Saved (45 page)

“No, she couldn’t make it.”

Just then, I saw Heather pulling up. Ari and
I stepped out of the way, so she could park.

“She’s gonna be so pissed at you!” Ari said
as she raised her eyebrows up at me.

“Me? Why me? Why not you? Y’all invited
Josh.”

“You invited her, and I’m sure she asked if
he was going to be here.”

Oh my god.
I wanted to kill my BFF so badly at this very
moment. “I swear, Ari if you weren’t pregnant, I would.”

Ari let out a laugh. “Oh, come on, bitch, I
can take you, pregnant or not!”

Heather got out of the car and smiled at both
of us. Her smile quickly faded when she looked between the two of
us.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked at Ari and she looked at me. Then, I
heard Josh laugh, and Heather looked behind us.

“I’m pregnant!” Ari shouted out.

I just stared at her a what-the-hell look.
She glanced at me and shrugged her shoulders.

“
What? I panicked, okay?”
Ari said with a smile.

Heather seemed confused for a moment.

“Wait…what? You’re pregnant, Ari? Oh my god!”
She let out a scream and hugged her.

Ari looked at me over
Heather’s shoulder and made a face that made me laugh out
loud.
Only Ari.

Just then, Josh, Jeff and Gunner walked up.
Gunner looked like he was about to puke, Jeff was shocked that Ari
had just screamed out to the world that she was pregnant, and Josh
couldn’t tear his eyes from Heather.

Heather pulled back away from Ari and smiled
at her. “How far along are you?”

“Oh. um, two months.”

“Wow…early on into it.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to say anything
to anyone until after the wedding, but y’all are different. I just
got too excited, and I couldn’t hold it in.” Ari shrugged her
shoulders and looked at Jeff.

He had a huge smile on his face. My stomach
did butterflies, thinking about my brother becoming a daddy. I
smiled at him as he grinned and winked back at me.

Heather turned and saw Josh standing there,
looking at her. I could tell she was somewhat shocked and mad as
hell. She turned to glare at me. I just smiled and shrugged my
shoulders.

“So, who wants to hike up a giant ass granite
rock?” Gunner said with a smile.

As we all started to head up the trail,
Heather grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“What’s he doing here?” Heather said through
gritted teeth.

“I didn’t know! Jeff and Ari invited
him.”

“I don’t want to see him, Ellie.”

“Listen, Heather, I know it upsets you to see
him just as I’m sure it upsets him to see you, but we’re all
friends. You’re going to see him when we all get together sooner or
later.”

Heather let out a sigh and looked down the
trail. “Where is the bitch girlfriend of his?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Fine. I’m only doing this because I need the
fresh air and exercise, but I have no intentions of talking to
him.”

Heather pushed past me and started to walk up
the trail. Gunner stopped and waited for me. By the time I caught
up to him, I was fuming mad.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“Heather. She’s what’s
wrong. She is so messed up in her stupid-ass thinking that she’s
pushing away the one and
only
person she is ever going to love. She’s pissed
because he is here, and she won’t talk to him. I mean, I love
Heather like a sister, Gunner. Does she even realize that she is
the one who keeps hurting him?”

Gunner looked at our friends walking down the
trail. Jeff and Josh were in the lead, and Ari and Heather were
behind them talking.

“Don’t worry, Ells. Things have a funny way
of working themselves out,” Gunner said with a wink.

“I sure as shit hope you’re right.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX

JEFF

I opened the truck door and helped Ari into
the truck. After I gave her a kiss, she smiled at me and then
looked past my shoulder. When I turned around, Josh was standing at
Heather’s car, talking to her.

Jesus, those two.
I thought Ari and I had acted like idiots, but
these two were making us look like love at first sight. I looked
back at Ari and leaned into the truck.

“Don’t worry, baby. They’ll be okay.”

Ari gave me a funny look and nodded her head.
I shut the door and started to walk around to the driver’s side of
my truck.

