I ended up sleeping on the sofa last night after Jeff finally passed out around 2:30 a.m. Once I sat on the sofa, I could smell Ellie on the pillows. I probably looked like a stupid fuck with the way I was cuddling a goddamn throw pillow last night.

Jeff was up at 6:00 a.m. dressed and ready for a run. Not sure how the fuck he managed that, but he did. I got up and went for a quick run before I came back to make up some of my Gram’s blueberry muffins.

I never got a chance to give Ellie her graduation gift last night, so I was hoping to do it this morning. I was pretty sure I heard Ari on the phone and then heard Ellie and Ari talking. Jeff had been gone for almost two hours. I started to wonder if he was staying away to avoid the girls.

Stupid bastard.

Just then the front door opened and Jeff walked in, looking like he just had the shit beat out of him.

“What the fuck happened to you, dude?”

“I went a few rounds with Bubba up at the gym. I needed to work all the fucking alcohol out of my system,” Jeff said as he grabbed a water out of the fridge.

“Are the girls up yet?”

Jeff sat down at one of the bar stools and started to down his water. Man, he looked like shit.

“Dude, I think you worked out too hard, you look like shit,” I said as I took the muffins out of the oven.

“Fuck you, dude. I’m not the one acting like Betty fucking Crocker!”

“Seriously, Jeff, are you feeling okay today? You get enough sleep?” I asked, as I took a good look at him. He looked tired and his eyes were like a dead, green sea.

“Yeah, I feel all right. I can’t believe I drank that much last night. I fuckin’ never drink like that,” Jeff said as he reached over and grabbed the bottle of Advil that was sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Do you, um, you remember everything that happened last night?” Shit . . . I hated to do it but I had to ask.

Jeff looked up at me and I swear his eyes glossed over with tears. “Yeah, dude, I remember everything that happened last night. Believe me, I woke up wishing I had been drunk enough not to have remembered it.”

The door to my bedroom opened up and Ari came walking out. Damn, she looked just as good this morning as she did when she walked in yesterday evening. I could see Jeff sit up straighter.

“Good morning!” Ari announced as she came buzzing into the kitchen. What the hell? I looked over at Jeff who was just watching her every move.

“Did you make blueberry muffins, Gunner? My God! No wonder Ellie has the hots for you,” Ari said with a laugh.

“Arianna!” The sound of Ellie’s sweet voice caused my stomach to do a few flips. I looked up and my breath caught in my throat. She looked beautiful. I wonder if she woke up every morning looking this fucking good. She gave me a shy smile . . . there was that blush . . . I just wanted to take her in my arms and kiss the shit out of her.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?” I asked as I poured her a glass of orange juice. She sat down in the bar stool next to Jefferson, who was still watching Ari’s every move.

Ellie looked over at Jeff and her smile faded just a little. When she looked back over at me, she gave me that smile that would make me promise her anything in the world.

“I slept okay. Thank you so much for giving up your room last night for us.”

Jefferson shut his eyes for a second. Was he even planning on saying he was sorry to Ari and Ellie?

“Look, Ellie, Gunner made blueberry muffins. Isn’t that so sweet? Some guys are just like that: caring. They know how the little things make a woman so happy,” Ari said as she leaned against the counter and stared Jeff down. She had been sending someone a text message right before.

I did not like where this was going.

“Ari, can I speak with you in private please?” Jeff asked as he stood up.

“Um, no,” Ari said as she picked up a muffin and started buttering it.

Jeff was running his hands down his face clearly getting frustrated. He let out a loud sigh. “Please, I really need to talk to you . . . please.”

Ari looked up at Jeff, and I swear if looks could kill, Jeff would have been on the floor. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of my friends. You know what those are, don’t you, Jeff? Oh, wait, the type of friends that you have, you fuck them in your room during your sister’s graduation party.”

“Ari, that’s enough, he just wants to talk to you,” Ellie said as she looked back and forth between Ari and Jeff.

