“Shut the f**k up bitch!” I said as I punched her in the arm with my left hand.

“Okay so I want all the dirty deeds on what went down with you two today and DON’T try to say nothing did. I saw the look on your face when you were walking up with him. You either lost virginity today or that boy has magic fingers!” Ari said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“OH. MY. GOD! You are impossible!! NO…I did not lose my V card you bitch!” I said as I followed Ari down the hall. She stopped outside a door that was right next door to her room.

“Your room sweets.” Ari said as she opened the door to the guest bedroom. My bags were already in the room and sitting on the bedside table was a bouquet of fresh daisies. I walked over to the flowers, leaned down and gave them a good long smell.

“Oh my gosh how sweet of your mom to put these in here!” I said as I sat down on the bed. For the first time since I had left my mother’s house today I actually felt like things were going to be okay.

“It wasn’t my mom who wanted the flowers in here Ellie. It was Gunner.” Ari said as she sat down on the bed next to me.

Gunner? What! How? Why?

“Wait…..It couldn’t have been Gunner, he’s been with me all day today Ari, how could he have bought flowers and put them in here?” I asked as my head started to spin.

Ari laughed. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, how are you third in the class you shit head! Gunner sent me a text earlier today. He said he was taking you canoeing, something you requested I take, and he asked me to pick up some daisies to put in your room. He wanted them to be here when you got here.”

“How the hell did he know daisies were my favorite flower? Did you tell him?” I asked confused as hell.

“NOPE” Ari said as she made her P sound like a pop.

“Jefferson?” I asked.

“NOPE” Ari said again with a shit eating grin on her face.

“I told you that boy wanted in your panties Ells!” Ari said as she fell back on the bed laughing her ass off.

“Arianna! I am so confused. Did he just guess? Please just tell me! My god this guy has my head spinning and my heart pounding and his kiss just about knocked me off my feet.” I said as I fell back to lie next to her.

I heard a scream and saw Ari jump up.

“What the FUCK Ellie he kissed you? He kissed you????? When? I mean oh my God you bitch you kept something this HUGE from me?! I can’t believe you….. how could you?” Ari just kept going on and on.

“HOLY SHIT Ari if you would just shut up we have only been alone a whole five minutes! I will tell you!” I said laughing at how Ari was still jumping up and down.

I told Ari all about our morning and how perfect it was. I even told her about Crysti the bitch. We talked about how sweet Gunner was after we left my mother’s house, the awesome canoe ride. Then I told her every single detail about the kiss.

“Holy hells bells…..Jesus……did you orgasm from that kiss?” Ari asked while pretending to fan herself.

“OH MY GOD! Arianna!!!! I can NOT believe you!” I said as I threw a pillow at her.

“Really Ells…..that sounds like it was f**king hotter than hell. I mean just looking at that boy makes me have naughty thoughts! I can’t imagine kissing him!”

“Damn Ari….I can’t believe how he makes me forget everything. It was the most amazing moment of my life. I’ve never been kissed like that before.”

“Ryan didn’t kiss good?”

I started to laugh. “Ryan barely ever kissed me and when he did it seemed like he was forcing it. The first few months he tried to take it further but…..I just never felt like it was right. He never made me feel…..special.” I looked up at Ari who was smiling at me with the most ridiculous smile I had ever seen.

“And, does Gunner make you feel….special?” Ari said as she bumped her shoulder into mine.

“He does but……I have to wonder. Am I just something that he wants to conquer since I’m the forbidden sister? Or does he really feel something for me? I’m just not sure. At any rate I told him I just wanted to be friends.”

“You told him WHAT? Are you f**king nuts Ellie? What the hell is wrong with you?” Ari said as she turned to face me. Clearly she must have forgotten the whole Ryan just cheated on me thing?

“Ari come on, a guy like Gunner interested in me? Puh-lease! Besides, I just found out yesterday my boyfriend was cheating on me. I’m not ready to get into any kind of relationship. I need to take some time for myself. Figure out where I want to go and what I want to do.”

Ari just stared at me for the longest time.

“What?”

“First off you stupid bitch….YES…. a guy like Gunner could very well be interested in you! Second, do not ever refer to that a**hole Ryan as your boyfriend again! Third, OKAY I get that you need time. What did Gunner say when you told him you only wanted to be friends?”

“He was very understanding. He told me he would always be my friend. He really is amazing and almost too good to be true. I mean he opens car doors for me….all the time! I actually think he gets disappointed when I open it and get out myself!”

“Well I think you are crazy for pulling the friends card out. With the sound of that kiss can you imagine how he is in bed! FUCK! I bet a girl can get at least three to four orgasms from that guy.”

“OHMYGOD! ARI! How the hell are you still a virgin for f**ks sake?!”

