OwT

"I don't know who 'Jimmy Choo' is," the man frowned lightly. "But I'm Emmett."

"Gorgeous and straight," Rosalie simpered. I nudged her sharply with my elbow to get her to snap out of it.

"I'm Bella," I interrupted. "This is Rosalie. We were in an accident on the highway. I wondered if we might use your phone?"

"Are you girls alright?" Emmett's friendly expression turned to immediate concern. Rosalie brushed her wet hair behind her shoulders and straightened her posture. She made looking half-drowned and dead-on-her-feet look amazing.

"Do you think we could come inside?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. Men ate that shit up. And Emmett was no exception. He stammered and moved to the side of the door, holding it open wide to indicate that we could enter. Rosalie stepped past him, and I quickly followed.

"I'm sorry," Emmett apologized, shutting the door behind us. "We don't have phone service turned on up here. We usually only come up for short hunting trips from time to time."

"Cell phone?" I asked, hopefully. He pulled a glossy black phone from his pocket and waved it with a small frown.

"No signal," he sighed, apologetically. I looked around our surroundings curiously. It was warm and tidy, but definitely not cluttered. They obviously had not been occupying the place for long. I felt bad for making the large man feel he should apologize.

"It's nice to get out of the rain," I smiled. "You said 'we'?"

"Oh yeah," Emmett nodded and moved over by the staircase. "Jasper!" he called up loudly. "We have company!"

He stepped back toward us and shrugged with a grin. "Jasper's my roommate," Emmett explained with a smile while we listened to footsteps above. "We came up here to meet with my Dad and little brother for Spring Break."

"You go to school?" Rosalie asked, sounding interested in more than just his major. Emmett grinned at her and rubbed the back of his neck with a large hand.

"University of Washington," Emmett said. We all turned our attention to the stairs when another man sauntered down to join us. If anything, I was even more impressed by the physical attractiveness of Emmett's roommate. Also tall, but lean… the man Emmett called 'Jasper' had blonde hair worn wavy to his ears, and had deep blue eyes that seemed to scorch me as he looked curiously between Rosalie and myself. The corner of his generous mouth curled up while he looked between us, and then back to Emmett. I felt the side of Rosalie's high-heel connect with my foot and realized that I was staring. I dropped my eyes from the gorgeous man and blushed, looking over at her smug expression.

"What have we here?" The man asked.

"This is Bella… and Rosalie." Emmett moved to stand next to Rosalie as he spoke, obviously staking a claim. I smirked and looked away. "They were in a car accident."

"Oh no," Jasper murmured. He didn't sound surprised, and my eyes flew back up to his face. He frowned lightly and cocked his head when he looked at me. "Are you both okay?" I must have mistaken the note of indifference. He seemed politely concerned, if not overly worried.

"We're fine. Thank you," I replied.

"Just tired and cold," Rosalie pointed out.

"And hungry?" I stated it as a question. I felt rude even bringing it up, but I was feeling a little sick to my stomach and was starting to pass the point of worrying about good manners. Jasper frowned over at Emmett, and then looked back at me.

"I am not sure that we have much to offer from the kitchen."

"My brother and my Dad are supposed to bring food with them, when they come," Emmett chuckled. Jasper laughed at whatever inside joke they shared, and I wrinkled my nose in confusion. Jasper sobered instantly and shrugged.

"I'll go see if I can find something for you girls to eat," he suggested. I smiled a weak 'thanks' and let Emmett lead us into the living room. I sighed when I saw the blazing fire in the hearth. I moved to it quickly, and stuck my hands out, trying to get warm.

"What was I thinking?" Emmett slapped his forehead with his palm. "I'll get you girls a couple of towels. Be right back." He turned and left the room quickly, and Rose moved to stand beside me in front of the fire.

"What did I tell you about my lucky shoes?" Rosalie grinned. "Two sexy men in the middle of nowhere? What are the odds?" she asked.

"One for each shoe," I teased, smiling grudgingly at her excitement.

"And here I thought I'd have to drag your ass all the way to Cancun during Spring Break just to get you to lose your virginity!"

