I walked back out of the bathroom, trying to keep my head held high.
"Layla's right you know," Alina said. "You look happy when you're with him. And it was pretty clear that you couldn't keep your eyes off him."
I was trying to be discrete about that. Was I really that open of a book?
"What Kristen is trying to say is that you should give him a chance. Because he's been looking at you the same way you've been looking at him. Plus, it was really adorable that he showed up at that waterfall to surprise you. I don't think players put in that much effort."
I knew she was right. Yes, Rob had the dirty mouth of a sailor. But he was also sweet and thoughtful and protective of me for some reason. He had gotten all the bracelets off of me after all. Not that I'd go so far as to say he was a gentleman.
"You aren't really going to stand there and deny that you like him are you?" Kristen said.
I scrunched up my face. They had cornered me. "Of course I like him. I'm just trying to say that it isn't worth pursuing."
"Momma Bear, happiness is worth pursuing." Her words made me feel cold. I knew that. I loved teaching. I loved living in New York. I was actively pursuing happiness. Wasn't I?
"Why are you guys pushing this so hard?" I asked.
"Because we want you to be happy," Alina said.
"And wearing this dress and flirting with a rich playboy is going to make me happy?"
"In the case of Rob Hunter, absolutely."
"I don't know." I sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Are you going to make me pull out my Bridezilla card, Daphne? Because it is my bachelorette party. And there is nothing I want more than to see you hook up with Rob."
"Ew. Why do you want to see that?"
She laughed. "I don't really. But I want to know it's happening somewhere in the hotel."
"You're all so bossy."
"That's because we love you," Kristen said. "Now, throw this on. Boys love when girls show some skin."
"He's already seen me in a bikini all day."
"Mhm. So don't disappoint him by wearing one of your parka-esque dresses tonight."
"Sundress. They're sundresses. Normal people wear them."
"Whatever. Tonight you're not being normal. You're being sexy Daphne. Who loves flirting with handsome bachelors and not fucking it up for her friend that is in love with Professor Hunter."
"You're not in love with Professor Hunter. You're such a psychopath."
"Why do I have a feeling that you're all going to embarrass me tonight?" Layla asked. "Fortunately I don't work with Mason anymore or this would be a nightmare."
Alina laughed. "Welcome to my life."
I scoffed. "Like what you did in Brazil didn't embarrass us," I said under my breath.
"I asked you not to talk about that. Ever. Now put on your whore dress and let's go. I warned you," she added when she must have seen my expression. "You've unleashed the Bridezilla within."
Kill me now.
Chapter 18
Rob
"Is he in the shower yet?" Mason asked as I walked back into the main room.
"Yup, the water just turned on." I sat down next to him on the couch. "I feel like it was poor planning on the girls' part to leave a crucial part of Penny's bachelorette party surprise to you."
"At the time, Bee didn't know I'd be in Costa Rica. But it works out well anyway. I'm just going to pretend to be worried I haven't heard from Bee and get Penny to go check on her. Boom. Surprise done."
"Isn't it kind of a dick move to ask her to check on Bee when you won't let her talk to James?"
"That we won't let her talk to James you mean? And no, Penny will totally understand. She encouraged him to have a bachelor party after all. Now, be quiet when I call." He clicked on Penny's name in his contact list.
"Put it on speaker," I whispered. I wanted to hear that Penny was okay too. If James was worried about her, it would calm him down if I told him she sounded fine on the phone.
Mason pulled his phone away from his ear and hit the speaker button.
"Mason!" Penny's voice filled the room.
Mason laughed. "Hey, Penny. Having a good weekend?"
"Can I talk to him?" She sounded worried. What was she worried about? Just because James and I beat up a professor one time she doesn't trust me to take care of him? When was she going to let that go?
Mason laughed again. "Jumping right into things, then? So, about that...you need to stop calling. You're distracting him from having fun."
"I'm sure he's having quite enough fun."
Rob and I exchanged shrugs. Is that what she was worried about? James having too much fun? He was being a bore if anything. He only had eyes for her.
"Where are you guys?" Penny asked.
"Costa Rica."
"What hotel?"
"Nice try, Penny. I'm not telling you where we are. You're not allowed to infiltrate his bachelor party."
"Mason, I really, really need to talk to him."
"Umm...I would hand the phone over, but he's currently indisposed."
"Indisposed? What have you been doing?"
I hit Mason's arm and shook my head. If he couldn't hear the worry in Penny's voice, I could. She didn't need him to joke around right now. She needed him to tell her everything was okay.
He pushed my arm off him and laughed. "I'm just kidding. He's taking a shower."
There was a slight pause. "Has he been getting packages? Or any mail there?"
Mason looked at me and I shook my head. "No?" he 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 fiancé. 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.