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“Jeff...” It was all I could say.

I love him so much, I’ve always loved him,
and I will always love him.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go get you some sweet
tea.”

“And apple pie…oh man, I hope Emma has some
damn apple pie.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR

GUNNER

Ellie and I showed up at 219 West before
anyone else did. We went up to the rooftop lounge to get a few
tables. Jack was DJing tonight, so I walked over to say hello to
him. I felt my phone going off in my pocket, so I pulled it out to
see that Jeff had sent a text saying they were parking. I leaned
over to tell Ellie where Jeff and Ari were.

Ellie was on the phone, frowning, but then
she said good-bye. She tried her best to smile at me.

What’s up?” I asked.

“It’s Heather. Gunner, I’m so worried about
her. She just hasn’t been the same since last July. Whatever
happened between her and Josh must have been huge. Did Josh happen
to mention if they…if they…you know?”

“Slept together?”

Rolling her eyes, Ellie nodded.

“No, the only thing he told me was that he
showed up to her house one morning, and she’d made it perfectly
clear to him that he was not who she wanted. He said he left and
has not seen her since.”

Ellie let out a sigh. “I haven’t been able to
get shit out of her, but I have a feeling something major has
happened to her. She ended up taking online courses and has
doubled-up on classes this semester. She’s probably going to be
graduating next December if she keeps up this load.”

“Ellie, sweetheart, please don’t worry about
Heather. If she wants to talk to you, she will. Stop pressuring her
into it. Was that her on the phone?”

“Yeah, and the first thing she asked was if
Josh was going to be here. I told her he was and that Lynda was
most definitely going to be with him.”

Just then Ari and Jeff came walking up. Ari
was glowing. It was nice to see her so happy after the funk she
fell into after losing the baby. Jeff walked up and shook my
hand.

“I’m still pissed at you, you bastard,” I
said.

Jeff gave me a smile.

“What for, dude? You don’t own the monopoly
on puppies.”

“At least Gus will have a play-mate now,” I
said as I looked over at Ellie, who was laughing at something Ari
had said.

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. Jeff
had surprised Ari with a puppy for her birthday earlier today.
Gramps and Grams hid her for two days at their place, and my father
was about ready to kill her.

***

The moment Ari saw the little bloodhound
puppy, she let out a scream and ran over to it. Ari picked it up
and started to kiss it all over. Ellie laughed and held Gus back
while Ari got acquainted with the new addition.

“
Ellie, let Gus go, and
let’s see what they do.” Ari said with a smile.

“I’ll tell ya what they’ll do. They’ll chase
each other nonstop and shit everywhere,” my dad said as he gave
Jeff a look.

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “I know, I owe
you one.”

“Damn right, you owe me one. This dog is
nuts. She’s not all there.”

Ari looked up at my dad and frowned while she
covered the pup’s ears.

“Jack! Don’t say that about Abby! Oh my god!
Abby! That’s her name. It just came to me,” Ari said as she looked
up at Ellie.

They both laughed.

***

“You look lost in thought, baby.” Ellie said
as she placed her hand on my chest and pushed her body into
mine.

“You want something to drink?” Jeff asked
me.

“I’ll take a Dos Equis.”

Jeff looked at me and smiled. “Dude, why
didn’t you say that in your most interesting man voice?”

Ellie and Ari both started
laughing while I just shook my head at him.
Fucker.

Jeff turned to the waitress and asked for two
Dos Equis beers and two sweet tea. The waitress looked at Ellie and
Ari and then back at Jeff, who gave her a wink.

“Ari, we have our fake ID’s. Why don’t you
use it to enjoy a beer on your birthday?” Ellie said to Ari.

“No, I only want sweet tea.”

Ellie stared at Ari in disbelief while she
glanced out at the dance floor. Ari looked like she was itching to
dance.

“You don’t even want one drink on your
birthday? What’s wrong? Are you not feeling good or something?”
Ellie asked.

Ari looked back and forth between Jeff and
Ellie. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Jeff looked at me and
gave me a look.

Motherfucker.
“Hey, Ells, you want to dance, babe?”

