Chapter Twenty-Seven – Gunner

Jeff had left earlier today to attend Ellie’s graduation while I stayed behind to make sure everything was ready to go for the party tonight. He’d sent me a text that he was on his way home.

Jack was finishing getting everything set up and walked into the house. “All right, dude. I got all my stuff together and ready to go. I’m going to go and grab some food. What time do you want me back here?”

With his backpack tossed over his shoulder, he waited for my reply.

“Seven sound good?”

“Sure. I’ll see y’all then.”

Jeff walked in the front door and slammed it. Jack lifted his brows and took that as his sign to get on out while the getting was good.

When Jeff stormed by me and went straight into the kitchen, I knew something was wrong.

“How was the graduation?”

He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. “Fucking great. Just fucking great.”

Okay. What in the hell crawled into his cornflakes?

“What’s going on? Please tell me your mom didn’t show up.”

He looked at me, confused. “What? No, no, she didn’t show up. The graduation was perfect. It was the fucking dinner afterward that sucked. I swear to God, I want to wring Ari’s neck!”

Jeff quickly finished off a beer.

“You’re going to get wasted before Ellie even gets here. What did Ari do?”

He scoffed. “What doesn’t she do? She never shuts the hell up for one thing. I wanted to reach across the table and shove a piece of bread in her damn mouth. Then that prick showed up, and all he did was flirt with her over dinner, and she flirted right back. It made me sick.”

Ah, so now we get to the big picture.

“Who was this prick who showed up?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know who the fuck he was. Some asshole she dated for a bit in high school. He was having dinner with his family at the same restaurant. He sure didn’t have any manners, since he practically sat with us the whole time and left his family sitting there waiting on him to come back.”

“Okay, so what exactly did Ari do that has you so angry with her?”

Jeff took another beer out and cracked it open.

Holy shit. He had it bad for Ari. Why in the hell couldn’t he admit it?

His hand went through his hair as he let out a laugh. “I pulled Ari aside and told her how I thought it was inappropriate for her to be flirting with the guy so openly in front of her parents.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “Only knowing Ari a few days, I’m going to guess that probably pissed her off. What the heck, Jeff? She’s not your girlfriend.”

He threw his head back and laughed even harder. I didn’t know what he thought was so funny. Stupid idiot.

“Funny, she said the same damn thing. Of course that was after she called me every damn name in the book and told me I was a spineless, dickless prick and she didn’t go for guys like me. Bitch!”

Wow. Talk about your sexual tension.

“Jeff, why can’t you just admit you have feelings for Ari? It sure would make things easier on you, her, and Ellie.”

He looked straight at me and smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. It was more of a surrendering smile. Like the fight in him to keep Ari at arm’s length was wearing him down.

“I need to focus on Ellie right now. She can’t lose her friendship with Ari, and I don’t have time to jack around with some baby drama queen who obviously needs way too much attention to keep her happy. Let her little high school prick friend do that.”

He didn’t mean a damn word he had just spewed out. And what in the hell did he mean Ellie couldn’t lose her friendship with Ari?

“I need to go jump in the shower before Ellie and her friends get here. I told them to come anytime after seven.” He headed toward the hall but stopped and looked at me. His face filled with regret.

Ah hell. What did he do?

“I also called Rebecca and invited her and some of her friends. Told her it was Ellie’s graduation party. Do me a favor and keep your eye on Ellie and her friends tonight. I don’t want any of these jackasses trying something with any of them. I already gave Ellie the lecture about taking any drinks from anyone.” He ran his hands through his hair. He was second-guessing everything, especially inviting Rebecca here. They would be jealous of Ellie and her friends, and Jeff had to have known that.

“Hey, you didn’t tell Rebecca to bring Crysti, did you?” I asked, reaching down and picking up the two empty beer bottles.

“I told her I didn’t care who she brought along and that Ellie wanted to see what a college party was like.”

My eyes rolled, and I silently cursed. The last thing I needed was Crysti hanging all around me tonight with Ellie here. If Jeff thought some UT bitches were going to stop guys from hitting on Ellie and her friends, he was seriously not thinking clearly.

This was going to be an interesting night.

A small crowd of people had already showed up. I was a nervous fucking wreck waiting on Ellie to get here. A part of me couldn’t wait to see her, and the other part dreaded all these assholes eyeing her.

Jeff had downed a few more beers and was arguing with Brad about who could bench-press the most weight.

The hairs on my arms stood up, and I knew she was here. Jeff looked toward the door and smiled. My gaze followed his, and I watched as Ellie walked up to her brother.

She looked beautiful, dressed in a short white dress with cowboy boots. Her hair was pulled back into a sexy ponytail. She probably thought it made her look innocent, but to me, it made me desire her that much more. The need to claim her was growing more intense.

Jeff picked her up and spun her around. Yep. He was halfway to drunk. He said something to her, and she laughed. Brad and Josh stood there with their damn mouths hanging open as they ogled my girl.

Fuckers.

This shit was getting nipped in the bud and now. I made my way over to them.

“Check out the fresh meat. Holy shit, Jeff’s sister is hot, and her friends are just as hot,” Josh said.

I pointed to them. It was Josh, Brad, and four other football players. “Listen here, I’m giving you this warning once. None of you get any ideas about Ellie’s friends. This warning comes from me and Jeff.”

Josh laughed. “All right! But you didn’t say anything about his sister, so if y’all will excuse me . . .” Josh said as he started toward Ellie.

I stepped in front of him and put my hand on his chest.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Ellie is off-limits. Period. You so much as fucking look at her wrong, and I’ll beat your ass, Hayes.”

