“Ari, I love you more than life itself. I’ll do anything for you. I will do anything for you, baby.”

I smiled at him because I knew he meant every word he was saying.

“Can you go push Rebecca down an empty mineshaft?”

Ellie let out a giggle.

Jeff smiled. “Baby, if you really want me to, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“As much as I really want to say yes…no, I don’t want that.”

I turned to Ellie and she gave me the sweetest smile.

“Ellie, please tell everyone they can leave. My parents need to get back to Matt. If Josh and Heather haven’t killed each other by now, I’m sure they’re ready to go insane with my baby brother. I have Jeff now. I’m gonna be fine.” I smiled at the love of my life.

The most overwhelming feeling of comfort came over me. Just having him smile at me and tell me how much he loved me brought such a peace.

My heart was breaking inside, but somehow, I knew it was all going to be okay.

Ellie kissed me gently good bye and walked out of the room.

Jeff leaned down to softly kiss my lips.

“I love you, Arianna.”

“I love you, too, Jeff.”

“It’s all going to be okay. Please tell me you believe me.”

“I believe you.”

Too bad my heart didn’t agree with what I just said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

JOSH

I stood there at the kitchen entrance, watching Heather play with Matt. She was amazing with him. It was no wonder she wanted to be a teacher. She had a gift. I couldn’t believe how patient she was with him, it was clear that he loved her.

They were both mopping Jeff and Ari’s kitchen floor…again.

“Heather, do you like mopping with me?” Matt asked.

He had the cutest damn smile I’d ever seen. Little guy is moving in on my girl.

My girl…I wish.

She had barely spoken two words to me since everyone had left. I had finally talked Lynda into heading back up to Emma and Garrett’s house after an hour of her rolling her f**king eyes at Matt and Heather.

As I started to walk into the kitchen, Matt held up his hand to stop me.

“Oh no, Josh. Don’t walk on the wet floor. You’ll fall!”

“Gotcha, buddy. I wouldn’t dream of walking on this beautiful clean floor, especially not after the wonderful job you and Heather did cleaning it.” I smiled at Heather. I was shocked that she smiled back at me. My heart dropped to my stomach.

“Matt, how about I take the mops and bucket outside and then Josh can take you to go see Stargazer? Would you like that?” Heather asked as she gave me a wink.

I swore that I would do anything this girl asked me to do.

Matt jumped up and down and then ran over to me.

“I’m gonna take that as yes. So, let’s go see Stargazer buddy.”

When Matt smiled at me, my heart melted. Then, I thought about Jeff. Sue and Mark called to say they were on their way back to pick up Matt. That must’ve meant Jeff was with Ari. If I knew Jeff, he was falling apart inside, blaming himself.

I thought Gunner and Jeff were nuts for wanting to have kids so soon. I thought they needed to enjoy life for a bit before they got tied down with kids.

Heather walked by and gave Matt a kiss on the top of his head before she headed outside to dump out the bucket and clean the mops. She looked up at me and smiled again. There went my heart dropping to my stomach.

Maybe Gunner and Jeff weren’t so nuts.

***

Matt and I were just about to take Stargazer out for a walk on her lead when Sue and Mark pulled up. Matt started to run over to Sue, but then he quickly turned back and ran up to me.

“Josh, can I give you a hug good-bye, you assmole?”

I tried not to laugh, but I had to. I got down on my knees, and Matt gave me a big bear hug. Then, he did something I wasn’t expecting.

“I love you, Josh. Bye!” He spun around and ran off.

Sue called out her thanks as I waved good-bye to them.

I couldn’t stand up, so I sat down on the ground as I watched them walk off. Sue stopped to talk to Heather. I watched as Heather threw her head back and laughed.

I wanted what Gunner and Jeff had. It hit me like a ton of bricks the moment Matt said he loved me. I wanted it, and I wanted it with Heather. When she looked over at me, she stopped laughing. She turned back to Sue, and it looked like they were saying their good-byes.

After she gave Sue a hug, she started to walk toward me. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks. I heard someone come up behind me. I felt a kiss on my cheek, and I turned around to see Lynda standing above me.

“Hey, handsome. What are you doing down here on the ground? Did Matt wear your ass out?” Lynda laughed and then sat down next to me.

When I looked back at Heather, I saw that she was now walking back toward Jeff and Ari’s house.

Fuck me.

“Hey, Lynda. I thought you were going to wait for Emma and Garrett to get back.”

“Oh, they’re home now. I heard them mention to Gunner’s folks that Sue and Mark were on their way to pick up Matt, so I thought I would come and see if you’d like to go out tonight. Maybe we could hit the honky-tonk in town and do some dancing?”

“Well, yeah… maybe. Let me talk to Gunner and see how Ari and Jeff are doing first.”

Lynda’s smile faded. “I’m really so sorry to hear about Ari losing her baby. I mean, I didn’t even know she was pregnant, but still, I hate to see that happen to anyone. She seems like a really nice girl.”

