“HOLY MOTHER FUCKING SHIT! You did GOOD Gunner!! FUCK ME that is beautiful!” Ellie turned around to face me with that sweet smile of hers. She gave me a wink and they both started to walk into the barn but not before she took the dog from my arms and gave him to Ari who went crazy over him.
Jeff started to make his way over to me. I had already asked Jeff for permission to marry Ellie last week. I knew how much he loved her and she didn’t have a father so I felt like it was the right thing to do.
He reached his hand out to me and shook it along with a slap on the back. A hard fucking slap.
“Jesus…what the fuck did you hit me so hard for. ”
“I sure as shit hope you made it special for her or I will kick your fucking ass. And goddamn if the puppy was not a nice touch. Well played dude. ”
I had to laugh.
“I sure hope I did also Jeff. From how happy she’s been all morning I would say I did at decent job. ”
Jeff smiled at me and then shook his head.
“You know Gunner, if she had to end up with anyone, I’m thankful it was you. I see how much you love my sister and I see how much she loves you. By the look on her face when y’all pulled up I would say you did more than a decent job dude. I’ve never in my life seen my sister with such a glow on her face. Thank you. Thank you for making it special for her. Now……I don’t want to ever talk about the fact that you had sex for the first time with my baby sister on the night you asked her to marry you. You ever get drunk and tell me about it, I will kick your fucking ass. You got it?”
I just stood there and stared at him. God I loved Jeff like a brother. I shook my head yes and he laughed and pulled me into a head lock and we started to wrestle around before I heard Gramps yell out.
“Knock it the fuck off…. . we got some male bonding to do, to the loft boys. ”
We had to leave in a few days as Jeff and I had a bowl game the next week. Our last game as college football players…. . . I couldn’t believe it.
The day after I asked Ellie to marry me I got up the nerve that night to finally talk to her about the wedding. I was so afraid she was going to be upset when I told her I could not stand the thought of her staying in Austin after we got married. I was so worried about it, I was sure she was going to tell me she didn’t want to get married or that we were going to have to wait until she finished school but she just smiled.
“Gunner, I already made up my mind weeks ago I was not going back to school in the fall. I was coming out here with you to the ranch no matter if you had asked me to marry you or not!”
“Ellie what about school, I thought you would be upset if I asked you to give up school to come with me out here. Are you sure baby this is what you want?”
She threw her arms around my neck. “YES! I already figured it out. I’m going to take classes online and finish up my degree in business. That way I can help you run the ranch when you take it over from Garrett someday. ” I was speechless. This girl never ceased to amaze me. I loved her so much. I leaned in and asked her if she was feeling daring and she smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down. We snuck off to the barn and made love. Another first…although I spent more time pushing Gus away than anything, that little bastard was barking at me the whole time. He and I were going to have to have a man to man talk and soon.
Ellie was crying as she was saying goodbye to Grams. They had become so close and had been sneaking off all day yesterday with Ari and the puppy…. I’m sure they were already talking about the wedding. Grams whispered something into Ellie’s ear that caused Ellie to blush. She quickly looked over at me and smiled. I don’t think I could ever be so fucking happy. Nothing would ever top this feeling.
JUNE……
“Gunner…. dude you need to settle down. It’s all going to be okay, trust me…. come on. ” Brad handed me a beer and led me out to the deck that over looked Lake Travis. I didn’t want a bachelor party so a few of the guys decided some male bonding up at Brad’s parent’s lake house would do the trick. Gus took his normal position at my feet. I was surprised Ellie let him come with me and not her. She fucking loved this dog and he loved her just as much if not more!
Ellie and the girls were at Ari’s parent’s lake house which was actually two miles up the road. All I wanted to do was talk to Ellie. We were getting married in three days and I was a fucking nervous wreck. We were leaving tomorrow for the ranch. Ellie seemed so calm. Ari, Amanda and Heather were amazing friends to Ellie. They were handling so much of the planning for Ellie and were in constant contact with Jenny who we were using as the wedding planner. It helped Ellie not to stress too much so she could finish up school.
The only real break she took from school was for Brad and Amanda’s wedding on Valentine’s Day and spring break when we all headed to the ranch. Jeff and I spent most of spring break getting his property ready for the horse staples he was having built this summer. He was going to tear the small ranch house down and start from scratch by building something bigger. He thought Ari wanted something big but turns out she is just a simple country girl at heart and wanted a simple ranch style home. They would stay in the existing house until they built their house. Jeff and I had both been putting in a shit ton of hours at the firm where we had been interning for the last two years. I’m still surprised they asked us to stay on as consultants.
Fuck just sitting here and relaxing felt great. Graduation was over and now the wedding. Jeff came walking out and slapped me on the back as he ran his hand through his hair. He sat down and let out a sigh.
“She still pissed?” I asked as Jeff took a drink from his beer.
“Yep……god she has me all tied up in fucking knots!”
Brad and I just laughed. Ari was not speaking to Jeff ever since graduation night when he failed to pop the big question. Little did she know he was asking her the night of our wedding. He had Jenny working on the side taking care of it. I thought it was pretty cool he was going to ask Ari to marry him in the same cabin as I asked Ellie. Grams said it was a good sign. Ellie and I were going to be living in the cabin until we could get a house of our own built.
“Did you even acknowledge to her that you knew why she was upset?” Brad asked with a laugh.
“No…. she’s so pissed and just started calling me a mother fucking dickwad for no reason when we got back to her place so I just left and came home. ”
“DAMN dude…. . no wonder she’s pissed at you. You better make it up when you do ask her this weekend. ” Brad said as he tipped his beer back and finished it.
“Shit……I think I’ll text her. ”
Jeff sat there and typed out a text message to Ari as Brad and I talked about some last minute shit that needed to be done before the wedding.