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“We? As in you and Ari? Is she moving out
there with you? Are y’all moving in together?”

I stood up and threw my
napkin down on the table.
What is she, my
fucking mother now?

“Listen, what happens between Ari and me is
none of your business Rebecca…at least not until we have a test
done after this baby is born, so we can find out once and for all
if he’s mine or not.”

She looked up at me with
tears in her eyes.
Son of a
bitch.

“Of course, Jeff, I’m sorry. It really is
none of my business. May I ask when you’ll be moving?”

“After Gunner comes back from his honeymoon,
we’re going to start moving, so we should be totally moved out to
Mason in about three weeks. We have to be out of the house by the
middle of July. Speaking of dates, I asked you earlier but you
never told me. When is your due date?”

“Wait a minute. Did you say when Gunner comes
back from his honeymoon? When did he get married?”

“He got married to my sister this past
Saturday.”

The look on her face was pure shock. She
turned white as a ghost as she started ringing her napkin. More
than a minute passed before she seemed to get her composure.

“Are you going to tell me the due date,
Rebecca?”

She let a small smile come across her face.
“Jefferson, Jr is due on August seventeenth.”

Holy fuck! Jefferson Jr.?
This girl is nuts.
“Yeah, well, I’m not so
sure on that name, Rebecca. We can talk about it later. I have some
shit I need to take care of, so I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t forget
to get me that info on the doctor.”

She nodded her head and stood up. She started
to reach over to give me a hug, and I took a step back.

“Right…I’m sorry. Well…okay, it was good
seeing you. I’m sure this is all going to work out for the best,
Jeff. I’m sorry you missed out on the first few months, but now
that you are here, you can start being a Daddy to Jeffer um, to the
baby.”

I nodded my head and turned to walk away. I
had to shake this feeling I was having. The moment I’d seen and
then felt the baby move in her stomach, a small part of me had
hoped that this baby was mine. I was not okay with thinking this
way. I only wanted to have children with Ari, not some crazy-ass
bitch who has been obsessed with me for the last three years.

Once I got in my truck, I
finally relaxed. I put my head down on the steering wheel, and I
swore that I just wanted to cry.
Why is
this happening to me?
The last thing I
wanted to do was hurt Ari more, but I couldn’t walk away if this
baby was mine though.
Damn it, I wish
Gunner was here.

I pulled out of the parking lot and headed
back to the house. Maybe packing up would help keep my mind off of
shit for a while before I head over to Ari’s place. My biggest fear
was that she wasn’t going to move out to the ranch with me. My life
might as well be over if Ari wasn’t in it.

***

After three hours of packing, I called
Ari.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Hey, baby. Are you home?”

“Yep, I’m here and just sitting in a hot bath
right now.”

Jesus, this girl can make
me hard with just the sound of her breathing
.

“Can I come join you?” I asked, smiling.

“How fast can you get here, cowboy?” Ari said
with a laugh.

“I’m on my way now. Wait for me?”

“Okay. Be careful driving. Jeff?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I love you.”

My heart just about dropped
to my stomach.
I love this girl so damn
much.

“I love you, too, baby. Be there in a few
minutes.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ARI

I placed my cell phone on
the bathroom floor and just sat frozen in the bathtub. I could hear
the hurt in Jeff’s voice. I hated Rebecca with every ounce of my
being.
Why is this happening to
us?

After we’d left the restaurant, Amanda and I
had tried some shopping therapy. The whole time we had walked
around Emeralds, I couldn’t get it out of my head how big Rebecca
was. Even with her sitting down, I could tell she had to be further
along than seven months. I was going to get to the bottom of this,
but if this was going to work, I needed my girls to help me.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
maybe I am losing my damn mind. Am I really going to go through
with this? Yep, I really am.
I closed my
eyes, trying to picture what it would’ve been like if this whole
Rebecca thing had never happened this weekend.

I wasn’t sure how long I’s sat there with my
eyes closed. I heard the front door open, and I could hear Jeff
walking to my bathroom. My heart started to beat like crazy. Just
the idea of being with him had me almost panting with excitement.
The sounds of his footsteps stopped.

I slowly opened my eyes to see him standing
in the doorway. His eyes immediately captured mine. As I looked
down his entire body, I lost my breath from just the sight of
him.

“Hey, Baby,” he said huskily.

All I could do was smile. He walked over and
kneeled down by the tub. He brushed the back of his hand down the
side of my face. My breathing was louder and faster now, but I
didn’t care. I just wanted to forget everything. He was here. He
was here with me, and that was all that mattered.

“Jeff.”

“Shh, let me love you, Ari.”

Oh my god.
I wanted nothing more than for him to do just
that. He stared into my eyes like he wanted to tell me something so
desperately. He almost looked…lost.
What
if he wants this baby to be his? What if- no I have to stop asking
what-ifs and start talking to him about this.

“Jeff, maybe we should talk
first.”
Shit, I can’t believe I just said
that.

“I don’t want to talk, Ari, I want to make
love to the only girl I’ve ever loved, and will ever love.”

“Jeff…I.”

The next thing I knew, he was sliding his
hand behind my neck as he brought my lips to his. He kissed me with
so much passion that I swore I was going to explode. He pulled
away, reaching over to pull the towel off the rack. He got up and
held the towel open for me. As I slowly stood and stepped out of
the bathtub, I heard him suck in a breath of air.

I smiled at him. “You’re not getting tired of
me yet, I see.”

Jeff let out a small laugh and shook his
head.

“Baby, hell would freeze over before I ever
got tired of seeing your body.”

He wrapped the towel around me and then
pulled me closer to him. “I missed you today.”

“Really? Cause you looked pretty happy at
lunch with your baby mama.”

Fuck! Why did I just go there? Oh my god,
what is wrong with me?

