Two and a Half Hours Later

 

I was getting tired of waiting for the doctor to come back into my room with my pain medicine prescription. By the time I finished telling Jefferson and Gunner what happened, I just wanted someone to shoot me. They both looked like they were ready to leave and go kick Ryan’s ass. A small part of me wanted them to. My hand hurt so bad, I just wanted to cry. Thank God it was not broken. The urgent care doctor said it was a Grade II sprain. No torn ligaments but I needed to do something called “RICE.” Ari of course wrote down what RICE stood for. I couldn’t think, let alone try to remember some acronym.

Gunner had been leaning up against the wall just opposite of me the whole time. I tried to keep my eyes on Jefferson, Ari, the doctor, or the floor. Every time I looked up at him he smiled, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I would smile back politely and then look away.

No one has ever had this kind of effect on me before, not even Ryan. It always bothered me that I never got those butterfly moments with Ryan that all my friends talked about. I knew deep down inside Ryan and I were never meant to be. I mean, I’m not even feeling upset anymore about what happened.

Of course, it could be the incredibly hot guy standing across the room who was burning holes into me with his eyes. His beautiful sky blue eyes just melted my heart and, for the first time in my life, made my body tighten with anticipation . . . down there.

Oh, holy hell . . . what was going on with me?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts again. I could not let this guy get under my skin no matter how freaking hot he was. I looked up at him again, and this time I felt the heat rise up and flush my face. Gunner let out a small laugh that made his whole body tighten. I licked my lips as I watched his body respond to his laughter. My God, this guy had a nice body. All I wanted to do was inspect every square inch of it.

Wait . . . that bastard just laughed at me! This is why I’m never going to have anything to do with men again. I will die a virgin and be proud of it.

“Sooo, what are the plans for Saturday night?” Ari asked while looking at Jefferson the same way I’m sure I had been looking at Gunner.

“I know what my plans are, not sure about yours, Squirt,” Jefferson responded back to Ari.

“Oh my God! Can you please not call me that? I’m eighteen years old and not a child, you asshole!” Ari hissed.

“Well, you sure as hell act like a child, Squirt,” Jefferson stated matter-of-factly.

“I thought we were having a party at the house to celebrate Ellie’s graduation,” Gunner said as he looked back and forth between Ari and Jefferson. He seemed just as confused about what was going on between them as I was. I would swear they were in a staring contest with the way they were looking at each other.

“Wait . . . wait just one damn minute. You’re having a party . . . at your house? For us? Oh my God . . . this is awesome!” Ari jumped up and nearly knocked over the sharps container that was to her right.

“Um, no, Squirt, I’m having a party at my house for Ellie. Not you,” Jefferson said as he turned to look up at me. I smiled my biggest I-love-the-shit-out-of-you smile as I looked at him.

“Are you for real? I mean, I finally get to meet all of your friends and go to a college party!” I was about to act like a total fool myself and jump up and down. If Gunner had not been in the room, I so would’ve done it.

“You bet I am, Ells. You only graduate from high school once. It’s one of my presents to you!” Jefferson said as he got up to come and hug me.

I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. When I looked over Jefferson’s shoulder there was that drop-my-panties smile again. This time I didn’t mind it so much. I smiled back at him just as big as he was smiling at me. I have to admit I think I was more excited knowing I was going to be at a party where I knew for a fact Gunner would be. I had been to their house before, but Jefferson always made sure Gunner was never home.

They lived in a two-bedroom house that belonged to Gunner’s grandfather. He bought the house when Gunner moved to Austin to attend UT. Jefferson and Gunner hit it off within days of meeting each other, and Gunner asked him if he wanted to bunk with him at his house. That was a no-brainer. Jefferson would do anything to get out of our house with our drunken mother. I spent most of my days at Ari’s house anyway. Mansion, I should say. Her dad was a big-shot lawyer but you would never know they had money by the way Ari acted. That was one of the things I just loved about her.

“Am I at least invited to my best friend’s graduation party, dickwad?” Ari asked with so much sarcasm it was dripping off her.

“If she wants you there, Squirt, that’s fine by me,” Jefferson said as he rubbed the top of Ari’s head like she was five years old.

