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Chapter 3: Come Go With Me
Use Somebody
I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see
Painted faces fill the places I can't reach
You know that I could use somebody
You know that I could use somebody
Granted, he'd spilled an entire cup of liquor all over me, we chatted afterward and he had asked for my number, but I wasn't presumptuous enough to believe that I'd made that much of an impression on him for him to actually want to call me, not when I'm sure many girls tossed their number his way. He was gorgeous, he could have anyone, and I figured he just asked to be nice.
I knew it was a long shot, but I'd given it to him, anyway. But I figured, if he'd been truly interested in me, he could have offered me his number instead of taking mine, or if he really wanted to call me, I would have heard from him by now.
I had decided, though, that if he did call and asked me out, I'd go. I had already stupidly walked away from someone because I believed in the end I was nothing more than sex… or that trying to have a relationship would be too hard with his career. I rationalized leaving that hotel room by telling myself I'd just end up with a broken heart if I let myself really love him. Oddly enough, I walked away to save my heart, but my heart was left with him anyhow. Irony was a real bitch sometimes.
I'd gotten home from work, late as usual, and immediately showered before settling into a pair of pajama pants and tank-shirt. I popped a lean cuisine meal into the microwave, being that I wasn't Betty fucking Crocker in the kitchen, because that's how I rolled.
I moved around the kitchen while I waited for my food to finish, doing miscellaneous chores that needed completed. I hadn't really noticed until today that I was slacking on my domestic duties where Foof was concerned. He was seriously looking like a Wookie gone wild. And honestly, trimming my Chia Pet would have been the highlight of my day. But alas, Foof would have to wait until later because I had a date in ten minutes with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in An Affair To Remember.
When I heard the ding of the microwave, I grabbed my newly poured glass of chardonnay, my lean cuisine meal and made my way to my final destination… the couch. I grabbed the remote, flipping on the television just in time for the opening credits. So, there I sat, eating my food in a box and watching a Classic when my phone began to ring.
Normally, when An Affair To Remember graced my television, I wasn't available until the movie was over. I suppose I was masochistic by watching love stories, especially since I had no love story to speak of, but I lived vicariously through the movies.
Being completely engrossed in the movie and not actually thinking before I reacted, I slipped a small bite of lasagna into my mouth, then answered the phone. "Hello?"
My mouth wasn't really full, so what I'd said was clear enough to understand.
"Umm… yes, can I speak to Bella, please?"
I didn't recognize the voice and assumed it was someone probably trying to sell me something. Fucking solicitors. Wasn't I dropped from their calling lists? I was supposed to be on that Federal no-call list. Plus, why the hell were they calling me this late?
"Look, Buddy, I'm not interested in what you're selling, okay? I'm listed on the Federal no-call list, so I suggest you don't call back here again. You solicitors never learn," I growled.
I quickly hung up the phone and went back to my food and movie. A few moments later, the phone rang again. At this point, I was really becoming agitated. All I wanted to do was peacefully enjoy my movie and food in a box for fuck's sake. So when I spoke, my voice came out a bit harsh. "Hello?"
"Is this Bella? It's Jasper, Jasper Whitlock. I promise I'm not a solicitor." He was chuckling on the other end.
I completely felt like shit, not to mention embarrassed by the way I reacted, because I realized he was the one who'd called me, and I'd gotten pretty shitty with him. I felt the heat of my embarrassment travel across my face. Thank God he wasn't sitting here before me.
"Shit, Jasper, I'm really sorry. I didn't recognize your voice, and I thought you were one of those people trying to sell me something. You sound so different over the phone."
He laughed. "I hear that a lot." Silence enveloped, and I waited for him to speak, but heard nothing. I assumed the call was lost, so I started pulling the phone away from my ear when he spoke again. "Well, I… uh… told you I'd call you, so here I am calling you. I hope it wasn't a bad time."
"No... not at all. Actually, I was just sitting here eating and watching a movie," I told him.
"Should I call you back another time? That way you could finish eating and watch your movie?" he asked.