“I’m sorry, Jeff.” I said.

He ran his hand through his hair.

“What is up with you these last few days? Why
are you being such a bitch?”

Oh no, he didn’t.

“What? Are you really asking me that, Jeff?
Because if you are, then maybe you need to just leave!”
I pushed him out of the way as I made my way into my bedroom. I was
so mad I was shaking.

“Arr, what do you want me to
do?
Tell me
what I
need to do!”

I spun around and just
glared at him. “Well, for starters, stop calling me a bitch. Do you
know what it’s like to be told that your boyfriend, the love of
your goddamn life, is having a baby with another woman? To have
your engagement night totally ruined because all you can think
about in the back of your mind is how you will
never
be the one to give your future
husband his first child? To have to know that you’re going to be at
her beck and call for the next few months until this baby is born?
Shit, Jeff…I might not ever be able to even give you a baby like
she can. And you think I’m being a bitch? Fuck off, dickwad.” I
quickly wiped off the tears from my face before I turned away from
him.

“Ari, I’m sorry I called you a bitch. I
really am, baby. I would do anything if I could turn back the
clocks and never even lay eyes on Rebecca. I promise you that, this
is not going to come between us. Baby, we’ll have kids. I know we
will, and.”

“It
is
coming between us, and you don’t
know if we’ll ever have kids, Jeff. If I’m a carrier of Fragile X…I
don’t….I don’t know…” I stopped talking and did the one thing I
swore that I would never do. I felt sorry for myself. My body
slowly started to sink.

The next thing I knew, Jeff was reaching for
me and trying to pull me into his arms. That was when the anger hit
me like a brick wall.

I pushed him away.

“Just go, Jeff. I need to be alone. Please
just leave.”

“No. I came over here to be with you, Ari. I
want you,” he said, his hands still holding me.

I let out a laugh. I wasn’t really sure why
because none of this was funny. I tried with all my might to shove
him away, but all he did was hold me closer. Then, he pushed me up
against the wall. As he lifted me up, I instinctively wrapped my
legs around him. He grabbed me by the back of the head, pulling on
my hair, as he slammed his lips onto mine. My head was spinning. I
wanted him so badly, but at the same time, I was scared to
death.

“Ari, please…just let me in baby.”

With that, I completely
relaxed in his arms. As he pushed me harder against the wall, I
felt him pulling off my towel.
Oh sweet
Jesus.
I put my arms around his neck, I
kissed him back with as much passion as he was giving
me.

He almost seemed desperate as he moved away
from me just long enough to pull his shirt over his head. The sight
of his chest still gave me butterflies in my stomach. I placed my
right hand on his chest, feeling him shudder under my touch. I
wrapped my legs around him tightly as he moved us away from the
wall and to the bed.

As he laid me down, my heart
was pounding so hard that I could see my chest rising and falling.
The sight of him, just staring at me, was turning me on more than I
could stand. As he slowly started to take off his pants, I pulled
my eyes away from his to watch him.
My
god, his body is beyond perfect.

“Ari, you look so beautiful, baby. Your skin
is glowing.”

I couldn’t even form words. I’d never before
had this overwhelming feeling to just be with him. It was almost
like I would die if I didn’t feel his touch.

He moved over me, bent down, and pulled my
lower lip between his teeth. A small moan escaped my lips as Jeff
closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had such passion in
his eyes that I almost sucked in a breath of air because it
surprised me so much.

Just when I didn’t think I would be able to
stand it any longer, he propped himself up on his elbows and then
his hand gently started to move down my face. I felt my body
tremble under his touch. He let a small smile come across his face,
and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Then, he moved his hand
down my neck to my chest, which was moving up and down so fast from
my erratic breathing.

“Do you want me, Ari?”

“Yes, more than anything,” I said with way
too much desperation in my voice.

Jeff’s smile got bigger as he moved his hand
further down to my lower stomach. All I wanted to do was yell at
him to get on with it, but it almost felt like we needed to go
slow. We both needed this moment to feel wanted and loved by each
other.

“Open your legs for me, Ari.”

Holy fuck.
I’d never heard such seduction in his voice
before, and I swore that the moment he touched me, I was going to
come.

He moved his body between my
legs as I stretched them open. Then he kissed me but pulled away to
fast. He ran his tongue down my chest and then sucked one of my
nipples into his mouth. As he started to slowly pull on it, I let
out another moan.
Yep, I’m going to
explode any second now.

Then, I felt his hand moving down the side of
my body, coming to rest between my thighs. My body jerked when I
felt him touch my clit. He slid his fingers into me one by one, and
I arched up against him as hard as I could.

“Jesus, you’re so wet, Ari. I want you more
than anything, baby.”

“Oh god, Jeff…please…I want you, too…so
badly.”

He started to move his hand faster as he
moved up to capture my mouth with his. I never wanted this moment
to end. This was probably the most sensual I’d ever felt, and each
passing second was getting better and better.

I could feel that familiar build-up in my
body, and all I wanted to do was push harder into his hand.

“Ari,” Jeff whispered in my ear.

That was my undoing. I called out his name
over and over before he caught my cries with his mouth.

I slowly came back down to
earth, but Jeff never let up on his kissing. I almost needed to
pull away from him to catch my breath. Before I knew what he was
doing, he was slowly kissing down my neck again…to my
chest…down...my stomach.
Oh, holy
fuck!

I grabbed onto his hair the
moment I felt his hot breath inches away from my already sensitive
nub. The moment he started to kiss it, I rocked my hips into
him.
Shit!
I just
needed more. It was only a matter of seconds before I was arching
my back and calling out his name again.

My head was spinning, and I
was barely aware of him moving up my body. He kept kissing me ever
so gently.
Holy hell, this is
unreal.