Third Chances (Men Of Manhattan #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,77
me because I'm a judgmental asshole. "Yeah, maybe."
"Do you think when James gets mad he's a spanker? I bet he is. I want him to spank me so badly."
"Stop trying to get him to cheat on his fianc茅e."
"Spanking me would not be cheating. His palm on my bare ass would be anything but wrong. I want to make him angry again today."
"You're so weird."
She laughed. "I just want what I want. Speaking of which...do you still want Rob? We can be each other's wingmen today."
"I don't know. I told him some of my concerns about his brother and he freaked out. I think it's better if I just avoid him for the rest of our trip."
"That's going to be kind of hard."
"Why?"
"They all signed up to come zip lining with us."
Chapter 26
Rob
"We should probably get going," Mason said. "The zip lining tour starts in half an hour."
"Is it okay if I just spend the day here?" James asked. "I have a headache from Matt drugging me last night."
Matt laughed. "You said you forgave me."
James smiled. "I do forgive you. It doesn't mean I don't feel like shit this morning though. Besides, I've never been zip lining, and neither has Penny. I want our first time to be together."
"How romantic," Matt said. "You're totally whipped. You do realize that, right?"
"She didn't tell me not to go. I was just thinking it would be nice if I waited to do it with her."
"You're not going to be zip lining during your honeymoon. You're going to be having tons of sex with your woman. Come on, stop being lame."
"I'll stay here with him," I said.
"You're seriously passing on more time with Daphne?" Matt asked. "I don't believe my ears."
I shrugged. "Yeah. She's all yours. Good luck with that."
"Really? What made you change your mind?"
"She's not my type." Maybe Matt fucking her would somehow get that stick out of her ass. Not that I wished that bitch on anyone.
James put his book down. "I thought you really liked her. She seems really nice."
"She's actually not nice at all." She's a total cunt. "But yeah, she fooled me for a bit. Glad I found out early on."
James shrugged. "I guess."
"I'll just stay here too then," Mason said.
Matt stood up. "No way. Someone is coming with me. What is wrong with you guys? It's our last day here. Let's go crazy."
Mason laughed. "My crazy days are over. The only reason I agreed to go to dinner last night was to try and convince Layla to come back and be the spokesperson for Sword Body Wash. But she's made up her mind. Pestering her more won't do any good."
"Please?"
"I think I was plenty crazy last night," James said. "I'm going to pass on doing anything wild today." He picked up his book again.
"Besides, I don't think Alina's going to sleep with you," Mason said.
"Is that a challenge?" Matt asked.
Mason frowned. "No."
"Fine. Pool day it is. I'm going to go swim laps. You're all so lame."
"I will, however, join you for that." Mason and Matt both walked over to the pool.
I closed my eyes and rested the back of my head against the pool chair.
"What really happened last night?" James asked.
I kept my eyes closed. "Nothing."
"It couldn't have been nothing. You really liked her. I could tell. What changed your mind?"
"Really, it was nothing. I just didn't think she was worth pursuing."
"I don't really remember last night. Did I say something?"
I opened my eyes and leaned forward. "No. It wasn't anything you did. You're good."
"So just tell me what happened. Maybe I could help somehow? She really did seem nice. I think if you gave her another chance..."
"Just drop it, okay?"
"I just don't see why you would have changed your mind if..."
"Look, she completely lost it. I'm pretty sure she's crazy. I don't know what you said to her but she just kept talking about how you needed help. She doesn't even know you. She just assumed that you were an addict."
"So it was my fault."
"No it wasn't your fault."
"But she was right. I am an addict."
"You're not. You're good. You've been clean for years." I hated when he referred to himself like that. He used to be depressed. He used to have nothing to live for. Now he did. He had Penny. He wasn't an addict anymore.
"It's not something that goes away."
"But you're good now."
"Yeah. I am. Maybe she knew about my past though. Maybe she thinks I drop acid on the regular." He smiled.