A/N: So, Bella got through Alice relarively unscathed, but it's time to meet Rosalie and the rest! How do you think it'll go? Thank you to everyone commenting, favouriting, and following! And a special shout out to those of you following my group, hmerdan's fiction spot! Wr just shared a preview of some works in my WIP vault for anythine interested in seeing what's to come. We'd love to have you join us over there! Of course, thank you to my beta, Kneon!
EPOV
Yeah, I was an idiot. I shouldn't have given out Bella's home address without checking first, even if it was Alice. In my defence, it was six in the morning, and I was focused on helping Jasper with his reps. Thankfully, Bella was extremely forgiving about the whole ordeal and seemed grateful for her time with Alice. I knew I owed her one for helping Bella.
"Have I told you how gorgeous you look?" I asked once we were on the road to dinner.
"You did, but you can say it again," she replied with a coy blush. "Alice really has good taste. She tried talking me into a dress for her wedding."
"Why didn't you get it?"
"Because someone hasn't asked me to be their plus one," she answered, shooting me a look.
I really was an idiot. Again. "Bella, I want to be with you as much as humanly possible," I stated bluntly. "Of course, I would be honoured if you came to Alice and Jasper's wedding with me."
"I'd love to," she agreed with a brilliant smile. "I hope Jasper's back in shape by then."
"He'll be fine," I assured her. "PT's already given him the green light to start easing back to his normal routine, just with less weight and shorter reps."
"That's good," she nodded. "Alice sounded relieved that it wasn't bad enough for surgery."
"We all were," I agreed. "But I'm sure he'll be pretty much back to normal at the wedding, two-stepping his way around the dance floor."
"Two-stepping?"
"He's a good ol' Texan boy! He already warned the guys there's gonna be a line dance or two."
"Line dance? I'm bad enough at dancing when I need to keep my own rhythm. But everyone else's? It's a nightmare," she groaned.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe," I promised, pulling up behind a Mercedes SUV at the valet. "I hope you like this place. Emmett picked it out." I gestured toward the black lettering on the side of the building - Jacobs & Co Steakhouse.
"Well, the name leaves something to be desired," she giggled. "But I'm sure it'll be great."
"That's what I told him! He wanted me to take you here on our first date."
"I'm glad you didn't listen. I loved our first date." She gave me a soft, thoughtful smile as I pulled forward. I managed to jump out quickly enough to wave off the valet attendant approaching Bella's door and tossed him my keys with a warning look. I opened Bella's door and offered her my hand as she stepped out of the low car carefully. "You have nothing to worry about," I promised her. "You already met Alice, Mac, and Tex, and they all like you."
"There's just one variable," she retorted nervously.
"Rosalie will like you once she gets to know you. There's nothing to worry about." I placed a hopefully comforting kiss on her lips before placing my hand on her lower back.
"I thought I saw you behind us!" Emmett boomed as he noticed us from the host stand. "How's it going, man?"
"You guys were in the Mom Car?" I laughed, clapping Emmett on the back. Between Emmett's Wrangler and Rosalie's Roadster, I would never expect them to drive an SUV.
"We were ready for a change," Emmett shrugged with a grin. "Good to see you again, Bella."
I had to stop myself from smacking my own head. "Sorry, Bella, you remember Emmett. And this is his wife, Rosalie McCarty," I introduced.
"Good to see you again, Emmett. Brady says hi," Bella smirked before offering her hand to Rose. "Rosalie, it's great to meet you."
Rosalie cocked a questioning eyebrow at Bella and accepted her hand weakly. "We'll see," she retorted and turned to me as she dropped Bella's hand. "Alice and Jasper are already here. We're just waiting for a host."
"Welcome to Jacobs and Company," a hostess greeted us as if she had been summoned by Rosalie's cold shoulder. Her eyes widened once she noticed Emmett and me, but she quickly regained her professional composure. "Do you have a reservation?"
"Under McCarty," Rose answered. "The rest of our party's already here."
The hostess looked down at the iPad on her station before grabbing the leather-bound menus. "Right, they're already upstairs. If you'll follow me."
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Bella biting her lip nervously and pulled her into my side. "Don't worry," I whispered into her ear. "She'll warm up to you."
"I don't think a microwave could warm her up," Bella murmured, leaning into me as we made our way upstairs.
