Eruption

4

I laughed and looked into the living room. There were only a few people left. Melissa and Tyler were sitting on the couch, laughing about something. "Did you say something to Melissa? To make her not want to stay with us? I was really looking forward to it."

"Although I am excited that I get to keep you all to myself, I don't think her not wanting to stay with us has anything to do with me." James nodded back over to them.

"What do you mean?"

James laughed. "They're obviously sleeping together."

"No they aren't." Tyler and Melissa were definitely not hooking up. That was ridiculous. I looked back up at James.

"What, does that upset you?" He lowered his eyebrows slightly.

"Of course not. But they're not sleeping together." Tyler was sweet and kind and Melissa was my best friend, but she was Melissa. They weren't a good fit.

James laughed. "I'm pretty sure they are."

"Melissa would have told me. Tyler would have told me."

"Maybe they thought it would be awkward."

I laughed. "Why would that be awkward?" I swallowed hard and looked back over at them. They were just friends. All three of us were just friends. Melissa laughed and lightly pushed Tyler's shoulder. They are just friends, right?

James kissed my cheek. "Let's go try to subtly get rid of everyone. I want to give you your present in private."

"I told you not to get me anything. You already paid for..."

He silenced my protests with a kiss. "My fiancée just graduated. Of course I got you something." He grabbed my hand and guided me back toward the living room.

The only people left were Melissa, Tyler, Rob, and Mason's little brother, Matt. James sat down in the only empty chair and pulled me onto his lap.

"How'd you like the rest of that drink?" Rob asked. "Are you feeling frisky yet?"

I laughed. "I didn't finish it." I was feeling a little frisky, but not at all toward Rob. The man with his arms wrapped around me was the only guy I ever wanted.

"Now what am I going to do with the rest of my night?" Rob said and leaned back in his chair.

"Stop being gross, Rob," Melissa said.

"I thought you liked when I was gross?" he said and smiled at her.

I looked over at Tyler, but he didn't seem to have any reaction to what Rob had just said. After I had moved to New York, Rob and Melissa had a short fling. Tyler knew about it because we had talked about how weird it was. If Melissa and him were dating now, it would make him uncomfortable to hear about it again. Tyler didn't seem to care at all that Rob wanted to do gross things to Melissa, though. And I didn't doubt at all that they'd be gross.

"I have an idea," James cut in. "You could call it a night and go to bed early."

"That wasn't subtle at all, James," I said.

Matt laughed. "What, do you two need to finish whatever it was you were about to do before Penny realized there was a whole room of people watching?"

"I wasn't about to do anything," I said. "That was a complete misunderstanding. I was just making sure James' outfit looked good. Checking his buttons and stuff." Worst excuse ever.

"That's not what it sounded like," Tyler said. "I'm pretty sure we were all just a few seconds away from witnessing quite the graduation celebration."

Melissa glared at him. I couldn't tell if she looked jealous or if she was just mad at him for further embarrassing me. I couldn't read either of them tonight.

"Well, as much fun as this has been, we should probably get going," Melissa said and put her hand on Tyler's knee.

I looked at her hand on Tyler's knee and then back at her face. She immediately moved her hand. Oh God, they are sleeping together. Why didn't she tell me? I bit the inside of my lip.

"Yeah, we probably should head out." Tyler stood up.

Melissa immediately stood up beside him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Penny."

"Sounds good. Thanks for coming tonight."

"Of course. Great party, James."

"Are you not even going to say goodbye to me?" Rob asked.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "As if you deserve a goodbye. Bye, Matt. It was great seeing you again."

"Bye, Melissa," he said with a laugh. "See you around, Tyler,"

Tyler nodded and they both went over to the elevator.

I wanted Melissa and Tyler to be happy. Why did she think I'd be upset about them dating? I looked down at my lap. My first thought had been that they weren't a good fit. Maybe she was right for not telling me.

"I think you're right," I whispered to James.

"About what?" Matt asked.

I looked over my shoulder. Tyler and Melissa were gone. "Am I terrible at whispering or something?" I asked.

"You're always really loud," Rob said with a wink.

I felt my face turning red.

"She was talking about how Melissa and Tyler are sleeping together," James said.

Matt laughed. "There's no way those two are banging. Don't you see the way he looks at you, Penny? He probably wants you even more than Rob does."

I felt James' arms tense around me. Damn it, Matt. "Tyler and I are just friends."

"And I don't want Penny," Rob said. "She wants me."

I laughed. "Yeah, right."

"You're all in denial," Matt said. He stood up and yawned. "Okay, I think I'm going to head out too. Are you crashing here?" he asked Rob.

Rob looked over at me. "Well, that depends on if Penny wants me to stay."

I sighed. "I think maybe you should spend the night at Matt's. You've gotten me all wound up from that cocktail, so now I have to do super inappropriate things to your brother. And we don't want to keep you up all night."

James laughed. "That sounds fantastic." His body seemed to relax at my words.

"Yuck. Okay, let's get out of here," Rob said and slapped Matt on the back.

"Congrats, Penny," Matt said. "My parents wanted me to give this to you." He handed me an envelope.

"What is it?"

He shrugged. "A gift I guess. Later, James," he said as they did one of their weird handshakes.

"Are you going to open it?" James asked as Rob and Matt left our apartment.

"Do you know what it is?"

He shook his head.