Chapter 18
EPOV
The rest of the school day passed without incident after my breakdown at lunch. Bella didn't bring it up again, to which I was fucking thankful for. I wasn't the type of person that just had emotional breakdowns at school or ever. Actually, I never showed emotions at all. I was strangely glad that Bella had been there for me, I found her touch soothing. All throughout bio I would stroke her hand or arm, and occasionally her cheek if no one was watching us in the back. I just couldn't get enough of the electricity that flowed between us as our skin touched. I wanted to have my hands on her always. That, however, would probably be inappropriate.
After school I insisted on joining Bella in her job search. I could be a selfish mother-fucker and desperately wanted to spend time with her. I insisted on driving, after dropping off her truck in her driveway. Although I was thrilled that my girl could now be independent because she had her own car, her old red truck didn't have shit on my silver Volvo C70. Besides, I was almost a complete control freak. Once Bella's shit had gotten taken care of, we drove off to downtown Forks together in search of employment.
"So, Bella, where do you plan on applying?" I questioned, half legitimately curious and half just wanting to know where to drive to.
She looked up at me with her beautiful brown doe eyes in apprehension. Shit, was she nervous? Not my Bella—she was fearless.
"Uh… I don't know any suggestions?" She rearranged her facial features to put on a look of apathy mixed with slight annoyance at the task at hand. Tricky, Bella, if I hadn't seen the apprehension before I would have believed her now. I tried to think of a place where Bella could work, I could stop in whenever I pleased, it would be flexible, and she would make a decent amount of money. The only place that truly came to mind was the diner. The other places in the small town would not do: I would have no reason to go into Newton's Outdoor Gear shop seeing as how I didn't do shit like that, and there was no way in hell I would step foot into the nail salon, ever.
"The diner, maybe?" Once I had said this, her eyes lit up in realization.
"Yeah, that could work… good idea. Let's head there first," she exclaimed as if the thought had come from her. I loved the way Bella, even through her anxiety, always seemed to take charge in a situation which was fucking hot, if I say so myself. Bella did her thing, being personable and friendly. Although she claims to hate people, she's a natural at charming them into liking her. It was a side I had never seen of her and I liked it a lot. The Bella I had previously known was assertive, tenacious, and wary of other people. This new, smooth talking Bella was sexy as hell. She was still true to herself and very un-fake, but it was as if this charismatic tigress lurked under the skin of an apathetic social goddess. I started to wonder if she might want to act that out in the bedroom sometime in the future…
The thirty-something hostess knew who Bella was the instant Bella introduced herself; Forks, after all, was a very small town and being the daughter of the Chief of Police and the sister of a football stud made you easily recognized. Once Bella had let it known that she wished to apply for a job, the woman got very excited because a waitress had just quit the week before, which made them short staffed—a very uncomfortable situation for the popular and only diner in town to be in. Bella, showing her amiable qualities, practically got the job on the spot. I was so proud of her. My girl was a sexy job-acquiring dynamo. When we had gotten back into the car Bella was noticeably less than enthusiastic, muttering something about it being too easy under her breath.
"What are you talking about?" I questioned, not really knowing what else to say.
"I… ugh. I'm just frustrated," she huffed. It was the strangest response I never expected.
"What?" Bella looked like conflicting emotions were warring within her. I couldn't for the life of me figure the fuck out as to why.
"I'm sorry Edward, I'm just—I can't even explain it. I really don't like people. I feel as though my skin is crawling whenever strangers act really friendly to me. I'm weirdly uncomfortable right now," she paused and looked at me taking in my—sure to be—bewildered expression. "I'm not uncomfortable with you! Just… being around people in general. You know that anxiety feeling? Like, your chest is on fire and you feel slightly nauseated, yet not? That's how I feel constantly, when I'm not around you…" It was such a candid confession that seemingly came out of no-where.