Fuck me, this was not going to go well at all.

“No, this is fine, Ellie. If this is how Ari wants to have this go down, then that’s fine by me. I was going to apologize for my comment last night that embarrassed you. It was very insensitive of me to bring up the fact that you’re still a virgin, and you fucking dry humping every guy at the party might give them the wrong impression that you were ready to give it up,” Jeff said as he slammed his water bottle down.

This was like a fucking train wreck that I couldn’t stop watching.

“Jefferson! Oh my God! How could you say that to her right now, after what you did to her last night?” Ellie said as she stood up and walked up to Jeff.

“What . . . what did I do to her, Ellie? I was trying to apologize, and she is being a bitch about it,” Jeff said as he turned to look at Ari.

She stood there with a blank expression on her face. “You slept with that girl, Jefferson. You knew that was going to hurt Ari . . . you knew it would,” Ellie said with a crack in her voice.

“Is that what it is, Ari? Are you upset because I slept with another girl because the last time I checked, sweetheart, I didn’t have a fucking girlfriend,” Jeff shouted at Ari.

“Do not call me ‘sweetheart,’ you son of a bitch,” Ari said as a tear started to roll down her face.

I cleared my throat and said, “Jeff, let’s just back off here for a minute. Dude, I see where you’re going with this and I get it but—”

“What?” Ellie said as she turned and gave me a shitty look.

Oh, fuck . . .

“So, Gunner, you think what Jefferson did to Ari was okay because they’re not dating? You and I both know they have feelings for each other,” Ellie said as she put her hands on her hips.

Shit, she was cute when she was mad.

“Now wait a minute, Ellie. Don’t turn this around on me now. That’s not what I was going to say. I was just saying that it is true. Ari and Jeff are not dating and really he could see or date anyone he wants. I’m not excusing what he did it’s just, it’s just . . .” Oh, why the fuck did I think I just stuck my foot in my damn mouth? Stop talking, Gunner . . .

“Can I just please say that I could care less what this dickwad does, okay? So, Jeff, have at it. Fuck whoever you damn well please, ’cause you’re right, we have nothing together. Never have, and as you made it very clear last night, never will. I got your message loud and clear,” Ari said as she wiped a tear from her face.

“Fuck, Ari, please just let me explain. I wasn’t trying to hurt you last night. I got angry and you were flirting and—”

Ellie wasn’t done with me though, and she cut Jeff off.

“So wait, Gunner. Does this mean if I had been dancing with one of the other guys all night, and made you all hot and bothered, you would have gone off and fucked Crysti to help satisfy your hard-on? Because that’s pretty much what you did, right, Jefferson?” Ellie said as she walked over to Ari who was now just as confused as I was. How the hell did this turn around onto me?

“No! Ellie, first of all, I wouldn’t do that to you. But they’re not dating.”

“Neither are we, Gunner. Thank God for that!” Ellie turned and walked to my bedroom.

Oh, holy fuck. I started to follow her. How the hell did this just happen?

“Ellie, wait a minute. How did this turn into me doing something wrong to you?” I asked her as I walked into the bedroom. Ellie turned and looked at me. She threw one of my T-shirts at me and shouted, “Because you’re all fucking alike! Every goddamn one of you! Even my own brother. All you do is think with your dicks.”

Ellie grabbed her bag, pushed past me, and walked back out into the living room. Ari was standing there waiting at the front door. What? Where were they going?

“Ellie, let me drive you both home, sweetheart,” I said as Jeff walked up to try to ask Ari if he could take her home.

“We don’t need a ride—thank you, Gunner. And no, Jeff, you cannot take me home so we can talk. We have nothing to talk about.”

“How are you getting home, Ari?” I asked while I stared at Ellie, who would not even look at me now.

“I sent a friend a text message asking him if he could take Ellie and me back to my house.”

“What friend?” Jeff asked, clearly annoyed.

“Josh. He gave me his number last night, and asked me out on a date. I told him no last night, but I seemed to have woken up with a much clearer head this morning,” Ari said as she smiled at Jeff.

