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I saw Jenny walking up to us. Ari was right
behind her along with Ellie and Heather. As soon as Heather saw
Lynda, she moved to the other side of the table, standing as far
away from Lynda as possible.

“Jeff, it’s time for the first dance. Jack
already gave the DJ the song you requested for the first dance,”
Ari said.

I had asked Ari if I could pick out our song,
and she had said yes. Thank God she hadn’t been a control freak
while planning this whole wedding.

“Would you please do me the honor of dancing
with me, Mrs. Johnson?” I said as I stood up and reached for her
hand.

“
I would be more than happy
to, Mr. Johnson.”

Jenny walked up to the DJ and nodded her head
at him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
are now going to have their first dance as man and wife.”

Ari looked up at me, smiling, and then put
her hand on her stomach. I pulled her to me and put my lips right
up to her ear.

“What? Are you nervous about dancing with
your old man?”

She leaned back a little and gave me that
damn beautiful smile of hers, and I swore I felt my knees
wobble.

“No, I just felt the baby move, I think.” she
said.

I smiled as I pulled her closer to me.

“Everything that I’ve wanted to say to you is
in this song, baby. I love you so much, Ari, and I wouldn’t be able
to last a day without you in my life. I’ll always love you.”

Kenny Chesney’s “You Save Me” started to
play. I took her in my arms and started to two-step with her. She
looked up at me with tears rolling down her face.

I will never, ever hurt this girl again.

“I promise you, baby, that I’ll always make
you happy. Never in my life will I ever hurt you or cause you pain
again. I promise you. Thank you so much, Ari, for saving me.”

Ari tried to talk but couldn’t. She put her
head down on my chest, and grabbed my vest, and squeezed it tight.
She finally looked up at me and smiled.

“You have that wrong, Jeff. You saved
me.”

We finished the rest of the dance in silence.
When the song ended, we kissed, and I’d never felt so much love
pour through my body like I did during that kiss.

“I can’t wait until I can feel him moving,” I
said in her ear.

I started to kiss down her neck and she
giggled.

“I have to warn you, Jeff. I’m horny as fuck,
so you might want to stop doing that, or I’ll take you right here
on the dance floor.”

Oh god, I love this
girl.
I reached down, picked her up and
started to walk off the dance floor.

Gunner was standing there, smiling.

“We need to leave,” I said.

“Now?” Gunner asked in a shocked voice.

“Yes, now. Come up with something. You’re my
best man dude. You owe me this. My wife is horny, and I need to
take of it now if I’m to start out my husbandly duties right.”

“Oh, Jesus H. Christ, I didn’t need to
over-hear that,” Ellie said rolling her eyes.

Gunner let out a laugh as he grabbed Ellie
and kissed her. “You’re next!”

“Yeah, I didn’t need to hear that. That’s my
sister, you prick,”

“She’s my wife.”

“Can y’all just come up with a reason for us
to leave? I just want a goddamn cheeseburger from McDonald’s.” Ari
shouted.

I set Ari down, and we all just stared at
her.

“What? I want a cheeseburger. What’s so wrong
with that?”

“Nothing, baby. You want a cheeseburger so
I’ll get you a cheeseburger.” I looked over at Gunner. “Gunner, go
get Ari a cheeseburger.”

“What the fuck? You just said you wanted to
leave. Now you’re telling me to go get a cheeseburger! I don’t
remember that in my list of best man duties.”

“Who wants a cheeseburger?” Heather said as
she walked up from the dance floor.

“Ari does, but they also want to leave,”
Gunner said.

“Then, just leave.”

We all turned and looked at Heather.

“They can’t leave yet. They have to stay for
at least another hour,” Ellie said.

“Fuck a duck. I
need
a cheeseburger.” Ari
said.

“McDonald’s?” Heather asked.

Ari nodded her head, and Heather laughed.

“Well, since my date seems to have decided
that he likes dancing with none other than Lynda, I’m more than
happy to go get you one.”

