Page 23 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

I stopped walking when my eyes landed on the man sitting beside Professor Hunter. But not because he was the most gorgeous man I had ever laid my eyes on. Well, maybe partially. It was mainly because I recognized him from campus, though. I used to see him almost every day, running along the paths on the green. I'd be lying if I said I didn't stare. It was hard not to.

He looked a lot like Professor Hunter. Maybe they were related too? I wasn't sure why I had never put that together before. He was laughing at something that Mason had just said. He seemed more carefree and easy going. It had always seemed like Professor Hunter was uptight. It was probably because all the girls on campus were stalking him. The guy sitting next to him seemed so relaxed and happy, though. He also had shaggy brown hair instead and was tanner. He glanced over at us and made eye contact with me. He smiled, a dazzling white, perfect smile that made my insides flip over.

I quickly looked away. For some reason my heart was beating fast. Probably because I had been caught staring. It definitely had nothing to do with how hot he was. I stopped by the chairs we'd be sitting in and picked the one farthest away from the guys. Fortunately it was also the one in the shade, or else I would have had to choose between sitting near them or getting skin cancer. I'd just sit here while Kristen embarrassed herself. There was no reason why I had to be part of whatever awkward conversation was about to ensue. And once I was done eavesdropping, I could swim some laps. It was going to be a perfectly relaxing afternoon.

I put my bag with my old bathing suit on the chair beside mine, in case some eager sunbathers wanted to swoop the chairs beside me, and sat down, making sure to keep my blanket over my wrist.

"Well, if it isn't Mason Caldwell," Layla said.

Mason smiled. "Layla Torrez." He stood up and gave her a hug. "You quit on me and now you're spending your days in Costa Rica?"

She laughed. "I'm spending my days doing what I love now. You know that. I'm here for my friend's bachelorette party."

"What a coincidence. That's why I'm here." He pointed over his shoulder at Professor Hunter. Professor Hunter was reading a book. He didn't even look up. "Which one of you lovely ladies is getting married?"

"This is my friend, Alina," Layla said. "Alina, this is Mason."

Mason lowered his eyebrows slightly as he shook Alina's hand. "You look really familiar. But I have no idea where I've seen you."

Alina laughed awkwardly. "I just have one of those faces."

"That's not it," the guy who looked like Mason said. He stood up and joined Mason. "I definitely recognize you. You're Alina Smith. She's the tiebreaker girl, man," he said to Mason.

Mason laughed. "Oh." He scratched the back of his neck. "Right. Well, I'm pretty sure most guys weren't staring at your face."

Alina's face turned bright red.

"But this is my brother, Matt," Mason said and slapped the guy next to him on his back.

"It's great to meet you," he said to Alina. "That was some quality television. I'm pretty sure I still have it on my DVR."

Mason cleared his throat. "And that's my friend James behind me and his brother Rob."

Brothers. That made sense. I looked over at Rob again. I swallowed hard. He was still staring at me. I turned back to my friends, but every few moments I'd glance in his direction. He looked pleased with himself. Like he knew I thought

he was hot. Well, he didn't know anything about me. And he certainly didn't know anything about what I did and didn't like. I looked over at Professor Hunter instead. He was still reading his book.

"Nice to meet you guys," Layla said. "Oh, and this is my friend Kristen Dwyer."

James looked up from his book. I could have been imagining it, but he looked slightly freaked out. Like maybe he knew Kristen had stalked him in college. And maybe he was still worried she was.

"Great to meet you," Mason said and shook Kristen's hand.

"You too. Alina and I were actually in Professor Hunter's class at the University of New Castle. Well, I was in a few of his classes, Alina was just in one."

"I should have known you ladies were from there. I think James and I both agree that some of the hottest girls are from the University of New Castle."

I rolled my eyes.

"My girlfriend went there. And so did James' fiancée. Aren't you going to say hi to your old students?" Mason asked Professor Hunter.

Professor Hunter stood up and stretched. He seemed completely uninterested in the conversation that was going on. But I could tell why Kristen was obsessed with him. It was hard not to stare at his perfectly sculpted torso. It was certainly easy to imagine licking the lines of his six pack. I shook the thought away. It had been way too long since I last had sex.

He cleared his throat. "Kristen and Alina, of course. It's great to see you again." He shook Alina's hand and then Kristen's.

The smile on Kristen's face made her look like a crazy person. "It's so good to see you again. Your classes were definitely my favorite. I was so sad when you stopped teaching, Professor Hunter."

"You can just call me James. And thanks. I'm glad you got something out of my classes."

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