Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Chapter Thirty-One

At some point in the night, I had fallen asleep out in the living room with Edward. For a majority of the night, we just talked. It was fantastic. Occasionally we would make out, which was also really fantastic. He was a great kisser. So great even that my lips were a little swollen this morning.

I yawned and went to stretch but then remembered I was out in the living room. When I adjusted my limbs accordingly, so I didn't fall off the couch, I realized that I wasn't even on my couch. I opened my eyes and looked around.

I was in my bed in my room. I sat my head up and looked around for Edward. Did he put me to bed? I don't remember going to sleep last night, let alone coming into my room.

"Edward?" I called out gently. Of course there was no answer. He must've put me to bed then left. I sighed; I couldn't help but feel a little sad. I wanted to see him again.

I reached over for my cellphone, but it was gone. I must've left it in the living room. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and noticed that I was still in my dress from the night before. When I caught a whiff of my morning breath, I nearly gagged.

Okay, brush teeth, shower, then find my phone and call Edward.

I rushed into my bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush. I jumped right into the shower without waiting for it to heat up. I then proceeded to brush my teeth in the shower. Very gross and definitely out of the norm, but I really wanted to call Edward. Why, I wasn't sure, but I had about a million butterflies in my tummy as I thought about him.

My hair was still sopping wet as I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. I didn't care about getting dressed right now. I'd get dressed after my hair dried for a bit.

I walked out of my room and was greeted by the most heavenly of scents. And a velvety voice.

"Well, good morning," Edward said from the couch.

My eyes widened, "You're here?"

He chuckled, "I am."

"Did you stay here the whole night?"

"No," He chuckled as he got up from the couch, setting aside his steaming cup. "I went home. Briefly. After I put you to bed. I showered and changed and then came back. Hope you don't mind."

I blushed, "No, I don't mind. I was actually coming out here to find my phone."

"Mm," He said as he crossed the room and pulled me into his arms. "Is that so? Who were you planning on calling?"

My blush darkened, "You."

He smiled widely, his hands softly caressing my hips. "Is that right? Well, I'm glad I decided to come back."

I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his, "Did you cook?"

"No, I can't cook," He said before placing a quick peck on my lips, "But I did hire someone who could. I thought it would be a nice surprise."

I turned my head and looked into my kitchen. There was a man, engrossed in whatever he was cutting, standing at my counter. I gasped lightly, my blush now covering my entire body.

"I didn't realize… I'll go put some clothes on."

He laughed and released me. "Sad. But understandable."

Before I walked through the entrance of my room, I turned, "Wait, why did you do all of this?"

He grinned widely, "I told you last night at the party. Today I am stealing your attention from eight a.m. to whenever I see fit."

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't think you were serious."

He chuckled again, "Go get dressed and then join me for breakfast."

I walked into the room but threw a smile at him over my shoulder. Since he was here and expected to spend the day on me, I decided to tease him a bit and take my time getting ready.

I blew my hair dry, something I rarely ever did because of how long it took. Then I styled my hair into a braid. And then, I took my time to selecting my outfit.

Once I felt I had made him wait long enough, I walked out of my bedroom. He was sitting on a chair, shaking with laughter. I grinned teasingly at him.

"And what exactly are you laughing about?" I asked.

"You. You're so petty. Did you take so long on purpose? Breakfast is getting cold."

I shrugged, "I just wanted to look very nice."

"You look beautiful," He grinned. "Are you ready to eat?"

"Absolutely," I smiled.

I sat down across from him and looked at the large spread. "Do you really think we're going to eat all of this?"

"I know I'm going to eat at least half of it," He said as he piled his plate high. "I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten good food in two months."

"You're going to make yourself sick," I chuckled as I placed significantly less food on my plate. "So, what do you have planned for us today?"

"That depends on how much you've seen of New York," He said before taking a large bite, "Holy fuck, I forgot how much I missed French toast."

I giggled, "I haven't seen much of the city."

"Excellent."

"So what are we doing?" I pressed.

He grinned, "Oh it's all a surprise. You're not going to have any idea what we do until we're there."

I gaped, but he was quick to cut me off before I protested.

"A little payback for that surprise party you didn't tell me about."

I rolled my eyes, "Fine. But I expect to be wowed."

"Oh you're going to be wowed." He said, waggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes again but smiled. He was just so cute.

