Saved (20 page)

I pulled up to Garrett and Emma’s house to
see Ellie and Heather sitting on the porch. I smiled at the sight
of my two best friends. I was so glad that Ellie was back. She
looked so happy with huge smile on her face. I did my best to act
normal, but it was so hard when all I was doing was dying
inside.

I took a deep breath and got out of the Jeep.
Ellie and Heather both stood up and started to walk toward me. The
moment we reached each other, Ellie took me into her arms.

Heather hugged both of us. She whispered into
my ear.

“Let it go, Ari. We’re here, baby. Just let
it go.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

JEFF

I sat outside Rebecca’s
place, trying to decide if I should go in or just head home to Ari.
I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel.
God, I’m such stupid asshole!
I
couldn’t believe that I’d gotten upset with Ari just because she
ran into someone.

I’d almost fallen I saw her sitting there
with Matt. Then, I’d noticed that jerk sitting there with her, and
I had almost lost it. I could have killed Rebecca the second we’d
walked in. She’d said she was going to make us lunch. When she
suggested going out because she was craving a hamburger, I had
thought it would be okay. I’d never fucking dreamed that Ari would
be sitting there when we’d walked in.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the Home
Depot bag and made my way to Rebecca’s apartment. I knocked and
then opened the door. I walked in to see her was standing there
with a cold beer in her hand.

“I thought you might like a beer, you know,
just to take the edge off or whatever.”

Shit, I actually could use
one.
When I reached for it, she placed her
hand on my arm, caressing her fingers up and down. I instantly took
a step back away from her, and she gave me a frown.

“Jeff, I’m just trying to be appreciative.
There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I really don’t know how
I would have done this without you. So, we’re pretty much done
painting the room. Do you like the color?”

I walked into the small bedroom, I looked
around at the pale blue walls. Rebecca walked into the room and
started talking about all the things she was going to hang up on
the walls.

I started to picture Ari,
standing where Rebecca was, with a seven month pregnant belly. I
bet she would look beautiful pregnant.
Beyond beautiful.
I dreamed of the
day when Ari told me she was having our baby.
What would she want? A boy? I bet she would want a
girl.
Then, I thought of Matt and Ari’s
appointment on Monday. My smiled faded for a second until I looked
at Rebecca.

She was still talking away about decorating
the baby’s room. I took a good look at her. She had that glow; the
kind people say pregnant woman get. Her skin really did look
beautiful. Her blonde hair had grown longer falling past her
shoulders. She was probably an inch or two shorter than Ari. I
smiled at how her hands were moving wildly. She was really getting
into the description of the letters she wanted to put on the wall.
I looked down at her stomach, and a strange feeling came over me. I
walked up to her and placed my hands on her belly.

She instantly stopped talking. Just then, I
felt the baby move. It felt like he was doing a somersault in her
stomach. I smiled, making Rebecca laugh.

The next thing I knew, she was reaching up to
my face down to hers. She stared kissing me lips, and for one brief
second, I pictured myself kissing a pregnant Ari. The moment
Rebecca let out a moan, I was snapped back to reality.

Pulling back, I placed my hands on Rebecca’s
shoulders, moving her a step away from me.

“What the fuck, Rebecca? You can’t do shit
like that to me!”

I glanced down at Rebecca’s chest that was
moving up down, fast and hard. I looked back up and caught her
eyes.

“Jeff, I don’t know why you keep fighting
this connection we feel for each other. We’re having a baby, It’s
normal to be attracted to each other.”

Oh shit.
“Rebecca, I was just feeling the baby. It had
nothing to do with how I feel for you. Let me remind you again that
we are just friends. I love Ari. I’m going to marry
Ari.”

She let out a laugh and turned to walk out of
the bedroom. “Please, Jeff. If Ari is so in love with you, then why
is she making this so hard for you? She should be more supportive.
She shouldn’t be having lunch with some other guy.”

“She would be more supportive, Bek, if you
dropped the damn restraining order. What’s going to happen when
he’s born? I’m going to want Ari to be in his life whether you like
it or not.”