"Bella, I had no idea. Are you OK?" I was becoming aware as to how concerned I was for her. Her eyes were dazed and her mouth was set in a small, sad frown. It didn't even look like she heard me.
"Uhm… what?" Nope, definitely didn't hear me.
"I asked if you were OK."
"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine… I don't know. I'm glad I have a job now… one that will be quite lucrative, but I can't shake this anxiety I'm feeling right now after going in there. Can you just take me home?" I looked to this girl who appeared fierce: fire-red streaks in her that shone brighter because of the blood-red v-neck shirt she was wearing, those skinny black jeans with a matching black vest, and—of course—red converse high tops; (I loved the way that my Bella wore whatever she felt like, not worrying about what the other bitches at school thought was popular). It was such a contradiction that she felt so… helpless and pained inside. I couldn't deny the small prick of hurt that I felt that she no longer wanted to be with me but I figured I could always come over later; I knew that she liked to make dinner for her dad and Emmett. She probably saw the slight pain in my eyes because then she felt the need to add, "I just, have some stuff to do at home and… well just call me later OK?"
"Sure, sugar. Whatever you want. I should work on my homework some… can I stop by later?" As I pulled into her driveway I was practically begging my girlfriend to spend time with me. I wanted to try to calm her down a bit, so I thought that calling her a pet name might show her the affection that I wanted to while respecting her desires for separation. Sugar was the first thing that rolled from my lips. It seemed appropriate though, because her lips were fucking deliciously sweet. Besides that, she always looked practically edible, she was so sexy. Just thinking about how I wanted her gave me a raging hard-on.
"Oh, well yeah. I would hope so! I just… need some time to get my head on straight." She leaned in and kissed me good-bye and walked to her door, letting herself inside. Hours later when I first saw her, I was instantly hard again, even after masturbating multiple times in my bathroom. She had scared the shit out of me by not answering my texts or calls when I told her I was coming over, though. I thought something terrible could have happened because of the way she was acting when I left her. Even worse, I was afraid that she had drunk herself into a coma. That scared me. But I'll be damned, if when I saw through her window, hand down her red panties, playing with her kitty. How the hell did she go from seemingly having an almost-anxiety attack to so horny that she can't be bothered to pick up her phone for her boyfriend because she's masturbating? However, when I found out that she was high all of my questions were placated in that knowledge.
I thought that I had handled myself pretty well considering that I walked-in on my girlfriend touching herself, giving me a steel-hard boner while she was trying, and succeeding at seducing me. I tried so hard to not just give-in and practically fuck her brains out. I was so hot for this girl, it was ridiculous. Keeping in mind that not more than forty-eight hours ago this girl was date-rape drugged and almost sexually assaulted at her birthday party, not to mention the fact that she was currently high, probably slightly intoxicated, and pretty emotionally unstable due to the day's extreme emotion—I did not want to fool around. Spending time with Bella had been my goal. I tried to use her highness as an excuse to not act on the physical desires that we both shared instead of pointing out that she was likely to use sex as self-medication as well as her alcohol consumption (and now, apparently, marijuana consumption) whenever she was emotionally distressed. She whimpered and practically moaned in her desire to get-off. Understanding the shittyness of being completely and uncontrollably horny and not being able to satiate it, while her little whines went straight to my dick, I decided to help my girl out. It, however, was slightly a selfish act because when I saw her hand on her kitty, I wished it was mine, or my dick.
I stayed until she had been asleep for at least five minutes, although I wished I could have stayed all night, all the next day, and pretty much forever after that. The need for me to get rid of my hard-on was imminent. Besides, I though it inappropriate for me to whack-it next to her, or try to palm her ass while she slept, although it looked completely fucking juicy. The moment her body was connected to mine in any way at all, she was relaxed. Not being able to get enough of her, I went the sensitive-guy way and spooned her to sleep, enjoying the fuck out of her flowery-freesia and orgasm after-glow scent.
