Holy shit! I’d never seen a guy rush out the door as fast as Gunner did. The moment he heard me say I was hungry he practically jumped over the bar and offered to go get food! I had to giggle. There was just something about him . . . what was it?

I mean, this morning I woke up with a boyfriend, and tonight I was having fantasies about my brother’s best friend. What the hell was wrong with this picture? Maybe it was because I knew he was Jefferson’s friend. I’d always been kept away from them, so maybe it was just the fact that Jefferson was okay with it that had me attracted to the guy. Who knows.

I walked up to a bookshelf and saw a picture of Jefferson and Gunner. Funny, I’d never seen this picture before. They were both in their swimsuits and it looked like they were at the coast. I was going to have to wipe the drool from my mouth if I kept staring at Gunner like this. Hot damn, he had a nice body. His tribal tattoo was gorgeous. Hmmm. Wonder if I’ll ever get to see it in person. I started to feel a dull ache between my legs and had to press them together to make it stop.

“That picture was taken this past spring break in Port A,” Jefferson said as he walked up behind me.

Startled that I’d just been caught staring at Gunner’s picture, I quickly put it down and turned around and smiled. “You sure are one handsome fella, Jefferson. I bet y’all had girls all over you down there,” I said as a way to divert him from what I was doing.

Jefferson threw his head back and laughed. “Nope. Well, don’t get me wrong, there were a few sluts that tried to make their way back to our condo. We couldn’t be bothered with most of the girls down there though. Most of them are just hoes.”

“Well, jeez, thanks for that. If you haven’t forgotten, Ari and I went to Port A for a few days during spring break, so are you calling us hoes?” I raised my eyebrows at him, waiting for his answer.

“Now come on, Ells, I would never ever say you were like those girls. Ari now . . . she’s another story,” Jefferson said as he let out a laugh and walked into the kitchen and got out a beer.

“Hey! That’s my best friend! She’s not a slut. I’ll have you know she has never even had . . .” I stopped myself suddenly before I just announced to my brother that Ari was still a virgin. With the way their relationship had been lately, he didn’t need any more to use against her. Jefferson stopped his beer at his lips and tilted his head. Oh, shit . . . a smile slowly came across his face.

“So Squirt is still a virgin, is she? Huh. This is news. This could be very informative news indeed!” He let out a gruff laugh.

“Jefferson Michael Johnson, so help me God, if you even hint to her that you know, I will never talk to you again. Ever!” I said as I got up and started poking his massive chest.

He just laughed and rubbed the top of my head like I was a child. “Don’t worry, honey. Her secret is safe with me!”

That reminded me. I remembered Jefferson’s and Ari’s strange exchanges all day.

“Speaking of Ari, what was going on with you two today?”

Jefferson stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at me.

“What’re you talking about? Nothing is going on between us. Why would you even ask that? I mean she is, well, she’s just Ari,” Jefferson said to me with a shrug of his shoulders. The stricken look on his face was like I just asked him to solve the problem of world hunger.

“I didn’t mean to imply there was something going on. It’s just that you were bickering with her, and it seemed like you were trying to just piss her off on purpose. She is my best friend, Jefferson, and I’m tired of you always treating her like a spoiled child. She is not a bratty child. She is a grown adult woman, and she deserves to be treated better than that. I would expect that from you of all people.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s not lost on me how much of an adult Ari is. I’m sorry, Ells. I’ll try not to argue with her as much. I need to get ready for my date,” Jefferson said as he turned and walked away. He stopped and turned around and looked in Gunner’s bedroom.

“Where’s Gunner?”

“Oh . . . I just mentioned I was hungry and he pretty much darted out the door to go get food. He said he would be back in a few minutes,” I said as I sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV.

“Damn, Ellie! You got that boy going every which way but loose!” Jefferson said with a laugh.

“What are you talking about? He said he was hungry, too, and was going to get some food. Sheesh, Jefferson, you act like he was jumping off a bridge for me or something,” I said, annoyed at where this was going. Jefferson turned back around to come and sit down next to me while he let out a small laugh.

“You really don’t see, do you, Ells?” Jefferson asked as he bumped into my shoulder.

“See what? What’re you going on about, Jefferson?” I was really starting to get annoyed by him.

