Hearing from y'all again is making my day, so thank you. We're so close to the new stuff (chapter 12)!


10

"So, what does your family usually do for Christmas?" I ask Edward as we finish decorating his tree.

Thankfully, it's been just us because Garrett's been hiding out in his room the entire time. We haven't seen him since we've gotten back, but we can hear him strumming his acoustic guitar, so we know he's here.

Edward places his baseball ornament on a branch as he says, "Christmas Eve is low-key. We do a potluck at my aunt's house and a White Elephant gift exchange, and then we do Christmas Day at my parents' place. My dad makes a huge meal. My mom gets us drunk. We open presents. Make fun of each other."

"Sounds fun. What will you do this year for Christmas Eve if your Aunt is out of town? Didn't she go to London?"

I'm already making plans to invite him to my mom's on Christmas Eve when he says, "Ah. That's my Aunt Siobhan. We do Christmas Eve at my Aunt Lo's."

I'm disappointed but hide it. "Gotcha."

"What about you?"

"My mom does a whole thing on Christmas Eve with family and friends at her house."

"The Candy Cane Lane house?"

"The one and only," I say with a small smile. "And then Christmas Day is just me, my mom, Alice, and Jasper."

"That's your brother-in-law?"

"Yep. You'll meet him later tonight."

I place the last ornament—the red pickup truck—on the tree.

"You can put that on your tree if you want," he says. "You don't have to put it on mine."

"What—my ornament isn't good enough for your hundred-dollar tree?" I joke.

"Shut up. I just didn't want you to think you had to leave it here, that's all."

"I like it on your tree. Also… Idon'thavechristmastree," I say in a rush.

"What?" He looks genuinely confused. "You don't have a tree?"

I smile awkwardly. "No."

"Talk about being a hypocrite, Swan," he says with a surprised laugh. "You gave me shit about not decorating, yet you're the real Grinch."

"I know, I know. I haven't decorated in a few years," I admit. "Until this year, Christmas just kind of made me sad."

Edward steps closer to me and it makes my stomach flutter. I look up at him, my heart calming. His eyes are green and fierce, and I can see the lights from the Christmas tree reflecting in them.

"And what's so different about this year?" he quietly asks.

"You know what," I reply just as softly.

"I wanna hear it."

"My heart grew three sizes?" I joke, and the corner of his mouth twitches.

"Why's that?" he asks, voice velvet this time as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close.

"Because of you."

His eyes flash with pure affection, and he dips his head to kiss me, softly and sensually. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, getting lost in our embrace… but not lost enough to ignore the sound of Garrett coming out of his room and saying, "Why don't you two just bang already and get it over with?"

Edward and I pull apart as Garrett gets comfortable on the couch.

"Do you time this shit?" Edward asks him, irritated as his hands drop from my waist.

"I could ask you the same thing," Garrett laughs, then winks at his cousin. "Don't worry, dude. I won't tell Becca about this."

His joke confuses me. "I thought I was Becca?" I ask.

Garrett looks at me strangely as he turns on the TV. "Uh, no. You're Bella."

Fucking bozo. "Right. Obviously, I know who I am. But last night when you thought I was Becca, I assumed it was because Edward had told you about me and you got my name wrong or something."

Garrett grins.

Edward looks… guilty.

"Sorry to burst your love bubble, babe. Becca is real. Weren't you dating her like, a month ago, Edward?"

"Fuck off, dude," he mutters.

The light feeling in my chest evaporates. I'm not mad, though. I can't be. Until today nothing romantic between Edward and me even existed. But I am slightly disappointed that Edward wasn't talking about me, and irrationally jealous over someone with a name similar to mine because she went out with Edward.

"Talk about awkward," Garrett chuckles, then looks at me. "Hit me up if you want to pay him back with revenge sex."

"Gare," Edward barks, voice firmer now. "Cool it."

"What?" he laughs. "It's a joke!"

Edward glares. "It's not fucking funny to me."

The sudden urge to slap Garrett's stupid, bearded face is present. There was zero reason for him to say anything about Becca at all, but knowing what Edward told me about him, he is only doing this to try to make Edward look bad. And that pisses me off because Edward doesn't fucking deserve that.

"So, did you play the acoustic guitar first or did you pick up that hobby because of Edward?" I ask Garrett.