After getting home before my 11:30 weekday curfew, I had to pull a double-wank session again to just slightly clear my mind of the naughty images of Bella I had conjured up in my head, also the ones that I had witnessed first-hand. I wondered if she would ever willingly let me watch her pleasure herself sometime… man, was I a dirty fuck, or what. As I lay in bed, attempting sleep, I thought about how un-normal my experiences with Bella had been so far. The night before I asked her out, she was drugged; just before we became official, she enlightened me of her very traumatic car crash experience, and I had previously seen this girl drunk at school, and high as well as drunk on a school night (after accidently getting her father high too) because of which she guilted (somewhat) me into getting her off; also, she was completely erratic in her moods. If it had been anyone except Bella, or in a different order of occurrences, I probably would have run for the fucking hills from this crazy fucked-up alcoholic girl. But knowing that my Sugar had been through Hell and back, multiple times, and the freshness of her most recent traumatic event left her emotionally seared, I expected nothing less. All I wanted to do, however, was give her something normal and fun to do. I wanted to have somewhat of a normal relationship with her and show her off.
Realizing that what I really wanted to do was introduce her to my dad and Esme before taking her out on a real date, I felt somewhat like a pussy. Then I realized that I would do just about anything for Bella, not withholding donning a fucking dress and traipsing around town or something equally ridiculous like that if it made her all-better. Recalling that this would be my first date, ever, even though I had been around a bit with the bitches at my high school, I became nervous. I wanted everything to be perfect for Bella. Knowing that the only way such a goal could be achieved was through the genius of Alice, I decided to discuss it with her the next day. After my realization I felt much less anxious and fell into a restful sleep filled with dreams and fantasies of Bella.
I woke up feeling renewed. After showing, I did my best to fix my hair into the perfect "I don't give a fuck" look, which took about fifteen minutes of coiffing. After throwing on a black tee with silver and gold graphics and a pair of dark wash jeans with my black and gold converse shoes, trying my damndest with my devil-may-care look, I haphazardly bounded down the stairs to be greeted by Esme in the kitchen.
"Hey Es," I nonchalantly greeted. She eyed me warily.
"Good morning Eddie… you're in a good mood this morning," she smiled warmly. If there was anyone in the world I would want as a replacement mom, it would be her.
"Am I? Hmm… I think I had good dreams," I inwardly chuckled. Good dreams, my ass! They were fucking fantastic sex dreams.
"It's about time," Esme murmured.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that! Anyways, I have a favor to ask… so I recently started dating this girl, Bella Swan— " Esme cut me off before I could finish asking my favor.
"Oh my! That's why you're in such a good mood. Oh Edward, I never thought I'd see the day that you would decide to settle for a good girl!" She clapped to herself merrily.
"Oh, Ma! Cut it out! So anyways, tomorrow night I wanted you guys to meet her and have her over for dinner. Would you be cool with that?" She merely looked at me incredulously as if I had grown a fucking second head. I raised my eyebrow and shrugged my shoulders in questioning.
"Edward," she gasped, "that was… that was the first time you ever called me mom." Her face was alight with the biggest smile I had ever seen. I hadn't even known that I had said it. Out of respect for my own mother's memory I hadn't consciously called Esme mom, always just some form of Esme. Now that I had said it, I didn't feel uncomfortable. Alice, though, had always called Carlisle dad. She had never met her birth father, who was apparently an extreme piece of woman-abusing shit. To Alice, the only father she had ever known had been mine, which made her transition into Carlisle and Esme's marriage much smoother than mine had been at first. If I had known that a smile like that could have been brought to Esme's face because of my simple use of the word, I probably would have started calling her mom a few years ago after I accepted her fully into my life.
"Oh, yeah… no sweat," I awkwardly stumbled out the words. "But uh, what about dinner tomorrow night?" I brought the focus of the conversation back to my original question.
