Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,75

him off.

He didn't answer me. He just started walking back toward the trail. He really was the most infuriating person I had ever met.

"So you like putting yourself in danger? Rob, your brother needs you. You can't..."

"Don't fucking tell me what my brother needs." He turned around and glared at me. "All my brother needs is for people like you to stop judging him for his past. He has a hard enough time letting things go without you trying to bring him down."

"Okay." I felt even smaller than I did a minute ago.

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain anything last night, you know? So I'm not giving you a chance to explain your opinions right now. And you know what? You don't even deserve to hear what I have to say. You don't deserve to get to know my brother. You don't deserve to get to know me."

I nodded my head and looked away from him.

"Jesus Christ. Don't cry about it."

"I'm not crying because of you." Maybe I was a little. I was a little surprised that he could even see past the hatred in his eyes to notice that I was hurting. I wasn't just hurting. It felt like I was drowning.

"Daphne..."

"Just go."

He took a step toward me. His face was softer than it had been a second ago. After everything he just said to me, how could he feel compassion toward me? He clearly loathed me. So why did it look like he wanted to comfort me?

I took a step back. I didn't want his arms around me. I didn't need someone to tell me it was going to be okay. It wasn't okay. Nothing was okay. "Don't touch me."

He stopped. "Okay. I didn't mean to make you cry." He ran his hand through his wet hair. He looked so smug and sexy. He was such a conceited asshole.

"You'll lose him, you know. If you do nothing, you'll lose him."

Rob's face hardened again. "Still, you haven't asked me about him. Still, you're pointing fingers, when you know nothing about his past. I'm not as blind as you think I am. He's fine. And if he wasn't, I would know. I'm not dumb enough to lose him. Now please, just leave us alone." He turned and walked back toward the trail.

He left me feeling even worse about last night than I already did. And more alone than I had ever felt.

***

I slowly opened the door to my room. It looked like everyone was still sleeping. I closed the door as quietly as I could.

"I'm not dumb enough to lose him." Rob's words wouldn't stop echoing around in my head. I had believed Derek was better. I was dumb enough to lose him. My whole body was cold and it wasn't because I was soaked. I just felt so defeated. Was Rob actually right? Was it my fault that Derek was gone?

"Hey," Kristen said. She yawned and sat up. "Walk of shame much?"

I tried to laugh. It came out sounding forced and foreign to my ears. "No, I slept here last night. I just went for a walk his morning."

"Mhm. I see that Rob has already removed your bracelet this morning. What did he make you do?"

"No, actually. I just haven't put it on yet." I gestured to my bracelet which was still sitting on the nightstand.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yep." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Everything's good." I needed to stop dwelling on what Rob had said. He didn't know anything about me. And he never would. Screw him. "What are we doing today?"

"Zip lining."

"Really?"

"Don't look so freaked out. It's super safe. It's going to be fun. Tell me how last night went."

"Umm...good."

Kristen laughed. "That didn't sound convincing at all. Did he try to pressure you to have sex or something? I know how weird you are about waiting until the fifth date or whatever."

"The sixth date. And no, nothing like that." He probably wouldn't have had to pressure me. But now I was so relieved that we hadn't taken it that far. I needed to change the subject. "'I saw James with his shirt off."

Kristen's eyes lit up. "Did you drool everywhere? I remember watching him on his runs. Every now and then it would be so hot that he couldn't wear a shirt. He's so sexy."

"You're such a stalker." I said it even though I had done the same thing with Rob. I made sure to read on the green at