Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,20

why I'm here." He pointed over his shoulder at Professor Hunter. Professor Hunter was reading a book. He didn't even look up. "Which one of you lovely ladies is getting married?"

"This is my friend, Alina," Layla said. "Alina, this is Mason."

Mason lowered his eyebrows slightly as he shook Alina's hand. "You look really familiar. But I have no idea where I've seen you."

Alina laughed awkwardly. "I just have one of those faces."

"That's not it," the guy who looked like Mason said. He stood up and joined Mason. "I definitely recognize you. You're Alina Smith. She's the tiebreaker girl, man," he said to Mason.

Mason laughed. "Oh." He scratched the back of his neck. "Right. Well, I'm pretty sure most guys weren't staring at your face."

Alina's face turned bright red.

"But this is my brother, Matt," Mason said and slapped the guy next to him on his back.

"It's great to meet you," he said to Alina. "That was some quality television. I'm pretty sure I still have it on my DVR."

Mason cleared his throat. "And that's my friend James behind me and his brother Rob."

Brothers. That made sense. I looked over at Rob again. I swallowed hard. He was still staring at me. I turned back to my friends, but every few moments I'd glance in his direction. He looked pleased with himself. Like he knew I thought he was hot. Well, he didn't know anything about me. And he certainly didn't know anything about what I did and didn't like. I looked over at Professor Hunter instead. He was still reading his book.

"Nice to meet you guys," Layla said. "Oh, and this is my friend Kristen Dwyer."

James looked up from his book. I could have been imagining it, but he looked slightly freaked out. Like maybe he knew Kristen had stalked him in college. And maybe he was still worried she was.

"Great to meet you," Mason said and shook Kristen's hand.

"You too. Alina and I were actually in Professor Hunter's class at the University of New Castle. Well, I was in a few of his classes, Alina was just in one."

"I should have known you ladies were from there. I think James and I both agree that some of the hottest girls are from the University of New Castle."

I rolled my eyes.

"My girlfriend went there. And so did James' fianc茅e. Aren't you going to say hi to your old students?" Mason asked Professor Hunter.

Professor Hunter stood up and stretched. He seemed completely uninterested in the conversation that was going on. But I could tell why Kristen was obsessed with him. It was hard not to stare at his perfectly sculpted torso. It was certainly easy to imagine licking the lines of his six pack. I shook the thought away. It had been way too long since I last had sex.

He cleared his throat. "Kristen and Alina, of course. It's great to see you again." He shook Alina's hand and then Kristen's.

The smile on Kristen's face made her look like a crazy person. "It's so good to see you again. Your classes were definitely my favorite. I was so sad when you stopped teaching, Professor Hunter."

"You can just call me James. And thanks. I'm glad you got something out of my classes."

"Okay, James," she said with a smile. I'm pretty sure she sighed, but I could have been wrong. I wasn't close enough to tell.

Professor Hunter looked over at Mason and raised both his eyebrows.

It was so obvious that he knew that Kristen had stalked him. I laughed out loud. Mason, Matt, and Professor Hunter looked over at me.

I hadn't meant to laugh. I quickly looked out at the pool. There was just one lady swimming laps. Now it looks like I have the hots for women.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Professor Hunter's brother stand up and join his friends. "So it seems like you all know each other already. But who's your friend?"

Is he talking about me? Please don't be talking about me.

"That's Daphne," Layla said. "Daphne, did you ever have James in class?"

Crap. Now I had to walk over there. "No," I said and stood up, keeping my towel in front of my body. "But Kristen used to go on and on about him."

Professor Hunter laughed and Kristen gave me a death stare.

Maybe Professor Hunter wasn't as uptight as I thought. It probably was just the onslaught of students flirting with him that made him so uncomfortable. Despite the fact that one of my best friends was