I smiled. "No, I'm done anyway, and I've seen the movie quite a few times already."
I could hear the sound of wind crashing against the phone. "What were you watching?"
"An Affair To Remember," I replied. "Hey, I hear wind. Are you outside?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I am. Sorry about that. I like to sit out on my balcony in the evenings when I actually have free time to do so. It's kind of invigorating, and it helps me think."
"Even in the cold?"
"Yeah," he chuckled.
"Well, I can't say much about that, because I know exactly what you mean. I often take walks through the park this time of night. I know it's not exactly warm out and everything, but it helps clear the mind a bit and distracts me from the shitty days I have at work. And because it's getting chilly out, the possibility of a crowd is non-existent, so that's a plus."
"Walks in the park sound nice," he said. "Though, I really don't get a chance to do it often."
"How about now?" I asked. I immediately bit my lip upon asking. The words sort of just spilled out. "I mean… well, would you like to go for a walk with me? I honestly don't have anything else planned, and I'm thinking a walk around the park would be nice."
"Well, darlin', I'd absolutely love to take a walk with you… even If it is chilly out." His tone was light, carefree and accentuated by that southern drawl that made the lower half of my body tingle.
I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then thirty minutes later, we were at Twilight Park, strolling through the Oak-shaded paths. "Thanks for coming along with me."
Jasper smiled widely, small dimples outlining his cheeks. He had an amazing smile, too. His lips were nicely shaped, and I found that I was staring at his mouth a bit longer than I should have been. "And thank you for inviting me." He noticed I was staring too. "Is there something on my face?"
I turned away quickly. "No, sorry, I just… well… I noticed you had dimples. They're…. umm… cute."
Nice save, Bella. You dumb ass. Verbal diarrhea much?
Apparently, my less than stellar communication skills were quite amusing to him, because he was outright laughing at me. "Thank you, but I didn't realize I had dimples on my mouth."
How he managed to see that I was actually staring at his mouth was beyond me. I guess I wasn't really trying to hide the fact that was blatantly staring at him either.
I pulled my jacket tighter around my neck, lowering my eyes to the ground, my face flushed with embarrassment, and I was now contemplating as to whether or not I should just run head first into the tree adjacent to me and knock some fucking sense into my brain, or at the very least, the action help in stifling my mouth.
"They're not. I… uh… wasn't looking at your mouth, I was looking at your cheeks." All possibility of making myself looking anything but inane went out the window went I opened my mouth.
He sighed, the soft sound causing me to finally glance back up to his face, noticing I was no longer the object of his focus - he was looking straight ahead, but the humor was still very much present, especially in his voice. "Of course."
I cleared my throat, aiming for a subject change to save me from my own humility. "So, Jasper," I began. "Tell me about yourself."
"Tell you about myself?" he smiled. "Well, you obviously know my full name, but friends tend to call me Jas for short. I was born in Texas, but being an army brat, we moved around a lot, basically wherever my father was stationed. My parents divorced when I was twelve, and my mom remarried eight years ago, three days after my nineteenth birthday. She and Walter, my step-dad, had Natalie six years ago. She's the only sibling I have… that I know of. My father hasn't remarried, and I'm not even sure if he has someone he's seeing. We don't talk much.
"Umm… what else? I went to private schools most my school education. I always knew I wanted to do something with music, so after graduation I went to L.A. to experiment with the possibilities. I caught a lucky break and met Peter, who was quite familiar with the ins and outs of the industry.
"Peter and I started our band about four years ago, so I juggled a normal working career and my music career equally, but I was able to focus solely on the latter about two years ago." He grinned. "I was in it for the long haul and was willing to bust my ass to be able to do what I love for the rest of my life. I'm pretty passionate about my music, as you can tell. Peter met Charlotte, and we ended up relocating here so he could be with her on a more permanent basis. I didn't mind, because I needed a change of scenery."
