Third Chances - Chapter 37
Daphne
My phone ringing made me jump. Oh my God, it's him! I slid my finger across the screen without looking at the caller ID. "Hey!"
Alina groaned in her sleep.
I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Sorry." I slipped out into the hall again. I put the phone to my ear again. My heart was beating so fast. "Hey," I said, a little calmer.
"Hey, Daphne. How's the bachelorette party going?"
I sighed and leaned against the wall. Bryce. It was Bryce. He was probably just calling to see how Alina was. "Hey, Bryce. It's great."
He laughed. "Is everyone still asleep?"
"Um...yeah. Do you want to talk to Alina?"
"No, just come down to the front desk."
"Why?"
But Bryce didn't answer. He had already hung up the phone.
Weird. I was wearing pajama shorts and a tank top.
I looked back at the door. There was no reason to change.
The only person I cared about impressing was Rob and he wasn't here anymore.
And I certainly didn't care what Javier thought about me.
He was the most unhelpful concierge in the history of the world.
He deserved pajama Daphne. And maybe my ensemble would just scare off anyone so they wouldn't want to come close enough to remove my bracelet.
Crap, I have to put another one on today.
I'd be stuck with two bracelets and Rob wasn't here to help me.
I walked over to the elevator. Bryce had probably sent Alina flowers.
Which was really sweet. They were the cutest couple ever.
Or maybe Tim had sent some male strippers.
I stepped onto the elevator. That would be hilarious if Alina had to wake up to some guy dancing around the room in a banana hammock.
But even that thought didn't make me smile.
Rob hadn't called me back. It was morning.
He was back in Newark or New York or wherever their jet had taken them.
He would have heard my voicemails and gotten all my texts by now.
And...nothing. He didn't want to talk to me anymore.
I had made such a mess of everything. I sighed and stepped off the elevator.
"Daphne!" Bryce was standing in the middle of the lobby with a huge smile on his face.
His shaggy brown hair was sticking to his forehead because of the heat.
Tim's hair was still perfectly coiffed somehow and he was leaning on the counter talking to Javier.
And Ethan was staring at the activity board with his strong arms folded across his chest. He seemed completely transfixed with the options.
I still hadn't looked at it. Maybe there was something weird on it.
I realized I had just been standing there awkwardly staring at all of them. I quickly walked over to Bryce. "Oh my God. What are all you guys doing here?" I didn't mean to sound horrified, but I'm pretty sure it came out that way. I now deeply regretted my wardrobe choice.
"You're not happy to see us?" Bryce said. He gave me a hug and a swift kiss on the cheek.
"No, it's not that. I'm just...surprised."
"That was kind of the plan."
"I hope you ladies haven't been having too much fun without us." Tim grabbed my hand and kissed it like he always did. "Looking lovely as ever, Daphne."
"Thanks, Tim."
Ethan gave me a fairly awkward hug because we didn't know each other that well. Bryce and Tim had seen me in pajamas plenty of times. Ethan had maybe seen me in a cocktail dress most recently? I should have changed.
"So everyone's still asleep?" Ethan asked. "We thought we'd bring breakfast up to the room and surprise the girls."
"Yup." Everyone but me. "That's a great idea. So...what are you guys doing here?"
"We can't want to go on vacation with our ladies?" Tim said with a smile.
"Of course. But, it's Alina's bachelorette party."
"Those shouldn't last a week. We were bored. We thought it would be better for us all to hang out together."
"I don't know how you guys could have been bored with Tim planning your bachelor party," I said.
"Bryce kept vetoing all my delicious ideas like an ignoramus," Tim said.
I laughed.
Bryce shrugged. "We just thought it would be fun to combine our parties."
"That's a great idea." Except, it wasn't really. Because now I'd be the seventh wheel. If you thought a third wheel was bad, a seventh wheel was absolutely horrible.
"If I'm being completely honest," Tim said, "I wanted Bryce's bachelor party to be here. When he turned the idea down, I helped hook Alina and you ladies up instead." He rubbed his hands together. "Now I'm getting what I wanted."