"Yes, well of course we will! We can play board games after, you can take her on a walk around the property and of the house. This will be fun!" She squealed, showing her relation to Alice. She kissed my cheek as she set down my plate of breakfast at the table before she left the kitchen, probably to go tell my dad all about it.
A few minutes later, as I was noshing on some crispy bacon, Alice appeared at the kitchen door entry and flitted to her spot at the table. Alice, as I knew, turned out to be a great help in planning the week's activities with Bella. She said that Wednesday should be the night of meeting the parents and Friday should be the date night—that much I had figured out for myself.
"And Edward," she added on to her previous scheduling, "Tonight Rose and I are taking Bella to Rose's house for some girl time. You've been with her every day since her birthday; you don't want this relationship to start off unhealthily." I eyed her suspiciously. Sometimes I wondered if we were somehow related because she could be every bit as controlling as me. Rolling my eyes, I sighed for her benefit.
"Whatever Alice, you can't fucking stop me once she's at her own home though." I thought aloud. My admission frustrated Alice a bit, as she did not expect me to be so petulant.
"But Edwaaaard! You've been hogging Bella all to yourself! I'm going to be great friends with her, you know! It's not fair that you get to steal all of her attention!" Alice whined. It wasn't an annoying, bitchy whine, but just the typical sound Alice made when she was frustrated.
"Fine. I can spare one evening without Bella…I hope," I whispered the end of that more to myself than anything. It was starting to scare me how much I looked forward to Bella's presence and the thought of being absent from it almost physically hurt. Fuck I was starting to sound pathetic. Maybe I should have the guys over tonight for some pool and video games or some masculine shit like that.
"Suck it up Edward," Alice tinkled. We drove separately to school so she could drive herself over to the Hale Manor afterwards. On the way I indulged in a before-school cigarette, usually not wanting to smoke in my car, today I didn't fucking care. School was the same fucking usual shit, and I was only given reprieve when I got to hold Bella's small hands in mine at lunch and on the way to bio. At lunch I invited the guys over for some poker and man-time while the girls did their frilly shit over at the Hale's. I also invited Ben Cheeny and Peter Whitlock over because they mentioned not having plans later while in gym. Five guys for poker was a better number than three, to be perfectly honest.
Using my fake, Emmett, Jasper and I picked up a case of beer to add to the fun we were about to have with just the guys. I had to admit, my backyard may be famous for its bonfires, but my basement was equally as famous for what it had to offer: two pool tables, a kick ass poker table, an indoor swimming pool, and a fully-stocked bar (which my dad kept locked up). The hardware of it, however, was still fun to use. It also had this totally wicked dance floor and lounge set-up. Needless to say, getting drunk in my basement, playing adult at the bar, and dancing our drunk-asses off has always been a fucking blast.
The rest of the guys arrived, cards were dealt, and beers were cracked open. We bullshitted about sports teams, lame-ass teachers, and compared the hotness of our girls; in my mind I had no competition but Emmett and Jasper thought to argue. Ben was single, but expressed his liking of Angela Weber, this quiet but funny girl that occasionally hung around our group. I had to hand it to Ben; she wasn't one of the skank-squad so I had a penchant to approve. Peter surprised us, though, because none of us knew about his secret hook-ups with Charlotte King, one of the less-skanky cheerleaders. She was pretty smart—if I recall correctly—she surpassed my 99% on our algebra final freshman year with her 100%. Yeah, I was actually pissed about it back then but wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of knowing it. The guys-night went without incident.
I called Bella around ten o'clock. We talked about how our nights went and bullshited about what was to come within the week. To be honest, though, Bella still didn't know about our date Friday. She would find that out the next day after the meet-the-parents dinner. Because we were horny teenagers, the call ended in a phone-sex sort of way and mutual masturbation followed leaving us both tired enough to sleep. My girl, very good at talking dirty, had thoroughly exhausted me when I came (multiple times) I fell into a very dreamful sleep. The dreams, however, weren't of a pleasant kind, but that of a nightmare.
