Wanted (17 page)

“You know you don’t need a dog for that sweetheart. I’m pretty sure you could find someone who is more than willing to take on that job.” He said with the sweetest smile. I so badly wanted to ask if he wanted to apply for the open position. HA! Yeah right. He couldn’t even kiss me……

“What would you name him?” Gunner asked as he jumped out of his truck and ran around the front to open my door. Good
‘
ole Texas charm….I bet he has
girls falling all over him.
Well,
I was not going to be one of them….
or so I kept telling myself that.

“Um, let’s see…..I think I would name him….Gus.” I said with a smile on my face. Yes…I like
d
that. It was a good strong name for a dog. Gunner let out a laugh that cause
d
me to stop and lo
ok
at him.

“What the hell is wrong with Gus? That is a good strong country boy name for my country boy dog. I can’t believe you are laughing at my name choice. Some friend you are Gunner Mathews!” I said as I hit him with my good hand.

After what seemed li
ke FOREVER he stopped laughing.

“Gus? You want to name him Gus? How the hell did you come up with that name
Ellie
?” Gunner said as we started to walk towards the school. He reached down and to
ok
my left hand in
to
his right hand. Did he realize he was holding my
hand?
My god…the butterflies w
here going crazy in my stomach.

“Well if you
must
know….one time Jefferson to
ok
me on a drive out to Fredericksburg. Said we needed some country air
. I saw the name on a mail
box and
I don’t know I just liked it.” I sai
d with a shrug
of
my shoulders.

“Do you like the country? I mean would you ever want to live out in the country or are you a city girl?” he asked as he bumped his arm into my
shoulder. Good god
all this contac
t was driving my libido insane.

“No…I’
m NOT a city girl. Well, I mean I am ‘
cause
I grew up in Austin and all. I want nothing more than to get away from Austin and live in a small town with lots of
land and have a beautiful ranch style home
and go outside every morning and feed the chickens. I want to hear nothing but nature. No cars, no horns, no freaking people blowing their damn cigarette sm
ok
e
in my face. I want to be able to lo
ok
up into the sky and see the mil
lions of stars every night. I’
ve never seen what a true night time sky lo
ok
s like with all
the stars. I would love that.”

I stopped at the side door to the school and lo
ok
ed back at Gunner. He was standing there with a huge shit eating grin on his face. I tilted my head to lo
ok
at him. What the hell was he thinking? He sure did seem happy. Huh….I noticed as soon as I started talking about wanting to live in the country he dropped
my hand.

Gunner cleared his throat and just sho
ok
his head. “Shall we get this over with sweetheart?” He asked as he held the door open for me. I would NEVER get tired of this. Ryan never once held the door open for me or opened the car door for me…..nothing. Gunne
r was a complete 180 from Ryan.

“YES!
One step closer to my new life as a college student!”
I said as we headed down the hall way.

Gunner
…….

DOGS! Labs….Chocolate labs……Chocolate labs name Gus….OH holy shit this was not working anymore because all I could think about was the damn dog
Ellie
wanted…...my
Ellie
…….

I w
alk
ed
down the hall
following her to her locker and tried
to keep my dick from getting any harder
but it was a fucking chore
. I couldn’t
believe my ears when she started saying she wanted to live in the
country. I felt all the air
leave my lungs. I dropped her hand that I had not even realized I was holding and just stood there. Listening to her describe the life I wa
nted. The life I wanted with…..
.her. That was it. I know Jeff said I needed to give her time and be patient. Fuck that. It was on. I was going to do everything in my power to win
Ellie
’s heart.
Starting right now.

I had to keep my eyes everywhere but on her. She kept leaning over and that fucking skirt kept creeping up farther.
Holy shit she had a nice body.

Okay
…ceiling…lo
ok
at the ceiling, lo
ok
at the other lockers…..dogs……Chocolate lab dogs name Gus running around the ranch with
Ellie
and a little
brown haired
girl chasing after it.

Wait!!!
What??! Where the fuck did that come from? Oh my go
d….what was happening to me? I’
m standing in a damn high school day dreaming about the ranch and
Ellie
having my child and a fucking lab named Gu
s!

It is getting hot in here
…
….

“Gunner?
Are you
okay
? You lo
ok
lik
e you feel sick
. Are you feeling
okay
??
”
Ellie
said as she to
ok
the lock off of the locker
door
and bent down
to pick up the bag she packed.

“Um, yeah yeah…I feel fine Ells. Here let me take that. Is this it? Where are all your bo
ok
s?”

Ellie
handed me the bag filled with just a few notebo
ok
s, stuffed animals
and a few odds and ends in it.

“Oh…Ari turned them all in for me earlier today when she turned in all
of
her bo
oks.
She wanted to get here early so she could get it done and then work on her Valedictorian speech. I think she is pretty nerv
ous about it. Are you sure you’
re
okay
?”
Ellie
asked as she lo
ok
ed me up and down.

I really wanted to tell her no, I was
so
ooo
not
okay
. I was day dreaming about uprooting her life, moving her out to the middle of nowhere and oh yeah….ge
tting her pregnant with my kid.

Deep breaths Gunner….deep breaths.

“Sure yeah…..I’m
okay
! I think it is just really hot in here.
Isn’t it really hot in here to you?
Alright if you
’
re done let’s blow this Popsicle stand what do
ya
say?” I said as I tried to get
some feeling in my legs again.

“YES! Let’s get out of here!”
Ellie
said
with a huge smile on her face.

Shit,
there went my heart.
We headed back out to my truck and I tossed her bag in the back seat with her other stuff. I opened the door for her and helped her get in. I would never
get
tire
d
of seeing that blush creep up her cheeks every time I did this.
She deserved nothing less than to be treated w
ith the upmost respect.

I walked around my truck and saw
Ellie
answer her phone.
Her
smiled dropped and her eyes shot up and lo
ok
ed right at mine. I almost stopped dead in my tracks. My guess it was that douche bag Ryan. Should I stand outside the truck and give her privacy? Fuck that….I opened my door, cl
imbed in and started the truck.

“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 lo
ok
ed at me and there it was…that smile that freak
ing 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 ju
st 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 to
ok
her left hand. I was surprised when s
he pulled her hand out of mine.

“I know I do
n’
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 fucked this up like I fuck 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
fucks 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 t
o you is just bull
shit.”

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

I lo
ok
ed over at her. She really was an innocent lost lit
tle girl. So many things she had
never gotten to experience. I want to be the on
e to share all of th
em with her for the first time.

We drove around for a few minutes lo
ok
ing for curbside parking. No such luck. I ended up just valet parking. It was easiest and damn near cost the same a
t 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 lo
ok
ed me up and down.

“
U
mmm
, yes…yes sir I got it.
Um….
We’
re talking about the truck right?” He asked as he lo
ok
ed over towards
Ellie
who was now trying to hide her laughter. I lo
ok
ed 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 Hal
cy
on
. As soon as we were far enough away she let out the laughter she was trying so hard to hold i
n.

“
Ohhhh
holy sh
it!
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 a
sked as she was still giggling.

“YES! She is my girl. That truck means a lot
to me. She served my G
ramps
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 open
ed 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 lo
ok
ing all around. We walked up
to the counter to order and t
hat’
s when I saw
Crysti
. Fuck me…why the hell did she have to be working today. SHI
T! 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 lo
ok
ed like. I handed
Ellie
a men
u as we stood in line to order.