Saved (46 page)

“Close your mouth, Josh, unless you want to
catch flies,” Ari said.

Josh snapped his head over
to Ari and looked dazed for a moment or two. Just then, his cell
phone went off.
Ah, the bitch must have
some kind of radar, she sensed him looking at Heather.

Josh pulled out his phone and looked at it,
frowning

There was no way in hell he was happy with
Lynda. I could tell just by his reaction to her call. She was
fucking nuts, jealous as hell, and I had a funny feeling she was
playing around behind Josh’s back.

He got up and walked outside before he
answered it. I looked at Ari who, was also frowning. She stood up
when Heather walked into the living room.

“Y’all ready to go?” I
am
so
in the mood
to go to a barn dance,” Heather said as she smiled at Ari and
me.

“Well then, let’s go. I talked to Gunner a
little bit ago, and he and Ellie will just meet us there.”

***

By the time we got to the barn dance, Heather
and Josh seemed to be getting along as friends. I even heard them
laugh a few times. Ari looked over at me and smiled. I knew what
she was thinking, and I was a little less optimistic.

As we walked toward the barn, I saw Garrett
and Jack were talking to a couple of older guys, and Emma and Grace
were laughing with a group of women. Gunner came walking out of the
barn with three beers in his hand while Ellie carried two. Gunner
handed me one first and then gave on to Josh. Ellie tried to hand
to Heather.

“No, thanks. I’m only drinking Diet Coke
tonight,” Heather said.

Ari let out a laugh and looked at
Heather.

“You’re such a good friend to only drink soda
because I can’t drink!”

Heather smiled just a little. “Not really,
sweets. I stopped drinking last summer.”

Josh’s head snapped up to look at Heather,
who was now looking down at the ground.

Garrett walked up and slapped Gunner on the
back. “I can tell you that if I had all these beautiful women
standing around me, I sure as shit wouldn’t be standing out here,
all just staring at each other.”

“You heard the man. Take me in there and
swing me around that dance floor, Jeff, before I find me another
cowboy to do it,” Ari said with a wink.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said as I took Ari’s hand and
led her into the barn.

Just as we walked in, Jason
Aldean’s “When She Says Baby” started up. I spun Ari around before
we took off two-steppin’. I’d never been with a girl who could
dance to every kind of music out there.
Girl sure as hell knows how to two-step.

I looked over to see Gunner
and Ellie laughing as they danced right by us. Gunner gave me a
wink and then he leaned down and kissed the shit out of my baby
sister.
Bastard.

Then, I saw Jack and Grace. I smiled when I
thought about how happy Gunner was to have his parents living on
the ranch. The plan was for Gunner and Ellie to finish building
their house, and then Jack and Grace were going to move into the
cabin. Jack seemed so happy and at peace, and I knew he loved
working with Gunner on the ranch.

“Do you see Garrett and Emma dancing?” Ari
shouted.

I shook my head and looked around. Just as I
spotted them, Garrett was spinning Emma around. They looked so damn
happy. I glanced down at Ari, and she smiled. I knew she was
thinking the same thing I was.

“Do you think they still keep a quilt in
their truck?” Ari asked before she started to laugh.

I threw my head back and laughed along with
her. “I bet they do, baby. I bet they do!”

***

After two hours of dancing, drinking, and
laughing my ass off listening to Garrett and a few other old timers
talking, Josh, Gunner, and I were sitting at a table looking out on
the dance floor.

Ari, Ells, and Heather were
all dancing to Chris Cagle’s “Let There Be Cowgirls.”
Damn
. My dick was getting
hard just watching Ari. I loved the way she threw her head back
every time she laughed or the way her damn body moved to the beat
of the song. I had to adjust myself and look away. I glanced over
at Gunner and had to smile. It was a good thing that bastard was
married to my sister, or I’d be kicking his ass right now because
of the way he was looking at her.

I looked over at Josh. Poor stupid bastard
was just staring at Heather out on the dance floor. I really felt
bad for him, but I wasn’t really what to do for those two.

“How are the wedding plans coming along?”
Gunner shouted in my ear.

