“I’m going to have to remember that one when I stand in front of a group pitching a new idea for a building.”
Ari gave me a wink.
“Gunner, this is Amanda. Amanda, Gunner.” The pretty brownish-red-haired girl standing in front of me was dressed the most provocatively of the group. Tight jeans and a brown tank top that showed off her assets really well.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amanda.” I said with a smile.
“We’ve heard so much about you, Gunner. Seems you’ve made an impression on our Ellie here.”
My heart soared, and I glanced down to Ellie, who was shooting Amanda a dirty look.
“If you’re done, Manda—Gunner, this is Heather,” Ellie said.
Heather was a little shorter than Ellie and Ari but not by much. She was the only blonde in the group. Her blue eyes reminded me of Ellie. They both had innocence pouring off them. I was going to have to watch Josh with Heather.
“Heather, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“The feeling is mutual. Thank you for inviting us, Gunner.”
Oh hell. Innocent and that southern charm. These poor girls were in for a wake-up call tonight.
After that I gave them all my lecture about not leaving with anyone, not even a girl, and no drinks from anyone other than Jeff or me. I also made sure Amanda and Heather had a ride home. Heather was the designated driver and would only be drinking soda.
Jeff had already told Ellie that she and Ari could stay the night. Something he was regretting when I mentioned it thirty minutes ago.
We had moved outside, and the girls quickly started dancing. Ari knew how to move and certainly had a lot of attention being pulled her way. Ellie and Heather were dancing together, and Amanda was holding her own and seemed to have Brad’s full attention. Interesting. Josh was staring at Heather as if he was trying to place her. Like maybe he’d seen her before and just couldn’t remember where.
Jeff walked out of the sliding glass door with Rebecca in tow. He scanned the people dancing and smiled when he saw Ellie. Then his smile quickly faded when he saw Ari, and the only thing I saw on his face was pure anger.
Ari was dancing with another girl and two guys. When she saw Jeff, she smiled and wiggled her fingers in a wave. My eyes bounced back to Jeff, who was now standing there with his fists balled up. Anger was pouring off his body.
When Ellie walked up and bumped my shoulder, I looked down at her and grinned.
“You enjoying your first college party?”
Staring into her blue eyes, my heart started to beat a little faster. I had been thinking about the dream I had been having over the last several months. Those eyes looked happy, and that made me feel like I was soaring on a cloud.
“Yes! I think Ari might be trying to make a statement, though,” she said with a nod of her head toward her best friend.
“I think you might be right. By the look on Jeff’s face, I would say it’s working. Where did she learn to dance like that?”
Ellie chuckled. “She’s been taking lessons since she was five years old. She loves to dance.”
Her smile faded when she glanced over to Jeff. “Who is that with Jefferson, and is that the girl from the coffee shop behind her? What was her name—Crysti?”
Shit.
“The girl is Rebecca. She’s the girl Jeff went out with Thursday night. Crysti is one of Rebecca’s friends. Jeff invited Rebecca, but I’m not sure why because he can’t stand her.”
Ellie shook her head. “I know why. Probably to piss off Ari, I’m guessing. They had some kind of fight at dinner, and Ari won’t tell me what they argued about.”
She continued to stare at her brother and the girls gathered around him before turning her attention back to me. Worry was written all over her face. Reaching for her hand, I brought it to my mouth and kissed the back of it.
“Don’t worry, Ellie.” I gave her a wink and slowly let her hand go.
“I’m not worried. I’m sure Jefferson knows what he’s doing. I hope he didn’t invite those girls to make Ari jealous. They were both in piss-poor moods when they came back to the table. Ari told me Jefferson was being a dickwad. That seems to be her favorite word to describe him the last few days.” She forced a small smile.
When I looked back out on the dance floor, Ari was dancing with Josh. Peeking back at Jeff, he was trying to pay attention to whatever Rebecca was saying to him, but he kept looking out on the dance floor at Ari. He looked worried, and he should’ve been. The way Josh was looking at Ari, we both knew what he was thinking.