The next day I awoke in a near-panic and cold sweats: my girlfriend Bella was going to meet my parents that evening. I didn't worry about Bella, knowing that Carlisle and Esme would be perfectly accepting of her, but I worried for my dad and Esme, hoping that they would love Bella as much as I did. I mean, like, like Bella as much as I did.Fuck, I hated being nervous. I smoked a few extra cigarettes that day with my nerves fucking frayed and contemplated rolling a joint for the extra-calm effects. As much as I wanted the meeting to happen, I was also anti-normal. Being normal for Bella's sake was going to start wearing on my nerves, except for the fact that it was for Bella.
"Edward, slow down. It'll be fine… Are you nervous?" She questioned on the ride to my house.
"Hmm… what? Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I answered not really knowing what she asked of me.
"Edward, seriously. I'm totally fine with meeting the P's… Are you OK with that?"
"Bella, it was my idea. Of course I'm OK with it. I'm just… fine. Fuck, I'm just a little nervous OK? So sue me."
"It's alright Edward. I'm a little nervous… if that helps," she sweetly answered. Shit, she always knew what to say to ease the tension I felt. I could fall in love with her, I swear.
"Thanks Sugar, it does help. It'll be fun. I promise. I'll never break a promise to you, I swear on my life," I answered in full conviction. Her face lightened at my sincerity. "Thanks baby. I'm so excited for you to know my whole life, seriously. I want you in it all." Bella looked at me intently with scrutinizing eyes. What? I thought.
"That was strangely the most serious I've ever seen you be, save for lunch on Monday," she spoke after a few moments.
"I just… I want everything to be perfect for you. You've gone through so much shit recently and all I want to do is give you a sense of normalcy and happiness."
"Edward, you do make me happy, and normal? Normal is a steaming pile of shit. But the thought of is sweet, I suppose." She paused to smile before continuing. "Thank you."
I drove through the winding greenery that surrounded our hidden private drive and when I noticed the usual thinning of trees that lead to the meadow my house was situated in, I looked over to my beautiful girl staring out the window. She had been here a few times but I doubted she'd ever get used to the finery of it all. I still was in fucking awe of how awesome of a home I lived in. I pulled into the circular drive and parked right by the porch steps. "Wait a moment," I motioned to Bella as I got out of my car. Walking around to her door, I opened it hoping to seem like the gentleman I was raised to be, and wishing that I had been less of an asshole when she first met me. Surprise crossed her ever lovely face as I did it. Fuck, I thought, now I'm thinking the word lovely. What is wrong with me!
"Why thank you, Edward. How very chivalrous of you," she winked. I loved it when she did sexy shit like that. It went straight to my ever-throbbing hard-on. I had noticed that Bella was wearing something different than usual: a navy-blue and pink dress. OK, so it was one of those cotton dresses paired with black leggings and pink converse, but still it was different. I gathered that she must have bought the dress with Alice last week when they went to Seattle. It was cute how Bella had wanted to dress up to meet my parents and I was glad she was trying.
Bending down so my mouth was right next to her multiply-studded ear, my nose grazing down her cheek and into her hair as I did—causing her to slightly shudder—I whispered, "You're welcome Sugar" in the most seductive voice I could manage. If she was going to taunt me with her sexy-little-winks and her beauty, then I wanted her to feel as sexually frustrated as I was feeling.
"Oh god," she moaned. Yep, mission accomplished. Fuck, she sounded so hot when she moaned. When I withdrew my head, she gave me a devilish stare and pursed her lips. "Not fair Mr. Cullen. You'll pay for that later," she warned. I hoped she would make me pay… in sexual favors.
"Promise?" I winked. Before either one of us could start humping each other's leg like dogs, I laced my fingers through hers and guided her up the stairs of our wrap-around porch and through the front door. The smell of cooking assaulted my nose and made my mouth water. Esme was holding up to her end of the bargain above and beyond. My dad and Esme were waiting to meet Bella inside in the kitchen. Upon entering, we were greeted with the scene of Esme in her cooking apron, sipping a glass of white wine while my dad was perched on a stool at the counter, watching her cook. He loved doing that shit and I never understood why. Next to me, I could feel my girl tense minutely as she was about to meet my parents, evidently she was more nervous than she had let on.
