Page 67 of Third Chances (Men of Manhattan 2)

"Yup. I always wanted to be a meteorologist."

"Such a serious little kid."

Layla laughed. "I guess so."

"Okay, well I don't love Justin Bieber like you ladies, but I do like the idea of him," Mason said.

"What does that even mean?" Rob asked.

Mason shrugged. "That's up to you guys to determine. I also got a perfect score on the SATs. And I like to nap after sex."

"You're lying about the weird loving the idea of the Biebs thing," Rob said.

"Nope. I really do love the idea of him."

"You're so weird."

"No, I think it makes sense," I said. "I don't really love his music, but he has a few catchy songs. And he was discovered on YouTube right? That's pretty cool. He went from nothing to stardom like that," I said and snapped my fingers. "And little girls swoon all over him. It's a pretty awesome life."

"You totally get me, Daphne," Mason said with a smirk.

I laughed. I liked Rob's friends. And I really liked Rob. All the red flags were starting to disappear. None of that mattered. The more I thought about it, the more I thought Rob was right. I had been putting passion on the backburner. But I liked this feeling. I wanted to indulge in it. I smiled at him.

"That makes you weird too," Rob whispered.

"Then apparently you like weird girls."

"I guess so. I certainly like you." He put his arm behind me on the chair again, this time resting his hand on my shoulder. The feeling of his skin against mine sent chills down my spine. He started slowly making circles with his thumb.

"You're lying about the napping after sex thing," James said.

"Precisely," Mason said. "After sex, I just have more sex."

James groaned. "Ugh, I miss Penny."

"Don't mind him, ladies, he's just incredibly horny."

James' eyes got huge. "Why the fuck would you tell them that? Especially her," he unsubtly nodded his head toward Kristen.

I tried to hide my laugh.

"Me?" Mason asked. "You just groaned about missing Penny after I talked about sex and a few minutes ago you went on and on about how she won't have sex with you before the wedding."

"I did not. I would never talk about my private life in public."

"Um...you kind of did, man. Sorry."

James folded his arms across his chest. "Shit, is it my turn?"

"You chose the game," Mason said with a laugh. "You must have had something in mind to say."

"Not really."

"I don't mind hearing about your private life at all, James," Kristen said. "Tell us some truths about that."

"Do you mind going, Daphne?" James said. "And you can come back to me at the end?" His face was starting to get red and he looked even sweatier.

"Yeah, no problem." I looked over at Rob, but immediately looked away. His eyes on me made me nervous. His fingers on my shoulder were distracting enough. "I was my high school valedictorian."

---