“Damn it, Ari! Please stop running away from me. ” Jeff sent the call to voice mail and tossed his phone behind him onto the bed.
“I’m not running Jeff. I just don’t want to be in the same room when you talk to her. ”
“Well, I’m talking to you, not her. I need you to understand something, Ari. You need to know the reason why I feel the need to be there for Rebecca. ”
I started to laugh. “I didn’t realize you had a need to be there for her, Jeff. I thought you were doing it for the baby, and that’s all,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could.
“That’s not what I meant, Ari. I’m not there for her. I’m there for this baby. I don’t want to start off being a dead-beat father by not being there for this baby. I don’t want to be like my dad. ”
“I get that, Jeff. I really do. But you don’t even know if this baby is yours! I mean, you drop everything for her, and it always turns out to be some excuse just for her to get you to be with her. The baby isn’t even born yet! What’s it going to be like when it is born?”
“When he is. ”
“What?”
“The baby. . . . you said it. It’s a boy, so I was just saying when he is born. ”
I just rolled my eyes at him. “Fine, Jeff, you do what you feel like you need to do. I’m getting sick of talking about this. I have too many other things that I need to deal with. I can’t worry about Rebecca and her twisted ways. ”
“Fuck, Ari, I don’t want you to just keep brushing this off. I need you to know that you’re my world. You’re my number one, baby. I only want to make you happy, Ari, and I feel like you’re so damn sad. I don’t know what to do to make it better. I don’t want this to hurt you, Ari. ”
Oh shit, here came the tears. If I’m pregnant…and Rebecca’s baby turns out to be his…what if mine is.
“Jesus, Ari. Why are you crying? Baby, please talk to me. ”
I was able to get myself under control. As I wiped the tears from eyes, I decided this was it. I needed to be stronger.
“It’s okay, Jeff. I understand. Really, I do. I’ll try to be more patient with everything. You’re going to the doctor’s appointment, right? So, you will be able to find out if August is her due date, right?”
“Yeah, I’m going with her in a week and a half. You still think she’s lying about her due date, Ari? I mean come on, that would be pretty hard to do. ”
I shook my head at him. Stupid ass. I was so done talking about this.
“Well, I guess you’ll find out soon, won’t you? Listen I need to run into Mason with Ellie and Heather. We need to pick something up for Emma. ”
“Do you want me to go with y’all?”
“No!”
Jeff let out laugh and pulled me onto his lap. “I take it you want to spend some time with the girls.
“Yeah, something like that. ”
“Ari, are you going to stay here at the ranch with me this summer? Or are you going back to Austin? I really want you to move out here with me. I know you still have school, but I don’t want to be apart from you, especially with me starting up this new business and all. I need you with me, baby. You know more about horses than anyone else I know. ”
I smiled at the idea of living in the little ranch house on Jeff’s property. He wanted to tear it down and start on a new house from scratch. I thought the house that was there was perfect. It was a two-story white ranch house with a wraparound porch on the first floor. The views from the porch were amazing. Jeff had already remodeled the kitchen, and it was perfect.
“I want nothing more than to move out here with you, Jeff. I already signed up for online classes, and I was only planning on taking a few classes in Austin next semester. My mom and dad are somewhat pissed, but at least I’m still going to UT. I think I’ll only have to stay a few days a week in Austin, so I can go to class, but other than that, I was planning on just moving out here. ”
Jeff smiled and pulled me in for a kiss. It quickly turned into a much more passionate kiss, and I had to pull
away.
“Um, I’m not sure how Emma and Garrett would feel about us making out on their bed. ”
“You just made me so happy, Ari! I love you, baby. Hey, don’t forget Mr. Reynolds is coming to take a look at the stables this week. I have a few things I need to take care of, but this guy’s visit is going to be big if hee agrees to breed with us. Well, shit, it will be huge if it all works out. ”
I smiled because I knew how much Jeff wanted this. I knew that Jeff was already talking to Gunner about going into a partnership with his ranch. Ellie and I overheard them discussing it right before Gunner and Ellie left on their honeymoon.