“Do you, um, remember everything that happened last night?”
My eyes snapped up to meet his. For a brief moment, I wanted to lie. Tell him I didn’t remember a damn thing. My eyes stung as I fought to hold my emotions back.
“Yeah, I remember everything that happened last night. Believe me, I woke up wishing I had been drunk enough to not remember it.”
Ari walked out of Gunner’s room, and damn, she looked beautiful. I sat up a bit straighter.
“Good morning!” Ari called out as she practically fucking skipped into the kitchen. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, which was nothing new. What was the matter with me? Why couldn’t I just admit my feelings for her and take the risk?
“Did you make blueberry muffins, Gunner? My goodness. No wonder Ellie has the hots for you.”
She laughed, and it made my entire body come to life. It even took away the pain I was feeling after Bubba hit me one too many times.
“Arianna!” Ellie gasped. Gunner looked at my sister like he had just forgotten how to breathe. He also looked like he wished they were the only two people in the room right now. It was sort of fun watching him act like this. I’d never seen a woman make Gunner act like this.
After he said good morning to Ellie, he poured her a glass of orange juice.
Ellie sat down next to me, but I was focused on Ari again.
Gunner must have asked Ellie how she slept, but I hadn’t heard him.
“I slept okay. Thank you so much for giving up your room last night for us.”
My stomach lurched, and I closed my eyes. The memory of Ari throwing up nearly made me want to do the same thing.
“Look, Ellie, Gunner made blueberry muffins. Isn’t that so sweet? Some guys are just like that. Caring. They know how the little things make a woman so happy.”
Ari leaned against the counter and stared right into my eyes as she spoke. After a few seconds, she went back to texting someone.
After clearing my throat, I stood and asked, “Ari, may I speak with you in private, please?”
It was time I bit the bullet and told her the truth. I had feelings for her. I couldn’t do this anymore. I needed to just see where this would go. Plus I really needed to apologize for the dick move about her virginity last night.
“Um. No,” Ari stated as she picked up a muffin and started buttering it.
My hands ran down my face as I tried not to lash out at her. I was ready to admit my feelings for her, and she was going to be fucking stubborn.
Sighing, I asked again. “Please. I really need to talk to you. Please.”
When she looked at me, I took a step back. Her eyes were filled with anger.
“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of my friends. You know what those are, don’t you, Jeff? Oh, wait, the type of friends that you have, you fuck them in your room during your sister’s graduation party.”
My legs felt like they were going to buckle out from under me. I took a few steps back, like her words had verbally smacked the shit out of me. Maybe they knocked a bit of sense into me as well. What in the hell was I thinking?
Gunner’s wrong. She doesn’t have feelings for me.
“Ari, that’s enough; he only wants to talk to you,” Ellie said as her gaze bounced from me to Ari and then back to me.
Ari lifted a brow and challenged me to say what I had to say in front of everyone. Fucking hell, this woman drove me mad!
“No, it’s fine, Ellie. If this is how Ari wants to have this go down, then that’s fine by me. I was going to apologize for my comment last night that embarrassed you. It was very insensitive of me to bring up the fact that you’re still a virgin, and you fucking dry humping every guy at the party might give them the wrong impression that you were ready to give it up.”
I slammed the water bottle down on the counter, making it collapse and causing both Ellie and Ari to jump.
“Jefferson! Oh my God! How could you say that to her right now after what you did to her last night?” Ellie said, walking over to me.
Her expression was a stunned one, and all I did was let my emotions turn to anger, like I always seemed to do when it came to Ari.