“The fuck you will. There is no fucking way my sister, or you, are getting in a car with that asshole!” Jeff said as he took out his cell phone. I already knew what he was doing.

“Josh, this is Jeff. Yeah, I know, and I want you to listen to me. You come anywhere near my sister or Ari and I promise you, I’ll break you in two fucking pieces, you got it? Good. Lose her number.” Jeff threw his cell phone onto the sofa and walked down the hall into his bedroom and slammed the door shut.

“Great, just great. I guess I’ll call a cab, Ells,” Ari said as she took out her cell phone again.

“Wait. Ari, please just give me five minutes.” I turned to look back at Ellie. I practically begged her to let me have five minutes with her in private.

I took Ellie back into my bedroom and sat down on the bed while she stood up near the door.

“Ellie, sweet . . . Um, look, I don’t know what the hell happened out there, or what I said or did that pissed you off, but you have to believe me. I have no, absolutely no, interest in any other girl but you. I already told you . . . I won’t give up on us, Ellie. I’ll wait forever if that’s what it takes to prove to you how I feel about you. I know we just met and you think I’m moving too fast, and I promise you I won’t push you, but please, sweetheart, please don’t push me away,” I said as I watched her whole body relax.

I looked over and saw the James Avery box. I got up, picked it up, and walked over to her.

“I wanted to give this to you last night, but I never could find the right time to do it,” I said as I handed her the box. Her eyes lit up when she saw that it was the James Avery gift I picked up yesterday. I guess she was putting two and two together now.

“W . . . what is this for?”

“It’s your graduation present, sweetheart. I wanted to make sure you got it this morning before you left,” I said as I pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Gunner, you really didn’t have to get me anything!” Ellie said as her blue eyes captured mine.

“Open it . . . please, before you get mad at me again,” I said with a laugh.

Ellie let out a giggle that traveled through my whole body. I could listen to her laugh all day.

She started to open the box, and when she saw the daisy necklace, her head snapped up to look at me. She looked so confused. Why?

“How . . . I mean . . . how did you know? The flowers at Ari’s house and now this?” She took the necklace out and handed it to me to put on her.

“How did I know what, sweetheart?” I clasped the necklace and turned her around to face me.

“Did Jefferson tell you daisies were my favorite flower?” Ellie asked me with such a confused look in her eyes.

Well, I’ll be damned. I can’t believe it—they’re her favorite flower! If only I could pump my fist in the air right now.

I smiled down at her, causing her to smile at me.

“Ellie, when you were in Jeff’s truck right after the whole Ryan thing, I leaned in to whisper in your ear, and I thought you smelled like daisies. Every time I see a daisy I think of my Grams, who has a whole garden of them, and now I will also think of you, sweetheart,” I softly said as I traced her jawline with the back of my hand.

Ellie looked down at the necklace and then back up at me. She threw herself into my arms. Fuck, I had died and gone to heaven again!

“Thank you so much, Gunner! Thank you for being so sweet to me and just knowing how to make me feel so much better. I love this! I will never take it off . . . ever,” Ellie said as she held onto me so tight. I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to take a few steps back and lay her down on my bed, and make love to her slowly and sweetly. I felt my dick jump . . . Dogs! I needed to think of dogs!

Ellie started to let go of my neck. She stepped back and smiled up at me. I leaned down and kissed her softly on the side of her lips. “You are most welcome, my Ellie. Now, can I please give you and Ari a ride home? Please?”

Ellie started to laugh. She nodded her head and we headed back out into the living room. Ari was now sitting on the sofa holding Jeff’s cell phone. She had a huge-ass grin on her face.

“What are you doing, Ari?” Ellie asked as she walked up to Ari.

“Oh, nothin’, just deleting Rebecca’s number from Jeff’s phone.” She set the phone down on the table as Ellie and I busted out laughing.

Yep, Jeff was in for a wild ride whether he wanted it or not!