Josh stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind. I’d never claimed a woman before, and I was sure this was throwing him for a loop.

“What the hell, Gunner? You calling dibs on the sister?” Brad asked while they all chuckled.

“As a matter of fact, yes, I am. I’m dead serious; do not so much as talk to her wrong.”

Josh and Brad exchanged looks before Brad held up his hands. Josh mumbled something under his breath, but I ignored him.

When I turned, Ellie was making her way over to me. As she drew closer, I smiled. Her grin turned into a full-blown knock me on my ass smile. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ari and two other girls start to laugh, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Ellie had told them we had kissed. A part of me hoped so; that meant she had been thinking about me like I had been her.

She stopped in front of me and reached up on her toes and kissed me on the cheek. My heart jumped into my throat, and my dick instantly went hard. From a kiss on a cheek.

Holy. Shit.

“Hi, Gunner, how are you tonight?”

“I’m doing much better now that you’re here. How was graduation?”

“It was great. Ari gave a wonderful speech.”

Speaking of Ari, she was giving me a shit-eating grin as she made her way over to me. There was no doubt in my mind Ellie had told her about the kiss.

“Ari, how are you? How’d the speech go?”

“Hey, Gunner. The speech, it went pretty good. I about pissed in my pants from being nervous. Then I looked out and saw Jeff, so I pictured his ass naked and him sucking his thumb, and strangely enough, I calmed right down,” Ari said with a shrug and the most serious face I’d ever seen. I actually believed she was telling the truth.

“I’m going to have to remember that one when I stand in front of a group pitching a new idea for a building.”

Ari gave me a wink.

“Gunner, this is Amanda. Amanda, Gunner.” The pretty brownish-red-haired girl standing in front of me was dressed the most provocatively of the group. Tight jeans and a brown tank top that showed off her assets really well.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amanda.” I said with a smile.

“We’ve heard so much about you, Gunner. Seems you’ve made an impression on our Ellie here.”

My heart soared, and I glanced down to Ellie, who was shooting Amanda a dirty look.

“If you’re done, Manda—Gunner, this is Heather,” Ellie said.

Heather was a little shorter than Ellie and Ari but not by much. She was the only blonde in the group. Her blue eyes reminded me of Ellie. They both had innocence pouring off them. I was going to have to watch Josh with Heather.

“Heather, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“The feeling is mutual. Thank you for inviting us, Gunner.”

Oh hell. Innocent and that southern charm. These poor girls were in for a wake-up call tonight.

After that I gave them all my lecture about not leaving with anyone, not even a girl, and no drinks from anyone other than Jeff or me. I also made sure Amanda and Heather had a ride home. Heather was the designated driver and would only be drinking soda.

Jeff had already told Ellie that she and Ari could stay the night. Something he was regretting when I mentioned it thirty minutes ago.

We had moved outside, and the girls quickly started dancing. Ari knew how to move and certainly had a lot of attention being pulled her way. Ellie and Heather were dancing together, and Amanda was holding her own and seemed to have Brad’s full attention. Interesting. Josh was staring at Heather as if he was trying to place her. Like maybe he’d seen her before and just couldn’t remember where.

Jeff walked out of the sliding glass door with Rebecca in tow. He scanned the people dancing and smiled when he saw Ellie. Then his smile quickly faded when he saw Ari, and the only thing I saw on his face was pure anger.

Ari was dancing with another girl and two guys. When she saw Jeff, she smiled and wiggled her fingers in a wave. My eyes bounced back to Jeff, who was now standing there with his fists balled up. Anger was pouring off his body.

When Ellie walked up and bumped my shoulder, I looked down at her and grinned.

“You enjoying your first college party?”

Staring into her blue eyes, my heart started to beat a little faster. I had been thinking about the dream I had been having over the last several months. Those eyes looked happy, and that made me feel like I was soaring on a cloud.

“Yes! I think Ari might be trying to make a statement, though,” she said with a nod of her head toward her best friend.

“I think you might be right. By the look on Jeff’s face, I would say it’s working. Where did she learn to dance like that?”

Ellie chuckled. “She’s been taking lessons since she was five years old. She loves to dance.”

Her smile faded when she glanced over to Jeff. “Who is that with Jefferson, and is that the girl from the coffee shop behind her? What was her name—Crysti?”

Shit.

“The girl is Rebecca. She’s the girl Jeff went out with Thursday night. Crysti is one of Rebecca’s friends. Jeff invited Rebecca, but I’m not sure why because he can’t stand her.”

Ellie shook her head. “I know why. Probably to piss off Ari, I’m guessing. They had some kind of fight at dinner, and Ari won’t tell me what they argued about.”

She continued to stare at her brother and the girls gathered around him before turning her attention back to me. Worry was written all over her face. Reaching for her hand, I brought it to my mouth and kissed the back of it.

“Don’t worry, Ellie.” I gave her a wink and slowly let her hand go.

“I’m not worried. I’m sure Jefferson knows what he’s doing. I hope he didn’t invite those girls to make Ari jealous. They were both in piss-poor moods when they came back to the table. Ari told me Jefferson was being a dickwad. That seems to be her favorite word to describe him the last few days.” She forced a small smile.

When I looked back out on the dance floor, Ari was dancing with Josh. Peeking back at Jeff, he was trying to pay attention to whatever Rebecca was saying to him, but he kept looking out on the dance floor at Ari. He looked worried, and he should’ve been. The way Josh was looking at Ari, we both knew what he was thinking.

I had a feeling this night was fixin’ to take a turn for the worse, and I hoped like hell Ellie wasn’t going to be in the cross fire.