I could not believe how f**king stupid he was. She couldn’t get upset. Lying bitch. She was setting the whole thing up, so she could have the baby early.

“Let go of me, you stupid f**king-twatwaffling dickwad.”

“Ari, please wait.”

I jerked my arm out from his. I couldn’t believe how stupid he was being. “You know what, Jeff? You can believe whatever that lying bitch wants to tell you. I thought that you were smarter than that. Did you ever think that she came up with whole “high risk” bullshit so that you would play nice with her? Why don’t you ask to go to her next doctor’s appointment with her? How about that? Now that Daddy is in the picture, I’m sure she wants you to go to all the appointments with her.”

I was so upset that I started shaking.

Amanda walked up and took my hand in hers. As she glared at Jeff, she said, “Really, Jeff, I can’t even believe you. Let’s go, Ari.”

“Ari, please wait, baby.”

I stopped dead in my tracks closed my eyes, and took several deep breaths. Opening my eyes again, I slowly turned around to look at him.

“Baby, can we talk about this when I get home?” Jeff’s voice almost sounded like he was pleading.

“Why don’t you stop by my place on your way home? I’ll be staying there tonight. I need time to be alone and think.”

The look in Jeff’s eyes about gutted me, but all I had to do was remember his smile as he touched Rebecca’s stomach.

“Sure… yeah… okay, Ari. I’ll stop by your place. Are you going straight home now?”

“No, I have a few errands to run, and then I’m taking Amanda back to her car. I’ll be home in a few hours. You better get back in there. You wouldn’t want to upset the baby mama.”

***

As Amanda and I started to walk up the hill to the parking lot, I felt my legs getting weaker. Amanda pulled me up and kept me walking.

“Just wait until we get in the car, Ari. Then, you can let go.”

The moment I sat in the car and shut the door, I let out a scream so loud that I thought Amanda was going to jump out of the car.

“Better, sweets?” Amanda asked after unplugging her ears.

“If only a scream could make it better, Amanda. Did you see how big she is? There’s no way she’s only seven months pregnant.”

As I looked over at my friend, I let the tears fall.

The last time I had felt this sick to my stomach was when Jeff and I had first kissed at the ranch, and he’d told me it was all a mistake.

“Ari, don’t give up now. The fight has only just begun.”

I smiled at Amanda and wiped the tears from my eyes. I picked up my cell phone and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Wyatt for next Monday at 2 p.m.

I was not giving up. Jeff was mine. I would not let some lying bitch take him from me, even if I thought that lying bitch might actually be telling the truth.

CHAPTER TEN

JEFF

As I stood there watching Ari walk away from me, my heart was breaking. Shit! Shoving my hands through my hair, I turned to walk back to the restaurant. Why the hell did Ari come here? Does she not trust me? Does she want to get put in jail? Damn it! The moment Rebecca had seen she, about flipped out.

Rebecca was on the phone when I walked back up to the table.

“Listen, I can’t talk. I’ll call you back. Yes, I know, I heard you, Crysti You said it’s important. I’ll call you back later.”

I sat down as she was hanging up.

She put her hands on her stomach, and started to fan herself.

“Oh, wow. It sure is hot out here. Do you want to go next door and get an iced coffee or something?”

I shook my head no. Maybe Ari’s right, and Rebecca has been playing me this whole time. There was only one way to find out. Just get to the point, Jeff.

“Listen, Rebecca, I’m really done with this whole let’s play-nice bullshit. We need to talk about this baby. I’m telling you that there is no way this baby is mine.”

“Well, Jeff, I’m telling you that you’re the father. You were the only person I slept with during that time frame, that and afterward I found a piece of the condom in my panties.”

She let a smile play across her face, and I just wanted to slap it off. Just then, I looked down at her stomach, and I could see the baby moving. My heart jumped at the sight of it. What if this baby is mine?

“Fine, Rebecca, if this is the game we’re going to play, then let’s play it. When is your next doctor’s appointment?” She sat up a little straighter in her chair and started to fiddle around with her napkin.

“It’s in two weeks.”

“I want to go with you. Since you waited until you were seven months to drop this on me, I think it’s only fair that I get to come to all your appointments from now on.”

“Um, okay…sure Jeff, that’s fine. I don’t have the doctor’s information with me, so can I just text it to you later?”

“You don’t have the doctor’s info in your phone, Rebecca? No number or nothing?” I asked skeptically.

She let out a nervous laugh. “Of course, I have Dr. Wyatt’s number, Jeff. I just meant that I don’t have the address. I’ll text you the day and time of the appointment along with the address this evening. Do you want to pick me up, so we can drive there together? Maybe we can grab dinner afterwards?”