"Oh, you're here!" Esme cooed when she noticed us. Whipping around the granite counter and wiping her hands on a towel, she stuck out her petite, feminine hand to my girl's equally tiny one. The large smile on her face was contagious and I saw out of the corner of my eye that my dad shared it.
"Hi Mrs. Cullen. It smells delicious in here and you have such a lovely home," Bella returned the smile as they shook hands.
"Oh, please Bella, call me Esme. It's so delightful to finally meet you! I couldn't wait to meet the girl who put a smile on my moody Edward's face," she giggled. What was this? Gang up on Edward, day? Fuck.
"OK, yeah. Thanks Esme." Bella replied. I could tell she was slightly taken aback by calling an adult by their first name. When Esme released Bella, my father outstretched his larger, more masculine yet gentle, doctorly hand which dwarfed Bella's.
"Hi Bella, it is really nice to meet the first girl Edward has ever brought home. We never thought we'd see the day," he chuckled as he embarrassed me. What. The. Fuck. Even my dad was harping on my pickiness when it came to dating. I rolled my eyes animatedly to show my discomfort and annoyance with how candid my parents seemed to be.
"Thanks Dr. Cullen. I'm really excited to meet you guys too!" Bella seemed to be relaxing more and more as the greetings continued.
"Call me Carlisle, please. I insist."
Bella nodded and widened her smile. For as much as she said she hated people and didn't need the approval of others, she was gleaning happiness from my parents' apparent acceptance of her. Alice flitted down the stairs soon after the meet and greet, engulfing Bella in quite a large hug that one wouldn't suspect Alice capable of due to her petite stature.
"So, Ma, what's for dinner?" I asked—my curiosity and stomach getting the better of me. The same smile that appeared on Esme's face the first time I called her mom graced hers again as she blushed. She was beautiful when she smiled like that.
"Chicken marsala, homemade garlic bread, salad, sautéed asparagus, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake for dessert," Esme gushed. This whole—doing things to make people happy—shit was totally not my style. Now, I couldn't seem to get enough of it. In a matter of a week and a half my entire personality was changing, what the fuck was that about? Oh, that's right… Bella. It was fucked up how I wasn't even aware of my changing personality. Maybe it was for the better.
"Well it smells fucking delicious!" I returned. I looked from Esme, to Alice, to my dad, and finally rested on the beautiful vision that was my Bella. She seemed at ease and was far less nervous than she had been in the car on the way over. Slowly, Bella's face started to alight in a secretive smile that even I couldn't fucking comprehend.
"That's my favorite," she stated softly.
"What?"
"Chicken marsala is my favorite; it was my Gran's specialty," she repeated for me. I could have played if off smoothly like I was some debonair mother fucker knowing and planning for her favorite meal, but truth be told the dinner menu was just a coincidence. A lucky-fucking-coincidence. Not knowing really what to say, I only winked in response which made her grin become somewhat goofy-looking. I couldn't recall ever seeing her make that expression before, and I'm pretty sure that for the past few weeks every time she's been around me I've stared at her like an idiot.
"Can I help you with anything, Esme?" Bella asked. I never noticed how impeccable Bella's manners were. Was I a creep for finding it somewhat arousing? Oh hell, everything Bella did aroused me so it shouldn't be surprising that her being polite in my parent's home would turn me on too, right?
"Oh, how sweet!" Esme warmly and genuinely answered. "But, everything is just waiting to finish cooking! If you'd like, you could frost the cake? That's really all that's left."
