Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,65
a wink as she set down the water in front of me.
"I would never want that," I said as soon as she was out of earshot. "I want him to be happy. You know what he's been through. Penny is the one good thing he's been given. I don't want him to lose that. She's his fresh start. He has a second chance."
"You're being dramatic. He's not going to cheat on her. All he's done all night is ignore Kristen and talk about Penny. I just wanted him to have a little fun. And he is. You're welcome."
"This isn't fun, Matt. We're not kids anymore. You just gave an addict drugs. You're a fucking idiot."
"Really? You're saying that I'm immature? You just met that girl and you're telling her you don't want one night stands and pretending that you want something serious? If I'm immature, then so are you. Stop lying to yourself."
"I'm not lying. I'm so sick of this."
"If you're not happy, don't fucking take it out on me."
Fuck. I sighed and sat down at one of the stools. "I'm sorry, I just...you didn't see James at his worst."
"I know. Look, it'll wear off by tomorrow. And until then, we get the fun James. What are you so worried about?"
Losing him. "Nothing. You're right. What did you slip in his drink?"
Matt smiled. "Do you really want to know?"
No, but I need to know. "What, did you roofie him?"
"No, I'm not a weirdo. I'm not trying to rape your brother."
The bartender gave us a strange look.
Matt laughed and lowered his voice. "Remember that party a few years ago when we had that really bad trip and we said we'd never do acid again?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I had a ton of acid left. And since we took a private jet, there wasn't any security. So, bam. Tons of acid."
I shook my head.
"You want some?"
"No I don't want any. I'm trying to win over Daphne, not end up face first in a toilet bowl."
Matt laughed. "Fair enough. What is it with that girl, anyway? You seem totally off your game. I thought you would have taken her to our room ages ago."
I looked over my shoulder at Daphne. She was even more beautiful than I remembered her being on campus. Her hand was on James' arm, but I could tell it wasn't in a flirtatious way. Daphne didn't even know my brother, but she was worried about him. She was trying to take care of him. She had pushed her glass of water in front of him and she was holding the tie that he had been wearing before we left the table. I had never met anyone like her. "She's different."
"Well, she's definitely hot."
Don't talk about her like that. My own thoughts made me frown. Daphne wasn't my girl. Sure, I wanted her to be, but I had only just met her. Matt and I always talked about women like that. But for some reason it irked me. I didn't want him to be checking her out. I didn't want anyone else looking at her. She wasn't mine yet, but she was going to be. "She's not just hot, she's gorgeous."
He laughed. "What's the difference?"
I shrugged. Was there one? I wasn't sure. But Daphne wasn't just hot. That wasn't substantial enough. Beautiful, gorgeous, sweet, caring. I wasn't sure how I'd describe her. She had called me amazing. Maybe that was the best way to describe her too. "It's just different." I picked up the glass of water. "You're taking care of James if he gets sick."
"Fair enough. We all know how well he handles stuff like this though. He'll be fine."
I nodded. He was right. But I'm not sure James had ever had a ton of acid slipped into his drink before. I guess there was a first time for everything. "And dude, stop flirting with Alina. You're being super inappropriate."
Matt laughed. "You can't blame me for trying. I mean, you watched that footage almost as much as I did. She's skilled."
I laughed. "Just for the record, I'm going to slip something in your drink when you least expect it." I stood up.
"Can you do it at the wedding? That would be so much fun."
"That wouldn't be when you least expect it, then."
He laughed. "A guy can dream."
"About getting high at one of his best friend's wedding?"
"Oh yeah. I think that sounds amazing. I get depressed at weddings."
"What do you mean?" I asked as we walked back toward our table.