‘Oh god, Heather, I love you! Don’t tell my
mom though. She’ll be pissed if she knew I sent you for a
burger.”

Heather laughed and headed back up to the
room the girls got dressed in to grab her purse and car keys.

I can’t believe she’s really going to
McDonald’s for Ari. Damn that’s a good friend.

Josh walked over from the bar, carrying a
beer in his hand. “Where is Heather going?”

“Well, since your girlfriend won’t stop
dancing with Heather’s date, bitch move by the way, she offered to
go and get me a McDonald’s cheeseburger. You should go with her.
I’m sure she could use the company and I don’t want her walking in
the dark all alone.” Ari said.

Josh set his beer down and looked out to
Lynda on the dance floor. “Okay, if Lynda asks where I am.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it,” Ellie
said as she pushed Josh toward the door where Heather would be
leaving.

Josh took off and never looked back.

“You sneaky little thing you,” Gunner said as
he looked at Ari.

“What? I don’t want Heather walking all
alone,” Ari said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Come, Ells, dance with my pregnant ass.” She
grabbed Ellie’s hand and off they went. Ari walked up to the DJ and
must have asked him to play a song.

“Ah shit, it ain’t good when your wife
requests a song. She has a history,” Gunner said.

I had to laugh. I loved how he called her my
wife.

Just then, the DJ stopped the song that was
playing. “When the bride asks for a song, it gets played right
away,” he announced.

Christina Aguilera’s “Desnudate” started to
play, and Ellie and Ari began dancing.

Damn, the way that girl
moves kills me.
I just stood there for a
few seconds, watching her dance.
My girl
sure as shit loves her Christina.
I smiled
while I watched her seduce me from the dance floor.

“Heather needs to hurry the fuck up,” I
said.

Gunner laughed.

“Dude, I never thought I would say this, but
when Ellie gets pregnant, be ready. It’s like they’re horny all the
time,” I said.

“I’ll remember that. Get out there and dance
with your bride. Hey, I called the hotel, and you’re all set.”

I turned to Gunner and smiled. “You really
are like a brother to me. Thank you for taking care of that.”

Gunner and I gave each other a quick bro hug
before I headed out to the dance floor.

It didn’t take long for Gunner to join
Ellie.

I ended up taking Ari by the hand, and
leading her back to the main house to go up to the room the girls
had booked.

“Jeff, really, we can’t just disappear from
our own reception!” Ari said, laughing the whole time I dragged her
away.

“The fuck we can’t.”

CHAPTER
FIFTY-ONE

JOSH

When Heather came walking down the steps with
her purse and keys in hand, I jumped up from the chair I’d been
sitting on.

“Hey.”

Heather jumped and let out a small
scream.

“Jesus, Josh, you scared the shit out of
me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was going to
tag along with you to McDonald’s.”

“Why?”

“I need a cheeseburger.”

“What, are you pregnant, too?”

I laughed as Heather just
started walking toward the door. We got to her car, and as we got
in, I took a deep breath.
Shit, it smells
like Heather.
I wanted to let out a curse
word because I realized I was in a damn rented tux, so I wouldn’t
be able to keep her smell on my clothes. I put my head back and
closed my eyes.
Motherfucker. I wanted to
cry. Maybe I am pregnant. Emotional stupid ass.

“Josh, are you feeling okay? Are you
sick?”

I almost said no but then I decided to see
where this would take me.

“You know, I am feeling a little bit sick. I
think the fresh air and ride will do me good.”

“Are you sure? I mean, maybe you shouldn’t
eat a cheeseburger if you’re feeling sick.”

Shit, that went
south.
“Nah, really, I’m fine.”

We drove in silence for a few minutes before
she started to talk.

“So, how have you been?”

“Good. I’m pretty much taking over my dad’s
business. I just made this really cool desk for Ari’s dad’s home
office.”

“Really? I bet he’ll love it.”

“I hope so. If he does and recommends me,
that could be huge for the business. I even have a client in
Fredericksburg who ordered a few things.”

