“Ellie please look at me sweetheart.” Gunner asked as he used his hand to turn my face towards him.

“You’ve never been in a canoe?” Gunner asked with that drop dead smile of his. He made my heart hurt but for all the right reasons. Oh please take this pain away Gunner…..please…….

I let out a small laugh. “Nope….but I’ve always wanted to go. Pretty stupid huh?”

Gunner’s smile got even bigger. God it was contagious because next thing I knew I was smiling back at him.

“What? What is it?” I asked him wanting to know why he was looking at me all goofy like that.

“It’s just that I get to take you on another first today. I need to write down all the things you’ve never done before but want to do Ellie.” Gunner said as he took my hand in his. I decided I would not try to pull my hand away this time. I was going to just pretend we were together and this was a perfect first date. It was just Gunner and me…..together.

“Why do you need to know that?” I asked confused but very curious as to where he was going with this.

“Well, because I want to be the person who gives you all of your firsts. I want to experience them with you so I can see that beautiful smile of yours light up every time you do something new. I want to make all of your dreams come true.”

“Oh….”

WOW….I was not expecting that at all. Maybe Gunner was different and he might just be interested in more than what I was giving him credit for. Then again…….maybe he was just interested in a friendship like how Jefferson was with Ari. He would never want it to go past friendship.

The thought of Gunner and I never becoming closer than friends almost had me feeling sick again and ready to cry.

As Gunner pulled into the parking lot of Zilker Park my heart started to beat faster than ever. Was I more nervous about the canoe ride or about talking to him about my mother? It was clear he was not going to bring it up until I was ready to talk about it. I needed to do this. I HAD to do this.

“Gosh Gunner I never even asked if you had plans today. I’m so sorry. I feel like shit now just assuming you would be able to spend the day with me.” I said as I realized Gunner might have actually had things to do today.

Gunner let out a laugh that moved through my body and sent chills up and down my back. “Sweetheart I would much rather spend the day with you than run around and do errands. I just need to swing by James Avery to pick something up and that’s it. I’m yours for the whole day!”

He looked at me and gave me a wink. Yep…my knees just felt weak as I tried to walk down to where they rented out the canoes. Oh shit….with how my stomach was feeling why the hell did I pick this? It just popped into my head….canoes. Jesus….watch me hurl right onto him. Good going Ellie…..picking a damn canoe ride. ARGH!

As Gunner was renting the canoe and getting our life jackets my mind kept thinking to what he said a few minutes ago. He needed to stop by James Avery? I wonder who he was buying jewelry for. He said he didn’t have a girlfriend. Maybe it was his mother’s birthday coming up or his grandmothers. It was driving me crazy! Why was it driving me crazy? It really was none of my business but it was still driving me insane wondering who the hell he would be buying jewelry for.

Just then I felt his hands on my shoulder and he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Are you ready to go on your first canoe ride Ells?”

Yep….I knew it the moment I leaned back and felt his strong chest against my back I was so f**ked. I didn’t even care how this might look to him. The feel of his hot breath on my face and the touch of his hands on my body….I needed to lean against him before my knees gave out. He turned me around and lifted my face up towards his. He smiled, leaned down and kissed……….

My forehead?! What the hell?! SHIT! Why didn’t he kiss me? I wanted him to kiss me so badly and earlier he tried to kiss me but I stopped him. What changed?

Maybe it was what my mother said. Now I really felt sick as he was walking me over and helping me climb into the canoe.

Holy f**k don’t let me puke dear Lord…..just please don’t let me puke.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

GUNNER…….

German Shepards, Labs, Poodles, Rottweilers, German Short Haired Pointers……..good God I was trying to name off every breed of dog I knew. The moment she leaned into me and I felt her body up against mine my dick instantly came to attention. I had to turn her around to face me before she felt me jabbing her in the back with my hard on.

I swear to God my dick was so hard and there was not much more room in my pants to accommodate my growing problem. As Ellie was getting settled I tried my best to adjust myself while thinking of other dogs. SHIT I wanted to kiss her so f**king bad. It was getting harder and harder to resist her.

After I got in and sat down the look on her face made my hard on go down in a matter of seconds.

“Ellie…what is it? Are you feeling sick? Do you not want to do this?”Her face was turning green right before my eyes. Maybe there was a reason she never went out on a canoe before.

“I’m okay…just give me a few minutes here to get use to this. Just….go slow, really really slow. AND don’t rock the boat!” Ellie practically shouted at me. I had to laugh at her, she was so damn cute!

After about ten minutes of slowly rowing out we finally make it onto Town Lake. I could see Ellie start to relax as she sat back and lifted her face to the sun. Damn she looked so beautiful. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket but decided to let it go to voicemail. I had sent Jeff a quick text to let him know where we were right before I rented the canoe.