I frowned at her and we both turned with a start at the loud sound in the doorway. Jasper stood frowning down at a silver can that rolled near his foot. He bent to pick it up, and avoided our eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I found some canned peaches in the pantry. I came to see if that would be alright?"

"It sounds wonderful," Rosalie said. I stood there, blushing like an idiot. Obviously he had heard Rosalie's comment and was uncomfortable enough to have dropped the can he was holding. I hoped that he didn't have the wrong idea about me.

"Look what you did," I whispered loudly and slapped Rosalie's arm when he turned to go back toward the kitchen. "He probably thinks that you assume he's interested!"

"All men are interested," Rosalie said, shrugging. "And he's a perfect target, since I've got my eye on Tall, Dark, and Handsome!"

"No. No target," I insisted, shaking my head. "Rosalie! I meant it. This Spring Break is not for you to try to be a matchmaker. We were in an accident. I'm cold. I'm hungry. I want to sleep. That's it. I'm not looking for a fling in the woods!"

"Your loss," Rosalie sniffed. Emmett returned to the room then, and I smiled in appreciation as he handed me a soft towel. Rosalie practically purred while she ran her towel over her hair and across her chest. I might have laughed at how obvious she was being, if I wasn't so completely drained. Instead, I settled for rolling my eyes and concentrating on the way the fire was warming the front of my legs.

"Dinner is served," Jasper announced behind us. He grinned and looked as proud as if he had personally cooked a five-course meal while he placed two bowls full of golden peaches and heavy syrup on the table in front of the sofa. Rosalie moved just as fast as I did to take advantage of his offering.

"Aren't you eating?" I asked. His eyes shifted toward Emmett quickly, and then looked away and shrugged.

"Not now," Jasper answered. "We stuffed ourselves on the trip up here. I'm still full."

"Well… thank you," I smiled. It had been hours since Rosalie and I had eaten, and the peaches looked delicious. I sat and began eating. Rosalie, of course, was already working her magic. She moaned and licked the syrup from the back of her spoon like those damn peaches were ambrosia. Emmett sat staring, clearly under her spell. I snickered around a mouthful of food when he moved closer to her on the other side of the sofa, still staring.

Jasper sat in an armchair near the fire, somberly gazing into the flames. I decided he was definitely the more reserved of the two men. I hoped Rosalie hadn't offended him with her earlier joking assumptions. She had meant to tease me, not to make him uncomfortable.

"So, Jasper," I asked, drawing his attention to me. I thought a look of annoyance crossed his features, but it was so fleeting that I was sure I must have been mistaken. He merely looked at me, waiting for me to finish. I was determined to return things to a comfortable status between us. "What do you study?" I asked.

"History." He smiled softly as though he were amused by his own answer.

"Want a drink?" I jumped when Emmett leaned over my shoulder. I hadn't even heard him stand. And yet, he had managed to go to the kitchen and return just as silently with four beers in his arms. I took the drink he offered and smiled nervously up at him. He handed Jasper and Rosalie brown bottles as well, and I watched as the men clinked their glass bottles together with a dull thud before tipping their heads back to take drinks. I sipped mine too, sighing when the cool carbonated liquid soothed my throat.

"Thank you," I nodded to Emmett. He shrugged and showed his dimples.

"Sorry. It's all we have in the refrigerator." "Quit apologizing," I scolded playfully.

"You've been more than generous." Rosalie rubbed her hand up and down his immense arm when he sat beside her again.

"We were talking about school," Jasper pointed out. Emmett cringed a little and looked sheepish while he replied to his friend.

"Yeah. I sorta told them about us being roommates at Washington U," Emmett said.

"What is your major?" Rosalie asked, placing her beer on the table next to his.

"I haven't decided yet," Emmett grinned. "I don't know. Science? Medicine?

I've always been interested in hematology."

Jasper laughed loudly and I caught a glimpse of his perfect white teeth before he caught me looking and his expression sobered once more. For some reason, the look on his face made a shiver run up my spine.

"What's so funny about that?" Rosalie asked. She was practically sitting on Emmett's lap now, and pouted over at Jasper reproachfully.

