"Seriously? And you knew all this and still liked him?"
"I like mysterious, dangerous guys."
"Do you? I feel like Tim isn't dangerous at all."
"Maybe. But he's very adventurous in bed."
"I don't see how that parallels with your obsession with James."
"If you don't think a guy that looks like James is good in bed, you're incredibly naive."
"If you say so." I'd have to take her word for it because I had never slept with someone that good looking before. "Do you think James still has those problems?"
Kristen shrugged. "He hasn't really been in the paper for anything bad since he stopped teaching. It was kind of messed up that Matt slipped him something given his history, though, right? But I really liked when James was mad at me. That was so hot, right?"
"It wasn't hot. He clearly needs help."
"He didn't take anything. He didn't even know what was going on."
"Maybe. But how bad could his past have been really? He's super wealthy. I'm sure things were handed to him his whole life."
Kristen frowned. "Why are you being so judgmental right now?"
"I'm not. I just think that if he used to be an addict, he still is. And everyone should stop taking it so lightly. You saw how angry he was last night. We're lucky he didn't get violent like he did with that dean."
"Wow. Just for the record, that dean was sleeping with his wife at the time. He totally deserved to get beat up. James' other charges were probably justified too. He's a stand up guy that has clearly been through some horrible stuff. Money doesn't fix everything, Daphne."
"I know that. I just think all those guys are bad news."
"Of course you do."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that last night you really liked Rob. And you woke up this morning and now hate him and his family and friends? You don't even really know them yet. And you don't know James, so stop..."
"Neither do you. Just because you stalked him doesn't mean you know him. It's a sickness. He needs help."
"Not everyone is your brother." Her words hung in the air.
I didn't need to feel any worse than I already did. I turned away from her. Don't start crying again.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's okay."
"It's not okay." She got off the bed and hugged me. "Ew, why are you so wet?" She kept her arms wrapped around me anyway.
I laughed. "I got caught in the rain."
She didn't say anything, she just squeezed me even tighter. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
"It's fine, Kristen." She was right. I was projecting my own problems onto Rob and his brother. What was wrong with me? I was completely out of control. The Costa Rican heat was making me lose my mind. Rob was right to be mad at me. He wasn't me. And James wasn't Derek. Just because Derek never got better didn't mean James couldn't.
"Good." She pulled back. "Because I didn't want you to be upset when I did this."
She grabbed my wrist and clasped two bracelets to it before I even knew what was happening.
"Kristen!"
"Alina wanted you to wear her bracelet for the rest of the trip. I volunteered to make it happen."
I pressed my lips together. What the fuck was I going to do with two bracelets and no nice guy to remove them for me? Oh God, I'll probably end up having to give some random stranger head in the middle of the rainforest.
"Just get Rob to take them off for you."
He's not speaking to 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 fiancée."
"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.