"You just got lucky. Don't act like you planned this whole thing," Bryce said.
"Believe what you want to believe."
"Let's go get breakfast," Ethan said. "I'm starving." But from the way he said it, it was pretty clear that he just wanted to see Layla. It was cute how eager he was to see his wife.
Not only was I now the seventh wheel, but I had to endure them all being stupid and adorable and coupled up. It made me miss Rob even more. We had never gotten to be a couple and now we never would be. I bit my lip.
Javier cleared his throat. "Here are your keycards, gentlemen. We got the two rooms adjacent to your ladies' room. So it's three rooms total. We'll have our cleaning service take care of the first room and make sure they're upgraded to the couples' suites."
What now?
"Sounds great," Tim said.
"Wait," I said.
Javier looked extremely disappointed that I had spoken.
Jerk face. "Where will I sleep?" Three couples' suites for three couples. Did they expect me to sleep in the hallway?
"It's fine, Daphne, you can share our room," Tim said.
"Um...no."
Tim laughed. "Although you have the face of an angel and the posterior of Beyoncé , I promised Kristen that I would never sleep with any of her friends."
"That's good to know. How much would another room cost?"
Javier typed something into his computer. "All we have left is the penthouse suite. It costs ten thousand dollars a night."
Seriously?
Javier nodded. "Usually our most prestigious guests stay there. I believe you met the Hunters and Caldwells during their stay."
"Yeah." I could feel all the guys staring at me. "Okay, well, I can't afford that." A teacher's salary would never let me afford a room like that.
Bryce laughed. "You can crash with Alina and me, it's fine."
I didn't want to ruin their pre-wedding whatevers. "Yeah, we'll figure it out. Thanks for looking, Javier." Thanks for nothing.
"Of course, ma'am. Now, gentleman, I have the menus for all our restaurants here. If you'd like to order, I can have your food sent up to you."
"That would be great." Ethan picked up the closest menu.
"We are kind of in a hurry," Tim said. "I don't want to accidentally lose my card before I even get to greet Kristen." He had put the word accidentally in air quotes.
Bryce hit his shoulder.
Apparently they had already been told about the stupid bracelet game. At least I wouldn't have to wear Alina's bracelet anymore. The silver lining to being a seventh wheel, I guess.
"What do you want?" Bryce asked me. "Say it slow so I can write it all down."
I laughed halfheartedly. "I'm not really hungry."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I put on a smile. "Did you guys ditch Alex?" Alex was Bryce's other groomsman. I was kind of hoping he would be with them. He had a girlfriend, but then at least we'd be an even eight. Besides, I'd rather listen to him going on and on about his sugar momma than be totally excluded.
"He didn't want to be the awkward one here without his girl," Tim said.
Ethan cleared his throat.
"Oh. Not that you're awkward, Daphne, you gorgeous woodland nymph," Tim said.
"Yeah...I'm not sharing a room with you."
He touched the lapel of his dress shirt, as if he was offended. But his smile said otherwise.
"Come on, I'll show you guys to our room." I gestured to the elevator.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Bryce asked as we followed behind Tim and Ethan.
"I'm good."
He scratched the scruff on his chin. "Okay. Well, I'm not sharing my omelet with you, because it won't be what you wanted and you'll just complain about how it should have had less cheese and more vegetables."
"That happened one time, Bryce."
"I know. Which means I know that you're upset. Something to do with the Hunters and Caldwells perchance?"
Why was he so annoyingly perceptive? "Just for the record, not every time a girl is upset is it due to a boy problem."
"So, it's your time of the month?" Tim asked. "I hope you haven't all synced up yet. It should be another day and a half for Kristen. Not that I mind pleasing during her cycle. I just keep track so I know the fluctuations of her moods."
This was going to be a long week. I leaned my head against the elevator wall.
"I'll take it from the pajamas and the attitude that she's definitely on her period," Tim whispered not so quietly. "Ow," he said when Ethan elbowed him in the ribs.
