“No, it’s none of your damn business…..I don’t need to explain anything to you so please do not call me again.” Ellie said as she ended the call. She immediately looked at me and there it was…that smile that freaking made my whole insides melt.

Damn……this girl was beautiful.

“Ryan?” I asked as I started to pull out. I can’t even believe he had the nerve to be calling her; that douche bag.

“Um, yeah, I guess he stopped by my house and my mom told him I never came home last night so he was just trying to find out where I’ve been.”

“Sweetheart you don’t owe that damn fool an explanation of anything you do. Do you understand that? He lost that privilege when he slept with some other girl. Please don’t let him ruin our day okay Ells? Tomorrow you graduate and then it is a whole new beginning for you.” I said as I reached over and took her left hand. I was surprised when she pulled her hand out of mine.

“I know I don’t owe him anything believe me. I guess I’m more upset he went to my house and talked to my mother. Now she will no doubt be telling me how I f**ked this up like I f**k up everything I touch. But anyway…..Thanks Gunner I appreciate you being such a good friend.” Ellie said as she kept her eyes to the front of the road.

Well….that was a loud and clear message. So she was thanking me for being a good friend huh? Why does this girl think everything she touches she f**ks up? Her mother no doubt.

“Well I don’t believe that for a minute Ellie. You’re beautiful, smart…third in your class….and you have a very bright future. Whatever your mother says to you is just bullshit.”

Ellie let out a laugh. “So everyone keeps telling me but….anyway….I don’t want to talk about my mother or Ryan. I can’t wait to go to Halcyons! I’ve never been there but have always wanted to go!”

I looked over at her. She really was an innocent lost little girl. So many things she had never gotten to experience. I want to be the one to share all of them with her for the first time.

We drove around for a few minutes looking for curbside parking. No such luck. I ended up just valet parking. It was easiest and damn near cost the same at the parking lot a block down.

As I handed my keys over I gave my normal warning ……

”Dude, she is my girl. Anyone handles my girl wrong or treats her in a disrespectful way, I beat their ass. You got it?” Poor kid just looked me up and down.

“Ummm, yes…yes sir I got it. Um…. We’re talking about the truck right?” He asked as he looked over towards Ellie who was now trying to hide her laughter. I looked over at Ellie then back at my truck.

“It goes for both of them.”I said as I gave him a wink and then turned towards Ellie, grabbed her hand and walked towards Halcyon. As soon as we were far enough away she let out the laughter she was trying so hard to hold in.

“Ohhhh holy shit! That was funnier than hell! I mean you had that poor boy scared to death Gunner. Do you always say that when you valet park?” She asked as she was still giggling.

“YES! She is my girl. That truck means a lot to me. She served my Gramps well on the ranch and she has been nothing but faithful to me since the day I got her. I love that damn truck.” I said with a wink as I opened the door to the coffee shop.

You would have thought Ellie had never set foot in a place like this. She worked in a coffee shop for Christ sake. I saw her looking all around. We walked up to the counter to order and that’s when I saw Crysti. Fuck me…why the hell did she have to be working today. SHIT! As soon as she saw me walk up she walked over and told the girl who was taking orders to switch with her…or so that is what it looked like. I handed Ellie a menu as we stood in line to order.

“Oh my gosh I love it here! Thank you Gunner for bringing me here!” She said with such excitement. She grabbed my arm with her good hand and quickly let it go. Boy this was going to be easy winning this girl over if just something this simple made her happy.

We moved to the counter and I took a deep breath….I could see the daggers Crysti was shooting at Ellie. Good lord, I went out with this girl once as a favor for Jeff who was going on a date with her damn friend, Jemma I think her name was . She was nothing but a pain in the ass the whole time. She called me for like two months before she got the hint and moved on.

“Hey there Gunner baby, how are you doing? Long time no see!” Crysti said as she leaned over the counter trying to expose her chest more than it already was. Fuck me…nope she has not moved on.

“Hey Crysti, how’s it going?” I asked in the most uninterested voice I could muster.

“It’s going good…even better now that I see your handsome face!”

I took a peak at Ellie who was trying very hard to keep looking down at the menu. This f**king sucked. Last thing I need was for this bleach blonde bitch to cause problems.

“Ellie sweetheart you know what you want?” I asked as I turned to look at that beautiful face and those drop dead gorgeous blue eyes.

“Um, yep…I think I’ll have a Turkey Pepper Jack Panini with the chips and a Salted Carmel Mocha Frapp please.” Ellie said with a smile to Crysti who was still looking at Ellie like she wanted to jump over the counter and attack her.

“Ookaaaaay. What about you handsome?” Crysti said with such seduction I wanted to hurl right there in her face.

“I’ll have the same Panini as Ellie and a Chocolate Espresso Martini. Can we also get the tableside S’mores…..for two?”

Crysti just looked at me like I was some kind of a freak. “Sure….yep…I’ll get that in for you. Please make sure you stay inside since you are getting the S’mores.”

