Falling for a Dark Soul

Chapter Twenty

Disclaimer: None of this mine, nor do I claim to be Stephenie Meyer. I just like to dabble in the playground that she created with Bella, Edward and her Twilight characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

I had every intention to get to New Year's Eve, but the previous chapter got to be too long. Up next will be New Year's Eve, the return to work and introduction of a new character ...

Chapter Twenty

Edward

By four in the afternoon, Katie's party was over. The goodie bags had been distributed and the party planner was kind enough to give us a cart for her mountain of presents. My father and I were loading up the gifts into the back of my car. "I'm impressed that Bella pulled this off so quickly," Dad said.

"She had some help," I replied, trying to balance the gifts in the trunk. "One of her neighbors, Senna, gave her this suggestion." I wrinkled my nose at my mention of Senna. She saw me and she scowled in my direction.

"You don't like Senna?"

"She doesn't like me, but it's justified. I was an asshole to her," I frowned. "She talked smack about me to Bella and ..."

"Edward, you've changed. Anyone, even a blind man, can see how much you've changed," Dad breathed.

"Regardless, I don't care much about Senna," I shrugged. "As long as she doesn't continue to give me shit and all. Keeping me at arm's length is probably best."

"What did you do that she sees you as an asshole?"

"It had something to do with Sam. Her daughter went to pet Sam, but without asking. Sam is a good dog, but if he wasn't trained ... he could have snapped. So, I snapped at Senna and at her daughter," I huffed. "Anyone with a brain knows this. Senna went off on me and I yelled right back. You and I both know that if Sam had tried to bite the little girl? She'd demand that he be put down."

"She sounds like an entitled bitch," Dad snorted humorlessly. "Did you ever see a video of some woman going off on another woman who wouldn't let her pet her service animal? The one lady said she was going to call her lawyer because it was against her civil rights. The woman with service animal just rolled her eyes and walked away. The first lady smacked the other one and suffice it to say, the woman with the dog kicked ass."

"I would never hit a woman, but we exchanged words," I deadpanned.

"Edward, you would never intentionally hurt anyone. Despite your past, you are an inherently good man," Dad breathed. "And, from what you described, Senna was wrong. Should you have approached it differently? Probably, but it doesn't negate the fact that you were right."

I closed the back of the SUV and saw the woman in question. She was walking with her daughter and husband. Her husband, Nahuel, was a cool guy. We'd ended up talking for some time about sports, football at Katie's party. Jasper even invited him to come join us on our usual Sunday date to watch the Bears suck. He agreed. She glowered at me. She spoke with her husband and sashayed toward me.

"Do you want me to stay, Edward?" Dad asked.

I nodded, leaning against the cart.

"You have some balls coming to this party, Cullen," she snapped. "I don't know what you did to Bella, but you're not a good guy. I've told her, numerous times, that you're an opportunistic prick."

"She probably also told you that you're full of it, hmmmm?" I asked. "Look, you may never like me. That's your choice, your prerogative."

"You yelled at my kid!" she growled. "If you don't want people talking to you, then you shouldn't have your mangy dog with you!"