Rebecca placed her hands on her stomach and
then leaned up against the wall. She almost looked like she was in
pain.

“Rebecca, what’s wrong? Is
something wrong with the baby?” My heart started to race, and I
instantly felt sick.
Fuck me.
If I caused this, I would never forgive
myself.

I helped her over to the sofa where she sat
down and started to take deep breaths.

“Do you need something? A glass of water?
Your phone to call the doctor? Just tell me!”

She let out a giggle and looked up at me.
“Jeff, calm down. It’s okay. I think it’s just Braxton Hicks
contractions. They’re just really uncomfortable.”

“Contractions! You’re not far along enough to
have contractions,” I practically shouted.

“They’re not true labor contractions, Jeff.
Christ, calm down or you’ll get me upset again. This is why I can’t
stress about things. I can’t go into labor early. It’ll be bad for
the baby.”

Shit.
I ran my hands through my hair as I sat down on the sofa next
to her. “I’m sorry, Rebecca. This is just so hard for me. Ari and I
waited so long to be together, and now, I feel like we’re just
drifting apart so damn fast.”

Rebecca started rubbing her hand up and down
my back.

“Jeff, this is my fault. I’m so sorry that I
dropped this pregnancy thing on you like this. I really thought
that I’d be able to handle it by myself, but I just felt so guilty
not telling you about the baby. The whole restraining order…I’ll
drop it first thing Monday morning. I guess I was being silly with
that.”

I turned to look at Rebecca who, was giving
me a big smile. I reached over and hugged her. “Jesus, Rebecca that
would be awesome if you could do that. I’m sure it would put Ari’s
mind at ease!”

Pulling back, I placed a kiss on the side of
her check. I felt like a ton of weights had just been lifted from
my shoulders. I jumped up and grabbed the Home Depot bag and took
the screwdriver out.

I jumped up and grabbed the Home Depot bag,
taking out the screwdriver.

“What do you say we build ourselves a crib?”
I said.

Rebecca started laughing as she stood up.

“That sounds great! Let’s do this.”

***

I heard Ari moving around in
the kitchen.
Fuck, why is she up so damn
early?
She barely spoke two words to me
Saturday night after I got back from Rebecca’s. Yesterday, Gunner
and I pretty much worked all day in the stables, so I hadn’t really
talked to her in a couple of days.

Mr. Reynolds was coming tomorrow to check out
everything. If I could work out a deal with him to breed our horses
with a few of his stallions, then we would have the start we
needed.

I heard Ari talking to someone on the phone.
I walked into the kitchen and just stood there, watching her.

“Heather, goddamn it, just wear it. I don’t
have time to argue with you about this. Ellie isn’t arguing. She’s
being a good friend. Just do this for me! Yes! Okay, sweets. See
you in a few.”

Then, she put her ear plugs
back in and started up her iPod. Just barely, I could hear
Wil.I.Am’s “Scream and Shout.” Ari started dancing, and I couldn’t
help but smile at her.
Damn, this girl can
move.
I’m a lucky son of a bitch.
Then, she started singing.
How does this girl make my knees weak just by dancing around
and singing in a kitchen?

She was standing at the sink, cutting up
vegetables and fruit.

I walked up behind her,
putting my arms around her. I started to kiss her neck.
Damn, she feels so good in my arms.

She spun around and gave me that beautiful
smile of hers. She looked breath taking. I couldn’t really place
it, but she just seemed so different to me lately.

She pulled her earphones out and reached up
and gave me a kiss. I pulled her in closer, deepening the kiss. She
let out a small moan that went right through my body. I picked her
up, so she could wrap her legs around me. I turned her around and
set her down on the kitchen island.

She was dressed in baby blue
lace panties and a white T-shirt.
Shit.
She wasn’t even wearing a bra.
Through her shirt, I saw when her nipples instantly got hard.
Reaching up, I grabbed some of her hair and pulled her head back,
exposing her neck to me. I started to kiss from one side of her
neck to the other. I could practically feel her coming apart in my
hands. Slowly, I started to lift up her shirt. I broke our kiss
only to pull her T-shirt up and over her head.

