Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,100

up with this shit?"

James laughed. "I just mean that it sounds like Daphne might need saving."

"Maybe." I thought about how I found her crying in the mud. I wanted to be there for her, but she didn't want me. She told me she didn't want me. If she had given me anything to hold onto, maybe I'd fight for her. But she hadn't. She just let me walk away.

"The jet leaves in half an hour. I hope you're not on it."

I laughed. "What?"

"You said you didn't need me anymore, which was incredibly rude, by the way."

I laughed. "I still need you, bro. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

"Smart ass." James smiled. "I still need you too, at least, I need you to show up for my rehearsal dinner. You're off best man duties until Friday, though. So, have a good week." He slapped my back and stood up.

"I'm not staying here."

"Penny and I are good. Everything is pretty much set for the wedding. It's smooth sailing from here. I'm just going to be fucking her senseless all week. Really, you should stay."

"Ugh. I'm done with Costa Rica."

"If that's what you want."

I stared at him. "It is what I want. I'm not going to chase some girl who doesn't want anything to do with me." I got up and grabbed one of my shirts off the ground to start packing.

"I think you're making a mistake. Trust me, I'm the king of mistakes."

I shook my head. "You're going to make a great father, James."

He laughed. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you were basically mine." I gave him a big hug and lifted him slightly off his feet. He always hated when I did that and I was surprised to hear him laugh.

"Maybe I'll stick to being your friend now. You're right, you don't need me to protect you anymore." He patted my back. "Now put me down before I knock you out."

I laughed and released him from my embrace.

"You guys are so weird," Mason said. "Almost ready to go?"

"Yes," James said. "I can't wait to see Penny."

"I so badly want to make fun of you, but I'm pretty eager to see Bee too."

"You're both so whipped," Matt said. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Look, Rob, I'm sorry about earlier. I just..."

"Don't mention it. You were right, anyway. I am who I am. Daphne clearly wasn't the girl for me." Even if I thought she could have been. I tried to ignore the look James was giving me. Despite what he thought, he wasn't right about everything."

"I know, right? You need someone who's not so uptight. You know, like Penny."

I laughed. "Yeah." But I didn't want Penny. I wanted someone who wanted me. I zipped up my suitcase. And now that I knew what I wanted, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to find. If Daphne had asked me to stay, I'd be beside her right now. I'd be showing her what living truly was. But she hadn't. So I didn't want her either. Besides, a girl who thought love was built on patience was looking for a different kind of love than I was. I wanted something terrifying and all consuming not boring. Screw boring.

"Come on." I pulled Matt into a choke hold. "Let's get the fuck out of paradise."

Chapter 35

Daphne

I can do this. It was probably the hundredth time I had chanted those words to myself. But I was still frozen in place.

"Ma'am, the zip lining course is closing for the evening," the instructor said.

I told Rob that I needed to figure out what I wanted on my own. All I knew right now was that I didn't want this. I had never wanted to zip line. Doing this wasn't going to make me happy. So what the hell would?

"Ma'am?"

I shook my head. "Okay," I said quietly.

"You can follow the lighted path back to the resort."

"Thanks." I slowly climbed off the platform. I knew I looked like a homeless person. I was sweaty, covered in mud, and probably still had sex hair. I bit my lip. The last thing I needed to do was think of Rob. I didn't want to picture how defeated he looked. But he was just projecting on me like I had projected on him. He didn't even like me. He was just ready to settle down and I was the first girl he had run into.

Well, that's not true. He had run into two other girls yesterday morning with his penis. It