“All right, Gunner, what the fuck happened between you and my sister last night, asshole? You haven’t stopped smiling all goddamn morning, and my mind is going crazy here!” Jeff said as we were mending the fence in the east pasture.

I stood up, took my cowboy hat off, and wiped the sweat off my face with my shirt. I smiled over at Jeff, and I thought for sure he was about to walk up and punch the shit out of me.

“Dude, nothing happened like what you’re thinking happened. I already told you, I respect your sister and your friendship more than that.”

“Well, then shit, Gunner, something must have happened because you’re fucking walking around on cloud nine.”

“Last night I told Ellie I loved her, and she told me she loved me. We talked about what we saw for our futures. where we saw our futures. She asked me if I was going to play pro, and I told her no. My dream was to be here, and she pretty much told me she loved the ranch as much as I did.”

Jeff ran his hands through his hair and looked at me. The smile that came across his face was all I needed to see. We walked up to each other and he grabbed my hand, smacked it, and then shook it.

“Holy fucking shit. Gunner Mathews is in love, and it’s with my baby sister. I never thought I would see the goddamn day! That’s great, Gunner. That’s really great, dude. I know you make my sister happy. I haven’t seen her this happy in, well, shit . . . I’ve never seen her this happy!”

I started to laugh as I slapped him on the back. “Well, the feeling is mutual. She makes me happy, Jeff, and I can’t stand to be away from her for a second. I just want to make her happy for the rest of her life.”

“That’s good to hear. Really good to hear, ’cause if you ever hurt her, Gunner, I’ll fucking kill you and not think twice about it.”

I stopped taking a drink of my water and looked at Jeff. He went back to fixing the fence like he didn’t just threaten my life.

“Well, I don’t ever intend to hurt her, but that’s good to know, dude.”

Jeff and I spent most of the morning fixing the east pasture back fence. Drake said they lost a few cattle last week, so hopefully this would put a stop to that. I fucking loved it out here. Working with my hands in the Texas summer heat—shit, there wasn’t anything else like it.

“Shit, I’m ready to cool off. How hot do you think it is today?” Jeff said as he pulled his shirt off and wiped his face with it.

“Fuck if I know. Gramps said yesterday it got up to a hundred, but it sure as shit is different when you’re sitting in a barn drinking a cold beer!”

Just then we heard “Highway to Hell” blaring from up the gravel road.

“That has to be Dewey. Bastard always did like AC/DC,” Jeff said as he grabbed his shirt and put it back on. “Why the fuck he is going to the river with us anyway? Did you see the way he was looking Ari up and down? That asshole.”

I had to laugh at Jeff. He wouldn’t admit his feelings for Ari, but he didn’t want anyone else to notice her, either. It was all too fucked up for me to try to understand.

Dewey pulled up next to Gramps’s truck and parked. He jumped out and made his way over to us.

“What’s up, dudes? You heading down to the river? It’s almost one and Ari said that’s what time they were meeting you.”

Holy fuck, this bastard had already been drinking. That was not cool, not cool at all. I wondered if this was a normal thing for him.

“When did you talk to Ari, Dew?” Jeff asked as he loaded the tools up in the truck.

“Oh, I stopped by earlier this morning. Ari and Ellie were in the garden with Mrs. Mathews. Goddamn, Ellie has a nice fucking ass.”

I’m not even sure why I did it, but I reached for Dewey and slammed him against the truck.

“Don’t you ever fucking say something like that again about her or even look wrong at her, Dewey, or I swear to you, I will beat the shit out of you!”

Jeff came running over and tried to pull me off Dewey as Dewey threw his hands in the air.

“Dude! Holy shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t think you were that serious about her . . .”

“Listen to me, Dew. I’m going to marry that girl someday, so you better keep your fucking distance from her, you got me?” I said I as I gave him a good push and walked to the driver’s side of the truck.

“Dewey, we’ll see you down at the river in a little bit. Why don’t you let Gunner cool off a bit before you come down there, okay? And dude, don’t talk about my sister like that ever again. Got it?”