Ari just shrugged her shoulders and winked at me.

She stood up and looked down at me. “It’s getting late and I still have to finish my speech. Are you okay Ellie? I mean with everything that happened with your mom today? You know you can talk to me anytime about anything sweets. You do know that right?”

I got up and walked towards my best friend. I would be lost without her and Jefferson. I hugged her as tight as I could. “I love you! Thank you, goodnight girl.

“Night Ells, try not to dream about your prince charming too much tonight!” Ari said as she threw her head back and laughed.

That night I slept the best I’ve slept in ages. My hand didn’t even really hurt anymore. For the first time in a long time I felt like things just might work out for me in a good way. Too bad I couldn’t get rid of that nagging feeling in my stomach.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Gunner……..

Jeff left for Ellie’s graduation earlier this afternoon. Ari’s parents where planning on taking them all out for dinner afterwards so I had plenty of time to get things ready for the party. Jack was already here setting up his equipment. He was probably one of the best DJ’s in Austin. I only had to promise him two 50 yard line seats to get him to do this party.

“Alright dude…I got my shit all together and ready to go. I’m going to go and grab some food. What time do you want me back here?” Jack asked as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.

“Seven sound good?” I asked as I saw Jeff walk in the front door and slam it shut.

“Sure…see y’all then.”

“Hey, how was the graduation?”

Jeff walked by me and into the kitchen. He reached in the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He slammed the door shut. “Fucking great….just f**king great.”

Well holy shit what is going on with him? “Dude what’s going on? Oh fuck………..please tell me your mom didn’t show up at the graduation.”

“What? No…no man she didn’t show up. The graduation was perfect. It was the f**king dinner afterwards that sucked. I swear to God I want to just ring that Ari’s f**king neck!” Jeff said has he slammed his empty beer bottle down and grabbed another beer. WOW…he downed that beer fast.

“Fuck Jeff, you’re going to be trashed before Ellie even gets here. What the hell did Ari do?”

Jeff just started laughing. “What does that girl not do? She never f**king shuts the hell up for one thing. I mean I just wanted to reach across the goddamn table and shove a piece of f**king bread in her damn mouth. Then that prick showed up and all he did was f**king flirt with her over dinner and she f**king flirted right back with him. It made me sick.”

Ahhh, so now we get to the big picture.

“Who was this….prick….. who showed up? Someone they graduated with?”

“I don’t know who the f**k he was….some a**hole she use to date in school. He was having dinner with his family at the same restaurant. F**ker sure didn’t have any manners since he practically sat with us the whole time and left his family sitting there just waiting for him to come back.”

“Okay, so what exactly did Ari do that has you so angry with her?” I asked Jeff as I watched him get another beer out.

Holy fuck….he had it bad for Ari. Why the hell couldn’t he admit it?

Jeff laughed as he walked over and sat down on the sofa. “I pulled Ari aside and told her how inappropriate it was for her to be flirting with this guy so openly in front of her parents.”

“Oh holy fuck….only knowing Ari for a few days I’m pretty sure that probably pissed her off Jeff. What the f**k did you do that for? It’s not like she’s your girlfriend.”

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. “Funny f**king thing…..she said the same damn thing to me as you just did. First she just about called me every name in the book, told me to mind my own damn business and ended it with ‘I’m not your goddamn girlfriend….I’m just squirt…you little sister’s best friend’ then she smiled at me, leaned in and whispered against my ear and told me how it was such a shame I was a spineless dickless prick because she didn’t go for guys like me! Bitch!”

OUCH! Talk about sexual tension.

“Jeff, why can’t you admit you have feelings for Ari? It sure would make things easier on Ellie, you and Ari.” I said as I sat down next to him.

Jeff just turned to look at me and then smiled. It was such a sad smile.

“I need to focus on Ellie right now; I don’t have time to jack around with some baby drama queen who obviously needs way too much attention to keep her happy. Let her little high school prick friend do that. I need to go jump in the shower before Ellie and her friends get here. I told them to come any time after seven. I also called Rebecca and invited her and some of her friends. Told them it was Ellie’s graduation party but most of the normal folks would be here. Do me a favor and keep your eye on Ellie and her friends tonight. I don’t want any of these jack asses trying something with any of them. I already gave Ellie the lecture about taking any drinks from anyone.” Jeff ran his hands through his hair and started to walk to his room.

“Hey dude, you didn’t tell Rebecca to invite Crysti did you?” I asked as I reached down and picked up the two empty beer bottles Jeff had downed since he sat on the sofa.

“I told her I didn’t care who she brought along. The more of them here the less likely the guys will hit on Ellie and her friends. Ellie was adamant about having college students here, something about leaving her high school years behind.” Jeff said as he walked away from me.