"I would love to." Bella went right to work on frosting the chocolate cake with chocolate mousse frosting. It looked about as appealing as she did, all fucking edible and hot. My mouth watered just looking at the sugary substance in my Sugar's hands. Alice had gone to set the table, so my dad and I just sat there at the kitchen counter, watching my mom and Bella finish with the dinner and dessert preparations. It was hot watching Bella cook in any capacity. I had been dying to see her in action since she told me that she cooked for Charlie and Emmett. I looked at my dad out of the corner of my eye, watching him watch Esme. He harbored the same look on his face that was sure to be on my own: a crooked smile, hooded eyes, and pure happiness. Finally, after all of these years of thinking him fucking odd for watching Esme cook—a task that, for me, could be fucking boring to watch—I got it. I could watch Bella move around a kitchen forever. She flitted around with such a grace I had never seen her petite body possess. Her hands were sure of their work and her lips frequently ducked inside her mouth as she slightly bit them, sticking out a tiny pink tip of her tongue in the corner of her mouth, showing her concentration. Maybe my dad had it right all along.
"There! Done," Bella enthusiastically called out, pleased with her work and helpfulness.
"I have to admit, Bella dear, you made it look so much better than I ever could have!" Esme complimented, truthfully. Esme was an excellent chef, but she was much better at cooking than baking with all of its fineries. Bella blushed at Esme's admission, refusing to believe that she could do a better job than my stepmother. It was sweet how well they got along. Alice rushed-in to the kitchen, exclaiming that Jasper would die to get a piece of that chocolate cake and insisting that she invite him over for dessert later since dinner was supposed to be Bella's time with our family. I felt so euphoric at how much my family seemed to be enjoying Bella's company. Before this dinner, Alice had been the only one that had met Bella. Begrudgingly, I had to admit that I felt a sense of relief that Esme and my dad seemed to be enraptured with her as much as I was.
The meal itself went very well and everything was so damn good! It was also the most I had ever seen Bella eat, to which I was very fucking thankful—that girl needed to gain at least five pounds before I would ever be able to have sex with her. She looked so fragile—even in her beauty—that I was starting to get afraid that I might hurt her one day. For the first time ever, Alice was purposely reserved so my parents could get a chance to know Bella for themselves. My Bella charmed them with her witty anecdotes about her seemingly flakey, yet lovable mother Renee (whom they had never met, and I had only heard briefly about), and stories about Emmett being fat as a kid. My parents adored Emmett and were howling with laughter along with Alice and myself at the thought of Emmett being anything but completely in tip-top shape. Bella asked my dad questions about his profession, and inquired about Esme's design company as well, seemingly very interested with both. After we had all sat around conversing for a while, Esme rose to start clearing away the table as she always did. Bella offered help, but Esme vehemently refused.
"Edward," Esme called to me after refusing Bella's kitchen services, citing that she was a guest and that frosting a cake is completely different than doing dishes."Why don't you give Bella a tour around the house? That way we'll finish around the same time and everyone will be ready for cake by then." She smiled a special motherly-smile that was meant only for my eyes. I nodded in agreement and took Bella's hand to lead her on her first official tour. Esme didn't know that Bella had pretty much seen the entire house before over the weekend, and that little bit of information was going to stay a secret. I showed Bella rooms that she hadn't seen before: the basement (tricked out and all), the library, my father's office, Esme's design room, the music room, etc. Somewhat slacking in thoroughness, I rushed through the tour so we could spend some time alone in my room for a little while, letting the dinner digest.
"And you remember this room…" I said while leading Bella into mine on the third floor. Her smile increased and took over her beaming face.
"That I do," she winked. Ohhh Fuck! I was so inconceivably turned-on.
"Is it later yet?"
"Hmm," she glanced down, pretending to look at an invisible watch, "I suppose it is. You've been a bad, very naughty boy. I'm about five minutes late with your punishment…" she throatily exclaimed. The come-hither look in her eyes was sexy-as-hell. Had I been timing, it took me about .354 seconds to take my pants off.
