I was getting teary eyed again. God, what was wrong with me tonight? “Are you moving back to the east coast anytime soon?”
“We’re actually thinking about it,” J. J. said. “We both grew up on the east coast. We’re just waiting to hear back on some job offers.”
“Who are your friends?” James asked as he slid his arm around my waist.
“Mila was my best friend growing up. She went to UCLA and dropped off the face of the earth for awhile.”
Mila laughed.
“And this is her boyfriend, J. J.”
“It’s great to meet both of you,” James said and shook their hands. “That means you were the neighbor growing up, right?”
“Yes, that’s me. What terrible things has Penny been telling people about me?”
“Only good things. Mrs. Bennett on the other hand…”
“You’ve met Mrs. Bennett? She was the nosiest neighbor in the history of nosey neighbors. Please tell me she’s not behind me right now?”
I laughed. “No. Mrs. Bennett is surely patrolling the neighborhood as we speak.”
“I feel so out of the loop right now,” J. J. said with a laugh.
“Trust me, you don’t want to be in the loop on this,” I said. “Mila, my parents were looking forward to seeing you.”
“I can’t wait to see them either. I need to stop disappearing for years. I’ll go say hi to them. Congrats, Penny,” she said as she passed me and squeezed my shoulder.
“Did you two get in all sorts of trouble growing up?” James asked.
“If by trouble you mean staying in and watching movies and eating popcorn in pajamas? Or catching fireflies? Or playing with Barbie dolls? Then yes, we were in trouble constantly.”
He kissed my temple. “I’m envious of your childhood.”
When he said things like that, my chest actually ached. “You know, whenever I picture your childhood, I see little you locked in your room being denied anything good.”
“It wasn’t quite that bad.”
“What was a normal day like in the summer? Didn’t you do anything fun? I bet you were probably holed up in your tree house terrorizing Jen.”
“Hey, Daphne’s here.”
I knew he was purposely trying to distract me. But I was dying to meet Rob’s girlfriend. Or friend that was a girl. I wasn’t going to throw out terms and freak them out. I just couldn’t believe that Rob was actually dating someone. “Which one is she?”
“The one with brown hair standing right by the door. She doesn’t know anyone else here and Rob hasn’t spotted her yet. Come on, let’s go save her.” He grabbed my hand.
“So, you already know her pretty well then?”
“Yeah, we actually got to talk quite a bit during my bachelor party weekend.”
“Anything I should know? I don’t want to say something stupid.”
“You’ll be fine.” He squeezed my hand.
I was nervous. This girl could potentially be a huge part of my life if she was able to get Rob to settle down. Plus she must be magical if she was dating Rob. Rob never dated anyone.
“Oh, hey, James,” Daphne said. “I hope it’s okay that I just walked in. Rob didn’t really say if…”
“It’s fine. It’s great to see you again.” He gave her a quick hug. “This is my fiancee, Penny.”
“Hi. Wow, I’ve heard a ton about you, Penny. I’m super excited to finally meet you in person.” She stuck out her hand for me and I shook it.
“What terrible things has Rob told you about me?”
“Mostly good things, I promise. He’s super excited to have you officially be his little sister, I know that.”
“Did he really say that?”
“A couple times, yeah.”
That’s so sweet. “Well, I think that’s a total lie. He just loves tormenting me. A big brother thing I guess?” I said with a laugh.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what little sisters are for,” she said. She glanced past us, probably looking for Rob.
James’ grip tightened slightly on my waist.
Had I said something wrong? “I wouldn’t know. I’m an only child.”
“I’ve heard you and Rob had quite the exciting week,” James said.
She gave him a small smile. “Yes. God, he’s… it was probably the best week of my life. After Costa Rica we flew to Paris. And then we went to Venice before coming back here. I think he might already have tickets to go to Sydney next week. He’s so full of surprises. I never know what to expect next.”
“Welcome to my life,” James said.
I laughed. “Rob is certainly full of surprises. Always good though.”
“Stop freaking Daphne out,” Rob said. He had suddenly appeared next to Daphne. He grabbed her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. And she melted into his kiss. She so clearly adored him. “Hey,” he whispered to her, but it was loud enough for us to hear. “You look amazing.” Her face blushed. “I see that you’ve met my super annoying soon-to-be little sister.”
Was that the new way he was going to torture me? “Annoying? Thanks, Rob.”
“I’m just kidding. You know you’re my favorite sister. And definitely sexier than Jen. You know… since Jen is actually my sister and that would be disgusting if I thought she was sexy. But it’s still okay if I think you are.” He winked at me. “Speaking of which, Daphne, you have to come meet my real sister, not the fake one.”
There were some weird things mixed in with that rant about sisters and I was happy to see that Daphne laughed. She must have already realized that Rob was an endless flirt.
“It was really great meeting you, Penny,” she said.
“You too.”
“And you have a lovely home.” Before she could say anything else, Rob whisked her away.
“She seemed really nice. Did I say something wrong, though? I feel like I might have.”
“Yeah. She actually lost her brother only a year and a half ago. She’s having a hard time with it.”
“James. I just asked if there was anything I should know before talking to her.”
“I didn’t think it would come up.” He shrugged.
I pursed my lips together. “I feel awful. Do you know what happened to her brother? Was it an accident?”
James shifted uncomfortably. “He died of an overdose.”
“That’s horrible.” I looked over at Daphne. She was meeting Mason and Matt’s parents. “She probably hates me now.”
James laughed. “I don’t think so, Penny. Are you okay? It seems like you were nervous about getting her approval.”
“Of course I am. If she marries Rob, then we’re going to be sisters. And I don’t want her to hate me. I blew it.”
“You’re incredibly cute. You didn’t do anything wrong.”