“Gunner.”
Jeff’s voice pulled me out of the trance I was in by those deep blue eyes of hers. I lifted my gaze to meet his.
He said, “Dude, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Ah hell. Jeff was standing there holding Ellie’s bag, giving me a curious look. I was fixin’ to get my ass kicked.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied.
“Hey, Ells, you mind heading in, and I’ll bring your bag to my bedroom?” Jeff asked as Ellie made her way slowly over to him.
She asked him something, and he smiled at her. I ran my hand through my hair and cursed under my breath. My eyes met Ellie’s, and I gave her a reassuring smile. Even she thought I was about to get my ass served to me or a very stern talk from Jeff about staying away from his sister.
My mouth parted open slightly, and my chest tightened. Ellie was biting down on her lower lip so hard it looked like it was turning red. I wanted that lip in my mouth. On my body.
No! Jesus, Gunner. What in the hell are you doing?
Chapter Twenty-Three – Jeff
Ellie walked into the house, and I turned my attention on Gunner. I had to hold my smile in because the guy looked scared shitless. It wasn’t lost on me the little exchange the two of them just had. Ellie’s attempts at flirting with Gunner were kind of cute. I knew Gunner wouldn’t make a move on her . . . at least until he got to know her and asked for my permission first.
“What’s up, dude? Is everything okay?” he asked, clearly waiting for me to go all big brother crazy on his ass. I knew what I was about to do would throw him for a loop.
“Yeah, dude, it’s all good. Listen, I totally forgot I had a date tonight with Rebecca. I’ve been putting it off for weeks now. If I call her now and cancel . . .” I turned back and looked at the house.
The last place I wanted to be was with Rebecca. The girl was fucking nuts, but I had promised her another date, and she had been bugging me to follow up with it. I’d go out with her tonight and tell her I didn’t see this going anywhere and be done with it.
Focusing back on Gunner, I went on. “Gunner, I hate to ask this of you, but can you stay home tonight and take care of Ellie? I don’t want to leave her alone. She’s never taken these kinds of meds before. I mean, I know I’m asking a lot out of you to sit and watch my sister. I think she would be okay with it. Actually, I think she might like you, dude.”
The look on Gunner’s face was fucking priceless. He didn’t know whether to be shocked I had asked him to say at the house with Ellie or over the moon I had just said I thought she was into him. It was damn hilarious, and I’d have given my right nut to have recorded this to look back on in the future.
After he looked around for a few seconds, he replied, “Um, no, I don’t mind at all. Jeff, can I ask you a question?”
It was harder than hell to keep my laughter in. “You know you can, Gun. Shoot.”
He pushed both hands through his hair and struggled with what to say. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to tell your best friend you were attracted to his baby sister. The sister I had worked hard at keeping away from him for that very reason.
“Jeff, um, I mean, I don’t mind at all staying at home tonight. I didn’t have any plans, but, dude”—he let out a confused chuckle—“you’ve never let any of your friends around Ellie. Matter of fact, you threatened us with bodily harm if we ever laid a finger on her. So now you’re just going to leave her here with me alone when you used to make me leave anytime she would come over? I mean, I think she’s beautiful . . .”
I lifted a brow, and he cleared his throat.
“Um, I kind of, um, well, I . . . fuck . . . I don’t really know what I’m trying to say here, Jeff. I’m confused as hell.”
Gunner looked back up toward our front door and then at me. I let out a chuckle that caught him off guard.
“What’s so funny?” Gunner asked.
Poor guy, he seemed so damn confused. I almost felt sorry for him. “Dude, you got it bad. So fucking bad you can’t even talk straight!” I said with a roar of laughter.
With stunned silence, Gunner stood there. His gaze locked on me while he tried to figure this all out in his head.
“You don’t think I didn’t notice the two of you staring at each other all afternoon? Or the fact that Ellie was devastated by what that fucker did to her, but five minutes after she saw you, she was pretty much like, ‘Ryan who?’”
I couldn’t help it. I let out another round of laughter. Gunner Mathews was officially thrown on his ass by a girl. And that girl happened to be my sister.
Rubbing his hands down his face, Gunner looked at me. “Wait, I’m so damn confused. Ellie has always been off-limits. Dude, you told me once you would cut off my balls if I ever so much as looked the wrong way at her. Are you trying to set me up for something here? I mean, if you want a fight, we can head to the gym and go a few rounds. Don’t play around with me like this.”
Oh yeah, he indeed had it bad for my sister. Something had told me that once the two of them got to know each other, sparks would fly even more. I didn’t realize they would set a fire deep into my poor best friend, though.