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“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.
H
er 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?

“Okay, Josh, I see the wheels spinning in
your head. You can stop over-thinking what I just said. I only
meant that I like you… a lot..um, as a friend only.”

“Well that deflated my hopes a bit. Why only
as a friend Heather? You have to know that I’m interested in more
than friendship.”

Heather let out a laugh and looked at me.
“You? Interested in something more than friendship? What like fuck
buddies or something? Not gonna happen with me, Josh. Ever!”

“Jesus, Heather, I would never think of you
like that. I can’t even believe you just said that.”

“Please, Josh, don’t act all shocked that I
said that. I know how you are, and I know about all the woman
you’ve been with. Well, no, thank you. I don’t intend on being
another notch in your belt. So, I think we need to keep this
strictly friendship only. That’s all I’m interested in.”

I sat there, stunned. I’d
never heard Heather utter a hurtful word to anyone in the last year
that I’d known her. When I looked over at her, I was pretty sure
that I saw her quickly wipe away a tear.
Fuck me.

“I’m not really sure what to say after your
declaration of what you really think about me, but I would never
think of you in such a disrespectful way. I mean, I haven’t even
had sex in….anyway, it’s been awhile since I was even out on a
date. I know that I’ve made some bad choices, but really, none of
those girls…”

“Josh, please. Can we just talk about
something else or just not talk at all?” She looked out the
passenger window, sighning loudly.

Son of a bitch, I think
things just got worse between us.
I leaned
over and turned up the music just a little louder. The silence in
the truck was almost unbearable. The sick feeling taking over my
stomach had me wishing that I had just driven Lynda instead of
Heather back to Austin.

***

After driving for almost an hour, I got an
idea. “Are you in a rush to get back to Austin?”

Heather turned to look at me, and I had to
catch my breath at the sight of her beautiful blue eyes.

“Well, no, I’m not really in a big hurry.
Why?”

I smiled at her, and she slowly let a smile
come across her face.

“I thought that maybe we could take a small
ten-minute detour and head into Marble Falls for lunch. Maybe we
could grab a bite to eat at the Bluebonnet Café?”