Wanted (21 page)

“Um….sure
that is fine
but can Gunner give me a ride to Ari’s. I need to talk to him.
I mean i
f that is
okay
with you
Gunner?”
Ellie said as she lo
ok
ed up at me.

Holy fuck, the lo
ok
on her face about dropped me to my knees. She wanted me…..not Ari or Jeff….she actually
wanted to be with me.

“Of course it’
s all right sweeth
eart, anything for you
.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ellie
……

I sat there on my bed devastated. How did this happen? What was Gunner going to think about me now after my mother called me a whore? Oh God I hope he didn’t believe a word she said. My hands started to shake again and I almost started to c
ry again. I could not lose him even though
I knew we would never be more than friends but he truly
did seem
to care about me. I felt like I was in a box and everything was muffled. I could hear Ari and Jefferson talking. I lo
ok
ed over at them. What was Ari saying? Something about the cottage on her parents property. Gunner was standing next
to
me waiting. I was trying to
find the strength to stand up.

Oh my God…we were going to have to walk by my mother again! What if she started calling me names again?

“Ellie, come on sweetheart let’s go. Jeff is going to walk out first and talk to your mom. Come on Ell
s
its
okay
. Let’s go.” Gunner said
as he helped me to my feet. Ari
came up and gave me a hug. “I’
ll see you back at my house
okay
sweets?”

I just smiled and nodded my head yes. I just wanted to be alone with Gunner. I had to make him understand I was not t
he things my mother said I was.

As we walked out of my room and down the hall I saw Jefferson standing over our mother. She was passed out on the sofa. Perfect.
Why couldn’t her ass
have been passed out 30 minutes
ago?
I’m not surprised
…….
this is just how my life goes. Another serving of shit se
rved on a platter just for me
. The E
llie special this week I guess.

Next thing I knew I was sitting in Gunner’s truck. He was standing outside talking to Jefferson. They both lo
ok
ed so pissed off. I was the cause of all of this or I should say me and my drunken mother were the cause. God I hated her more than anything right now. I never
wanted to see her again. EVER!

Gunner opened the door and hopped in his truck. Once he had it started he turned on his iPod. I think he was trying to give me time to gather myself without there b
eing an awkward silence. My god
co
uld he be any more per
fect?

I had no idea where we were going. I was finally able to open my mouth to speak
. “Um, can we go somewhere quiet
to talk Gunner? Somewhere
we can be alone if that is
okay
?”

I noticed Gunner tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “Of course we can Ellie. Is there anywhere you have in mind Sweetheart? We can go anywhere.”

Just then an idea popped into my head.
“Th
e canoes down at
Zilker
Park, I’
ve always wanted to sit in one and just think….it seems so peaceful.” I said as I stared out the passenger side window. I was so afraid
he just wanted to be rid of me.

“Ellie please lo
ok
at me sweetheart.” Gunner asked as he used his ha
nd to turn my face towards him.

“Yo
u’
ve never been in a canoe?” Gunner asked with that drop dead smile of his. He made my heart hurt but for all the right reasons. Oh please take this pain away Gunner…..please…….

I let out a small laugh. “Nope….but
I’ve always wanted to go
. Pretty stupid huh?”

Gunner’s smile got even bigger. God it was contagious because next thing I knew I
was smiling back at him.

“What?
What is it?”  I asked him wanting to know why he was lo
ok
ing at me all goofy like that.

“It’s just that I get to take you on another first today. I need to
write down all the things you’
ve never done
before
but want to do
Ellie
.” Gunner said
as he to
ok
my hand in his. I decided I would not try to pull my hand away
this time
. I was going to
just pretend we were together and this was a perfect first date.
It was just Gunn
er and me…..together.

“Why do you need to know that?” I asked confused but very curious as to where he was going with this.

“Well, b
ecause I
want to be the person who gives you
all of your firsts. I want to experience them with you so I can see that beautiful smile of yours
light up every time you do something new
.
I want to make
all of your dreams come true.”

“Oh….”

WOW….I was not expecting that at all. Ma
ybe Gunner was different and
he might
just
be interested in more than what I was giving him credit for. Then again…….maybe he was
just interested in a friendship like how
Jefferson was with Ari. He would never want it to
go
past friendship.

The thought of Gunner and I never becoming closer than friends almost had me feeling sick again and ready to cry
.

As Gunner pulled into the parking lot of
Zilker
Park my heart started to beat faster than ever. Was I more nervous about the canoe ride or about talking to him about my mother? It was clear he was not going to bring it up until I was ready to talk about it. I neede
d to do this. I HAD to do this.

“
G
osh Gunner I never eve
n a
sked if you had plans today. I’
m so sorry. I feel like shit now just assuming you would be able to spend the day with me.” I said as I realized Gunner might
have actually had
things to do today.