“Ellie, I’ve known Gunner for three years now. I’ve never seen him with the same girl more than a few times. He is so focused on football and school he pretty much has never given a girl more than five minutes of his attention. Don’t get me wrong; he likes girls!” Jefferson said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

What the hell did that mean?

Was Gunner a player? Did he sleep around a lot? I mean, he sure had the looks to get any girl he wanted. My head was starting to spin again and the thought of Gunner with another girl had me feeling angry inside.

What the hell?

“I can honestly say I’ve never seen Gunner run and fetch dinner for someone!” Jefferson laughed again. “Ellie, honey, I know you just had this whole bullshit thing with Ryan the douchebag this morning, and you believe that bullshit Mom fed you years ago but, Gunner is attracted to you, princess. He’s a good guy, Ellie, but . . .” Jefferson cut off what he was saying and he looked down and away from me.

“But what?” I asked, clearly anticipating Jefferson to tell me to stay clear of his best friend.

“Ells, I want you to know I would trust my life and yours with Gunner. I trust him, but this is you we’re talking about. I just don’t want him to break your heart or hurt you, Ellie. I really don’t want you to jump into something you’re not ready for, honey. Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Jefferson said as he took my good hand and brought it up to his mouth to kiss the back of it.

I busted out laughing, and Jefferson just looked at me.

“What’s so funny, Ells?”

I just could not stop laughing . . . “Oh my gosh! You’re what’s so funny! I mean, come on, Jefferson! I hardly think that Gunner is interested in me of all people! I’m sure he is only being nice to me because of you!” I said in between laughs.

Jefferson dropped my hand and stood up. He looked down at me and sighed heavily. “Ellie, you’re beautiful, inside and out. You’re very desirable, princess, and trust me when I say this, Gunner is interested. He’s a great guy, just be careful—that’s all I ask. I have to get going or I’m going to be late, and the wrath of Rebecca will be upon me!”

My heart was pounding and I felt like I was going to be sick. No . . . I would not let this happen. Gunner was not interested in me! Was he? If he was, it was probably only for sex. No matter if Jefferson was his best friend or not, men were all the same. I was not going to have anything to do with it. I just had to make sure I kept it to the “just friends” level with this guy.

I looked over at his picture with Jefferson on the beach and sighed. Jesus, this was going to be hard. The guy was beyond good-looking and his body . . . I had to squeeze my legs together to ease the throbbing again.

Yep, this was going to be hard. Very, very hard. A second later the front door flew open and Gunner came in holding bags from my favorite sandwich place, Schlotzsky’s.

“Hey, you! Glad you’re still awake. I remembered Jeff said your favorite sandwich was the turkey breast on rye from Schlotzsky’s. I hope you’re hungry, sweetheart. I got you two,” Gunner said with that crooked smile on his face and those blue eyes sparkling down at me.

I let out a laugh as he sat down and set all the food on the coffee table. He started to take out four sandwiches, five bags of chips, and two drinks. Good Lord, who was this all for?

“I wasn’t sure what kind of chips you liked so I just grabbed a few of them. You like sweet tea, right?” He asked as he started to spread out the feast before us.

“Umm . . . Wow, Gunner! Yes, I love sweet tea! I would’ve been happy with just the sandwich, thank you. The cracked pepper chips are my favorite though,” I said as I let out another laugh.

How in the world did he think I would eat two sandwiches? “I don’t think I can eat both sandwiches, though, I’m sorry,” I said as I looked over at him. He was already taking a bite of his sandwich.

“No problem, sweetheart! I’ll eat what you don’t want. We can just throw the chips in the pantry for later,” he said as he unwrapped the other sandwich he had bought for me. I smiled at how much he reminded me of Jefferson. Jefferson could eat a cow, I swear.

My God, Gunner was so damn cute when he ate. Shit, he was just so damn cute period! No, he was beyond cute. He was handsome. I practically could feel the heat coming from his body. I needed to move away a bit before his leg touched mine. If it did, I was pretty sure I would fall apart.

I looked over at him just as he looked over at me.

“You okay, sweetheart? Are you not feeling well? You need more medicine?”

I just smiled at him, shook my head no, and took a bite of my sandwich. He smiled that big crooked smile, and just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I noticed the goddamn dimple on his cheek.

Fuck me . . . this was going to be very hard.