I rolled my eyes and shook
my head.
Holy hell, the wedding
plans.
I cringed, just thinking about
it.

“Fine.”

Gunner and Josh both started laughing.

“Just fine? Come on, dude. You can give us
more than that,” Gunner said.

I let out a sigh and looked around. Ari’s
parents weren’t there, but I swore I wouldn’t put it past her dad
to have spies follow my ass around.

Josh got up and moved to the other side of
me. “What the fuck are you looking around for?” Josh said as he
looked around. “Is it top-secret shit?”

“I’m just putting this out there; I wouldn’t
put anything past Ari’s dad. I can’t tell you how many times that
man has threatened my life. He refuses to let us pay for any part
of the wedding because according to him, ‘His baby girl will get
the wedding of her dreams.’ I’m responsible for the honeymoon
though. If I don’t make it special, he has threatened to cut off my
dick.”

Josh and Gunner both laughed again.

“It’s not funny. Fucker scares the shit out
of me.”

Josh took a long drink of his beer. “As he
should. I swear if I ever have a girl, I’m gonna threaten any man
who comes in contact with her until I’m too old to know any
better.”

“I gotta agree with Josh. I’d be the same
damn way if it came to my girl,” Gunner said.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess. Anyway,
the plans are going good. I think they’re pretty much done with it
all. Jenny is amazing, and she’s really done another fabulous job
with everything.”

Gunner said, “I tell ya what. Ari couldn’t
have picked a better place. When I took Ells to the Mansion at
Judges’ Hill for her birthday last year, it was breathtaking.”

“Breathtaking? Dude...marriage has turned you
into a pussy,” Josh said with a laugh.

“Fuck you, Josh.”

I glanced back out onto the dance floor and
sat up a little. It looked like some asshole was trying to pull
Ellie away from Ari and Heather. Ari looked over at me, and before
I could even react, I heard Gunner.

“Motherfucker.”

Gunner jumped up and started to make his way
out to the middle of the barn.

Jack must have noticed it, too, because he
stepped in front of Gunner, giving me enough time to get around
them to get to Ellie and the asshole.

“Dude, I suggest you take your hands off my
sister now,” I said.

The drunk pecker-head let go of Ellie’s arm
and looked me up and down.

“You about to do something about it?”

I let out a laugh. “I think you’d rather deal
with me than her husband, asshole.”

“Yeah, well, I think I’ll take my chances.”
He started to reach for Ellie again as she took a step back.

I saw Gunner coming up on my right side.

“Gunner, don’t do it.”

It was too late. Before I could even stop
him, Gunner turned the guy around and punched him square in the
face. The poor bastard took two steps back and fell on his ass.

Gunner walked up to him and bent down.

“If you ever so much as look at my wife
again, I’ll make sure you hurt for months.”

Ellie walked over and grabbed Gunner by the
arm, pulling him away. The douchebag looked up at me.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“I told you, dude.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN

ARI

“What fun am I going to have, Ells? I can’t
even drink. How fun is a bachelorette party when the damn bride
can’t even drink?”

Ellie rolled her eyes and looked over at
Heather. “Heather isn’t drinking either, and I already told you I
won’t.”

“Amanda will. You know that red-headed bitch
will drink enough for all four of us plus some.”

Heather laughed, and Ellie sat down on the
sofa, letting out a long sigh.

We were staying at the cottage on my parents’
property and the guys were at my parents’ place on the lake. I was
dying to know what they had in store for Jeff’s bachelor party.

I reached over and grabbed my cell phone only
to have Ellie snag it out of my hand.

“No! You’re not calling him, Ari. You have
called him three times in the last hour.”

“Don’t you want to know what they’re up to
tonight? What if girls are there?”

Amanda piped in, “Oh, Jesus H. Christ, Ari,
stop worrying so much. It’s like Ells’s bachelorette party all over
again. Now, I haven’t been out in months, Brad’s mother is driving
me fucking crazy, and all I want to do is drink myself under a
table and dance with a good-looking guy, who I’m hoping will at
least grab my ass once while we dance.”

I just sat there and stared at Amanda. I
glanced over at Ellie and Heather, and they were pretty much
looking at Amanda in the same way.