He laughed, then introduced me to his comedic side. "I don't have any communicable diseases, I'm pretty sure I'm house broken, but unfortunately, I'm still going through my teething stages. I try to refrain from chewing on the furniture and clothing, but I'm sorry, shoes are my weakness."
I looked down toward the rocky path we were walking along, shaking my head and laughing. "You are something else. But I tell ya, if you chew on my shoes, I'm swatting your ass with the newspaper and you're going outside for timeout."
He chuckled. "Fair enough. Now, I'd like to know about Bella. School me on all that is Isabella Swan." We continued our trek of the park, but our bodies started to lean closer to each other.
"I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed," I stated matter of fact. "There isn't really much to tell. My father is the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington. My mother, well, she's a bit flighty. She never really had a career per say, but being that she's now remarried to a baseball player who travels a lot, I guess that worked out for her.
"My parents, they've been divorced since I was five, but they tolerate each other so that helped with the growing up process, especially when I went to visit my dad every summer. My dad, he's a permanent bachelor, I think. He's still hopelessly in love with my mother, but he won't openly admit it. If their wedding picture that sits on the mantel of his fireplace doesn't prove that fact, I guess I don't know what will.
"I hated school up until my senior year. I don't believe I ever had any real talents to speak of… well, other than singing. I mean, that was why I moved from Washington to begin with, but I somehow ended up here. I can't even tell you how that happened, honestly. Unfortunately, I haven't caught my lucky break musically yet, so I pretty much gave up. I took two years of Vocational schooling, and now I'm a legal secretary. I live alone in a small apartment, but I do have Foof - he's my Chia Pet. And, most importantly, I am disease free as well. I'm completely house broken, and there is no worry about chewing of any kind. I do tend to chase cars occasionally, though."
His lips pulled up into a half smile. "We have quite the quirks, don't we?"
I nudged his shoulder with my own. "That we do, though."
We must have walked that park a dozen times, talking about our interests, goals we held, foods we liked, even discussing our favorite colors.
It was obviously a method to get to know one another better, and I'd discovered in the time we spent together, I was legitimately enjoying myself. I felt so comfortable and at ease with him. It was like he had this calming effect over my emotions. He definitely had a sense of humor, though mine was a bit more risky, but he never seemed to be offended by anything I said. He was more amused by me than anything. I admittedly liked that, because I knew I could be a complete dumb ass sometimes.
When we could pretty much walk the same path blindfolded, because we'd circled the entire acre of the park more times than we I could count on both hands, we decided to brave the walk to my apartment. His intention was to walk me home, then call a cab to his.
It took us nearly an hour, because of the pace we'd been walking, to arrive at my apartment. I didn't seem that either of us was ready to end the night, so I decided to make the first move and invite him up for coffee. Worst case scenario, he said no. I wasn't looking for anything more than his company. It was a nice feeling not being alone.
We stopped outside of my apartment, the awkwardness of the moment settling in. "Jasper, I really had a great time with you. This may be totally inappropriate to you, but I wondered if you'd like to come up for a cup of coffee."
"I've never thought of having coffee as inappropriate," he teased, cocking an eyebrow.
"Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants, I didn't want to overstep boundaries. I didn't want you to think I was just throwing myself at you, and that's why I was asking about coffee. I honestly didn't mean anything more than that." I was rubbing viciously at my arms as I spoke, feeling anxious. "Damn it, Jasper, you're making this difficult for me. I enjoyed your company, and I wasn't ready for it to be over."
He smiled sheepishly. "That's all you had to say, Bella. I wasn't exactly ready for this to be over either, so I'd love to have a cup of coffee with you."
"You really enjoy teasing me, don't you?" I replied in mock anger, fighting to hold back the laughter but failing.
"Not at all," he smirked.
He followed me up to my apartment, my nerves amplifying with each step closer to my door. He was standing dangerously close to me as I fumbled to unlock the door, my body acutely aware of his, and I found myself beginning to lean into him, searching out his touch. I was just mere inches from him, feeling the heat of his body against mine, when my mind began urging me to stop.