Heather looked over at me and gave me that
drop dead gorgeous smile of hers. My heart broke all over again as
I thought back that morning at her apartment. Her blue eyes
captured mine, and then she looked away.

“Lynda, I’m sure, must be very proud of
you.”

I let out a small laugh. “Hardly. She hates
that I make furniture for a living. She wants me to go back to
school.”

“For what?”

“Law.”

“Oh no, don’t do that, Josh. Don’t give up
your dream because that’s what she wants. You have to do what makes
you happy.”

I nodded my head and looked
out the window. I knew Lynda would never make me happy.
Only Heather would.

“So, how’s school? Ellie told me that you’re
going to graduate this summer. Wow, you must have doubled up on
classes,” I said.

“Well, I didn’t really have anything else to
do with Ellie and Ari living in Mason now. So I took more classes
at UT and on-line. I have an interview with the Mason Independent
School District next week.”

I snapped my head up and looked at her.

“For teaching?” I asked.

Heather smiled. “Yeah, I just have to finish
some classes this summer and take the state test, but they’re
looking for three elementary teachers for next year. That’s why I
doubled up on the classes. It’s killing me, but it’s worth it.”

“Wow, Heather I’m really impressed. I always
thought you would make a wonderful teacher, prin…umm, yeah. I
always could see you doing that.”

She smiled but didn’t say
anything else.
Fuck, I almost called her
princess.

She pulled up to the drive-through and
ordered ten cheeseburgers.

“Ten? I said I only wanted one, Heather.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

“I know, but as soon as I hand one to Ari,
Jeff and Gunner will wish they had one, too.”

I let out a laugh. “Smart and beautiful.”

She smiled as she drove up to the window to
pay. I handed her a twenty, and she pushed my hand away.

“I’ve got it Josh.”

“Please, I insist.” She took the twenty and
paid while killing the rude girl in the drive-through with
kindness. Only Heather would be extra nice to some rude bitch.

***

By the time we got back to the wedding
reception, Heather and I were laughing so hard that we both had
tears rolling down our faces. When I told her about Garrett walking
in on Jeff and Ari one too many, she laughed even more.

Heather parked the car and was laughing so
hard she had to take a couple minutes to settle down before getting
out.

“Only Ari would suggest walking out naked to
scare Garrett from ever doing it again,” Heather said.

“I know, right?”

We sat there for a few seconds, and neither
one of us moving or speaking.

“Well, I guess we better get Ari her
cheeseburger,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I got out of the car and started to walk next
to Heather. Right before we got to the door, I took her arm and
stopped her. She turned around and looked me right in the eye.

“Heather, I’m me utterly and completely.”

“There you are!”

I wanted to cringe when I
heard Lynda’s voice.
Fuck me.

Heather closed her eyes for two seconds
before they snapped back open to look right into mine.

“Thanks for keeping me company. I need to get
these to Ari. Excuse me, Lynda.”

Lynda turned and watched Heather walk inside.
I wanted to shout to the top of my lungs right now. Instead, I
looked at Lynda and tried to give her my best smile.

“So, you went to McDonald’s with Heather,
huh?. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”

“You were a little busy dancing with
Heather’s date. Since you were both occupied with each other, I
decided to get some fresh air, and Ari didn’t want Heather walking
out here alone.”

“Really? Well next time, do a girl a favor
and let me know. I was freaking out, and I had to ask Ellie. She
said she had no idea where you were. Finally, Ari just told
me.”

I almost wanted to laugh, thinking about
those two devils playing with Lynda like that.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you,
Lynda. Really, I wasn’t even gone twenty minutes.”

Lynda turned and started to walk back into
the building. I rolled my eyes and then followed behind her.

For the first time since I’d started dating
her, I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of having to go home
with her.

We got back into the reception hall, and I
saw Jeff and Gunner both eating cheeseburgers. When I let out a
laugh, Lynda turned around.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna walk over and talk to
Jeff and Gunner for a bit.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to run to the ladies
room. Be back in a few minutes.”