I was an anxious nervous mess. It had been a couple of days
since I’d last heard from Bella. I knew that she needed time, but my impatience
was making me sick. I really wanted to talk to her before rehearsals began for
this week’s show, especially since I wanted Bella to be one of the featured
dancers for the piece I had choreographed.
“Edward, you need to stop pacing,” Peter quipped, his feet
on my cocktail table. He was in town for the premier and to watch the show. He
was mooching from my fridge. “The girl will call you. Maybe she’s dealing with
some shit.”
“This whole competition, she’s been dealing with some shit,”
I growled, sitting down on the couch. “What if she decided that we’re not worth it? What if Alice
convinced her that …” My phone interrupted my irrational rant. I nearly fell
over my own feet to answer it. “Hello?”
“Jesus, Cullen,” laughed Rose. “You sound a little
desperate, bub.”
“Shut it,” I growled. “What’s the deal, Rose? Why hasn’t she
called me?”
“I love my roommate, my sister from another mister, but that
girl has a stubborn streak a mile long,” Rose said. “However, Jacob, Maggie and
I have told her that she needs to pull her head out of her ass. Alice is still
acting all smug, making everyone
believe that you really had hooked up with her. Bella needs proof.”
“I’ll give her proof. I’ve already spoken to Carmen and
Alistair, getting the raw footage of our rehearsal,” I explained. “I’ll show
her that Alice was the instigator in this whole charade.”
“Good,” Rose said. “I’m going to give her what for once I
get off the phone. Can you be here at the house in like an hour?”
“I’m on my way,” I smiled. Rose, while the master
kiss-blocker, had turned out to be a valuable ally. I wasn’t going to give up
on Bella. Alice’s manipulations had driven us apart, but I was determined to
not walk away from something that was potentially life-altering. I hung up the
phone and gave Peter an anxious smile. “Wish me luck.”
“You won’t need it. You can just give her a crooked grin and
swivel your hips, she’ll be falling at your feet,” Peter snickered.
“I’ll have to do more work than that, Peter,” I deadpanned.
“Bella’s trust in people is shattered. You saw what happened when Tyler gave
her grief about being injured. He’s still trying to crawl out of the hole he
dug for himself.”
“Edward, you and I both know that Bella is not going to walk
away from you,” Peter said. “Now, go win back your girl and tell her all of the
dirty deets about Malice.”
“Malice,” I snorted. “I like it.” I picked up my laptop and
the rough cut footage of what happened with me and Alice. “Wish me luck.”
“You won’t need it, but good luck,” Peter said, flipping on
the television.