Ellie was looking around after I paid for a place to sit. I took it upon myself to guide her to the back corner booth. Thank goodness it was open as most of the tables where taken except a few high tables right by the bar.

We slid into the booth and Ellie looked at me and smiled. Then she looked over to where Crysti was standing behind the bar. I took a quick glance up and noticed she was staring at us. I looked at Ellie who turned to look at me. She gave me a weak smile and then looked away.

God I hope Ellie didn’t think I had something going on with Crysti. That is all I would need….

Chapter Thirteen

Ellie……

What the hell? As soon as we walked into Halcyon I could not miss the dirty looks the girl behind the bar was throwing my way. I was so happy before we walked in here. Even if Gunner’s reference to me being ‘his girl’ was just to make a joke it still felt good. Then we walk in and this Crysti bitch is all but taking her br**sts out of her shirt and flirting with Gunner. I mean come on skank. I know we are not on a date but she doesn’t know that….. good grief. Wait till I tell Ari about this f**king bitch.

I wonder if Gunner went out with her. What the hell did he see in someone like her? I looked up at her and sure enough she was staring. I looked over at Gunner and he was looking at me with that melt my panties crooked smile of his. If he went out with someone so beautiful as the blonde behind the bar….he would never want someone like me.

You will never be wanted by anyone…………….

“Hey….I’m sorry about Crysti being so rude like that. She’s just a bitch and that’s her problem. Don’t let her spoil our fun day okay?” Gunner said as he took his hand and lifted my chin up to look at him.

God his eyes…..I tore my eyes away from his and moved to look at this lips. I would give anything to kiss him. Just then I saw him leaning down towards me…oh shit….

“Is she an old girlfriend?” I just blurted out in my shear panic. SHIT! Shit shit shit! Gunner instantly stopped and sat back. He moved his hand threw his hair….god why did that turn me on so much. I looked away because I thought I already knew his answer.

“No, Ellie she is not an old girlfriend. She is just some girl I took on a date once.” Gunner said as he looked back over at the bar. Why did he seem mad all of a sudden? I guess I had no right to even ask. I mean…maybe I’m just imagining all of this. Was he really leaning down to kiss me? No….he wasn’t you fool. He is just being nice to me because of Jefferson. Or maybe he looks at me like a little sister. I don’t know. I am getting mixed signals here. Fuck…who am I kidding. I don’t even know what signals to look for!

For some reason my mouth was talking before my brain thought it through. “So how come you went out only once. She seemed to act like she knew you pretty well.”

OH.MY.GOD……did I just really say that?

Gunner let out a small laugh. “I only went out with her as a favor for Jeff.” OH??? This has me intrigued now. “Jeff asked Crysti’s roommate Jemma out and she said the only way she would go out with him is if I went out with Crysti. So we all went out on a double date. Longest four hours of my entire life. She is a self absorbed bitch. Same went for Jemma. Jeff was not the least bit interested after about two hours into the date. It was more like five minutes into the date when I lost interest. I remember I kept checking the Rangers game on my phone pretty much the whole time.”

I let out a laugh at the way Gunner described their double date. Come to think of it…..Jefferson has never really had a long term girlfriend. I wonder if Gunner has. According to Jefferson he has not.

“Have you ever been in a long term relationship with anyone?” I asked just as they called out Gunner’s name for our drinks. Gunner jumped up and walked over to the bar. He said something to the guy at the bar who I could tell said ‘sure thing’.

Gunner set our drinks down at the table and then slid back in. This time I noticed he sat a little closer to me. I could practically feel his body heat. Hells bells….there went that ache between my legs again. I squeezed my legs together to try and relieve it. Jesus…..why did I never feel this with Ryan? What was going on with me?

Friends Ellie….only friends.

Just when I thought I was going to explode Gunner started to talk. “To get back to your question Ellie, no I’ve never been in a long term relationship. Longest I ever dated one girl was maybe four or five dates? I don’t remember. It was when I first came to UT.” Gunner said as he took a sip of his drink.

Okay, so shouldn’t I feel relieved that he has never been in a crazy love fest relationship? Or did this just confirm what I was also thinking….someone like Gunner would never settle down with a girl, especially a girl like me. Totally unworthy of him that is all I was.

Once we finished eating our lunch, the guy who Gunner talked with at the bar earlier brought out our tableside S’mores. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. It was a big wooden bowl and in the center was a little burner. Around the burner in the bowl there were two sticks, some marshmallows, a Hershey candy bar and four packs of graham crackers. Gunner picked up one of the sticks and stuck a marshmallow on it. He handed it to me and I roasted it over the little flame. He opened the crackers and the candy bar and had it all ready to go since my right hand was still sore. Good god could this guy just not get any better? Just then my marshmallow caught on fire and I laughed! Gunner grabbed my hand and blew it out then took the marshmallow and sandwiched it in between the crackers and the chocolate. I was still trying to recover from him grabbing my hand and sending electricity through my overly sensitive body when he took the cracker and put it up to mouth for me to eat it.