“Fucker!” Ari said as she pushed his hand away. Jefferson and Gunner both laughed.

Oh. My. God. That laugh of his. As if his smile, his touch, or his massive chest was not enough to be my undoing. His laugh about dropped me to the ground. A feeling ran through my whole body every time I heard this guy laugh. What the hell?

The doctor came back in right at the exact moment I thought I was going to combust from the look Gunner was giving me. He gave me my prescription, another round of instruction about how to take care of my hand, and out the door we went. Thank God. Between Ari and Jefferson going back and forth with each other and Gunner standing across from me sending me looks that about had me wanting to rip his clothes off . . . I was more than ready to get the hell out of dodge.

“Hey, dickwad, can you swing back by the school so I can pick up my Jeep?” Ari shouted over Maroon 5 blasting out of the stereo. “Ellie and I both have our last shift tonight.” Ari and I both worked part-time at Flipnotics. It was a little coffee shop near downtown Austin.

“Oh, fuck no is Ellie going to work tonight. She has to rest her hand and she is on pain meds. Are you fucking insane, Ari? Thinking Ellie is going to work tonight,” Jefferson shouted back to Ari.

“Yeah, that is not a good idea—going into work tonight, Ellie. You need to keep your hand and wrist elevated to keep the swelling down,” Gunner said to me as he turned around and looked at me.

Wow, he really looked like he was worried about me. My heart started to beat faster, and I felt the blush creep up into my face.

No! Wait . . . I needed to stop this right now. I could not let Gunner Mathews get into my heart. No. It was closed for business. Shut down, never to be opened up to any hurt again.

You will never be wanted by anyone . . . Would I ever be able to get my mother’s voice out of my head?

Ari sat there and looked stunned. She just kept looking between Jefferson and Gunner and finally just laughed.

“What? Are you both her freaking mother? No, I think not. Ells can do whatever she damn well pleases and you two asswipes have no say in it whatsoever. If she wants to go to work or not go to work, that is her decision to make. I can’t believe you two . . . my God,” Ari said in a harsh tone, directed more at Jefferson than Gunner.

Gunner gave me a small smile and turned back around and looked out the side window. For a brief second, I was pissed at Ari for hurting his feelings. He was only worried about me. Just the thought of it had me thinking things I should not have been thinking about Gunner.

Holy shit . . . I started to blush just thinking about what his touch would feel like. Jefferson brought me out of my wayward thoughts.

“You know what, Squirt, you’re right. I’m not her mother, but I am her brother. Ells, I don’t think it is a good idea, honey. Plus, you are taking pain meds and you really cannot use your hand.”

Maybe Jefferson was right. It had been such a long day, and I was so tired. My hand was killing me, and all I really wanted to do was curl up somewhere and go to sleep and forget this whole day even happened. Well, maybe not the whole day. If Ryan had not cheated on me, I wouldn’t have been graced with the presence of Gunner all afternoon.

Gunner . . . even when I think about him my stomach takes a dive. Does that really even happen to people? According to my mother, all men are evil bastards. Jefferson isn’t an evil bastard. He would never purposely hurt anyone. Although he did seem to be doing a good job getting Ari all fired up today. They were currently going back and forth about what’s best for me again. If I didn’t know any better . . .

Oh my God! Oh. My. God. Jefferson liked Arianna! How did I not see this? The way he kept looking at her and talking to her. The time he beat up Brad Roberts. Once Ari started high school and really started looking more like a girl than his little sister’s . . . squirt friend. OMG! Jefferson pretty much dumped us both and no longer hung out with us right after that.

Wow . . . this was something I would have to think on later. Right now trying to deal with my hand and these crazy intense feelings for Gunner was enough to handle.

“Oh my God, will you two please shut the hell up?”

Ari and Jefferson immediately stopped talking and Ari looked over and took my good hand.

“Ari, I hate to admit this, but I really am so tired and my hand is killing me. Maybe I should rest a bit. Today has been such a long day, and I’m ready for it to just be over,” I said as I looked up to Jefferson, who turned around quickly to give me a smile.

“You’re right, sweets, I’m sorry. I will let them know what happened and why you can’t come in. Tonight was our last day anyway,” Ari said as she leaned over to give me a hug.