"Bella, are you okay?" His voice was a hoarse whisper, his breath ghosting over my ear, and I wondered if he hadn't just felt what I'd experienced, too.
"I'm fine," I murmured as I opened the door. "Well, this is home sweet home. It's not fancy, but it's quaint, and it works for me."
"It's nice," he assured. "Seems cozy."
"I can give you a quick tour before I start the coffee," I offered.
He nodded in acceptance, so I showed him through my tiny apartment, even introduced him to Foof. He laughed the moment he saw my Chia Pet, but showed his appreciation for my unique pet by patting Foof's head. I couldn't help but laugh at the gesture.
"Cute," he teased.
"He's quite the company, you know? Very good for those lonely days."
He nodded, grinning. "I'll bet."
I smiled, shaking my head. "If you wanna take a seat over there on the couch, I'll get the coffee ready and bring you a cup." I pointed toward the living room and sauntered into the kitchen to prepare the coffee.
My apartment was quite open, so I was able to stand in the kitchen and ready the coffee, but still be able to see what Jasper was doing while in the living room. He paced slowly toward the couch, taking in his surroundings. He briefly looked at the pictures I had adorning my walls and the shelf that was resting beside my television. When he'd apparently seen enough, he took a seat on the couch, leaning back in order to get comfortable.
I stood in front of the coffee pot, watching the stream of hot liquid flowing into the glass pot, a plethora of thoughts flickering through my mind. It was strange for me to have a man in my apartment. I couldn't recall the last time that a male figure was in my apartment that I wasn't related to, or wasn't there to fix the plumbing, and I sure as hell didn't mean the plumbing on my body, though it had been awhile for that, too.
My body's reaction to Jasper's closeness in the hallway hadn't escaped my mind either. It'd been two months since I'd last had sex, but I knew it wasn't merely the act of sex I was searching for; it was a much deeper closeness than just physical.
There was something about Jasper that intrigued me, something genuine about his personality. I was very much physically attracted to him, but I wasn't only attracted to the physical side of him; his personality was a turn on. I knew all these things, they were real within me, but I couldn't forget the man who stormed into my life two months ago and just as quickly stormed out. I also couldn't forget whose fault that was.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking of him, not when I had a man sitting in my living room with whom I had a wonderful evening so far. It was about time I let go of something and someone that was only bound to one night of my life.
Once the coffee pot finished brewing, I poured two cups. I wasn't sure how Jasper took his coffee, so I asked, "Do you take cream and sugar in your coffee?"
"Umm… both please," he answered.
His positive upbringing showed when he spoke. He had well defined manners, but the curious part of me wondered if he was that polite in bed. Jesus, I sounded like Rose and Jess. Their hoochiness was obviously rubbing off on me, sadly enough.
I held both steaming cups in my hands and tentatively walked toward the couch, handing him the cup I'd prepared for him. He said a quick thank you before bringing the cup to his lips. I watched him intently, the way his lips wrapped around the rim of the cup, tightening at just the moment the warm liquid hit his mouth as he lightly sucked it in. I bit my lip, trying to reign back the arousal.
He pulled the cup from his lips and smiled. "You're watching me again."
Always teasing.
"Yeah, I guess I was," I admitted, taking a small sip of my coffee. "It's strange having a man in my house, even for a cup of coffee."
He turned his head so that our eyes locked, his expression serious, eyes dark and elusive. "That's a shame."
What was I seeing there?
I felt my heart rate elevate and my lips parted to take in a trembling breath. He heard it too, because his eyes instantly lowered to my mouth. He turned his body enough to carefully set his cup on the coffee table, but his eyes never left my face.
"Bella, I've wanted to do something most of the night, but I wasn't sure if I should attempt it until now. I really want to kiss you, but I don't want you to think I expect-"
I nodded, ending the words he was speaking. I didn't want him to continue, didn't need to hear anymore words that may put doubt in either of our minds. I knew what I was feeling.
