Emmett has come over to my apartment for breakfast, while we talk about the upcoming season. Good Morning Seattle is on in the background; I have tried my best to watch at least the second half of the show every morning. E and I are in the middle of a heated discussion on uniform colors when I hear the sound of Riley's voice over my shoulder.
"On my first day back, I thought I would take the opportunity to speak to the woman that has nursed me back to health."
My head whips around and I see that shitstain on my goddamn television with my goddamn girlfriend standing confused in front of him. He props his crutches under his arms before taking one of her hands in his.
"The past few weeks have made me realize…" I think my brain has just exploded, because the only thing I hear is buzzing and a loud ass siren going full nuclear. I know exactly where he's going with this stupid speech.
"...if you would do me the honor of marrying me," the fucker finishes.
Bella is completely stone-faced, and I realize that Emmett has come to stand next to me.
Bella clears her throat, her eyes shifting to the camera before landing on Riley's face again. "Riley," she says in that Have-You-Lost-Your-Damn-Marbles tone of voice, extracting her hand from his. "I thought the doctors cleared you of any brain damage?"
Emmett busts out in a loud guffaw, making me jump and look at him like he just escaped the loony bin.
"What in the ever loving fuck do you think is funny about this?"
"Your girlfriend being proposed to by her ex on live TV is pretty fucking hilarious, don't you think?"
I turn back to the screen, and Riley looks slightly… constipated.
"I broke up with you two weeks ago, Riley," Bella says slowly and calmly. "Why did you think this was a good idea?"
Emmett laughs again. "I knew I liked her."
"I figured you were just under stress, Isabella. I didn't take you seriously." Captain Hair-do looks concerned, now.
"You should have. All the times you told me you were calling Victoria got old." She turns her eyes on Riley's counterpart, who has the wherewithal to look contrite.
"That was just good natured ribbing, of course," he answers in a conciliatory tone.
"Good natured boning, more like," Emmett snickers. I turn a fish eye on him and he shrugs. "You know they must be."
"I thought you said Victoria gave better sponge baths than the nurses," Bella says to Riley.
Now, I'm a guy. (You knew that, right?) And I know when another guy's ego has been absolutely demolished. And his definitely has. I can see the tightening around his mouth and eyes as he struggles to rein in that asshole temper he normally displays. He has to remain composed on air, and it's killing him. Victoria, on the other hand, looks horrified to be included in this spectacle.
"Isabella, honey." Riley stops and clears his throat. I watch Bella's eyebrow shoot up. "You know that I love you-"
"I know no such thing, Riley. We aren't together anymore for a reason. I'm sure the viewers are much more interested in what the rest of their day is going to look like, if we could get back to the program?"
I look over at Emmett and he has tears streaming down his face, he's laughing so hard. "Oh my God, Eddie," he cackles, "she shut him down good."
I would be laughing with him if I wasn't so busy being pissed. But his laughter is infectious, and soon I'm joining in. "Can you believe he pulled that shit?" I ask after my laughter has died down.
I hear a ping from my phone, and see that Bella has texted.
~ Are you watching the show?
~ Yep
~ Fuck
~ Lol you did good
~ I'm so pissed at him for doing that live that I'm shaking. I should have decked him.
~ You should junk punch him when he comes off set
~ I wish I would have had the balls to do it right there.
~ You like your job
~ I hate my coworker
~ He's not worth it
The commercials are over, and the pair on the screen are wearing super fake smiles.
Victoria bares her teeth like a predator. "Now that we've established you've upgraded, Riley, why don't we take a look at world news."
I shut off the set and turn to Emmett and say, "Did she just call herself an upgrade?"
"Sounded like it."
Never a dull moment.
oOo oOo
I open the door to an enraged Bella. "Can you believe that shitweasel? Trying to force me into accepting his half-assed, poorly thought out proposal by surprising me on air?"
"Good morning, Bella, how are you? I'm fine, thanks."
"Trying to make himself look good while throwing me under the bus." She comes in, pacing around my living room.
"That bus was full of tourists in Mexico, and he was wishing they hadn't drunk the water," I reply.
She stops pacing and looks at me. "What?"
"Just fueling your rage, love."
She stares at me for several seconds, then finally starts laughing. She laughs the way Emmett did, full on with her shoulders shaking and tears streaming down her face. She collapses on my couch and drops her head back on the cushion.
I jump on the couch beside her and crouch down next to her and bounce up and down. "Did you hear what Vicky said when they came back from break? Didja, huh? Huh?"
"She's always been an opportunistic bitch. I try not to let her bother me. But if Dirtbag Dan thinks he upgraded, he has to remember to look out for the fact that she's known as 'Haz-mat Vicky' around the station."
"'Haz-mat Vicky'? I'm intrigued."
"Because none of the guys around the station will touch her anymore without donning a haz-mat suit," Bella explains patiently.
"OH! So she's been ridden more times than Seattle Slew, then?" I ask.
"Something like that. I used to call her Madonna, because of—"
"—all the time she spends on her knees!" I say in unison with her. We fall against each other laughing and I can't resist kissing her. My lips skim along the edge of her jaw and down her throat to her collarbone. Her breathing is much more erratic than it was, and I have to shift my legs to make room for my erection. I move back to kissing her mouth, sliding my tongue across her lips to see how she'll react.
When her mouth opens against mine, I smile because I think I just might get what I've been after for such a long damn time. My tongue tangles with hers, tasting her. My hands have a mind of their own, roaming everywhere they can reach. The slope of her shoulders is just as I remember, the way she tilts her head when she kisses me feels the same. She sighs, and I move more boldly against her, my hips grinding on hers as I hover over her on the couch. I grip the back pocket of her pants, hitching her leg up and over mine.
"Edward," she says in my ear.
"Hmm?" I respond absently as I take her earlobe between my teeth.
"We should…" she swallows, and my heart thumps heavily in my chest. "We should stop."
I must have grimaced or something because she rushes to apologize. "I'm sorry. It's just that we just started seeing each other again and I'm still so pissed off at Riley…" she says as quickly as she can.
I pout, but then I back off, sitting up next to her again. "You're right. When we make love again, I don't want it to be a quickie on the couch and I don't want it to be while you're pissed off at your ex."
Bella smiles and nods her head, and I kiss the tip of her nose before getting up so we can go out.
No comments:
Post a Comment