At the same time, Jeff, Heather, and Lynda all said “What?”
The only one who didn’t say anything was Josh. He was too busy being in heaven from holding Heather.
Jeff tugged me off to the side. “Ari, we really need to talk, and we can’t do that if Lynda in the car!”
I just glared at him. Then a black BMW pulled up the drive. Gunner’s Uncle Jim got out and started to walk over towards us.
“Daddy? What are you doing here?” Lynda asked.
Jim smiled at each of us, but he gave Heather a small frown. I guessed it was because he could tell she’d been crying.
“I drove back out here to pick you up. I didn’t think anyone would be heading back into Austin, so I thought I’d better come get you.” Jim explained.
I knew Lynda was pissed because she couldn’t ride back Austin with Josh. I could see it all over her face. I was pissed now because I had to drive back to Austin with Jeff alone, and I knew he wanted to talk about Rebecca.
Jeff shook Jim’s hand, and they spoke for a few minutes. I helped Heather move her overnight bag and a small suitcase into Josh’s truck.
“Ari, why can’t I ride back with you and Jeff?” Heather practically begged.
“Heather, Jeff and I really need to talk about this whole bitch Rebecca bullshit.”
Even though I wanted to jump at the chance to have Heather to ride with us, I wanted her to get closer to Josh. If it meant driving in a truck alone with Jeff back to Austin, then so be it. The tension between Heather and Josh was getting unbearable.
Heather let out a sigh and gave me a quick hug good-bye. Josh avoided Lynda like she was the plague. He jumped in his truck so damn fast that I had to giggle. I watched as his truck disappeared down the gravel road.
When I turned around, I saw that Lynda was also watching the truck. I instantly got a very bad feeling about this girl, considering the way she’d been hanging all over Josh last night and now today. I knew this would not be the last we saw of Lynda.
After packing Lynda’s things into his car, Jim said his goodbyes and drove off. I was going to have to ask Ellie about this Lynda chick.
Jeff and I headed inside to let everyone know that we were leaving. After we said good-bye to Emma, Garrett, my parents, and Matt, we started to make our way to Jeff’s truck. Before we left, I noticed when Jeff stopped to say something to Matt. The smile that played across Matt’s face gave me butterflies in my stomach. He loved Jeff so much, and Jeff loved him in return.
The ache in my chest grew stronger as I started to get a terrible feeling. For once, I actually feared that this baby was really Jeff’s. Then, Jeff walked over to his truck and opened the door for me. I took one last look at my parents and Matt. The urge to cry was growing stronger by the minute.
As soon as he pulled out to the road, Jeff turned on his iPod.
Huh, looks like he’s in no mood to talk either. Fine by me.
I leaned my head back, and the next thing I knew, I was dreaming about Jeff holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The smile on his face was like none I’d ever seen before. He looked so happy. Then Rebecca walked up and kissed him on the cheek as he told her he loved her.
I woke up, not realizing that I had just screamed out no in my sleep.
“Jesus H. Christ, Ari! You scared the fuck out of me. Did you have a bad dream or something?”
It took me a few seconds to process what I’d just dreamed about. My head snapped over to look at Jeff. Did I have a bad dream? Really?
“Ah, normally, when someone wakes up screaming, it’s from a bad dream, dickwad!”
Jeff stared straight ahead, but I saw the muscles flexing in his jaw. I wasn’t sure why I was being such a bitch to him.
“Maybe you should go back to sleep since you’re in a pissy mood.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said as I looked out the window and did the one thing I’d myself I wouldn’t do. I cried.
CHAPTER SIX
JEFF
I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with Ari. Ever since she had woken up, she had been in a piss-poor mood. It had gotten worse when she found out that I’d called Rebecca. She’s the one who wanted me to call her.
Fuck this is not how this weekend was supposed to be. Twenty four hours ago, she was so happy, and today it was like she couldn’t stand to be around me. On top of all this, I had to go and deal with Rebecca tomorrow.
The first thing I needed to do was work on this restraining order. I knew Ari would be pissed if I kept seeing Rebecca alone. I wanted to slam my fist on the steering wheel. Why the hell is this happening to us? We were finally together.
I looked over at Ari, and I swore if I’d not known any better, I’d think she was crying.
“Ari, baby, are you crying?”
She just shook her head and kept staring out the window. Fuck me. This whole thing with Rebecca must be tearing her apart inside. I’ll be so glad to meet with Rebecca and get this shit over with. No way is that kid mine. No way.
***
We drove the rest of the way to Austin in silence. Ari never once looked at me. I wished that I knew what to do to take away her pain. I was dying inside. I needed to take her out tonight or something.
“Hey, baby, you want to go out to dinner and maybe some dancing at Rebels?” I asked as I reached over and took her hand.
I glanced over at her as she turned to me. Holy shit. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She shook her head and then attempted to smile at me. My whole damn world just shattered at the sight of her upset.