"Oh, good! You're finally here!" Alice greeted us cheerfully, pulling Bella to her while Jasper and Emmett shared a manly hug. While I couldn't hear what Alice said, I'm guessing it was words of encouragement based on the shy smile and nod Bella gave her in return.
"You think you could be a little friendlier?" I muttered to Rose while our significant others were busy. "Bella's a nice girl."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Rose snorted in response. "Your track record doesn't speak well for you."
"What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?"
"You almost went to law school. Ever heard of the reverse onus clause?" she snapped back before moving toward Alice.
Before Rose could push Bella aside, I grabbed her arm lightly and walked up to Tex. "You remember Bella," I introduced after hugging him.
"Of course!" He grinned. "How's Seth doing?"
"He's great! He and Collin keep asking if you're feeling better," she smiled. While I could still see the nerves, she did seem calmer after speaking with Alice.
"Well, I'm not a hundred yet, but I'm faster than a herd of turtles," he replied, pushing his drawl as much as possible and making Bella giggle. "Those boys shouldn't worry, I'll be right as rain by pre-season."
"More like the wedding," Alice scolded playfully before hugging me. "I love her. Don't fuck this up," she whispered in my ear before pulling away. I just nodded and pulled out a chair for Bella before taking a seat next to her. "I already ordered a bottle of Valpolicella for the table."
"I'm sticking with water tonight," Rosalie stated, slipping into her own seat.
"Really?" Alice pouted. "But the guys won't drink wine with me."
"Sorry for wanting to stay sober," Rose scoffed. At least she was spreading her bitchiness around.
"It's okay, Alice. I'll have a glass with you," Bella piped up. Alice smiled appreciatively, while Rosalie just rolled her eyes.
"I hope they've still got something good from Japan," Emmett announced as we all opened our menu. "Papa Bear needs some meat."
I had to agree with him; the Wagyu striploin was easily one of the best steaks I've ever had. Before I could scan the steak menu, I caught a glimpse of Bella looking at the leather-bound book in shock. "You okay?" I asked, leaning in close to her.
"Some of these could pay my bills for a month," she murmured quietly and pointed at a Kobe ribeye. "That one could pay my rent."
"Don't worry, Bella. Get whatever you want," I assured her, dropping a kiss under her ear.
"Ugh, get a room," Rose muttered.
"So, usually when we come here, Rose and I get a cut to split, and we all choose sides to share," Alice chirped. "And you have to get the Caesar salad! They make it table side."
"We usually get a twelve-ounce striploin, but I guess we'll need something bigger for the three of us," Rosalie sighed. "And I'm getting the beet salad this time."
"They have an eighteen-ounce striploin," Alice pointed out, annoyance in her voice. "It's not a big deal."
"It's bone-in," Rose refuted. "I hate bone-in steaks."
"They cut the bone off for us!"
"It's fine," Bella interjected. "I was actually looking at the sea bass." Of course, she would find the most affordable main dish on the menu. "I don't want to ruin your usual plan."
"Oh! I've always wanted to try the sea bass here," Alice squealed. "Want to split?"
"She's not getting any of my share of steak," Rose declared. "I can't stand fish."
"We've all seen you pound back the risotto pescatora at Joso's," Jasper challenged, earning a glare from Rose. And, oddly, from Emmett. Weird.
"That's fine, I'm not a big steak person," Bella smiled nervously. "But I'm happy to share with you, Alice."
"Can we figure out sides?" Emmett grumbled. "I'm wasting away here!"
"Clearly," Jasper snorted. "What are you down to, now? Two-twenty, two-nineteen?"
"If we wait anymore, I'm gonna look like Tiny over there," Emmett added, gesturing to Alice with a grin.
"I could still kick your ass." She stuck out her tongue at him and went back to the menu. "We have to get duck fat fries."
Once we placed our orders, it didn't take long for food to start coming out and for everyone to relax. While I was mostly shooting the shit with the guys, I noticed Alice doing her best to engage Bella and Rosalie into a conversation, despite Rose continuing to be a frosty bitch. Hopefully, she'd realize how authentic Bella was soon enough and start treating her like a human. I knew she'd have enough to deal with from Foster and St. Louis's girls.