Ellie smiled and moved closer to me. “Yes, I
would love to dance with you.”

“Give me one second, sweetheart.” I walked
over to Jack and asked him to play a certain song next.

I headed back over to Ellie, and by the time
we walked out to the dance floor, Jack was playing the song I’d
asked for. I took Ellie in my arms and started dancing to Christina
Aguilera’s “All I Need.”

Ellie put her head on my chest while we
danced in silence.

The moment Jeff had looked at me, I’d put two
and two together. Ari was pregnant, and they didn’t want to tell
Ellie. My heart was breaking for my beautiful girl. All she wanted
was a baby, and we’d been trying for months. I didn’t tell her, but
I booked a trip to New Orleans in March. Ellie had mentioned once
how she’d always wanted to go there, so I thought a long weekend
was just the thing she needed to relax.

“Drew?”

“Yes, baby?”

“I know what you’re doing.”

I let out a small laugh. “What is it exactly
I’m doing, Ells?”

Ellie pulled back and looked at me.

“You’re trying to protect me from something,
but you don’t have to. I knew something was up a few days ago. I
could see the difference in Ari, and when she asked me to drop her
off at her mom’s for a few hours, I figured she was going to the
doctor. Then, when I met her at the bridal store I could see how
happy she was even though she tried so hard to hide it.”

I brought her in closer to me, tightening my
hold on her. I kissed her on the head. “Ells, I love you so
much.”

“I love you, too. It’s really okay, Gunner. I
mean, maybe it’s just not meant to be right now. I think I’m just
going to concentrate on finishing up my online classes and
mastering Emma’s cooking and gardening skills.”

The song came to a stop, and Flo Rida’s “Club
Can’t Handle Me” started. I saw Ari and Jeff on the dance
floor.

I asked Ellie if she wanted to sit down and
she said no. She was in the mood to dance and just have fun.

I loved to dance with this girl. The way she
moved her body was enough to make me want to take her back to The
Driskill Hotel and make love to her again, just like on our wedding
night.

After dancing to a few more songs, Ellie and
I headed back to the table.

Just as we got there, I saw Josh and Lynda
walking up. He looked so fucking unhappy. Why he stayed with my
cousin was beyond me. I’d told him she was high maintenance and a
snob. He’d been drunk the other night and had told me that he’d
only slept with her twice. That, had shocked the shit out of
me.

Lynda came bouncing over and
gave Ellie and me a hug. Then she told
not
asked
, told Josh to go get her a drink.
When he went turned around to head over to the bar, he ran right
smack into Heather.

This should be good since
neither one of them has seen each other since July.
That douche-twat Jerry was standing behind
Heather. I’d already told Ellie how I felt about him, and no matter
how many times we all had tried to tell Heather he was cheating on
her, she would not listen to us.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Heather. I didn’t see you
there.” Josh looked Heather up and down, and then he noticed Jerry
standing behind her.

I hadn’t seen Josh tense up like that since
our football days when he was ready to kick someone’s ass. I
started to slowly make my way over when Lynda piped in.

“Josh! Please! I’m dying here of thirst.”

Josh looked back at Heather and smiled. “You
look really good, Heather.”

“Thank you Josh, so do you.”

Josh nodded and looked up at Jerry.

“Josh, so good to see you again.” Jerry held
out his hand to shake Josh’s.

Josh just glared at him. He moved around
Heather and made his way to the bar.

Well, hell, this should be
an interesting night.
I looked out at Jeff
and Ari, and they were happily dancing with each other. As long as
those two are happy and Ells is happy, I decided not to worry too
much about Josh and Heather and their fucked-up feelings for each
other.

As I watched the night go on, it seemed like
the only person drinking was Josh. I was having another damn déjà
vu.

Ellie, Ari and Heather were all on the dance
floor dancing to Christina Aguilera’s “My Girls.” I was getting
pissed as I watched the numerous guys trying to dance with them.
Ellie looked over once and smiled at me. I was giving her thirty
minutes, and then I was taking her to the hotel. I glanced over at
Jeff. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Ari.

He looked over at me, and I just smiled and
winked at him.

