitation and jumped right back up again.
He had no choice but to pull out one of the wooden dining chairs and sat on it as stiff as a board.
Tanya came back out with a bottle for him, and she didn't even comment on his change of seats. "Here's your beer." She handed it to him and removed the cap with the opener in her hand. However, it appeared as if the beverage had been shaken because it foamed over and wet the entire crotch area of his jeans.
The innuendo wasn't lost on him.
"Th-thank you," he stammered out.
Tanya slowly leaned toward him. "What's your deal?" she asked and placed a determined hand on his thigh. "You've avoided me all night." She dragged her hand up, and Edward tensed. "I never would have thought a guy like you, who live with two girls, would be such a pussy." Her hand circled the bottle situated in his lap. "I thought you got laid all the time."
Edward stared at the bottle and her ministrations on it, and the sweat started to bead on his forehead. "Uuh, I … uh, I'm on vacation," he replied in an attempt to joke away the situation he had no idea how to get out of.
"Well, I think you look just about ready to get back to work," Tanya said and pulled him out of the chair only to push him down on the couch. Before Edward could even sit up straight again, Tanya had already pulled her top off and thrown it on him.
He swallowed hard. "I think you dropped something."
"Oh! I did, didn't I?" She bent over and started to slowly crawl up his body.
"Maybe we should—"
"I definitely think we should," she purred before Edward could finish his sentence. She was lying completely on top of him, and Edward tried to squirm away when the lights in the ceiling were suddenly turned on.
"Stop that immediately!"
Tanya flew off Edward at the sound of her uncle's voice and scrambled to cover back up. Edward cleared his throat and tried to come up with an excuse.
"No, I definitely can't see any cavities," he rambled and laughed nervously, but Fred wasn't fooled.
"Tanya, go to the guest room," he ordered, and she obediently did as she was told. Fred turned to Edward who faked a yawn.
"Oh, wow, it's past midnight. I'd better go up to my place. Goodnight, Fred. Goodnight, Mrs. Varner."
"Hold up, Edward," Fred stopped him, his arms crossed menacingly over his chest.
Edward held up his hands in surrender. "Fred, it's not what you think."
"It's not about what I think. It's about what I saw," Fred insisted. "You were feeling up my niece when I specifically told you not to. I gave you a chance because the girls liked you, but I want you out of my building before sunrise, do you hear me?"
Resigned, Edward sighed. "Yeah, sure," he said and left the apartment to go upstairs and pack.
Bella heard the front door open and paused the movie she was watching on her laptop. "Hello?" she called out. "Is someone there?"
"Yeah, it's Edward."
"Who's there?" Rosalie echoed Bella's question.
Bella huffed indignantly. "Nobody's there, Rose," she called loud enough so Edward would be able to hear how mad she still was at him for ditching.
"You guys aren't mad at me because I'm a little late for the dinner, right?" Bella didn't feel he deserved a reply. "Bella," he called again, and she could hear him coming closer to her room.
She jumped off her bed and poked her head out the door to glare at him. "Go to hell," she bit off, but the hurt she was feeling caused her voice to break, and she slammed her door shut so he wouldn't see the tears starting to well in her eyes.
"C' mon," Edward pleaded through the door. "I have something I have to tell you guys." Neither girl answered. "Rosalie?" Once again, no reply. "Okay, fine, I get it. The silent treatment. I just wanted to tell you that I'm moving out."
Bella opened her door and started to follow Edward who had retreated to the living room. "Talk about being sensitive." She crossed her arms defensively.
Rosalie joined them. "So now you have to move because you ruined Bella's birthday dinner? How self-centered are you?"
"Yeah, talk about narcissistic," Bella agreed.
"I've been evicted," Edward said in a despondent tone.
Both girls looked shocked. "What?" they asked simultaneously.
Edward fiddled with one of the cushions on the couch. "Yeah, there were a few mishaps with Tanya's clothes downstairs."