After topping off the meal with a shared slice of blueberry lemon cheesecake, I leaned back in my chair feeling satisfied. "Wow, Em. You managed to surprise me."
"Wha' di' I dhu?" Emmett asked, his mouth full of Brie from his end-of-meal cheese plate.
"You managed to stick to your own cheese plate without swiping any of Rosalie's chocolate pie," I snickered. Usually, Rosalie only had a couple of bites of whatever dessert she ordered before Emmett would abscond with the remainder. I swear, the guy was a bottomless pit. He could put Seth and his buddies to shame.
"You also didn't take any of her steak," Jasper added playfully, but he was right.
"Fuck, make me sound like a douche, why don't you?" Emmett murmured. "I'm not gonna take my lady's food when she's hungry." He shoved the last raspberry into his mouth in emphasis. "Besides, I'll probably eat her muffin on the way to Liberty Grand."
He shot us all a salacious wink, making Bella choke on her last sip of wine. "You okay?" I asked Bella gently, patting her back.
She gave me a quick nod, wiping her mouth delicately with her napkin. "I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting… that."
"Oh, relax!" Rosalie huffed and rolled her eyes. "They end the meal with complimentary chocolate chip muffins! I can't stand muffins. They're just sad cupcakes that pretend to be healthy."
"We should stop in the ladies' room before we leave," Alice suggested. "I need to reapply some lipstick."
"Not before you ladies help us decide who's paying," Jasper added and looked over at me and Emmett. "Standard roulette rules?"
"As always," I replied while Mac nodded, and we all reached for our wallet.
"I'm so confused. How do you guys play roulette without… roulette?" Bella asked quietly.
"Credit card roulette," I explained. "We got sick of fighting over who pays the bill, so we decided to make it interesting."
"They used to play penny hockey at the table until we put a stop to it," Alice sighed. "Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be in a place like this?"
"Anyway," I interjected, shooting Alice a glare. "We put all three cards in a napkin, and either one of the girls or a server picks one out at random."
"Ooh! Bella should pick today!" Alice squealed. "It's her first time."
"Sure, seems pretty straightforward," Bella shrugged as Alice plucked our cards from our hands and put them into her makeshift napkin pouch. After a quick shake, Bella grabbed one of the cards from the set. "Looks like tonight's dinner's on E A Masen," she announced with a grin in my direction.
"Tough break, boys," I smirked as I signalled for the server. "Maybe next time."
"Ah, it's for the best," Jasper sighed. "Weddings aren't cheap."
"Yeah, and we don't want to waste that WHOLE commission cheque," Emmett added with a laugh in my direction while the server placed the cheque and machine in front of me.
"Wait, you guys all WANT to pay?" Bella confirmed with surprise written all over her face once he left us.
"Some people actually like to treat their friends," Rose replied sarcastically.
"I know… I guess I'm just too used to loser pays type bets…" Bella answered nervously. Shit, she was biting her lip.
"Rose, relax," I interjected, trying to keep my cool. "Not everyone's as weird as us."
"Whatever," she muttered. "Just be glad you got your card back. I'm going to the car."
"I should probably join the missus," Emmett laughed nervously. "See you boys at the shindig!"
"I guess we can do touch-ups at the venue," Alice sighed as she and Jasper stood up. "Meet you in the foyer?"
"Yeah, we'll be there soon," I sighed and helped Bella stand, following them out to the valet stand. Emmett and Rose were pulling away just as the four of us approached. Thankfully, my Aston Martin was brought back before Jasper's Land Rover, so Bella and I said our goodbyes before getting in and pulling away from the curb.
"That went well," I sighed. "All things considered."
"That was well?" Bella snorted. "I thought Rosalie was about to ask the chefs to butcher me like those cuts of meat out front!"
"Yeah, she was… something. I swear, she's not always that bitchy. She's just protective."
"Because of Tanya." It wasn't really a question, Bella already knew the answer. Still, I nodded in confirmation. "You know, it doesn't seem fair that I have to fight against something and I don't even know all the details. I know you hate talking about her, but I really deserve some information."
"You're right, you do," I agreed. "But not right now. You were planning to stay at my place tonight anyway. I promise, as soon as we're home, I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"Thank you," she answered softly.
Shit, now I had to figure out exactly what to say.