Jeff’s smile faded.

“You fucking bastard. You made reservations
at The Driskill didn’t you? You mother-fucking-son-of-a-
bitchin’-romantic-ass-bastard.”

I started to laugh. “Holy hell, Jeff, you’ve
been hanging around Ari way too long. Her cursing has worn off on
you.”

“I’m taking to Ari to Paris.”

I sat up, narrowing my eyes at him. “You
can’t do that! I was going to take Ellie.”

“I’m thinking Paris for a honeymoon. Sounds
pretty romantic, don’t you think?”

“To think I called you my best friend and
agreed to be your best man.”

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. Just
then, Ari came walking up and straddled Jeff, giving him a long
kiss.

“Oh god, that’s my brother, Ari. Yuck!” Ellie
yelled.

While Lynda was out on the dance floor with
Josh, I looked over at Heather. She was watching them and couldn’t
seem to pull her eyes away from them.

When Pink’s “There You Go” started to play,
Jerry nudged Heather. “Hey, do you want to dance?”

Never taking her eyes away from Josh and
Lynda, Heather simply said. “No.”

That was when it happened. Heather looked
over at me, and I could see the tears building in her eyes. I got
up and took Ellie’s hand.

“Hey Jeff and Ari, I think we need to get
Heather home.”

Jeff and Ari both looked over at Heather.

“Sure, that’s fine. I’m exhausted anyway,”
Ari said as she gave Ellie and me a hug good-bye. “We have a long
way back home.”

“No, we don’t, babe, I booked us a room at
The Driskill Hotel.” Jeff said as he winked at me.

Bastard
. I was still pissed about the whole Paris thing.

I smiled at him and shook my head. “I have
taught you well, my friend.”

Ellie and Ari both looked at us, confused. I
grabbed Ellie’s hand and walked over to Heather. I reached down and
took Heather’s hand.

As we started to head toward the stairs,
Jerry came after us, and I stopped the girls and looked at him.

“Listen, asshole. I can’t tell you how many
times I’ve seen you slip your fucking phone number to random girls.
We’re taking Heather home; she’s upset and ready to leave. I also
suggest you don’t call her anymore.”

Jerry looked over at Heather, who was staring
at me, stunned.

She turned back to face Jerry.

“Jerry, is that true?”

“You know what? Fuck this. We slept together
once, Heather, and ever since then, you’ve been nothing but distant
and pining over some jerk. So, yeah, I’ve been with other girls
since we started dating. You certainly weren’t putting out so.”

“Shut the fuck up now, or I’ll shut you up,”
I said as I took a step toward him.

Jerry took a few steps back, lifting both
hands.

“Fine, I’m done here anyway. Enjoy your life
as an elementary school teacher, Heather. It fits you
perfectly.”

I turned to find Ellie holding Heather. Poor
girl looked like she was about to throw up.

“Come on, sweetheart. We have a hotel room
right down the street.”

Ellie snapped up her head and looked at me
with a small smile. I just winked back at her. The thought was
there even if we wouldn’t be able to use it tonight the way I’d
wanted to.

After we got to the truck, Heather asked to
just be taken home. Ellie was in the backseat with Heather. I
turned on the music so they could have some privacy, but I could
still hear Heather crying.

I was shocked as shit to
hear that she had slept with that asshole.
What the hell was she thinking?
I
pulled my cell phone out of my pocket because it kept going off. I
had four text messages and two missed calls.

Fuck.
Josh was one of them. I hit voice mail and listened to his
message.

“Gunner, what the hell happened? I saw you
walking off with Heather, and then I saw Jerry come back alone. Is
she okay?”

***

We pulled up to Heather’s apartment, and
Ellie asked me to give her a few minutes with Heather.

“Baby, take your time. I’m
in no rush.” If I’d been standing, her smile would have dropped me
to my knees.
Damn the things this girl
does to me.

I pulled up the text messages: two from Jeff
and two from Josh.

Jeff:
Hey, Ari is worried about why y’all took off with Heather and
why Jerry-the-jackass came back alone and pissed off. Have Ells
text Ari.