“Ari, I promise you that, this is all going to be okay. You have to trust me.”
“How do you know that it’s all going to be okay, Jeff? Please tell me if you have some inside information that you haven’t shared with me yet. I can’t possibly see how you think it’s going to be okay. You’re having a baby. You’re having a fucking baby with someone else, and we just got engaged. She will forever be in our lives, Jeff. I’m sorry if that freaks me the fuck out.”
“Let’s just wait and see about tomorrow. Okay, baby? I just want to get back home and crawl back into bed with you.”
“I want to go back to my place for awhile,” she whispered.
I snapped my head over to look at her. What the hell?
“What? Why? For Christ’s sake, Ari, we just got engaged, and we’ve barely even spoken to each other. Now you want to stay at your place tonight?” I was so pissed that my hands started shaking.
“I just need to go home for a few hours Jeff. That’s all. I need to think about a few things and get my head wrapped around this whole thing. I’ll come back to your place later tonight. I’m going to need my Jeep anyway since you’re meeting…” Ari’s voice trailed off.
Jesus, now, she can’t even say her name. This was so fucked up, and I had no idea what to do about it. I should have talked to Garrett this morning. Damn it!
“Okay, as long as you plan on coming back tonight, Ari, I don’t want to be away from you. I need to be with you.”
Ari smiled at me. We drove in silence until I pulled up to her place. I helped bring her bags into her house, and then I watched as she collapsed on the sofa. I knelt down in front of her, and she leaned forward putting her forehead up against mine.
“I love you, Ari. I’ll always love you, baby, and no one or nothing is going to get in the way of that.”
She sucked in a breath and pulled away from me. The tears rolling down her face about gutted me right on the spot.
“I hope you’re right, Jeff. I really hope that you’re right.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
JOSH
The moment I jumped into my truck the excitement I felt about Heather riding back to Austin with me vanished in an instant. I looked over at her, and I swore that if looks could kill, I would be long gone. I tried to give her a smile, and I noticed when she somewhat relaxed.
We both reached for the radio at the same time, our hands bumping into each other. What the fuck? There goes that damn feeling throughout my body. Every time this girl touched me or smiled at me, it was like an electric bolt ran through me. I’d never felt this before with anyone.
“I’m sorry. That was rude of me. It’s your car.” Heather said before turning to stare out the window.
For some reason, the idea of ever hurting her sickened me. All I could think about was trying to cheer her up from the sour mood she was in. I knew that fate was on my side when her new car wouldn’t start. Luckily, Lynda’s dad showed up when he did. I almost wanted to jump for joy when I saw him get out of that BMW.
“Don’t worry about it, Heather. What type of music do you like?” Shit….I realized then that I really didn’t know much about Heather at all.
The only time we had ever really talked was a few nights ago at Gunner’s bachelor party after the girls crashed it. Even though Heather had been pretty drunk, we had mostly talked about her parents, who passed away a year ago.
“Um, I really like all kinds of music. I’m pretty fond of country, but Christina Aguilera is probably one of my favorites,” she admitted.
I wanted to laugh at the memory of Heather and the girls getting wasted while painting those damn pails for the s’mores. Heather and Ari had been dancing to Christina Aguilera’s “Red Hot Kinda Love,” and I had sworn that it was Heather’s crazy way to flirt with me. Shit if it didn’t work, too. I had to take three goddamn cold showers that night after every time I’d thought about it.
I had bought the whole damn CD the next day.
I smiled at her and reached down to get my iPod to play the album. After a quick search, that song started. Heather snapped her head over at me, and the blush that moved up her cheeks caused me to smile at her.
“Why are you playing this song?” Heather asked.
“I thought you just said that you liked Christina Aguilera.” I turned my head back to watch the road, and I did everything I could not to laugh.
“Josh, I’m not stupid. I know why you played this song, you asshole!”
“Holy shit, Heather. I’m going to have to wash your mouth out if you keep swearing like that.” I said with a laugh.
“Why did my car have to break down?” Heather said barely loud enough for me to hear her.
What’s her problem anyway?
“Why are you so against me, Heather? What have I ever done to you to make you hate me so much?”
Heather sucked in a breath. “You think I hate you?”
I let out a small laugh. “Yeah. What else would you call it, Heather?”
I watched as she turned back to look out the window at the passing fields. She stayed quiet for a few minutes, and then she startled me when she started to talk again.
“Josh, I don’t hate you. Really, it’s the opposite. I’ve had a lot to deal with in my life this past year. I just can’t…I can’t let anyone in right now. I don’t think I could stand to lose another person I cared about.”
My heart was beating a mile a minute. What the hell is this girl doing to me? I couldn’t even think straight to form my next words. What did she mean? It’s the opposite. Does that mean she...oh holy fuck…she can’t love me ….can she? She pretty much just said she cared about me. Didn’t she?