"Like what?" Bella scoffed. "Did her underwear get stuck?"
"On the contrary," Edward said, his tone incredulous. "I've never seen something slid off that fast. But then Fred stormed in, misinterpreted everything, and evicted me in the same breath."
The fight ran out of the girls and they both leaned their heads on Edward's shoulders.
"But you can't move," Rosalie complained.
"Damn that Fred," Bella whined. Despite it being in the middle of the night, a knock sounded at the door, and Bella, feeling confused about potential guests at that time, went to open it, and as she walked, she continued to verbalize her discontent. "He shouldn't be able to just kick people out like that whenever it suits him."
Fred was on the other side. "Hi kids," he greeted, sounding embarrassed.
Rosalie immediately got up in his face. "Listen here, buddy, I'm telling you right now that you're looking at a trio who sticks together, and if you want to kick one of us out, you have to kick us all out. But mark my words, we won't go silently."
Fred looked increasingly uncomfortable and tried to calm her down. "Look, I just—"
"No," Bella interrupted. "You have no legal reason to evict Edward, and if you do, we'll take this to court, and you can take your rental contract and shove it up your—"
"I wanted to apologize," Fred finally said.
"What did you say?" Edward asked coming forward.
"I said, I'm sorry," Fred repeated. "Tanya admitted she almost assaulted poor Edward down there, and that he didn't encourage her one bit. That he was completely indifferent to her. She's devastated and wanted to let him know she's sorry, too."
Rosalie, Bella, and Edward exchanged a hopeful look.
"So I get to stay then?" he asked.
"Absolutely. You can stay for as long as you want," Fred said and attempted a smile, which turned genuine when Rosalie and Bella hugged him tightly. "Alright, that was all I wanted to say. Goodnight, kids!"
"Goodnight, Fred," the girls replied, and Edward exhaled in relief.
"Shit. That was a close one. I practically already had a foot out on the street."
Rosalie gave him a tight smile. "Yes, now that problem's out of the world, I still have to rip you a new asshole. Do you have any idea how rotten it was of you to ditch us on Bella's birthday? What did you and Tanya do all that time?"
Edward stalled. "We were at a bunch of different places."
"Really?" Rosalie feigned interest.
"And I also had an errand to run," he continued.
"Uh-huh." Bella felt the hurt from before resurfacing. "And what errand was so important?" She turned her back to him and sat down in the futon.
"Oh, nothing special, really," Edward insisted. "I just had to check something first."
Over Bella's shoulder, Edward's hand appeared holding an opened velvet box, and inside the box was the pendant from her necklace that she'd had to pawn. She reverently took it out of the box and turned it over in her palm.
"How could you afford to buy it back?" Rosalie asked Edward in awe.
Edward shrugged. "Well, let's just say I didn't spend all the money I got from Fred on Tanya." He placed his chin on Bella's shoulder. "Are you happy about your birthday gift?"
Bella couldn't speak, and she was silently crying. She had genuinely believed she would never see the pendant again. There was no way she could put into words how grateful she was at that moment, so all she could do was turn around in the chair and rain kisses all over Edward's face.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
A/N:
I know a few will react to this chapter. Like, why did Edward get aroused by Tanya? How dare he? Wasn't this supposed to be a B/E story? What a dick! He totally ditched her on her birthday! Etc.
Look, at the end of this chapter, Edward had been living with Rosalie and Bella for 2 months, and during those two months, Bella and Rosalie have been VERY strict with the roommate rules, so any interest that was budding in the previous chapter has been put on hold.
That hasn't stopped Edward from fantasizing, though, as implied just before he and Bella kissed.
Still, Tanya's an attractive girl, and Edward's a young guy. When an attractive girl practically starts jerking you off through your jeans, as a guy, you're bound to have a reaction, no matter how unwilling.
So give Edward a chance, okay? And he did something really sweet for Bella here, so who knows? Maybe this is the start … of something new ;-)