Third Chances - Chapter 22
Rob
God damn it. I walked to the bar, waiting for Matt to catch up.
I leaned against the counter. The bartender, a woman with a low cut blouse and a skirt that was too short, came over.
She was the type of woman that I would normally flirt with.
But not tonight. Not when I was trying to win over the most beautiful girl here.
Probably the most beautiful girl in any room.
"What can I get for you?" she asked with a seductive smile.
"Water, please. No ice."
She tapped the counter. "That's it?"
"That's it." I turned around just as Matt reached me. I had to take a deep breath so I wouldn't try to kill him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You drugged James, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did. He was being such a downer all day. We all get it, he misses his fiancée. Whatever. It's his bachelor party, he's supposed to be having fun."
"That doesn't mean you should slip something in his drink."
"He's having so much more fun now, though. Hell, maybe he'll even get lucky with that Kristen girl. She's been throwing herself at him all night."
"Is that really what you want to happen tonight? You want him to ruin his whole life?"
Matt frowned. "No, of course not. But he's allowed to have fun. It's his..."
"I get it. It's his bachelor party. That doesn't give him a free pass to fuck whoever he wants."
"Actually, it kind of does."
"No, it doesn't. He made a commitment to Penny. And if he ever did cheat on her, I'd kill him myself."
"God, you have such a hard-on for her. I bet you're hoping he does screw it up." He waved down the bartender. "Can we have another round of drinks for our table?"
"Sure thing," she said with a wink as she set down the water in front of me.
"I would never want that," I said as soon as she was out of earshot. "I want him to be happy. You know what he's been through. Penny is the one good thing he's been given. I don't want him to lose that. She's his fresh start. He has a second chance."
"You're being dramatic. He's not going to cheat on her. All he's done all night is ignore Kristen and talk about Penny. I just wanted him to have a little fun. And he is. You're welcome."
"This isn't fun, Matt. We're not kids anymore. You just gave an addict drugs. You're a fucking idiot."
"Really? You're saying that I'm immature? You just met that girl and you're telling her you don't want one night stands and pretending that you want something serious? If I'm immature, then so are you. Stop lying to yourself."
"I'm not lying. I'm so sick of this."
"If you're not happy, don't fucking take it out on me."
Fuck. I sighed and sat down at one of the stools. "I'm sorry, I just...you didn't see James at his worst."
"I know. Look, it'll wear off by tomorrow. And until then, we get the fun James. What are you so worried about?"
Losing him. "Nothing. You're right. What did you slip in his drink?"
Matt smiled. "Do you really want to know?"
No, but I need to know. "What, did you roofie him?"
"No, I'm not a weirdo. I'm not trying to rape your brother."
The bartender gave us a strange look.
Matt laughed and lowered his voice. "Remember that party a few years ago when we had that really bad trip and we said we'd never do acid again?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I had a ton of acid left. And since we took a private jet, there wasn't any security. So, bam. Tons of acid."
I shook my head.
"You want some?"
"No I don't want any. I'm trying to win over Daphne, not end up face first in a toilet bowl."
Matt laughed. "Fair enough. What is it with that girl, anyway? You seem totally off your game. I thought you would have taken her to our room ages ago."
I looked over my shoulder at Daphne. She was even more beautiful than I remembered her being on campus.
Her hand was on James' arm, but I could tell it wasn't in a flirtatious way.
Daphne didn't even know my brother, but she was worried about him.
She was trying to take care of him. She had pushed her glass of water in front of him and she was holding the tie that he had been wearing before we left the table.
I had never met anyone like her. "She's different. "
"Well, she's definitely hot."
Don't talk about her like that. My own thoughts made me frown.
Daphne wasn't my girl. Sure, I wanted her to be, but I had only just met her.
Matt and I always talked about women like that.
But for some reason it irked me. I didn't want him to be checking her out.
I didn't want anyone else looking at her.
She wasn't mine yet, but she was going to be. "She's not just hot, she's gorgeous."
He laughed. "What's the difference?"
I shrugged. Was there one? I wasn't sure.
But Daphne wasn't just hot. That wasn't substantial enough.
Beautiful, gorgeous, sweet, caring. I wasn't sure how I'd describe her.