I smiled at Lynda. I knew she was just trying to be nice, but I was pissed that she caused Heather to turn and walk away.

“Did you drive over here?” I asked standing up.

“Um, yeah. I thought you might like to come back with me, and then we could head out tonight. I mean, if you feel like it.”

I looked back over to where Heather had walked back to the house.

“You know what? I am in the mood to go out and grab a few beers. How about I get ready and meet you back at your grandparents, place?”

Lynda gave me a smile before she hugged me. “Oh, you won’t regret it, Josh! A night out is just what you need.”

I watched as Lynda drove off in the Jeep toward Emma and Garrett’s place. I started to head back to the house when Gunner sent me a text.

Gunner: I need some f**king drinks and loud music. You up for going out tonight.

I sent him a text back: Fuck yeah. How’s Ari? Where the hell was Jeff ?

Gunner: Shit, dude. I’ll tell you all about it over a beer.

I replied: Okay, I’m going to jump in the shower and then head over.

I walked into the house and heard the shower going in Jeff and Ari’s bathroom. Why is she taking a shower in their bathroom? I wondered if Heather was going to go out tonight also.

I walked into the kitchen and made a mental note to have the place cleaned up before Ari got home. The last thing she needed to do was worry about cleaning. I reached into the fridge, pulling out a beer. I practically downed it right there. Shit, I need to just get drunk tonight. I needed to get Heather out of my mind, and I only knew one way to do that. It had been too damn long since I’d f**ked someone.

I slammed the rest of my beer and threw the bottle in the trash.

When my phone beeped, I pulled it out to see Lynda had texted me with a picture of what she was wearing tonight.

Motherfucker. The picture she sent me was hot. I knew just the person to get Heather off of my mind.

I was sending Lynda a text back when I ran right into Heather coming out of Ari and Jeff’s bedroom.

We hit dead-on and she dropped all her bathroom stuff as I dropped my phone. We both started to lean down to pick up everything. As I stood back up to let her go first, my head hit her in the chin.

“Motherfucker!” Heather grabbed her chin and stumbled backwards.

She looked like she was about to fall, so I reached out, grabbing her other hand, as I pulled her toward me.

“Holy shit Heather! I’m so sorry! Are you okay, princess?” I placed my hands on either side of her face while I moved her head back and forth looking at her chin.

Watching her poor eyes water up, I knew she was trying to hold back the tears. When she reached out her hands and put them on my forearms, I saw the first tear slide down her cheek.

Oh. My. God. I wiped the tear away. I felt like such a douche for hurting her even though it was an accident.

“Oh shit, Heather, I’m so sorry, princess. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She tried to smile at me. “S’okay Josh. I should’ve been looking where I was going. Ouch, I think I bit my damn tongue!” she let out a small laugh.

Her hands were still on my arms, and I let my eyes look down her body.

Holy motherf**king shit! The blue robe she was wearing was open, and of course, she was nak*d underneath. My legs wobbled just a bit, and she grabbed my arms tighter.

“Oh my god, Josh are you okay? I didn’t think my chin was that hard! Do you need to sit down?”

I looked back up to her, and she must have caught on to what I had been looking at. I slowly moved my hands down her face to her shoulders and pushed the robe off of her.

She just stood there, staring at me. I thought for sure she would reach for her robe, but instead, she licked her lips. I almost had to grab the wall to stand up straight.

I grabbed her neck, pulling her to me, and then I started to kiss her.

Her hands immediately went to my hair, and she let out the sweetest, softest moan I’d ever heard. I pushed her back against the wall as I started to move my other hand down her body. I lifted up her leg, hooking it over my hip.

“Heather,” I whispered against her lips.

I was waiting for her to come to her senses, but then she pushed her h*ps against mine. I went for it. Moving my hand all over her body, I caressed up her side to her chest. When I cupped one of her br**sts in my hand and I let out a moan. She fit perfect in my hand.

Then, I moved my hand down to between her legs and touched her clit. She bucked her h*ps into me while she grabbed a handful of my hair. As she pulled me closer to her lips, I put one finger inside of her and then another.

“Oh god,” I moaned. She’s so f**king wet.

“Josh, please don’t stop.”

I put two more fingers inside her She was so tight. I started to move my hand faster while she pushed harder against me. The next thing I knew, I was capturing her screams in my mouth.

Fuck me. Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?

She pulled away from my lips to catch her breath. When she started to move her leg away, I grabbed it and picked her up.

“Wrap your legs around me, princess.”

She did just what I asked and didn’t even hesitate. Shit…It had been so long since I was with someone and all I wanted to do was be with Heather and only Heather. I pushed her back against the wall again and kissed her with as much passion as I could.

She pulled back away from my lips just some.

“Josh,” she whispered so softly. “I want you so badly.”

Holy fuck. What was she saying?

“Heather, I want you, too, but.”

“Please, Josh, I need this so much.”

I moved my lips back to kiss hers. I loved her so much, and I didn’t want to rush making love to her. It had to be special.