Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,38
she said and looked right at me.
"I don't know why you guys are focusing on me right now. It's Alina's bachelorette party. Let's make her do stupid stuff instead."
"I'm actually greatly enjoying this," Alina said. "And I already know which dress you should wear tonight. First I'm getting my rainforest on, though. So let's get ready before we miss the tour." She linked her arm in mine.
"When did bachelorette parties turn into torturing single girls parties?" I tried to focus on my question instead of the butterflies in my stomach.
Chapter 14
Rob
I caught up to James right before he got to the front desk. "What's up?"
James winced when he heard me. "Nothing. I just forgot my keycard and I need to get back in our room."
"I thought you were getting a drink?"
"I think I'm just going to take a nap instead."
"Okay. Well, I have my key. I need to go grab a shirt anyway. I'll let you in our room."
James looked at the front desk and then back at me. "Yeah, thanks." He shoved his hands into his pockets as he joined me. We walked in silence toward the elevator. When we got in, he leaned against the wall and looked down at the ground.
"What's really bothering you?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.
James shook his head. It looked like he wanted to talk, or at least like he needed to. But he didn't say anything.
"You can tell me you know."
"I'm just...I feel like I can't give her enough. I'm not enough."
"What are you talking about? Penny loves you. Are you getting cold feet? Is that what this is?"
"No." He pressed his lips together. "No," he said again. "I want to marry her. That's all I want."
"Then what's wrong?"
"I just told you. I'm not enough."
"Not enough what?"
"I can't give her what she wants."
"What are you talking about? You've given her everything she could have possibly dreamed of. It's like a fucking Disney story."
"Not that stuff. She's never cared about my money. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with her in the first place."
I didn't say anything. I knew that. I knew how important it was for James to separate his personal relationships from money. My mother had ingrained in our heads this fucked up idea that no one would ever love us for any reason besides for our net worth. Probably because that was why my parents got married. But it was all bullshit. Just because she was cold and heartless didn't mean all women were. Maybe James was more jaded than me though, because he had been forced to marry the troll, Isabella. I couldn't even imagine what it must have felt like to live that lie.
James shook his head. "She wants a family."
"And she's getting one. I'm the best brother ever."
James laughed. "And she loves you, you know that. But Mom and Dad refuse to get to know her. They're not even coming to the wedding. She keeps telling me that it's okay. That you and Jen and our friends are enough. That they're all the family she needs. But I can see it in her eyes. She's hurt that they won't come, that they won't even try to get to know her. And I can't do anything about it. I can't fix it. It kills me that I can't fix it."
I didn't really know what to say. I hadn't realized how upset he was about our parents not coming to his wedding. It was fucked up, but I thought that he had stopped caring about their opinion when he filed to divorce Isabella.
"And Penny's fucking best friend has chosen now of all times to fight with her. She's not even speaking to her, and she's her maid of honor. Who the fuck does that? And it kills me that I'm not with her right now, because I know that she needs me. I'm supposed to be her rock. I'm not supposed to just disappear without saying goodbye. Especially now. She told me that she wasn't good at handling change. And I just kept adding fuel to the flame. I forced her to take my internship. And I bought that new apartment without asking her. She was right, it was too much change all at once. It stressed her out. I don't know why I kept pushing things. I just wanted to start our lives together." He paused and took a breath.