She had called me amazing. Maybe that was the best way to describe her too.
"It's just different." I picked up the glass of water.
"You're taking care of James if he gets sick. "
"Fair enough. We all know how well he handles stuff like this though. He'll be fine."
I nodded. He was right. But I'm not sure James had ever had a ton of acid slipped into his drink before. I guess there was a first time for everything. "And dude, stop flirting with Alina. You're being super inappropriate."
Matt laughed. "You can't blame me for trying. I mean, you watched that footage almost as much as I did. She's skilled."
I laughed. "Just for the record, I'm going to slip something in your drink when you least expect it." I stood up.
"Can you do it at the wedding? That would be so much fun."
"That wouldn't be when you least expect it, then."
He laughed. "A guy can dream."
"About getting high at one of his best friend's wedding?"
"Oh yeah. I think that sounds amazing. I get depressed at weddings."
"What do you mean?" I asked as we walked back toward our table.
He frowned. "It reminds me that I'm alone, you know? Especially with Mason and James both tying the knot soon."
Matt and I rarely talked about stuff like this. We hung out all the time and I had no idea he felt that way. And he didn't know that I felt the same. We were always too busy being each other's wingmen. I watched Daphne push the glass of water closer to James. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Maybe we can finish off the acid together during the wedding then," Matt said with a laugh.
No, I'm not going to be alone at this wedding.
James said I should invite Daphne. Maybe I would.
Maybe I didn't need to be envious of his relationship with Penny.
I could have something real too. "I'm planning on being sober at my brother's wedding," I said and clapped him on the back.
"I don't want to let him down. I'm the best man. "
"You really like to throw that in everyone's face."
"Maybe if you didn't slip things in his drink, it would have been you."
Matt laughed. "Nah. I promise I won't do anything inappropriate on his big day, though."
"You better not."
"Good luck getting Daphne into bed tonight," he said with a wink and walked back to his chair.
I didn't want Daphne in my bed. I just wanted her in my arms. I put my hand on the back of her chair and crouched down beside her. "Do you mind switching seats with me? I need to talk to James."
"Yeah. Rob," she said and touched my forearm. "He's upset. He's worried Penny is getting cold feet. Don't you think you should let him talk to her?"
"Maybe in the morning. Letting him talk to her right now isn't going to help anything. It'll just get Penny upset for no reason."
Daphne smiled. "You're probably right." She slid into the seat that I had been in before and watched me sit down next to James.
"How are you feeling?" I asked him.
James rubbed his forehead. "Hungry."
I laughed. "Drink this, okay?" I placed the glass of water down in front of him.
"I already drank all of Daphne's water. I'm not really thirsty. Just hot." He had unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt.
"I know you haven't done any drugs since you left the shrew."
James laughed. He loved when I called his ex wife that.
God, what was Matt thinking? What if he gets addicted to this? I looked at James' face. He looked a mess. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself. "It's possible that you've taken a small amount of acid." Or a large amount. Matt was rather vague.
He laughed. "No. I didn't. I haven't touched anything like that since I started teaching. I miss that sometimes. Not the drugs." He laughed again. "Teaching. I felt like I was actually making a difference, you know? It's stupid."
"Yeah, I know. And it's not stupid." But I hadn't known. James never opened up to me about his problems. He always held everything in. He was never vulnerable like this. Or at least, he hadn't been in a long time.
"It is stupid. I'd give up anything to be with Penny. I don't need to teach, but I do need her."
"You can have both, you know."
He shook his head. "And who would hire me? I'm just the guy who seduced one of his students."
"No. You're the guy who's made billions with technological innovations, James. You're a marketing genius. Everyone loves you. Why are you beating yourself up about this?"
"I just don't feel good tonight." He ran the back of his hand across his forehead.
I hadn't realized how sweaty he was.
"I need to talk to her. I just want to make sure she's okay."
"Penny's okay. Mason talked to her a few hours ago. She's fine."
He nodded. "But why won't you let me talk to her?"
"You just can't tonight, okay? You can talk to her in the morning."
He wiped the sweat off his forehead again. "Please?" His hands shook slightly as he lifted up the glass of water.
Jesus Christ. I looked over at Matt. How much shit did he give him? "Not tonight, James. You can't talk to her when you're high."