The moment his fingers touched my face and wiped away my tears, I felt the electricity zip through my whole body. His eyes showed so much worry in them that it made my stomach twist in knots. I know he is just concerned because I’m his best friend’s sister, but . . .

No . . . I couldn’t let myself think that way. Then he dropped the bombshell on me! Who was it he was talking about? Who said Gunner would fail? I just couldn’t believe it. I mean, he was super smart from what Jefferson told me, smarter than Jefferson, he said. He was an awesome football player. I had seen him play plenty of times when Ari and I went to their games. He was super fucking handsome. Yeah, no way this guy would ever want to be with someone like me.

We headed out the door and started toward Gunner’s truck. He had a huge smile on his face, which caused me to smile. What was he so happy about? Oh, that’s right, his truck is his “girl.” Jesus, why did I just feel jealous of a damn truck?

He walked to the passenger side of the truck and opened the back door and put my bags in. Then he opened the front door and held my arm as he helped me in.

“Did you remember to get your pain pills, Ells?” Gunner asked as he looked at my hand. It really felt a lot better today, that was for sure. “Yep . . . took one this morning after breakfast and packed them in my bag, Mom,” I said as he looked me up and down. He threw his head back and laughed. God, his laugh moved right through my body and made me ache between my legs. I ever so slightly squeezed my legs together to ease the throbbing. Just then he looked at me with that damn crooked smile. He took his finger and tapped my nose.

“You’re so goddamn cute, you know that?” He looked like he wanted to lean down and kiss me. Yes! Come on! A little more . . . more . . . just a little closer . . .

“What’s your favorite dog?” Gunner asked as he pulled back and stood away from the door.

“Um?” What the hell? That just came out of nowhere. Holy shit! Here I thought he was thinking of kissing me and he was thinking of . . . dogs?

“Think about it!” he said as he smiled and shut the door.

I watched him walk around the front of the truck and there went those hands through that beautiful hair. I was pretty sure he did that when he was nervous or upset. God, it was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen. What was he nervous about?

Also, Dogs? I’m so confused by this guy.

Gunner jumped in and looked over at me. Oh, holy shit, there was that beautiful smile, and he was just staring at me.

“What is it? What’s so funny?” I asked as I smiled back at him.

“Nothin’. You just look damn good sitting in my truck, sweetheart, that’s all!” Gunner said with a laugh.

“Oh, okay!”

Gunner started the truck and I was silently praying “Truck Yeah” would not start up. Please, God, please. Just then Daughtry’s “Every Time You Turn Around” came screaming over the speakers. Oh, thank God!

“You like Daughtry, I’m guessing, from the smile on your face,” Gunner said before he started to back out of the driveway.

“Yes! I love them. Love this song, too. But honestly . . . I was praying that ‘Truck Yeah’ would not start up. I’m not sure what I would’ve done to you had you started that song,” I said as I looked over at him. He jammed on his brakes and just stared at me.

“Oh, thank fuck I’m not the only one! Holy shit, I want to delete that song from Jeff’s iPod. I’m so sick of it,” Gunner said as he looked at me with the most serious look on his face. I had to start laughing.

“I’ve thought the same thing. I swear, every time he starts it, I just want to haul off and hit him,” I looked down at my hand that was a bit still swollen.

“Great minds think alike, Ells!” Gunner said with a laugh as he backed out and headed toward the school.

That was like the third time Gunner had called me “Ells.” Tons of people call me “Ell” or “Ells.” So why when he said it did I get butterflies in my stomach? The same way I did when he called me “sweetheart.”

“Chocolate Lab,” I said when the silence in the truck was starting to get to me.

Gunner looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “What?”

“You asked me what my favorite dog was. I think it’s a chocolate Lab. I’ve never had a dog, but if I ever got one, I would want a chocolate Lab, I think,” I said as I looked out the window, not sure why tears were starting to build in my eyes.

“Oh yeah, right, the dog. You’ve never had a dog? Wow . . . boy or girl?” Gunner asked as he turned into the high school parking lot.

“I think I would want a boy. Yep, someone to watch over me and protect me and love me like there was no tomorrow,” I said as I turned and looked at Gunner. He was staring at me . . . again. He did that a lot.

There went the hand through the hair. Shit, why did that turn me on so damn much? I moved around in my seat to help with the ache.

“You know you don’t need a dog for that, sweetheart. I’m pretty sure you could find someone who is more than willing to take on that job,” he said with the sweetest smile. I so badly wanted to ask if he wanted to apply for the open position. Ha! Yeah right. He couldn’t even kiss me.

“What would you name him?” Gunner asked as he jumped out of his truck and ran around the front to open my door. Good ol’ Texas charm. I bet he has girls falling all over him. Well, I was not going to be one of them, or so I kept telling myself.

“Um, let’s see . . . I think I would name him . . . Gus,” I said with a smile on my face. Yes . . . I liked that. It was a good, strong name for a dog. Gunner let out a laugh that caused me to stop and look at him.

“What the hell is wrong with Gus? That’s a good, strong country boy name for my country-boy dog. I can’t believe you are laughing at my name choice. Some friend you are, Gunner Mathews!” I said as I hit him with my good hand.

After what seemed like forever, he stopped laughing.

“Gus? You want to name him Gus? How the hell did you come up with that name, Ellie?” Gunner said as we started to walk toward the school. He reached down and took my left hand into his right hand. Did he realize he was holding my hand? My God, the butterflies were going crazy in my stomach.

“Well, if you must know, one time Jefferson took me on a drive out to Fredericksburg. Said we needed some country air. I saw the name on a mailbox, and I don’t know, I just liked it,” I said with a shrug.

“Do you like the country? I mean, would you ever want to live out in the country, or are you a city girl?” he asked as he bumped his arm into my shoulder. Good God, all this contact was driving my libido insane.

“No, I’m not a city girl. Well, I mean I am ’cause I grew up in Austin and all. I want nothing more than to get away from Austin and live in a small town with lots of land, and I would love to have a beautiful ranch-style home and go outside every morning and feed the chickens. I want to hear nothing but nature. No cars, no horns, no freaking people blowing their damn cigarette smoke in my face. I want to be able to look up into the sky and see the millions of stars every night. I’ve never seen what a true nighttime sky looks like with all the stars. I would love that.”

I stopped at the side door to the school and looked back at Gunner. He was standing there with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. I tilted my head to look at him. What the hell was he thinking? He sure did seem happy. Huh. I noticed as soon as I started talking about wanting to live in the country he dropped my hand.

Gunner cleared his throat and just shook his head. “Shall we get this over with, sweetheart?” he asked as he held the door open for me. I would never get tired of this. Ryan never once held a door open for me or opened a car door for me . . . nothing. Gunner was a complete 180 from Ryan.

“Yes! One step closer to my new life as a college student,” I said as we headed down the hallway.