Gunner let out a laugh that moved through my body
and sent chills up and down my back.
“Sweetheart I would much r
ather spend the day with you tha
n ru
n around and do errands. I just need to swing by James Avery t
o pick
something up and that’s it. I’
m yours for the whole day!”

He lo
ok
ed at me and gave me a wink. Yep…my knees just felt weak as I tried to walk down to where they rented out the canoes. Oh shit….with how my stomach was feeling why the hell did I pick this? It just popped into my head….canoes.
Jesus….watch me hurl right onto him.
Good going
Ellie…..picking a damn canoe ride. ARGH!

As Gunner was renting the canoe and getting our life jackets my mind kept thinking to what he said a few minutes ago. He needed to stop by James Avery? I wonder who he was buying jewelry for. He s
aid he
didn’t have a girlfriend.
Maybe it was his mother’s birthday coming up or his grandmothers. It was driving me crazy! Why was it driving me crazy? It
really was none of my business but it was still driving me insane wondering who the hell he would be buying jewelry for.

Just then I felt his hands on my shoulder and he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Are you ready to go
on your first canoe ride Ells?”

Yep….I knew it the moment I leaned back and felt his strong chest against my back
I was so fucked
. I didn’t even care how this might lo
ok
to him. The feel of his hot breath on my face and the touch of his hands on my body….I needed to lean against him before my knees gave out.  He turned me around and lifted my fac
e up towards his. He smiled,
leaned down and kissed
……….

My forehead?!
What the hell?!
SHIT! Why didn’t he kiss me? I wanted him to kiss me s
o badly and earlier he tried to kiss me but I stopped him. What changed?

Maybe
it was
what my mother said.
Now I really felt sick as he was walking me over and h
elping me climb into the canoe.

Holy fuck don’t let me puke dear Lord…..just please don’t let me puke.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

GUNNER
…….

German
Shepards
, Labs, Poodles,
Rottweiler
s
, German Short Haired Pointers……..good God I was trying to name off every breed of dog I knew. The moment she leaned into me and I felt her body up against mine my dick instantly came to attention. I had to turn her around to f
ace me before she felt me jabbing
her in the back with my har
d on.

I swear to God my dick
was so hard and there was not much more room in my pant
s to accommodate my growing problem
. As Ellie was getting settled I tried my best to adjust myself while thinking of other dogs. SHIT I wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. It was getting hard
er
and harder to resist her.

After I got in and sat down the lo
ok
on her face made my hard on
go down in a matter of seconds.

“Ellie…what is it? Are you feeling sick? Do you not want to do this
?”Her face was turning green right before my eyes.
Maybe there was a reason she never went out on a canoe before.

“I’m
okay
…just
give
me a few minutes here to get use to this. Just….go
slow
, really
really
slow. AND don’t rock the boat
!”
Ellie
practically shouted
at me. I had to laugh at her, s
he was so damn cute!

After about ten
minutes of slowly rowing out we finally make it onto Town Lake. I could see Ellie start to relax as she sat back and lifted her face to the sun. Damn she lo
ok
ed so beautiful. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket but decided to let it go to voicemail. I had sent Jeff a quick text
to let him know where we were right before I rented the canoe
.

Anothe
r few minutes passed before Ellie
started to talk. She never moved her head and just continued to keep her eyes closed as she soa
ked in the warm June Texas sun.

“Please just let me get this all out before you try to interrupt me or anything
okay
?” Ellie said with a slight crack in her voice.

“
Okay
.
”

“First
,
I just wanted to say thank
you again for everything you’
ve done for me the last two days. I know we just met but I feel……
well
I feel like I can really count on you. Thank you so much for being such a good friend.” Ellie said as she finally lo
ok
ed at me.

Ouch…there went that friends comment again. Could she really not see how much I wanted to be more than friends? Fuck…what more did I need to do
?

KISS HER
……..

She started to sit up straighter and I could see her starting to tense up again. She was lo
ok
ing everywhere but at me. I stopped rowing and just let the canoe drift in the current. I wanted to study her. I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life. The way her
beautiful blue eyes stood out
and the way her light bro
wn hair was starting to fall down
from her pony
tail and blow in the wind. The
way she smiled at
me. Her smile…..I loved the way her smile made me feel. I wanted to wake up every fucking morning to that smile. I wanted to prove t
o her that
her mother was wrong so damn
wrong.

Ellie was nothing like her mother. She was smart, innocent, caring,
beautiful
…….
all the things her mother never could be. I was going to kiss her
before this day was over. Yep,
fuck the dogs. I was going to prove to Ellie I wanted to be more than just her go
d
damn friend.