“Thanks, Ari, you’re the best!” I noticed Jefferson’s body tense up right at that moment. He must have thought of something.

“Ells, maybe you should plan on staying the night at my place. If Mom is home, she’s going to ask you a million questions, and I’m not sure if you want to talk to her about that douchebag Ryan. You always keep a bag of clothes and stuff in Ari’s Jeep, right?” Jefferson asked as he pulled into the high school parking lot.

“Oh, um, yeah, I didn’t even think about Mom or anything. Last thing I need is to hear her saying ‘I told you so,’” I practically whispered as I thought about my mother and how I’ll never hear the end of it when she finds out about Ryan.

Jefferson wants me to stay at his house . . . Gunner’s house . . .

Oh, holy hell . . . this is going to be bad. Please, please, pleeeease say that Gunner is going out all night or has some big thing he has to leave town for. Please don’t let him say he is going to be there. I mean, Jefferson has never even let me meet any of his college friends, even his best friend, and now he wants me to spend the night in the same house with the guy who practically just has to look at me and I’m ready to jump him.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

“I mean, if that’s okay with you, Gunner? Ellie can take my room, and I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Jefferson said has he jumped out of his truck to help get my things.

“Of course, it’s cool with me! Ellie can stay over any time she likes. Our place is her place as far as I’m concerned,” Gunner said as he turned back and looked over at me, winked, and then gave me that freaking-ass panty-melting smile.

Bastard! He knew what he was doing. He can’t fool me. He knows he has an effect on me, and I’m probably nothing more than a game to him. Hmph. I’ll show him!

Giving him back a very seductive smile—well, at least very seductive for me anyway—I purred back in a very loving, sisterly way.

“Ahhh, Gunner, how very sweet of you. Now I feel like I have two big brothers looking out for me. You are such a good friend.” His smiled faded quicker than a Texas sunset.

Hah! Take that you bastard. I’m sure that just threw about a gallon of cold water on his libido. Huh . . . made me feel pretty damn good, too! I had to smile at my small victory and do a little internal fist pumping.

Jefferson had opened my door and was waiting for me to get out of the truck. He looked between Gunner and me and frowned slightly as he helped me out.

Ari came up behind me and whispered in my ear, “I am SO looking forward to that Coach purse.” I quickly turned to look at her and gave her the angriest look I could manage.

“Never going to happen, Arianna . . . ever!” I hissed through my teeth at her. Ari just threw her head back, laughed, and handed Jefferson my overnight bag I kept in her Jeep.

“Whatever you say, sweets.”

“When you two are done talking in riddles, can we get going? Gunner has someplace he needs to be,” Jefferson said as he walked over to his truck and threw my bag in the back seat. Gunner gave Jefferson a strange look.

“Have fun, Ells! I’ll give you a call later tonight to see how your night went!” Ari said with a laugh as she got into her Jeep, ready to head off to work. She had the top off her Jeep and she was throwing her hair in a ponytail. She truly was beautiful. Hard to believe she didn’t have a boyfriend. I looked over at Jefferson, who was staring at her before he seemed to get his wits about him and started to walk over to the driver’s side of his truck. Ari honked her horn, and all I saw was her pink spare tire cover as she drove off.

I stood there and watched my bitch of a best friend drive off and leave me to fend for myself. Pssh, I will remember this. I turned and headed to climb into the back seat and Gunner took my arm. My breath instantly caught, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he had the same reaction.

“Why don’t you sit up front with your brother, Ellie? I’ll sit back here.”

Boy, did he stress “brother!” Oops, wonder if I made him mad. The thought of making him mad or upset seemed to unsettle me. My stomach started to feel sick. What the fuck? Maybe it was just my hand hurting.

“Oh, okay, um, thanks. I mean, I’m sorry if I kept you from something you had to do this afternoon. Thank you for all your help by the way. I really do appreciate it.” Good Lord, I somehow managed to get that all out without sounding like an idiot.

“It was no problem at all, Ellie. Besides the fact you have a hurt hand, I’ve rather enjoyed my afternoon,” Gunner said with the sweetest smile. Okay, this guy really knew how to confuse me.

