A/N: Thank you guys so much for your enthusiasm on the first chapter! Let me introduce you to "Jimmy."

Chapter Two

~Jimmy~

By the time Jimmy arrives, the only people left on the rooftop are me, Rosalie, and Emmett. For the past hour, Rose has been flirting with me, taking every opportunity to touch me, to run her siren red nails along my inked skin. Emmett has been a good sport. If the situation were reversed, I don't think I'd handle it so well.

Relief washes over me when I hear Jimmy's charismatic voice.

"Cullen, my man!" Jimmy jogs over and gives me a bro hug. "It's been too long!" He's sporting a deep tan, his sandy hair slicked back into a neat ponytail. When we hug, I can tell he's been working out.

"Jimbo, you remember Emmett. And this is Rosalie 'Ace' Hale, our newest addition."

"Hey, man! Good to see you." He bumps fists with Emmett. "Rosalie Hale, as in the hardware expert?"

Rose smiles. "The one and only."

Jimmy lifts her hand to his lips, placing a kiss across her ring-laden knuckles. "Jim Hunter. A pleasure to finally meet you. Edward didn't tell me you were so beautiful in addition to being a top talent."

Rose's smile dims infinitesimally, and her sharp gaze flicks to me and then back to him. "Thank you. Would you care for a drink, Jim?"

Jimmy settles on a barstool. "I would." He traces a finger over the silver rings on Rose's hands, looking up at her playfully. "Whatever the lady recommends." His voice is low and husky. I recognize this from college parties; he charmed the panties off many co-eds.

Rose narrows her eyes, tilting her head to the left. "You strike me as a Maker's Mark guy. Am I right?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm a bit of a one-oh-one fan, but it's not easy to come by. Are you a psychic too?"

Rose's face flushes with pleasure. "No, I just read people well." She grabs a tumbler and pours the Maker's Mark, placing it on the bar in front of him.

I think, rather uncharitably, that Rose does not in fact read people well. She seems clueless about Emmett's quiet brooding and my tacit indifference to her attempts at flirting with me.

Emmett sighs. "Well, that's it for me. I'm heading out." He initiates our secret handshake from when we were kids. It's a signal that he needs me. "Jimbo, good to see you!"

"My place, Em?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Make yourself at home, and I'll be there soon." I shoot him a meaningful look.

After another drink and some small talk, I grow impatient. I was hoping Rose would leave, but she seems intent on staying. I look over at Jimmy. "Hey, you said you had some news. Are you planning to tell me this year?"

"Of course."

"Come sit on the couch. It's more comfortable."

Jimmy grabs his drink and follows me. Rose is still hovering behind the bar, and I hope she gets the hint.

We put our drinks on the coffee table, and Jimmy pulls out a baggie of white powder. "You mind if I . . ."

I clench my jaw. "Actually, I do. Pot is one thing. Not here, okay?" I run my fingers through my hair, tugging hard. "Is this something new? I've never seen you do drugs."

"Sorry, bro! My bad." The baggie disappears, replaced by a joint. He lights up, taking a strong hit, completely ignoring my question. "So my news. I'm relocating. You'll be seeing a lot more of your partner because I took a farmhouse on the edge of town."

"Wow! When did this come about?" I'm not sure how I feel about it. Having Jimmy invest was great because he was several hours away—money but no interference. Our agreement specified all creative decisions were mine, but I still feel uncomfortable.

He tilts his head, fixing me with an unreadable look. "You aren't happy. I thought you would be excited." He takes another pull off the joint, his intense brown eyes laser focused on my face.

"Of course I'm happy. It's just unexpected."

Jimmy stares at me some more, then nods his head. "You're worried I'm going to stick my nose in the business." He wags a finger at me, shaking his head slowly. "I have no intention of messing with Inkspiration. You're doing great, and I don't know shit about tats."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." I guzzle the rest of my beer, wiping my mouth with the back of one hand. "What brings you out this way?"

"I need a change of scenery, and I thought it would be great to get the dynamic duo back together." He leans over and punches my arm. "I miss you, man. We had some great times."

"I miss those times too! Why a farmhouse though?" Jimmy was a city slicker who loved the nightlife.

"I need to switch things up. And I'm not moving alone. My girlfriend is coming too." He winks at me. "Yes, you heard right—I finally found the one."

My eyebrows rise. "She must be something special."

"She is. I'm happy."

Jimmy was a pussy magnet in college. Somehow he managed to sleep his way around campus without making enemies. I've always admired and envied his charming, smooth-talking ways—not one of my top skills. He also balked at the idea of, as he so eloquently put it once, "coming home to the same snatch every night when there were so many to sample."

"Congrats, man. I can't wait to meet her."

"She's tying up some loose ends, but she'll be here soon. I came ahead to get the house ready."

Rose looks bored. She's hovering around waiting for me, and I don't want to do this shit tonight.

"Why don't we take this back to my place? Emmett's there. We can have a guys' night, catch up on shit."

"Fuck yeah!" He leans over and slaps me five.

I glance over at Rose. "I'm locking up. You need a ride somewhere?""

Her lips tighten the slightest bit, and she pastes on a smile. "Nope. I'm good." She comes from behind the bar. "Jim, it was nice to meet you."

Jimmy takes her hand and kisses it. "The pleasure is all mine, Rose. I hope to see you again." His voice is low and seductive.

"Count on it."

Despite the fact Jimmy said he has a girlfriend, Rose practically swoons at his feet. It must be nice.

"See you guys." Rose walks away, head held high, a little spring in her step.

After she's gone, I stare at Jimmy.

"What?"

"How do you do that?"

He laughs. "Do what?"

"She's been flirting with me all fucking night. When she realized it wasn't gonna happen, it looked like she sucked a lemon. Then you—the man who admittedly has a girlfriend—manage to charm her, and she leaves happy. What the fuck is that?"

"The Hunter charm, man." He elbows me. "I'll teach it to you sometime."

"Whatever, man."

"You have a steady girl?"

"Nah."

He looks at me with disbelief. "Then why aren't you tapping that right now? Dude, follow her!"

"She's not my type, Jimmy. Besides, Em is really into her. He's my oldest friend—I could never do that to him."

Jimmy knocks back what remains of his drink and slams the glass on the bar. "Well, shit! You know how I love a fucking challenge. I'm going to show Emmett how to get in her pants."

If anyone can accomplish that, it's Jimmy.

~*oOo*~

A/N: Thanks for joining me on this bumpy ride. See you next Saturday!

Huge thanks to my awesome betas, SassySue (chayasara) and Wendy (wmr1601), for wielding the sparkly reds and fixing my flaws. Wendy made the banner for this story. You must check it out!

I've heard notifications aren't going out to a lot of people. Princess and Freddie both updated this week. Also, I appreciate and treasure every single review, but if you post anonymously, I can't respond to you!

Animal was featured on the TLS Sneak Peek on September 24th. Hop on over there if you want to read a teaser from future chapters. And I must thank the ladies at TLS for featuring many of my stories in their What We're Reading feature! Mwah!

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