I laughed. "Yeah, Rob told me. And you lived together in Newark for a little while too?"
"Yeah. Not for very long though. I had to leave because of everything that happened with Penny. But Rob stayed. He likes the college life. Right, Rob?"
Rob cleared his throat. "It's okay."
"No, come on, you love it there. I personally think he should settle down though."
Rob laughed. I was glad he was finding this humorous instead of mortifying. He did look a little flustered, but in a cute way.
"How old are you, Daphne?" James asked.
"I'm 23."
"Oh, that's a good age. Rob is 27. I was 27 when I met Penny. But she was only 19." He cleared his throat. "But she was almost 20. I thought she was a senior. She made me think she was. Not that I wouldn't have pursued her anyway. It just would have been nice to know. I've had to wait so long to marry her. You two are closer in age, though. That's easier. And he's not your professor. What do you do?"
"I'm a high school math teacher."
"Really? Well, I guess I should say at least you're not his professor." He giggled at his own joke. "Can I try that?" He pointed to my crab cake with his fork.
"Um...yeah, sure."
"Don't touch her food, James," Rob said.
"No, it's fine." I pushed my takeout container toward him.
He lifted up the crab cake sandwich I had just finished assembling and took a huge bite.
"I'm so sorry," Rob said.
"This is really yummy. You order things really weirdly, but it's good," James said.
I laughed as he took another bite.
"James, seriously, stop eating her food," Rob said.
James suddenly looked embarrassed. "Right. Sorry, Daphne. Here." He cut off a piece of his steak and put it on my plate. "You can have some of my meat. I mean, my steak. Not my penis. But maybe you'll have Rob's penis later." He giggled again.
"Uh, thanks." I usually didn't eat red meat, but he was looking at me so eagerly. He wasn't acting like he was on cocaine. I had no idea what Matt had slipped him, but it must have been a lot of whatever it was. James was a tall, strong guy. It was really endearing to see him acting like this. I took a bite of the steak he had put on my plate.
"Good, right?"
"Mhm." I nodded my head.
I looked up and saw him wink at Rob. I didn't doubt at all that it was a, "she'll like your meat too" kind of wink. Especially when James said, "ow, don't kick me!"
Rob cleared his throat.
"Do you have any siblings?" James asked.
I took a bite of my sandwich so I'd have a second to answer. It was such a simple question. But my answer was too complicated. I didn't want to talk about it. Not with James. He reminded me so much of my brother, Derek. I had been spending my time in Costa Rica half trying to forget about missing Derek and half trying to figure out my feelings for Rob. I preferred thinking about Rob. Thinking about my brother was too painful. "Um, no. It's just me." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.
"That's a shame. Penny doesn't have any siblings either. I have Rob, but I also have my sister Jen. I think it's good for Penny. She thinks of them as her family now."
"That's really nice." I looked over at Rob. He was staring at me closely. He had barely touched his food.
"It's different growing up with siblings, though," James continued. "Sometimes I feel like she missed out. You probably did too. I mean, we have a pretty strong bond, right, Rob?"
I bit the inside of my cheek.
"Yeah," Rob said. "Daphne, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I took a big bite of my sandwich. It was good. But I knew better than anyone that food didn't fill the void.
"It's hard to find such a close relationship outside of family. And I haven't been the best brother," James said.
"That's not true," Rob said. "He's an amazing brother."
"Not really. I think Rob still loves me though. He's a good guy. You'd be lucky to have him."
Rob opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then he pressed his lips together. He lowered his eyebrows, like it pained him to hear James say what he had. Or maybe he was just pissed that James was pushing us together so hard.
"Well, you guys are lucky to have each other," I said.
"Mhm. Do you mind if I take my shirt off? It's so fucking hot in here."
I laughed. "No, that's fine." I tried not to look at his perfect six-pack abs as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. He wasn't the brother I was interested in, but it was kind of hard not to stare. I knew why Kristen liked him. She'd be drooling right now if she was sitting in this chair.
Rob cleared his throat. "Don't make me take my shirt off too."
I smiled. "You can do whatever you want. It's your room." For some reason I felt perfectly comfortable flirting with him right in front of his brother. And I liked the distraction from our earlier conversation. I was so tired of thinking about the past. All I wanted to do was jump into Rob's arms and have him show me how exciting the future could be.
"All in good time, beautiful," Rob said with a wink.
I could wait. I had already seen him with his shirt off down by the pool. But it would be different being in his room. It was more sexual here. I wondered if all in good time meant later tonight. Maybe James would fall asleep soon. I almost laughed at the thought. We'd be like two kids sneaking around.
"You'd like Penny," James said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I think you two will get along really well. I can't wait for you to meet her."
"You're making Daphne uncomfortable," Rob said.
I laughed. "He's not. I'm sure I would like her."
"You should come to our wedding next weekend."
Okay," Rob said and stood up. "Let me get you some more water. Hopefully it'll make you stop saying inappropriate stuff."
"See, he's a really good brother," James said as Rob walked back toward the fridge. "Someone put acid in my drink tonight and he's taking care of me. Who does that? He's such a good guy. I'm clean, you know. I've been clean for years. I'm not usually like this."
I swallowed hard. Was he an addict? Did his friend seriously slip something in his drink knowing that? I touched the bracelet on my wrist. It suddenly all made sense. That was why Rob was so good at taking care of him. This happened all the time. It felt like it was hard to get air into my lungs. The whole room felt stifling.
James frowned. "Don't you believe me?"
I nodded. "I believe you." And that was my problem. I did believe that he was clean. I believed my brother too. I couldn't do this again. This was one red flag I couldn't ignore. Suddenly my heart started racing. I needed air. "Drink the rest of your water, okay? I have to get going."
"You should stay for a movie. That's all I wanted to do tonight."
Me too. I should have just trusted my gut and stayed in my room. "Not tonight."
"Will I see you tomorrow? It certainly seems like Rob can't get enough of you."