Gunner and Ellie had already left to head
back to the ranch. We’d decided we were all going to go to a barn
dance tonight. The couple who were hosting the dance were good
friends with Garrett. I was surprised that Heather decided to crash
at our house since she’d found out that Josh was staying there
also.

The drive back home was dead quiet. My
princess had fallen fast asleep with her hands on her stomach. Each
time I looked over at her, my heart swelled more and more. For some
reason, knowing that our child was growing in her body just turned
me the fuck on. When I saw a small gravel dirt road coming up, I
smiled. I turned down the road and drove a few miles until I found
an open field. While my truck drove over the bumpy field, Ari woke
up.

“Holy hell, where the fuck are you going?
See, I knew it. I knew if I fell asleep, you’d get lost. I just
knew it.”

I started to laugh as I looked over at the
love of my life, who was now was carrying the next love of my life.
I pulled up under a large Oak tree, turned off the truck and looked
at her.

She glanced around and then turned back to
me. The smile that spread across her face would have dropped me to
my knees if I had been standing up.

“You horny-ass bastard,” she said with a
wink. “How far from home are we?”

“Not far, but Josh and Heather will be there,
and I want you...now.”

“Oh yeah? How bad do you want me?”

“Pretty fucking bad…enough to turn down a
damn gravel road, trespass on someone’s property, and risk getting
caught making love to my future wife.”

The next thing I knew, Ari jumped out of the
truck and looked at me with a smile that had my stomach knotting
up. She lifted up her finger and motioned for me to come toward
her.

So, she wants to play,
huh?
I opened the door, slowly got out, and
started to stretch.

“Oh man, this place is perfect for cows or
horses. I wonder how many acres it is. Hmm, why the hell isn’t it
fenced?”

Ari looked around and then she started to
walk over to me. It was everything I could do to act like I was
checking out this ranch. When she stopped right before she got to
me, I turned to face her.

“Oh damn, you’re good,” she said before she
spun around and took off running into the open field.

It didn’t take long for me to catch up to
her. I grabbed her and picked her up while she yelled for me to put
her down.

As I put her down, she slowly turned around
to face me.

“Be careful, babe. I don’t want anything to
happen to you or the baby.”

She stared up into my eyes and smiled.

“Take me under that giant-ass tree before we
both want some food again!”

I laughed when she jumped up and wrapped her
legs around me. I brought her back over toward the truck, showering
her with kisses the whole way.

After I slowly let her down, I reached into
the backseat of my truck to pull out the quilt that Emma had
insisted I keep in the truck at all times. I was beginning to think
that her and Garrett were masters of fooling around in other places
besides their bed.

Ari threw her head back and laughed. “Damn, I
love Emma and Garrett. I bet those two were hot and heavy in their
day.”

I laughed and laid the blanket out on the
flattest, softest area of grass I could find. I sat down and leaned
up against the tree. Ari gave me a crooked smile and came over to
sit down on my lap.

“Hmm…this feels familiar,” She said with a
wink.

I looked around and then back at her. “It’s a
good thing there are no horses around this time. I’d kick your ass
in another race.”

The way she laughed caused my dick to get
even harder. I gently rolled her off my lap, slowly laying her down
on the blanket.

“Ari, I’m gonna make love to you now.”

When she bit down on her
lip, I let out a small moan.
Son of a
bitch, the things this girl does to me.

I took her mouth with mine and never stopped
kissing her the whole time we made love.

***

We wrapped ourselves up in the quilt and
stayed there for a bit talking. We talked about the wedding, the
baby, the wedding some more, and horses. I loved my life so much,
and in that moment I thanked God for giving me such a blessing.

Then, I thought about how I was going to tell
Ellie that our mother had called again, saying that she wanted us
to come visit her so she could apologize. Quickly, I pushed that
last thought out of mind.

I kissed Ari’s head and gave her a hug.

“We better go. I’m sure Josh and Heather are
probably going out of their fucking minds, wondering why we dared
to leave them alone.”

***

We got dressed, jumped back into the truck,
and got back on the road. Ari talked nonstop, and I just smiled the
whole way. My baby was happy, and that made me happy as hell. Now,
I just had to get her to stop talking about going riding. I was
scared to death that she would have another accident.