“Um, yeah, sure. Sorry, Jeff. See you in a bit.”

Jeff loaded the last of the tools and jumped in the truck. “Jesus, Gunner, I think you scared the shit out of Dewey,” Jeff said with a laugh.

“Would you have let him talk about Ellie that way?”

“Fuck no. I was about to kick the living shit out of him, but you beat me to it!”

“Let’s just get to the river first before he shows up,” I said as I put the truck in drive and took off. The thought of Dewey seeing Ellie in a bikini made me sick to my stomach. Goddamn that fucker . . .

We pulled up and saw Ellie and Ari sitting on the tailgate of my truck. I had to smile. Just the thought of Ellie driving around on the ranch in my truck warmed me up inside I looked over at Jeff, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. What was he up to?

“Do I even want to know what you’re planning?”

“No, I don’t think you do,” Jeff said as he gave me a wink and jumped out of the truck. The girls jumped down from the tailgate. They were both dressed in short-ass jean shorts and tank tops. I could see the white strap of Ellie’s bikini top, and just the thought of her taking off that tank top made my damn dick jump. Ellie came running over and jumped in my arms as I spun her around.

“Good morning, Drew!” she said in my ear. “I missed you this morning!”

The heat on my neck from her breath was about to drive me insane. Why was it that everything this girl does drove me crazy?

“Good morning, Ellie. I missed you too, sweetheart, more than you know. Did you sleep okay last night?” I asked as I put her down and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

“I did. I had a dream and I remember waking up so happy, but I cannot for the life of me remember what the dream was about. It kind of pisses me off really.”

I threw my head back and laughed at her. Damn, she was so fucking cute! I swung down and picked her up while she let out a small scream and carried her back over to the truck. Jeff was already arguing with Ari. Jesus Christ, those two . . .

“I seriously doubt I was calling out your name in my sleep, you dickwad. You only wish I was.”

“Tell her, Ells, tell her how when I carried her up to bed she was saying how wonderful and strong and handsome I was.”

“Um, that’s not really how I remember it, Jefferson,” Ellie said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Yeah, you wish, pretty boy! You could only dream of me wanting you.”

“Whatever you say, Squirt. You couldn’t handle a man like me anyway,” Jeff said as he lifted his T-shirt up over his head. We had already changed into swim trunks before we pulled up.

Ari stood there and stared at Jeff. He glanced her way and laughed.

“See what I mean, honey. You can’t even think when you see my body!” Jeff threw his head back and laughed his ass off.

Ari shrugged her shoulders and walked to the edge of the water. She dipped her toe in and then started to take her jean shorts off. Jeff instantly stopped laughing. She didn’t just slip them down, she made a goddamn show out of it. Cue the strip-tease music.

She tossed her shorts to the side and just stood there with her hands on her hips. I felt like I should be a better friend and go and pick Jeff’s jaw off the ground, but he did bring it on himself.

I turned to look at Ellie, who had a smile on her face, clearly amused by the whole scene that was taking place.

“How was your morning with Grams?”

“Oh my gosh, she is something else, Gunner. She knows everything there is to know about gardens and cooking and horses and cows, and what to do if you get bit by a snake or if you roll around in poison ivy. She’s amazing! I love her to pieces.”

I smiled down at Ellie. I needed to bring her out here more often so that Grams can teach her everything she knows. I think they would both like that. Grams often mentioned how she wished she would have been able to teach her daughters-in-law a thing or two about being housewives. I looked out at the river and was dying to get into it.

“Want to go swimming? I’m hotter than hell from working in the heat all morning.”

Ellie’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. Huh? Was she that excited about swimming in the river? I mean, I know she had been out to Lake Travis plenty of times from what Jeff had told me. I wonder what was so exciting about the Llano River.