Another few minutes passed before Ellie started to talk. She never moved her head and just continued to keep her eyes closed as she soaked in the warm June Texas sun.

“Please just let me get this all out before you try to interrupt me or anything okay?” Ellie said with a slight crack in her voice.

“Okay.”

“First, I just wanted to say thank you again for everything you’ve done for me the last two days. I know we just met but I feel……well I feel like I can really count on you. Thank you so much for being such a good friend.” Ellie said as she finally looked at me.

Ouch…there went that friends comment again. Could she really not see how much I wanted to be more than friends? Fuck…what more did I need to do?

KISS HER……..

She started to sit up straighter and I could see her starting to tense up again. She was looking everywhere but at me. I stopped rowing and just let the canoe drift in the current. I wanted to study her. I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life. The way her beautiful blue eyes stood out and the way her light brown hair was starting to fall down from her pony tail and blow in the wind. The way she smiled at me. Her smile…..I loved the way her smile made me feel. I wanted to wake up every f**king morning to that smile. I wanted to prove to her that her mother was wrong so damn wrong.

Ellie was nothing like her mother. She was smart, innocent, caring, beautiful……. all the things her mother never could be. I was going to kiss her before this day was over. Yep, f**k the dogs. I was going to prove to Ellie I wanted to be more than just her goddamn friend.

“Gunner, about what my mother said. Well….um….I just wanted to let you know that everything she said was a lie. I mean….I’m not that way…I’m not a whore. I barely even ever kissed Ryan let alone slept with him. I know you probably already figured that out by the way Ryan left me and all. It was just really important for me to let you know what she was saying was not true. Honestly, I’m not a hundred percent sure why I needed you to know this….I just…..did. I just needed you to know.” Ellie finished and now she was looking right at me.

How could she even think for one minute I would ever believe her mother? My heart was breaking all over again. I was so f**king confused. One minute she is calling me a good friend and the next she is telling me how important it is that I know she does not sleep around.

“Ellie sweetheart believe me when I tell you this. I NEVER believed anything that came out of your mother’s mouth. I’m so sorry she hurt you and that you had to endure all that verbal abuse from her over the years. Please don’t ever let what she said to you ever stand in your way. You are a strong, beautiful, and very smart young woman. Don’t ever forget that Ellie…..never forget that.” I said as I reached over and took her left hand in mine. I lifted it up and placed her hand to my lips and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. She gave me the sweetest smile in return. I let her hand go to start rowing again.

Ellie threw her head back and started soaking in the sun again. I would never get tired of watching her. I could watch her eat, sleep, laugh, smile….god you name it. I had this incredible urge to spend every spare minute with her. This was the perfect first…….day, not date, day. The perfect first day of many more to come.

As I rowed the canoe up to the shore, the guy who rented us the canoe held out his hand to help Ellie out. The way he looked at her just made my skin boil. Did he really think I could not see what the f**k he was doing?

Bastard!

Ellie laughed at something he said and I had to fight the urge to pound his face into the ground. I walked up and took her hand out from his hand. I thanked him and lead Ellie away from this dickhead. I turned back around once to see him watching us walk away. Fuck wad douche bag go flirt with another guy’s girl.

Shit….I needed to remember that Ellie was not mine….but I was going to change that and very soon.

We walked for a little bit along the trail as Ellie told me all about her plans for college. She was going to study business but was not one hundred percent sure that was going to be her major. After about fifteen minutes of talking about college, a young couple walked by with a baby and I watched Ellie smile at them as they walked by. I thought about earlier when I pictured her on the ranch with our little girl and a puppy. The idea made me smile and filled me with a warm sensation. I wanted a life with her. I wanted to wake up every day and look over at her sleeping by my side. I wanted her.

Ellie was staring out at the water and I decided I had waited long enough. I walked around to where I was standing in front of her. She looked up at me and just gave me that beautiful smile I had come to love and need so quickly.

“Ellie sweetheart I really need to do something I’ve wanted to do since I first laid eyes on you yesterday.”

I took my hands and cupped her soft beautiful face. I leaned down and barely brushed my lips against her lips. Holy fuck…they were softer than I had imagined them. I kept my lips just inches from her lips and waited just a few seconds to see if she would pull away. When she didn’t, I took that as a sign it was okay to kiss her. I leaned back in and made the kiss deeper this time. I kissed her with all the passion and emotion that I had built up inside me from the moment I first saw her. She let out a small moan which vibrated through my whole body and instantly my dick started to get hard. God what this girl could do to me was crazy insane.