"I'm a pretty lousy student," Emmett explained. "But thank God, I'm a fast learner." Emmett demonstrated his claim by moving his large hand to lay across Rosalie's knee. She didn't seem to oppose to his suggestive comment or his wandering hands. I sighed and moved to place my beer on the table beside theirs.

Of course, I'm terribly clumsy. The bottom of my bottle hit Rosalie's drink. I grabbed it quickly before it could splash the table with beer. But I inadvertently hit Emmett's bottle in the process. I watched with shock as it tipped and spun across the table with a hollow clank. It was empty.

"Guess I was thirstier than I thought," Emmett chuckled and righted the bottle. Jasper glared over at him, and I shrunk back into the cushion of the sofa. "I'll need to get another."

"There were only four," Jasper said quickly, smoothing the irritation from his features. "I counted earlier." I bit my lip. Four bottles for four men. He probably looked pissed because Emmett offered drinks that were meant for the other two that were joining them.

"You can finish mine," Rosalie offered with a throaty voice. She reached for her bottle and held it up to Emmett's lips, but he turned his chin away.

"You need it more than I do," Emmett responded sweetly. "You hiked over five miles tonight."

I blinked rapidly, staring down at my beer bottle. How could he have possibly known how far we had walked? Jasper cleared his throat loudly.

"He means it was probably close to five miles," Jasper corrected. "The hike from the main road to this cabin is longer than hell. You two must be beat."

As if confirming his words, a large yawn pulled itself from my throat. I covered my mouth, apologizing for my unintended rudeness.

"Don't be sorry," Jasper shook his head. "You both should get some sleep. We can take care of your car in the morning."

"If you're sure…" I hedged. But sleep actually sounded heavenly at the moment.

My eyes darted over to Emmett and Rosalie. She smiled when he lowered his head toward the side of her face and whispered in her ear. She nodded briefly at whatever he said, and slid off his lap. Emmett stood beside her and took her hand in his. Rosalie shot me an apologetic grin before letting him lead her from the room.

"Rose…" I whispered quietly.

"See you kids in the morning," Emmett grinned over his shoulder while the two of them walked up the stairs. I felt my jaw fall open. That was a fast turn of events, even by Rosalie's standards. I slumped in my seat, and Jasper quietly moved to stand behind his chair.

I glanced over at where Jasper stood. The firelight turned his wavy hair to burnished gold. I licked my lips. He was gorgeous, no doubt about that. But something about his demeanor set me on edge. And I really hoped that he didn't think that I was interested in him in that way. Rosalie and I were very different people.

"You don't have to feel obligated to babysit," I said nervously to break the silence in the room. "I mean… you can go on up to bed if you'd like. I'll be very comfortable right here on the couch. And I'm sure I'll be asleep in no time." I realized I was rambling, though I couldn't seem to help myself.

"I'm not tired," Jasper replied stonily. The atmosphere between us continued to disintegrate to awkwardness after Rosalie and Emmett abandoned us. Jasper seemed even more tense and withdrawn. And while I was really too tired to give much thought to the cause, I didn't feel entirely comfortable curling up to sleep with him moodily standing nearby.

"I'm sorry if our showing up has been an inconvenience…" I began. Jasper left the chair and moved closer to me then, rubbing his right eye with his knuckles and sighing in what sounded like exasperation.

"It's not an inconvenience," he muttered, his tone indicating otherwise. When he dropped his hand from his face and looked at me, I gasped in surprise.

"Jasper!" I exhaled loudly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he raised his eyebrow and looked confused. "I'm fine. Why?"

"Your eye," I whispered, raising a hand toward his face but then dropping it quickly. I was staring with fascination at the eye that he had been rubbing. "Your eye… is red!"

The entire iris of his right eye was no longer dark blue, but a vibrant, bloody, crimson.

I watched the expression on his face flash from confusion to awareness, and finally to anger.

"Ahhh! Fucking contacts!"

I didn't even have time to flinch away when I saw him raise his arm and swing the back of his hand toward my face.

I saw a shock of bright white.

Then crimson.

Then black.

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