“I’m gonna ride, Jeff, I can’t live my life
scared to move, and you shouldn’t want me to.”

“I don’t want you to, baby. It’s just, god
Ari, if anything ever happened to you or the baby, I would never
forgive myself. If I could, I’d put your ass in a bubble and lock
you away for the next seven months.”

“Ha-ha, very funny. It’s going to be fine. I
promise to stick to the older mares or Big Roy.”

“Big Roy, just stick with him.”

Ari laughed and grabbed my hand.

“Okay, babe, I’ll only ride Big Roy.”

***

When we pulled up to the
house, Heather and Josh were talking, sitting next to each other on
the steps.
That has to be a good
sign.
Heather stood up and gave us a total
go-to-hell look.
Okay...maybe that isn’t
such a good sign.

“Where the hell have you two been?” Heather
asked.

Ari walked up to her and smiled.

“Sorry, y’all. Jeff had to make a quick pit
stop.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he did,” Josh said as he
punched Jeff in the arm. “Horny bastard.”

“Oh my god, Josh. Really?” Heather said as
she started to follow Ari into the house.

“Dude, am I right?”

I smiled and winked at him.

“See, I know you. It’s about damn time you
got here though. I was running out of stuff to talk to Heather
about.”

Heather turned around and gave Josh the
finger before she walked inside.

“Still nothing?” I asked.

“No, to be honest, I’m not really trying
anymore. I mean, I’m with Lynda now, and I’m just trying to get
back to being friends with her. That’s all. It doesn’t have to be
awkward for any of us, like it was earlier today.”

“Josh, hold on a second.” I grabbed his arm,
pulling him aside.

“You have to know that Heather is absolutely
devastated about what happened. From what Ari told me, she only
slept with Jerry that one time. She has this crazy fucked-up
thinking about letting you in and then you leaving her like her
parents left her.”

Josh looked down at the ground and then back
up to me. His eyes glazed over, and I knew he was fighting back
tears.

“I can’t do it, Jeff. When I walked in and
saw that guy there, what happened between them hit me hard. I knew
in that moment that I couldn’t do it anymore. She’s so worried
about me leaving her, but it’s her who left me, Jeff. I need
someone in my life that’s going to trust me and not worry all the
time if I’m going to cheat or leave her or whatever other fears she
might have. I can’t do it. I’m doing most of the business at my
dad’s now, and I really think I could make this business grow even
more. I need to concentrate on that, and Heather needs to work on
finishing school. I think we are on the paths we are meant to be
on.”

I looked at him and shook my head. “Do you
really believe that load of shit you just spit out, dude?”

Josh sighed and turned to walk into the
house. “I have to, Jeff. It’s the only way I can get up every day
and move on.”

Ari and Heather were in the kitchen,
laughing, and of course, talking about what to wear to tonight’s
barn dance. I smiled when I saw Ari leaning up against the counter.
She looked beautiful. Her skin looked like it was glowing, and her
smile lit up the whole room. I was going to have to keep her
pregnant often because she was even more beautiful carrying my
child.

Josh and I sat in the living room and talked
about the wedding. When I looked up, my breath was taken away. Ari
was standing there, wearing a Longhorn T-shirt, blue jean shorts,
and a pair of Longhorn cowboy boots. I let my eyes travel up and
down her body.

Fuck me. She’s so damn beautiful.

“Those shorts are too short, Ari.” I tried to
hide my smile when she raised her eyebrows at me.

“Um, no, they’re not. Sorry, I’m gonna wear
the shit out of this stuff until I can’t fit into it anymore.” She
gave me a wink and came over to sit on my lap.

I looked into the kitchen and saw Heather
getting out a Diet Coke from the fridge. Then, I glanced over at
Josh, who must have seen her the same time I did.

I almost felt like I should walk over and
shut his mouth for him. Heather had on a white tank top, blue jean
shorts, and a pair of pink cowboy boots. How two girls can wear
just simple shirts and shorts and look so good was beyond me.