Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,49

said into the phone.

"Has he been acting weird?"

Mason laughed. "He's not getting cold feet, if that's what you're worried about."

"Okay."

"I promise I'm taking good care of your fianc茅. You don't need to worry. I'm not going to let him fuck up the best thing that's ever happened to him."

I gave Mason a thumbs up. That was exactly what Penny needed to hear.

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Ask her what's bothering her," I mouthed silently at Mason.

"Are you okay, Penny?" he asked. "You can talk to me you know."

"I need to talk to him, Mason."

"I'll give him a message for you."

Another long pause. "That's okay. I'll just...see him tomorrow night. Right?"

"I'll have him back before midnight. I promise."

"Okay. Bye, Mason."

"Wait. There was a reason I was calling. I think Bee's phone died. I haven't heard from her all day. Could you go over there and see if she's okay? And tell her to call me?"

"So you want me to tell Bee to call you, but you won't let me talk to James?"

"Yeah."

"You're a terrible person." Penny's laughter filled the room. She was definitely worried about something, but her laughter calmed me down. If she was laughing she was okay.

"And that's why you love me," Mason said.

"Let me talk to her," I whispered. I wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be stressed out about. That James had done nothing all weekend but sit at the pool. That if he had been acting weird recently that he was just stressed out. That all he wanted was to make her happy. I wasn't sure why I was feeling sentimental. Maybe it was Daphne's nagging me about letting James talk to her.

"No," Mason whispered back. "She's fine, I already calmed her down."

"It's different coming from me."

"Why? Because you flirt with her all the time? You're acting just as bad as James. You're being cut off from talking to her too."

"Give me the phone." I tried to grab it from his hand.

"Rob's back," Mason said into the phone. "I have to go. Please check on her, Penny." Mason hung up the phone.

"What the hell, man?"

"What the hell yourself? I thought all your flirting was a joke. But do you miss Penny too? Can't go a day without talking to her either?" he teased.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm just worried about her."

"Why? What did you and James talk about earlier?"

Is that why he was being a dick? Because he was upset that James confided in me instead of him? I knew he was pissed that he wasn't James' best man. "How stressed out he is. Which means Penny probably is too. Just let me call her back real quick and talk to her." I reached for the phone again.

"That's just going to worry her more. Just admit that you're in love with Penny." He laughed as I shoved his arm.

"What's going on?"

We both stopped and turned to look at James.

"We were just making sure Penny got to her bachelorette party without a hitch," Mason said.

"Bachelorette party?" He put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. What, you thought you were going to have a kickass bachelor party and she wasn't going to have a bachelorette party?"

"I never even wanted to have a bachelor party. You know that. Where are the girls taking her?"

"Calm down, James," Mason said and stretched out on the couch, kicking my leg so that I'd move. "They're just going to a bar."

I slapped his ankle and stood up. Mason was being a dick, but he was right. Me calling to check on Penny right after he did would just freak her out. Like we were trying too hard to prove that everything was okay.

"Which bar?" James asked.

"I don't know," Mason said.

"Penny sounded fine, James," I added. "She just misses you."

He gave me a weird look. How much had he heard of Mason and I talking? Shit. He had to know that I didn't love Penny. That was ridiculous.

"Yeah, okay," James said. "I think I'm just going to hang out in the room tonight while you guys go out. I just want to rent a movie or something."

Mason and I exchanged glances. "Nope," Mason said. "There's four of us and there's four girls we're meeting up with. We need you."

"I'm not going to hang out with Kristen tonight just so my brother can get laid."

"It's not about Rob getting laid. It's about you relaxing and having fun. We're worried about you, man. What is wrong with you? Why can't you just enjoy this