I looked down to where he still had his hand on my arm. He quickly dropped his hand and opened the truck door for me. I turned to smile at him right as he was shutting my door. Once Gunner was in, Jefferson fired up his truck and started to head to their place. He reached over and messed around, looking for a song, and then “Truck Yeah” started up again.

“Nooo!” Gunner and I shouted at the same time. Jefferson just threw his head back and laughed. He looked over at me and gave me a wink and pulled out onto the main road.

I am so going to delete that song from his iPod the first chance I get!

My heart was pounding and I felt like I was fighting for every breath. What was wrong with me? I had been to Jefferson’s place plenty of times. The was a cute house with a huge backyard in Hyde Park, and I loved going there. It was a white house with blue trim. The front porch had a porch swing on it and I always thought how nice it would be to just sit on that swing and read a book. I’m sure Gunner’s grandfather paid a small fortune for it, but Jefferson said it was a good investment.

Gunner had never once asked for rent from Jefferson. They just split the rest of the bills. The only problem with this place was it was for sure a bachelor pad. The few times I had been there I noticed all the football and architectural stuff everywhere. I’m still amazed that both Gunner and Jefferson had decided to major in the same field. It’s no wonder they became best friends. They both loved football and architecture and FOOTBALL.

We turned down Avenue F and my heart started to pound so loud and fast I was sure Jefferson and Gunner could hear it. Jefferson pulled up and parked next to what I’m guessing was Gunner’s truck. It was an older model F-250 beige truck. What was it with Texas boys and their trucks?

“Is that your truck, Gunner?” I was regretting it the minute it came out of my mouth. I mean, come on, Ellie, who else’s truck would it be?

“Yep! That’s my girl! My Gramps gave her to me when I got accepted into UT. She’s a 1998 F-250 that was used on the ranch, but she has never failed me yet,” Gunner said, jumping out of the truck and opening my door for me.

Hmm, manners, good-looking, and a rocking body. Yeah, this guy is too good to be true. I would do good to keep telling myself that.

“You refer to your truck as a girl?” I looked over at the truck and back at Gunner. Oh, mistake . . . there was that damn smile again. Wait? When did it go crooked? Maybe it was just the way he was smiling right now. I don’t think I would have missed that . . . would I? My head was spinning and my hand was throbbing. Good Lord, I’m so fucked with this guy.

Gunner let out another one of those laughs that made me go all Jell-O on the inside. Shit! I should have just taken my chances with my mother.

“Yes, Ellie, I refer to her as my girl. This way I know the only way my heart will ever get broken is if she breaks down on the side of the road and leaves me stranded,” he said as he gave me a wink.

Holy hell, this guy was killing me, what a flirt! Okay . . . I can play this game! I dug down deep and pulled out my sexiest voice.

“Well . . . I’m sure your heart is safe then . . . aren’t Fords pretty reliable? I mean, I would hate to think of your heart being broken. It would just make me all sad,” I said as I looked up at him through my eyelashes. His crooked smile got even bigger, and for a moment he looked like he wanted to kiss me.

My heart started to pound even harder . . . holy fuck . . . was eighteen too young to be having a heart attack? I mean, what the hell else was this?

“Gunner!” Jefferson called out and snapped me out of my moment of weakness. I spun around to look at my brother, who was holding my overnight bag and giving both of us a curious look.

“Dude, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Oh. My. God . . . what was I doing? I just flirted with my brother’s best friend, in front of my brother, and now he was going to chew his ass out. Or worse . . . beat the shit out of him.

Oh, great! There goes my party Saturday night.

“Hey, Ells, you mind heading in, and I’ll bring your bag to my bedroom?” Jefferson asked as I slowly started to walk toward him.

“Umm, yeah, sure, no problem, but, um, is everything okay?”

“Of course it is, honey. I just need to ask Gunner to do me a favor,” Jefferson said as he pushed me up the stairs of the front porch. I turned back around and watched as Gunner ran his hands through his beautiful, messy hair while he walked up to Jefferson. Oh, how I would love to run my hands through his hair. He took one look up at me and smiled. I felt my lower lip going numb and realized I was biting the shit out of it.

I turned back toward the door and opened it. As soon as I walked in I had to smile. It smelled just like Jefferson in here. And it smelled just like . . . Gunner . . . oh yeah . . .

I was fucked for sure.