I started to pull off my T-shirt and heard Ellie suck in a breath. By the way she was eyeing my chest and my tattoo, I now knew why she was so excited. Damn, she had been waiting for me to take my shirt off again. She had only seen me without it on twice. The few times she had spent the night with me, I had always kept my shirt on. She took a step closer to me and put her hand on my chest. I instantly felt the heat from her hand travel through my body and down to my dick. She started to trace my tattoo with her finger. She looked up at me, licked her lips, and smiled.

“Like what you see?” I asked as I gave her a wink.

“Oh, yes, very, very much! I’ve wanted to do that since the first day I met you and noticed your tattoo. How old were you when you got this?” She pointed to the Mathews brand tattoo.

“I had just turned eighteen when I got it. Birthday present to myself. I got the tribal tattoo when Jeff got his.”

“Hmm . . .”

“I think that since you are drooling over my chest, I should be able to do the same, don’t you agree?” I said as I slowly started to lift her tank top over her head.

Holy motherfucking shit. She was more beautiful than I’d even dreamed. Her skin looked so soft and perfect. He breasts were amazing. She had to be at least a C cup. Ellie slowly started to peel her shorts down and when she had them off she took a step back and did a spin for me. I felt like my knees were going to give out on me at any moment. I had never in my life seen anyone with such a beautiful body. She didn’t look like most of the girls I had dated—stick thin like they never ate. She had a figure. A beautiful figure. Your typical hourglass shape, and my God, how I wanted to just take her right here in the bed of my truck. I had to step to my left to adjust my growing problem in my swim trunks.

“You like what you see?” Ellie said in a shy, quiet voice.

“Um, yes. I more than like what I see. I want to lick every surface of your body with my tongue and explore every inch of you.”

I looked down at her face and I saw that blush slowly creep up into her cheeks. I reached out, brought her to me, and kissed her. She returned my kiss so passionately that I thought I was going to just die right there.

“Hey! That’s my sister, you bastard!” Jeff yelled over at us. Ellie started to smile against my lips. I did the only thing any other man would have done when he had the love of his life in his arms and her brother yelling for him to stop kissing her.

I gave Jeff the finger.

“Can we leave and go find our tree?” Ellie asked as she pulled away from my kiss.

“Our tree?” I asked her confused.

“Yeah, last night watching the stars by the giant live oak. That had to be the biggest tree I’ve ever seen!” Ellie said with a laugh.

“So that’s our tree, huh? You know I used to go there when I was little just to get away, think, or just enjoy the peace and quiet. I think I can share my oak tree with you.” Ellie let out a laugh and jumped into my arms. I grabbed her and had to adjust her away from my rock hard dick that was starting to fucking hurt. It was time to get into the cold river water. I started to walk with her holding her close and tight.

“Where do you think you’re going, Drew Mathews? If you even attempt to put me in that water I swear I will—”

“You’ll what? What are you going to do, baby?” I asked as I kissed her nose. I kicked off my shoes and started to run toward the water as she let out a scream. The moment we hit the water I had my breath practically knocked out and was gasping for air when I came up from underneath the surface.

“Holy fuck, I don’t remember this river being so cold!” I said as Ellie jumped up and tried to push me under the water. She kept pushing with all her might. Ahh . . . she was cute trying to act all strong. I just held her off while I yelled for Jeff to get his ass in the water. He and Ari were still going at each other on the shoreline about God knows what.

“I’m not getting in that water—it’s cold as hell,” Ari said.

“Come on, Ari, it feels so good once you get in, you big baby!”

“Fuck you, Ellie.”

Just then I saw Jeff come up behind Ari and throw her over his shoulder. I’ve never seen a girl kick and scream like Ari was. You would have thought Jeff was about to throw her off a cliff! He walked in waist-deep water and slapped the shit out of her ass right before he gave her a toss. Ellie busted out laughing when Ari jumped up and was instantly bitching out Jeff.

“You motherfucking son of a bitch, dickwad asshole, prick-eating asswipe!”