New York Harbor

"This is so stupid," I said as I gripped his arm. I wanted to take the stupid blindfold off, but he said he'd take me someplace I'd absolutely loathed, and I had to relent. I didn't know what that place would be, but I didn't want to test him.

He chuckled. "Have faith, lovely, have faith."

"Okay, I know we're by the water. I can smell it. But we're climbing a crap-ton of stairs."

"Good job, sherlock."

"Shut up," I said, blindly swatting at him. He just laughed.

We took, what seemed like, several hundred more steps. I thought I was going to die. At a certain point, I stopped and made Edward give me a piggyback ride. He laughed at first and teased me about being out of shape, but by the time he sat me on my feet, he was just as out of breath as I was.

"Alright, are you ready?" He said as he walked me over to a wall. My legs hit a wall.

"Yeah, take this off me," I said impatiently.

He took the blindfold off and I was met with a very sickening sight. I gasped as I looked out over the city, the height at which I was looking was almost enough to make me puke.

"Oh you absolute bastard!" I said as I twisted and clung onto him. He laughed and held my hands tightly.

"Do you not like heights?"

"Hell no!" I said, blinking wildly. "Where the hell even are we?"

He laughed again, "The Statue of Liberty."

"I think I'm going to pass out," I whined as my knees shook. "Why up here?"

He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly, his chin on my shoulder.

"It's beautiful. The city is beautiful."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Aw, c'mon, isn't the city nice?"

"It's beautiful. Now let's get the hell down before it tips over."

He snorted. "Don't be a sour puss. Take in the sight. Look at how beautiful this city is. Tell me again why you came here?"

I sighed, but decided to go along with his game just so we could walk back down.

"I came here for the opportunity. And I've always read that New York is the place to be. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

He hummed in agreement. "You're right. This is one of my favorite places. I love looking out over the city. It's so beautiful. It's the perfect mix of new opportunity and old-world simplicity."

"Cool."

"You know my family immigrated all the way from Ireland to settle here. My four times great grandfather abandoned everything, packed his wife and kids, and moved here with nothing. For the five years they were here, they had to live in a single room apartment above a meat factory. My grandfather worked in that factory until he saved up enough to start his own financial protection business. He worked his ass off until he died. His legacy and his business have been the center of our family for a very long time."

"Is that the business that made all of you what you are today."

"Mm hm," He said. "It started off as just a little piss-ant business and now it's the leading multi-national financial interest and insurance protection company ever. We've done pretty well."

"No need to toot your own horn."

He laughed and squeezed me tighter. "I'm glad I tricked you into coming up here. It's my favorite place in the entire city."

"Thanks for tricking me. Now, can we please, please leave. I'm about to pass out."

He laughed again, "Of course. I just wanted to share this place with you. I'll never bring you again."

"Appreciated." I said as I grabbed his arm and jerked him towards the stairs.

The next stop on Edward's list was a restaurant that sat right on the harbor. It was just a little rinky-dink sandwich shop, but it was nice to sit on a blanket and have a picnic. I actually quite enjoyed myself. We talked about different things and watched the boats go by in the harbor.

"You know something weird I miss?" I said as I watched a little fishing boat with two men in it lazily drift by.

"What's that?"

"I kind of miss fishing with my dad," I smiled. "I used to hate it. He would wake me up at four a.m. on Saturdays and take me on the lake. He taught me how to cast out. I only caught a few things, I was never as good as he was, but he was named the best fisherman in Forks three years in a row."

Edward chuckled. "I've never even held a fishing pole."

I looked over at him, my mouth dropping. "You've never gone fishing!"

"No," He laughed. "Is that so crazy? I've lived in the city my whole life. And whenever we did go on a beach resort, I was to trying to figure out how to get on the nude beaches instead of fishing."

I laughed and shook my head. "Well that's embarrassing."

"And why is that?"

"Real men should know how to fish," I said as I stood, brushing the crumbs off me. "What if we're ever out in the middle of nowhere, how would you feed me?"

"Are you having fantasies about us being stranded?"

"No, but now I'm praying it never happens. You can't provide for me."

"Oh ho," He laughed as he stood. "That is rich. I can provide very well for you."

"You can't fish," I said teasingly.

He let out a playful growl. "Is that so? You don't know what I can do."

"I know you can't fish," I smiled.

"You are such a brat," He laughed, reaching out and grabbing me by the waist.

I stepped out of his reach. "Now I think I'm going to have to take you fishing."

He chuckled again, shaking his head. "Later, right now, we need to finish our date. I still have you for fourteen hours."