He frowns. "What?"

"Honestly, dude, you need to check yourself. You're giving off single white female vibes and that shit isn't cool," I quip.

"I'm legit lost right now," he says, truly not getting what I'm saying, but that somehow makes it even better.

"Nevermind," I tell him, then look at Edward who is fighting a smile. "You want to get out of here?"

Edward nods and grabs my pies from the fridge before we throw on our coats and head out.

We stay silent in the elevator, and I take one of the pies from him. With an empty hand, he tangles our fingers together, making me smile.

Once we're outside, snow falls faster and more furious than it was earlier and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

We walk for a block or so, and Edward unlocks and opens the passenger door for me before sweetly starting his car so I can get warm while he clears off his windshield and windows.

I turn on his radio and change the station until I find Christmas music, and I watch him move around the car. I can honestly say until this moment I never thought someone clearing snow off a vehicle could be sexy.

When he climbs in the driver's seat, a rush of cold air blows in.

He eyes me. "I'm sorry about all of that," he mumbles.

"For what—having feelings for someone other than me before today?" I ask, soft but joking. And still the slightest bit jealous.

Edward sighs and scrubs a hand through his snow-speckled hair, "It's not even like that."

"You don't owe me an explanation. I'm stupid—and maybe even a little conceited—for assuming Garrett got my name wrong last night because you had talked to him about me."

"You're not stupid. But I never told him about you because you meant too much, Bella. I didn't trust that he wouldn't go out of his way to meet you while we were hanging out or something. I knew he'd try to hit on you if he knew I liked you. I know how he is."

"He's a douchebag and you need to get your own place."

"Yeah, I know. My lease is up in two months and I'm not gonna renew. And for the record, I don't play the guitar," he adds. "But I appreciate what you were trying to do by making a point."

"Garrett probably thinks I'm a crazed person for saying all of that to him. But whatever, he was ticking me off the way he was purposely trying to make you look bad." I perk up after a second. "And maybe if he thinks I'm crazed, he won't be as interested in me."

"Oh, it's all an act? You aren't actually a crazed person?" Edward jokes, and I smack his chest, which turns into him grabbing my arm and pulling me closer for a kiss.

I give into it, then ruin it with: "So, who's Becca? Or do I not want to know?"

"She's no one. My sister set me up with her a month ago. We went out once, and nothing even happened. She was nice, but she wasn't you."

My body grows warm from his admission. "So, she was normal?"

"So fucking normal to the point where that felt weird," he laughs softly before growing serious again. "You've kind of ruined me, Swan. You make me laugh and I have fun with you, and yeah. My sister gave me shit for not asking Becca out a second time, so I told Rosalie I have feelings for you. That's why she knows about you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She's been encouraging me—more like hounding me to no fucking end—to let you know how I feel. After she briefly met you last night outside the restaurant, she texted me that you were cute and that I needed to grow a pair. And… here we are."

I like knowing that Edward was more influenced by his sister to tell me how he felt than because he was threatened by his cousin.

I'm smiling now. "I like your sister."

"Yeah, she's cool."

"I hate your cousin."

"Yeah, he's a tool."

"And I really," I lean in, "really fucking like you, Edward. I honestly haven't felt this way in a really long time." Or ever really, but I'm not sure how lame that would sound.

He smiles softly. "Haven't felt like what?"

"Like, excited, and nervous but in a good way. And just happy. I don't know. A little bit possessive, too," I admit. "I'm not jealous by nature, but I felt a little jealous last night when you said you had dated someone who works for your sister. And then again with the whole Becca thing…"

He cups my face and shifts as close as he can with the console between us. His nose brushes mine, our lips almost touching. "There's no one to be jealous over. You've been on my mind for a while. I just didn't say anything because of work. And maybe because I'm a pussy."

"You're not," I say seriously.

"Not anymore. But I should've just told you."

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Will you shut up and kiss me now?"

He does.

We kiss until the windows fog.

We kiss until my chin is raw from his stubble and I'm wanting more.

"Let's go to my place," I whisper. "I don't have a roommate or an annoying, competitive cousin who has a radar for catching us in compromising positions."

With one more kiss on my lips, Edward settles back against his seat. "Thank fuck for that."