After another five minutes of just kissing
the woman I loved, I started to unbutton my pants. Ari smiled
against my lips, and I swore that I could hear my heart beating in
my ears.

“Babe, I’m gonna make love to you on our
kitchen island,” I whispered in her ear.

“I think that’s how we should start our day
every day!” Ari said with a giggle.

Just then, my fucking cell phone rang. I
ignored it. I pulled Ari closer to me. I just was about to enter
her when the phone went off again. I closed my eyes, praying that
it would stop.

We sat there for a second to see if it would
ring again. When it didn’t, we both smiled, and Ari wiggled her eye
brows up and down.

Then, someone knocked on the
door.
Motherfucker!
All I wanted to do was slam my fist into a wall. Ari pushed me
back and jumped off the island.

“Who the hell is here so early?” she
asked.

“Well, I guess the only way to find out is
for you to go answer the door in those sweet-ass panties and white
T-shirt.”

“Fuck you, Jeff. There’s no way I’m going to
the door half-naked. I thought we could walk around our home naked
if we wanted to. Isn’t this the country for fuck’s sake?”

Ari stormed off into the bedroom, and I
couldn’t help but let out a laugh. I loved it when she was spit and
fire. I think it turned me on even more.

I pulled open the front door to see Josh
standing there. He looked…well, honestly, he looked like shit.

“Dude, what the fuck happened to you?” I
asked.

Josh just gave me a smile and pushed his way
into the house. He walked over and sat down on the sofa, Putting
his head down in his hands, he said,

“Jeff, I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m
at a total loss with Heather. I want to say that I would sit here
and wait forever for her, but I’m not sure she’s ever going to
change her mind about me. I’m not sure if I even want her to.”

“What the hell does that mean? If you want
her to? I thought you really liked her.”

Josh sat back and let out a sigh.

“I do. I mean, I’ve never felt this way for
anyone in my life. A part of me just wants to take her and lock her
in a room with me until she talks to me. The other part wants to
push her as far away from me as I can. She deserves someone better
than a damn man whore.”

Shit.
I was having a déjà vu big time.

“Listen, Josh, if I can offer one piece of
advice, it would be to fight for her. Don’t let your past stand in
the way of what could be a really great thing. I’ve seen Heather
look at you. I’m pretty damn sure that girl has feelings for you.
Maybe it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her.
From what Ellie and Ari have told me, Heather pretty much put up a
wall when her mom and dad died. Maybe she’s just afraid to let
anyone in for fear of losing them. You need to talk to her and let
her know your feelings, so she can let you know hers.”

Josh turned and looked at me. He was giving
me a strange-ass look.

“What the hell has happened to you and
Gunner? He said the same damn thing to me yesterday. Fuck, I just
need to get screwed.”

“Well, there’s the Josh we all know and don’t
love,”Ari said from behind us.

I turned to see her standing
there, wearing a pair of capri jean’s and a black t-shirt that
said
“Dear Math, I’m not a therapist.
Solve your own problems.”

“Yeah, hello to you, too, Ari. Are you going
to see Heather today by any chance?” Josh asked.

I noticed when Ari tensed up. I knew she was
worried about this appointment and it was killing me she wouldn’t
let me go with her.

“Yep, she’s going with me to a doctor’s
appointment. Do you want me to remind her of how much of an
ass-wipe you are or something?” Ari said with a wicked smile on her
face.

Josh jumped and turned to face Ari. “Are you
telling her that?”

I thought Josh was about to
cry.
Pussy.

Ari let out a laugh and shook her head. “Calm
down before you break down and start crying, you big pussy. No, I’m
not telling her that shit. I’m not really sure what that girl sees
in you, Josh, but I do think she is smitten with you.”

Josh let a small smile play
across his face. Then he shook his head. “I asked her to be my date
to Garrett and Emma’s anniversary party, and she said
no
. I don’t know what
else to do. Every time I ask her out, she just flat turns me down.
I don’t get it.”