James smiled at me. “The second one. But that’s subjective too. She thinks she was the one that seduced me, not the other way around.”
“Yeah right,” Sierra said. She cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
James laughed. “I disagree too. I definitely seduced her.”
I rolled my eyes. We loved to disagree about this. But really, we both seduced each other. It had been pretty clear from the start what we both desired. “We agree to disagree.”
“Your turn, James,” Zach said.
“Okay, let’s see. I’ve lost more money in blackjack than I care to admit,” he said.
Tavon laughed.
“I used to hate romantic comedies but now I love them. And teaching was the best decision I ever made.”
“Which one is a lie, Penny?” Sierra asked.
James raised his left eyebrow at me.
I had no idea. It was possible that James had been into gambling at one point. He certainly had a lot of money he could lose. James and I didn’t watch that much T. V. but we had watched a few romcoms together. It was possible that he liked them now that he was happy. I could imagine that he hated them when he was married to Isabella. James certainly loved teaching. And if he hadn’t taught at the University of New Castle, we never would have met. I smiled back at him. “The last one.”
James nodded. “It was only the second best decision I ever made.”
“What was the first?” Sierra asked.
“Asking Penny to marry me.”
It suddenly felt like we were the only two in the room. Next Saturday I would be the luckiest girl in the world.
“Aww,” Sierra said, interrupting the trance I was in. “You guys are so cute.”
“How much did you lose in blackjack?” Tavon asked.
James laughed. “I don’t remember. You’d have to ask my friend Mason. I’m pretty sure I blacked out the last time I went to a casino.”
I shook my head. I was glad the two of them talked about real estate now. Blacking out at casinos was probably best to leave in the past.
Friday
James was hanging out with his friends tonight. Normally I’d be watching T. V. with Tyler, but I hadn’t heard from him or Melissa since Tuesday. I wasn’t going to push them. Fridays were the one night a week that James and I usually didn’t spend together. And just because two of my best friends weren’t speaking to me, it didn’t mean James had to skip his night out.
So instead of going to Tyler’s, I had made plans with Bee. When James hung out with his friends, it usually meant Mason was also a part of the shenanigans, which left Bee free to hang out. Most Fridays Bee came over and hung out at Tyler’s with me. They had known each other back at the University of New Castle too. And apparently Tyler had never liked Bee’s ex fiance, which made them bond instantly.
But sometimes Bee would hang out with her other friends. So tonight I was crashing her girls’ night at a bar near her advertising agency. I had spent time with Marie and Kendra before. And despite the fact that they were both really nice, I always felt a little out of place. Like Bee, they were super successful women and I was just a girl who had been given her first marketing job. Maybe they’d have some advice for me.
I stepped out of the subway and made my way up the stairs. James hated that I used the subway. But he also refused to let me drive any of his cars while we were in the city because he deemed it unsafe. Which didn’t bother me at all. I had no desire to drive through the crazy busy streets of New York City. The thought scared me too. However, Ian was our only driver, which usually resulted in me saying James could take the car. I didn’t mind the subway. I had gotten used to the smell of urine and the random homeless people sleeping in the corners of the subway cars. Besides, it made me feel like a normal New Yorker.
All week long I had tried to tempt James into seduction. Apparently I wasn’t great at being sexy, because he hadn’t caved yet. But he had said he’d have me begging by the end of the week and I couldn’t wait to see what he had in store. I silently laughed to myself. He had successfully turned it into a competition despite me sincerely thinking it would be good to wait till our wedding night. He had already gotten his way.
Every now and then I found James’ behavior frustrating. But for the most part, I liked that he always knew what he wanted and what was best for me. I knew that from the outside looking in, it may look like I was a pushover. That wasn’t how it felt though. We both gave and took a lot from our relationship. Just because I wasn’t rich and successful didn’t mean I didn’t have anything to offer him. And even though people judging me bothered me sometimes like James’ control issues, for the most part I had learned to ignore it. I didn’t care that people didn’t understand why James wanted to be with me. The important thing was that I knew he wanted to be.
I opened up the door to the bar and stepped inside. The air conditioning was on full blast and it made me shiver. James and I had never gone this long without having sex and strange things were turning me on. I swallowed hard and reminded myself that the shivers weren’t from him but from cold air. Hopefully James was as amped up as I was and tonight he would confess that he couldn’t go another day without having me. Especially since tonight I was planning on pulling out all the stops that I was too tired to last night. The thought made me smile as I made my way over to Bee, who was waving her arm in the air to call me over.
“Hey!” I said and sat down in the empty stool.
“Girl, I can’t wait till your wedding,” Kendra said with a huge smile. “So what’s the situation with the single guys that are going to be there?”
I laughed. “You mean like how many will be there?”
“Mhm.”
“There’s a bunch of James’ friends from college that are coming that I’ve never met. I think most of them didn’t say they were bringing a plus one. And a few of his colleagues who I know are single. I can’t remember, have you already met Rob and Matt?”
“What, is that like a gay couple or something? I’m talking about straight, single guys here, Penny.”