Page 52 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

Another long pause. "That's okay. I'll just...see him tomorrow

night. Right?"

"I'll have him back before midnight. I promise."

"Okay. Bye, Mason."

"Wait. There was a reason I was calling. I think Bee's phone died. I haven't heard from her all day. Could you go over there and see if she's okay? And tell her to call me?"

"So you want me to tell Bee to call you, but you won't let me talk to James?"

"Yeah."

"You're a terrible person." Penny's laughter filled the room. She was definitely worried about something, but her laughter calmed me down. If she was laughing she was okay.

"And that's why you love me," Mason said.

"Let me talk to her," I whispered. I wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be stressed out about. That James had done nothing all weekend but sit at the pool. That if he had been acting weird recently that he was just stressed out. That all he wanted was to make her happy. I wasn't sure why I was feeling sentimental. Maybe it was Daphne's nagging me about letting James talk to her.

"No," Mason whispered back. "She's fine, I already calmed her down."

"It's different coming from me."

"Why? Because you flirt with her all the time? You're acting just as bad as James. You're being cut off from talking to her too."

"Give me the phone." I tried to grab it from his hand.

"Rob's back," Mason said into the phone. "I have to go. Please check on her, Penny." Mason hung up the phone.

"What the hell, man?"

"What the hell yourself? I thought all your flirting was a joke. But do you miss Penny too? Can't go a day without talking to her either?" he teased.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm just worried about her."

"Why? What did you and James talk about earlier?"

Is that why he was being a dick? Because he was upset that James confided in me instead of him? I knew he was pissed that he wasn't James' best man. "How stressed out he is. Which means Penny probably is too. Just let me call her back real quick and talk to her." I reached for the phone again.

"That's just going to worry her more. Just admit that you're in love with Penny." He laughed as I shoved his arm.

"What's going on?"

We both stopped and turned to look at James.

"We were just making sure Penny got to her bachelorette party without a hitch," Mason said.

"Bachelorette party?" He put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. What, you thought you were going to have a kickass bachelor party and she wasn't going to have a bachelorette party?"

"I never even wanted to have a bachelor party. You know that. Where are the girls taking her?"

"Calm down, James," Mason said and stretched out on the couch, kicking my leg so that I'd move. "They're just going to a bar."

I slapped his ankle and stood up. Mason was being a dick, but he was right. Me calling to check on Penny right after he did would just freak her out. Like we were trying too hard to prove that everything was okay.

"Which bar?" James asked.

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