me so that I was somewhat more conventionally seated on his lap. I could then see that it was the playful, pixie-like Alice, with Casper behind her in the doorway. My cheeks burned but Fredward seemed at ease.
"Go ahead," Fredward was still chuckling demonically.
Alice seemed to find nothing unusual about our embrace; she walked—almost danced, her movements were so graceful—to the center of the room, where she folded herself sinuously into the shape of a squatting crane. Casper, however, paused at the door, his expression a trifle shocked. He stared at Fredward's face, and I wondered if he was tasting the atmosphere with his sensitivity.
"It sounded like you were having Bella for lunch—or should we say brunch?—so we came to see if you would share," Alice announced.
I stiffened for an instance, until I realized that Fredward was grinding me—whether at her comment or my response, I couldn't tell.
"Sorry, I don't believe I have enough to share," he replied, his arms holding me danger-close.
"Actually," Jasper said, smiling despite himself as he walked into the room, "Alice says there's going to be a real storm tonight, and Emmett wants to play airplanes. We came to pose the question: Are You Game?"
The words were all common enough, but the context confused me. I gathered that Alice was a bit more reliable than the weatherman, though.
Fredward's eyes lit up, but he hesitated.
"Of course you should bring Bella," Alice burped. I thought I saw Jasper throw a quick glance at her.

347

Chapter 16

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