Page 98 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"Such a sap," Matt said.

The waiter placed a tray of burgers down on a nearby table with a dozen beers. I usually ordered burgers with just American cheese, but these burgers were piled high with all the fixings. And I almost never drank beer.

"That looks delicious," Mason said. He was the first to get up. "Not sure if this is up to Daphne's standards, though."

I was surprised when he handed the first burger and beer to me. "Oh, thanks. I'm sure it's great." I was almost positive it was not going to be great, but I didn't want to be rude. It was easy to wait patiently for everyone to get their food, because I wasn't excited to eat it at all. I moved in the seat so that I was facing Rob. He smiled. I liked this almost as much as having his arms wrapped around me.

"Aren't you even going to try it?" Rob asked. "Living is all about trying new things."

I hadn't realized that everyone else was already eating. I was a little embarrassed that I had stormed into Rob's room rambling about not wanting to die before I knew what living was. What did I even mean by that? I just knew that in that moment I wanted him to teach me how he lived. And maybe I wanted to have sex with him. A little. I bit my lip. A lot.

He held out his burger for me. I had my own on my plate, but there was something sexual about him wanting to feed me.

"What's on it?"

"Everything a burger is supposed to have on it."

I laughed. "According to you."

"Sure, according to me. But you should listen to me, Daphne. I think I could make you pretty happy." He put the burger closer to my lips.

He was doing it again. Saying things that I was probably interpreting way wrong. Of course he could make me happy. Just seeing that grin on his face made me happy. He raised his left eyebrow.

I didn't want to say no to him. Not when he was looking at me like that. I leaned forward and took a bite of the burger. It was freaking delicious. I started laughing and put my hand over my mouth. "It's so good." There were fried onions, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and seasonings I had never tasted before, and they all exploded in my mouth in the most wonderful way.

"Told you. Think about all the things you've been missing out on. You should probably stick with me." He winked at me.

"I might just take you up on that. What time are you guys leaving today?" I tried to ask as casually as possible.

"Around 5," Mason said. "I made Penny a promise that I intend to keep."

"And what promise was that?" James asked.

"That I'll have you back before midnight."

"Well, that was sweet of you to promise to return her kidnapped fiancé at a specified time."

"Psh. Kidnapped?" Mason laughed. "If we had really kidnapped you, we wouldn't have let you do whatever you wanted all weekend."

"Whatever I wanted? You wouldn't even let me call Penny. Rob had to sneak me out of the room before you guys woke up and I only got to leave a hasty message on her phone before all three of you came charging toward me."

He let James talk to her? I tilted my head to the side to look up at Rob. "That was really nice of you, Rob," I whispered.

"Why do you seem so surprised? I can be very nice." He leaned back, pulling me on top of him.

"I know." I tried to sit up again, but his arms were wrapped tightly around me. "Let me up." I squirmed and he started tickling me. "Rob!" I started laughing even harder as his fingers slipped under my shirt, tickling my stomach. "Stop, I can't breathe," I said through bursts of laughter.

This time when I pushed on Rob's chest, he let me sit up. The smile on his face was contagious.

"Let's play a getting to know Daphne game," Matt said. "Before they start having sex right in front of us."

"I'm not into public nudity like Rob is," I said.

Matt laughed.

"What does a getting to know me game entail?" I asked. I took another bite of the delicious burger. I really had been missing out.

"A heated round of never have I ever. If you've done something you have to take a drink."

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