"Okay, yes, I'm upset about a boy. I'm not on my period, weirdo."
"It still kind of seems like you are..." Tim let his voice fade away.
I sighed. "There was this guy here this weekend and he was really funny and sweet and...wonderful. And I pushed him away for...I don't even know why. I just wish I could take it all back and start over. I blew it."
Bryce was smiling.
"Why are you smiling at my agony?"
"I'm not," he said. "Have you tried calling him?"
Tim laughed.
I glared at him. "Yes. He didn't answer."
"Tough luck. Maybe don't pretend you're on your period next time you see him," Tim said.
"Tim, if you don't stop talking about my cycle, I'm going to slap you."
Tim laughed. "I'm just messing with you. I know your cycle doesn't start until next week."
How the hell does he know that? I lightly slapped his arm.
He immediately screamed at the top of his lungs.
Bryce and Ethan started laughing, which caused me to start laughing.
It felt so good to not cry. These guys always made me feel better.
Just not the same way Rob did. Rob. I was like a high school girl pining on her crush.
Why did I insist on torturing myself? It was over.
I just had to accept that and move on. Or turn into Kristen and stalk him. Ugh.
"You'll be happy to know that Professor Hunter was here and Kristen didn't sleep with him," I said to Tim. I wanted to distract myself from Rob and keep my good mood going.
But Tim didn't laugh, he just looked confused. "Why didn't she sleep with him? He's on her list."
"You seriously wanted her to sleep with him?"
"If it would have made her happy, yes. She's so beautiful when she's sexually satisfied."
Vomit. Tim was the weirdest person on the planet. "Whatever you say."
Bryce laughed.
I had the advice of three guys if I had the guts to ask them for it.
Maybe it was good that they had come today.
"Hey, so, I called and left a voicemail on this guy's phone.
" They didn't need to know that it was three voicemails and that they all made me sound like a lunatic. "Should I call again, or..."
"Hell no," Tim said. "I think you've done enough, don't you? You need to let these things take their natural course. Like all natural. I'm really craving the outdoors today, aren't you? A nice walk through the rainforest?"
"He means you should just give it some time," Bryce said. "Stop it," he mouthed silently to Tim, but I had seen his lips moving.
They were all acting so weird. Maybe they were all like James and were just incredibly horny.
The thought kind of grossed me out. I stepped to the side so they could walk out of the elevator first. I could change into my swimsuit real quick and do some laps while they all caught up.
There was no reason to force my pathetic seventh wheel self on them.
I heard Alina scream as soon as Bryce walked inside.
There was a bunch of making out and inappropriate groping as I pulled my one-piece bathing suit out of my suitcase.
The guys showing up just made me miss Rob even more.
It was just another reminder that I was alone.
It almost felt like there was a huge neon sign over my head saying, "Single girl.
Avoid at all costs." I quickly changed in the bathroom.
"Ew, Daphne," Tim said. "You should really shower first. You don't want all your dirty germs in the public pool."
This resort was pretty sleazy. I was almost positive that there was a lot worse than my germs in the pools here. "I took a shower last night." Asshole.
"Well, you look like you need another."
Rude. Tim was being way more obnoxious than usual.
"Tim," Kristen hissed. "Why are you being so mean?"
"I just think she could use a nice shower and probably a different swimsuit. Or like, a short dress or something to show off her legs. And some makeup. Girl, put some mascara on."
I laughed. "Okay. I take fashion advice from your girlfriend, not you, Tim. But thanks, I'll take that into consideration. I'm going to go for a swim while you guys catch up."
"Daphne, you don't have to go," Alina said.
"No, go," Tim said. "But at least put a comb through your hair first."
Kristen slapped his arm.
"I'm just trying to help. You should go for a nice long walk to think about everything you've done, young lady," Tim said.
"Okay," I said slowly. "Kristen, Tim's completely lost it. You might want to look into that."
Kristen was just staring at Tim like he was an alien.
I quickly pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt over my bathing suit. "Yep, I'll see you guys later." I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. What the hell was that?