Page 87 of Loved

“Definitely not. She’s clearly friends with my stalker. I can’t wingman in that mess.”

“Yeah. Right.” He looked over his shoulder again.

“You’re acting weird.”

He tried to laugh it off. “Sorry. It’s just been a while since I’ve gotten laid by an American girl.” But he looked over his shoulder again like he only wanted one American girl in particular.

At least he’d gotten his mind off of hitting on Penny. I opened the door to the next bar. We sat down and ordered some stronger drinks.

“So tell me everything I need to know about your new girlfriend,” Rob said. “You said you met before classes started?”

A few girls started whispering down the bar from us, but I ignored them. I figured some people would recognize me. At least none of them were my stalker.

“We bumped into each other at a coffee shop on Main Street. Literally. I hit her with the door as I was walking in and she spilled her coffee all down the front of her shirt and then she fell into my arms.” I smiled, remembering the feeling of touching her for the first time.

“And then you fucked?”

“What?” I laughed. “No. Nothing happened. I noticed she had a backpack. There were tons of students in the coffee shop. I just tried to forget I ever met her.”A miserable attempt.

“Okay…”

“But then she showed up in my class the next day.”

Rob smiled.

“We tiptoed around the line. Subtly flirting in class. And the way she looked at me...” I shook my head. “I couldn’t get her out of my head.”

“Yeah, I know how you get.”

I finished my drink. He didn’t need to elaborate. We both knew what he was talking about. “I really like her, man.”

“I can tell.”

“No, I mean…Ireallylike her. I love her. I think I’m going to propose to her.”

Rob laughed.

“I’m serious.” I already had. But I’d made a mess of it. Penny deserved more than me just begging her in her dorm room while I was pissed off about another man touching her.

He finally stopped laughing. “James, youjustgot out of one marriage.”

“A sham of a marriage. I could barely tolerate Isabella. It’s been a really long time since I’ve felt like this about someone.” For just a second I thought about high school, but I shook the thought away. “No, it’s theonlytime I’ve ever felt this way. I know Penny’s young. But I’ve never been more sure about something. I need everyone to know that she’s mine.”

A smile slowly spread across Rob’s face as he stared at me. “Okay. How are we gonna do it?” He waved the bartender over for another round.

“You’re not going to do anything. All you’re going to do is stop flirting with her.”

“Well that doesn’t sound fun. How about this. I keep flirting with her. And I carve a hole in the ceiling of your bedroom and put…”

“No.”

“But you didn’t let me finish. We could put rose petals…”

“Absolutely not.” I’d tried my best to stay out of Rob’s pranks since high school. He tended to go way too far. And this sounded more like a prank than a proposal. Penny wanted something romantic, but that didn’t mean over the top. I smiled to myself. I actually couldn’t believe I was sitting here thinking about this right now. When a year ago I’d been thinking about ending my life.

“Well, what’s your idea?” Rob asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. But maybe I should propose where we first met. Because my life changed the moment I met her.”

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