“Wow! You kiss your mother with that mouth? We might need to give that filthy mouth of yours a good washing, Squirt! I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use all those words together like that!” Jeff said as he let out a laugh.

Next thing I knew, I felt Ellie’s hand touch my dick. I just about jumped out of my skin. Whoa, I was not expecting that. I turned around and grabbed her hand.

“Ellie, what the fuck are you doing?” I whispered to her. She just gave me an innocent look and shrugged her shoulders.

“I just wanted to touch you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. She pressed into me and I instantly pulled her off me. She looked hurt, but there was no way I could do this with Jeff ten feet away from me. I really didn’t feel like getting my ass kicked.

“Gunner, what’s wrong?” Ellie said as she moved closer to me. I moved back away from her as I looked over at Jeff, who was now in a splashing war with Ari as they called each other every name in the book.

Ellie let a sexy smile move across her face . . . oh, shit.

“What’s wrong, Gunner? What are you afraid of? I just wanted to hug you and give you a little attention . . .”

Who was this girl? Where did my sweet, innocent Ellie go? She looked over at Jeff and smiled bigger, which made me look at him. She made her move, and I wasn’t expecting it. She lunged at me and I tried to get away before she grabbed onto my neck and held on for dear life. The heat from her touch was more than I could stand. She took advantage of my moment of weakness and wrapped her legs around me as she moved her hand down my swim shorts and took my dick into her hand.

Oh, holy fuck, I was going to lose it. What the hell? Was I fourteen again? This girl was going to be the death of me.

Ellie started to kiss me as she moved her hand along my dick, slowly driving me insane.

Jeff seemed too distracted with Ari to even notice what was going on.

“What’s wrong, Squirt? You too afraid to swing off the rope swing? You always were a bit of a scaredy-cat, weren’t you?” Jeff said as he laughed at Ari.

“Fuck you, Jeff. Just watch what I can do on a rope swing!” I heard Ari shout back at Jeff.

“Move away from them, Gunner . . .” Ellie said against my lips.

“Ellie, you really have to stop, baby . . . like right now . . .” I squeezed my eyes shut as she moved her hand faster. Fuck me! I was losing control fast. I pulled away from her as I looked over at Jeff standing in the water watching Ari about to swing from the rope swing. I started to walk away from them slowly.

“Kiss me, Gunner, now.”

I turned back and kissed her. Fuck it . . . it felt too fucking good to fight it anymore.

It only took her a few more pumps and I started to moan into her mouth as she deepened the kiss and I held her tighter. I slowly started to come back to earth as she lazily moved her hand.

“Did you?”

Holy shit. I was having a hard time catching my breath. I leaned my forehead against Ellie’s. That was probably the most intense orgasm I’d ever had in my life. If her hand could make me feel this good, what would it be like inside her? She slowly lifted her hand and wrapped her arms around my neck as she gave me that damn smile that made me weak in the knees.

“Yes, baby, I did.” I leaned in to kiss her once I got my breathing under control.

“Thank you for letting me do that to you, Gunner,” she said against my lips.

I just started to laugh. “Well, considering I could’ve had my ass kicked at any moment if your brother saw us, I would have to say that it was worth the risk of getting caught. Fuck, Ellie, you drive me crazy!”

She threw her head back and laughed as she looked over at Ari, who had yet to swing off the rope swing while Jeff just kept calling her a scaredy-cat.

“Guess what?”

“What, baby?” I said as I traced her beautiful jawline with my finger.

“That was another first for me,” she said with a smile so sweet I just about had my heart explode in my chest. Fuck me.

“Jesus, Ellie . . .” I cupped her face with my hand and kissed her. I couldn’t believe what a lucky son of a bitch I was to have her experience all these things with me. What did I do to deserve her?

Ellie pulled away from my lips just a little and whispered against them.

“I love you, Gunner.”

“I love you too, Ellie, more than anything.”

Just then I heard Ari screaming at Jeff. “You fucking dick! You knew my top would come off if I did that! I hate you . . . you dirty bastard!”