By now, my heart was literally hammering in my chest with anticipation. I wanted him to kiss me, I knew that much. He inched toward me, and I felt the coffee cup I held teetering back and forth in my grasp because my hands were shaking so much. It had been several months since I'd found myself in this situation and a long time before that.
He was just a breath away from me when he reached for my coffee cup, taking it from my hand and placing it on the table. He straightened his body up, leaning his face towards mine. I instantly closed my eyes, releasing a heavy exhale.
I could feel the difference in the atmosphere when his mouth was so close but not yet touching mine. The desire crackled in the air, making my skin prickle with goosebumps.
He lightly brushed his lips across mine, humming softly as he did so. I wanted to taste him, so my tongue advertently sought out his flavor, barely gliding along his lips. I'd only just pulled my tongue back into my mouth when I felt his lips surround my bottom one, pulling it gently into his mouth and sucking.
A small moan erupted from my throat. It felt so good to have his lips on mine, to feel this again. I wanted to reach for him and pull him closer, but I couldn't move my body. I was so caught up in the moment and the sensation of his lips on mine, that I was literally deadlocked where I sat.
The anticipation of a complete kiss was killing me, and when I thought I couldn't wait any longer, his hands snaked around my waist, pulling me even closer so that I was in his lap, straddling him, before his mouth connected full on with mine.
His mouth was pushing and pulling hungrily against my own, but I wanted more. I wanted to really taste him, so I parted my lips, hoping he'd understand what I wanted from him. And he did. His warm, slick tongue pushed through the part in my lips, touching mine. I tenderly flicked my tongue against his and fisted my hands into his hair, pulling his face closer… just needing him close.
We were both panting heavily, trying to press every part of ourselves against the other. My arms wrapped tightly around his neck, my fingers curling into his blonde, wavy hair, while his arms were securely around my waist, holding me to him. It was impossible to be any closer than we were unless we became one person, but that didn't negate our tries.
I couldn't be positive how long I sat in his arms, lost in the kiss, both of us moaning, panting or gasping for air, but never fully parting from one another. I was completely aroused, aching to feel more of him, and I could tell that he was just as aroused underneath me. I wanted him, and I was sure that much was obvious. I pulled my lips from his, hoping to take things further. I wasn't sure what I was doing, this wasn't something I did… well, except for that one time, but I felt the need to push forward.
I turned my head, shifting my eyes from him to my bedroom then back again. "Stay with me."
He groaned, pressing his forehead to mine, both of us closing our eyes as he did so. His voice was husky, breathless. "I don't want to stop kissing you, Bella. I really don't. I'm seriously fighting myself right now to keep from doing something I know I shouldn't yet. But God do I want to. Part of me wants to accept your invitation and stay with you like you have no idea, but the other part of me, the gentleman part, wants to wait. I'd like to at least take you on a date first. Let me take you on a date and do this right."
My eyes remained closed, my arms still wrapped around his neck. "Okay," I breathed. "A date it is."
"Saturday," he whispered, placing a chaste kiss against my lips. "Saturday, I want to take you out. I have no expectations, Bella. I just want to spend time with you, and whatever happens after that will be because we both want it to." My head dropped to his shoulder as I attempted to regain my composure, but I nodded against him. "I need to go now, otherwise I won't be able to, but I don't want either of us to do something that we may regret later. I like you, Bella, so I want to show you better, show you you're more than that."
"Okay," I said as I climbed off his lap.
He stood up from the couch, reaching for my hand and pulling me up next to him. His hand never left mine as he walked us toward the door. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Goodnight, Beautiful."
He hesitated briefly before pressing a soft kiss to my lips, then walking out my door and leaving me missing his company already.
I locked up before heading to my room and climbing into the warmth of my bed. I couldn't believe the passion behind Jasper's kiss. And because of my recap, my night with Edward came flooding back, ruining my euphoric moment.
Why couldn't he just leave me alone? What was so special about him that my mind couldn't let go?
Get out of my head, Edward. Please, just get out of my head.
I wanted to remove him from my memory, and damn it, I was going to do it.
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