"Damn," Kristen said. "He's almost as hot as his brother."
"Almost? He's just as hot as Professor Hunter," I said more defensively than I realized. But Kristen was so far gone in her own obsession that she didn't even realize my tone.
"He asked me to call him James. How sexy is that? I'm on a first name basis with Professor Hunter." Kristen squealed.
Alina laughed and sat up. "I'm guessing that you didn't notice that he looked super uncomfortable around you?"
"What?" Kristen asked. "He didn't look uncomfortable. I thought he looked happy to see me. Plus he remembered who I was."
Alina laughed. "Sure. But what we should really be talking about right now is how Daphne can't keep her hands off of Professor Hunter's little brother."
"That isn't true," I said. "He was using his stupid cards on me. I didn't have a choice."
"Mhm. How did the Javier talk go? I'm guessing not great since you still had your bracelets when you came back."
"The talk didn't go great, but I stole some cards so that I could take the rest of those stupid bracelets off." I threw their bracelets back at them. "Don't you dare put those on me again."
"Wait, you stole something? You broke the rules? Are you feeling okay, Momma Bear?"
That was basically the same thing that Rob had said to me. That I didn't know how to have fun. "I know how to have fun, you guys."
"Does that mean you're going to have some fun with Rob later?" Layla had decided to jump in on their teasing too.
"No. Absolutely not."
"It sounded like you already shared a pretty spicy kiss," Kristen said.
"He was exaggerating," I lied. Because it was true. Just thinking about that kiss made my head spin. "Besides, we're probably never going to see him again. He didn't even ask where we wanted to meet. Or what room we were in. Or anything." As I said it, I realized how I hoped it wasn't true. No, I didn't want to hop in bed with him. But I wouldn't mind sharing a few more of those kisses.
"I'll just go tell Mason our room number then," Layla said and stood up. She had already walked over to Mason before I could tell her to stop.
"We should probably go get ready for our rainforest tour," Alina said. "I can't wait to see the waterfall Rob told us about. I hope the tour guide will take us there. I'm even going to keep my bikini on under my clothes in case we're allowed to swim."
"That's a great idea," Kristen said as she stood up and stretched. "Hopefully we get back in time to shower though. I have to look amazing for my date with Professor Hunter tonight."
"You don't have a date with Professor Hunter tonight," I said. "And what would Tim think if he knew you were talking about another guy like this?"
"Tim and I each have a few people on our 'allowed to fuck' list."
"Your what?"
"Our lists of people that we're allowed to have sex with outside of our relationship."
"That's not a thing."
"Of course it's a thing. It's mostly celebrities, obviously. But Professor Hunter is at the top of mine. Tim's fine with it."
"You two have the weirdest relationship ever."
"Whatever you say, Momma Bear. I am going to be totally selfless tonight though. You haven't gotten laid in forever. So my main goal tonight is for you to get in Rob's pants."
"I don't want your help with that."
"Mhm." She winked at me.
"Kristen, I don't. I'm not going to sleep with some guy I just met this morning."
"Mhm." She winked at me again.
"Stop winking at me."
"We're all set," Layla said as she joined us again. "Mason's going to call our room tonight to let us know where to meet them. You're welcome," 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."