“Holy hell, Mandy, married life sure is
treating you well,” Ellie said.

Heather let out a giggle.

Amanda sighed and sat down in the chair
across from me.

“I think I got married too soon.”

“What?” Ellie, Heather, and I all said at the
same time. “Amanda, are you and Brad having troubles?”

Amanda shook her head, fighting back tears.
“No, Ari, we aren’t having any troubles. Things have never been
better.”

“Then, why the hell would you say you got
married too soon?”

“Because if I wasn’t married yet, Brad’s
bitch of a douche-twat mother wouldn’t be bugging me to have a
baby. She wouldn’t be taking me to lunch once a week and giving me
advice on how to get pregnant. She acts like I don’t fucking know
how to get pregnant.”

We all started laughing, and Amanda ended up
joining in on the laughter.

“Come on, Ari, let’s go. I promise the
evening is not going to be filled with naked men or anything that
will make your pregnant ass, or Jeff’s ass for that matter, have to
worry.”

“Fine, let’s go.” I said.

Amanda jumped up and started clapping.
Heather rolled her eyes, and Ellie walked over and reached out her
hand to help me up. As Amanda and Heather walked out the door
first, Ellie held me back.

“Are you okay, Ari? You feeling okay,
sweets?”

I let out a sigh and felt the tears building
in my eyes.

“Were you scared, Ells?”

“To get married? Yeah, Ari, I was scared to
death.”

“This is all I’ve ever wanted, Ellie. I’ve
only ever wanted to be with him to wake up next to him every
morning, and to go to sleep next to him every night. I want to have
babies, have fights, make up, and kiss in the rain with him. He is
the only one I want to do those things with. So why am I so damn
scared? I mean, I’m having his baby in six months. This should be
nothing!”

Ellie smiled that smile only she can give me,
and I was calmed within seconds.

“Baby, you’re getting married in two days to
the love of your life, and you’re carrying his baby. Smile, baby
girl. You’re going to be the most beautiful bride ever. You won’t
even need makeup because that pregnancy glow fits you
perfectly.”

I slammed my body into Ellie and hugged the
shit out of her. “I love you, Ellie Mathews. I love you so
much.”

“I love you, too, Ari. Come on, let’s go have
some fun. By the way, I sent Gunner a text a little bit ago.
They’re staying at the lake house and playing poker. He promised
that there will be no women, so don’t worry. They’ll probably
behave better than us.”

***

We headed out to dinner first, and I never
laughed so hard in my life. It was so nice to be with my three very
best friends.

“Oh god, I love Maudie’s so damn much. I
could eat here every day.” Amanda said as she leaned back and put
her hands on her stomach.

I smiled at her because she truly looked
happy. As much as she had bitched about her monster-in-law she was
so incredibly happy with Brad.

I thought back to the night of her wedding.
It was the first time Jeff and I had made love. The memories
flooded my brain, causing me to drift away from everyone.

Setting my hands on my stomach, I closed my
eyes. I was getting married in two days, and I was fifteen weeks
pregnant. Although I was barely showing a bump, my wedding dress
had to be altered just a little.

I looked up at Ellie, and she smiled at me.
My heart was breaking for her because I knew how much she wanted to
have a baby. She was such a damn good friend because she never
showed how sad she was.

Just then, I felt a flutter
in my stomach.
Butterflies?
There it went again. Could it be?

“Holy fuck!” I shouted out.

Ellie stood up quickly spilling her water all
over Heather. Heather jumped and hit the table, her tea spilt
everywhere. Amanda pushed back her chair, as she laughed her ass
off, and I just sat there.

“Fuck a duck, Ari, what the hell is wrong
with you?” Ellie said. She was trying to wipe water off of her
while staying out of the way of the poor waitress cleaning up the
rest of the spilled water and tea.

“I think I just felt the baby!” I said. I
just sat there with my hands on my stomach.

“What?”
All three of my friends, and our waitress shouted out at
once.

“But you’re only fifteen weeks pregnant. I
thought that didn’t happen until after sixteen weeks.” The
ever-accurate Heather pointed out.