Oh shit, here we go. “Rebecca, I need you to know that I asked Ari to marry me last Saturday night. I love her, and I’ll always love her. Even if this baby turns out to be mine, Ari is going to be a part of this child’s life.”

Rebecca had a stunned look on her face. “Wait…what do you mean you asked her to marry you? I thought…”

“You thought what?” I asked.

She started to look around frantically.

“Um… I don’t know what I was going to say. You asked her to marry you even after you found out about the baby? I’m not so sure that I’m okay with Ari being involved in any way, shape, or form. I mean… look, she came here today to spy on us! You have to see that she obviously does not trust you, Jefferson.”

“She trusts me. It’s you she doesn’t trust.”

“Well, ouch, that hurt. I’m not dropping the restraining order until after I have the baby. I don’t trust her, especially after the stunt she pulled today, and I’m beginning to think that her little friend didn’t accidentally pick up my phone either.”

I held back from laughing. The moment Amanda had brought back the phone, I had known something was up. It had Ari written all over it.

“It doesn’t matter why they were here. Ari is a part of my life, and you need to accept that.” I looked down at her stomach when I saw the baby move again.

She followed my eyes and smiled. “Do you want to feel again? He’s moving around a lot today.”

“He? You already know the sex of the baby?” I couldn’t help but reach out to feel the baby.

Rebecca let out a laugh. She glanced down at my hand on her stomach and then looked back up at me.

“Yes, I was too excited to not find out. I’m going to start painting the baby’s room and then try to put the crib together.”

I knew what she was doing. She was trying to get me to volunteer to help her. I knew that had to talk to Ari before I started doing shit like that.

I pulled my hand away from her stomach and then laid some money on the table. I needed to get out of here.

“Well, I need to get going. I’m getting ready to move out the ranch so I need to go and pack up.”

“Wait! You’re moving out to the country? Isn’t that place like three hours away? What if something happens with the baby?”

“Rebecca, you made it this far without me. You’ll be fine with me being two-and-a-half hours away. If you need something, you can just call me. My cell phone works off and on out there, so, after we get a land-line I’ll give it to you.”

“We? As in you and Ari? Is she moving out there with you? Are y’all moving in together?”

I stood up and threw my napkin down on the table. What is she, my f**king mother now?

“Listen, what happens between Ari and me is none of your business Rebecca…at least not until we have a test done after this baby is born, so we can find out once and for all if he’s mine or not.”

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. Son of a bitch.

“Of course, Jeff, I’m sorry. It really is none of my business. May I ask when you’ll be moving?”

“After Gunner comes back from his honeymoon, we’re going to start moving, so we should be totally moved out to Mason in about three weeks. We have to be out of the house by the middle of July. Speaking of dates, I asked you earlier but you never told me. When is your due date?”

“Wait a minute. Did you say when Gunner comes back from his honeymoon? When did he get married?”

“He got married to my sister this past Saturday.”

The look on her face was pure shock. She turned white as a ghost as she started ringing her napkin. More than a minute passed before she seemed to get her composure.

“Are you going to tell me the due date, Rebecca?”

She let a small smile come across her face. “Jefferson, Jr is due on August seventeenth.”

Holy fuck! Jefferson Jr.? This girl is nuts. “Yeah, well, I’m not so sure on that name, Rebecca. We can talk about it later. I have some shit I need to take care of, so I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t forget to get me that info on the doctor.”

She nodded her head and stood up. She started to reach over to give me a hug, and I took a step back.

“Right…I’m sorry. Well…okay, it was good seeing you. I’m sure this is all going to work out for the best, Jeff. I’m sorry you missed out on the first few months, but now that you are here, you can start being a Daddy to Jeffer um, to the baby.”

I nodded my head and turned to walk away. I had to shake this feeling I was having. The moment I’d seen and then felt the baby move in her stomach, a small part of me had hoped that this baby was mine. I was not okay with thinking this way. I only wanted to have children with Ari, not some crazy-ass bitch who has been obsessed with me for the last three years.

Once I got in my truck, I finally relaxed. I put my head down on the steering wheel, and I swore that I just wanted to cry. Why is this happening to me? The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Ari more, but I couldn’t walk away if this baby was mine though. Damn it, I wish Gunner was here.

I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the house. Maybe packing up would help keep my mind off of shit for a while before I head over to Ari’s place. My biggest fear was that she wasn’t going to move out to the ranch with me. My life might as well be over if Ari wasn’t in it.

***

After three hours of packing, I called Ari.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Hey, baby. Are you home?”

“Yep, I’m here and just sitting in a hot bath right now.”

Jesus, this girl can make me hard with just the sound of her breathing.