I stood up, leaning against the truck. “Holy hell, this is so messed up. I mean, I know that Jeff wants to have kids with Ari so much, and he would be over the moon if he knew she was pregnant, Heather. I don’t understand why Ari is waiting to tell him. So what if Rebecca is having a baby and it turns out to be Jeff’s? He’s a good guy. He’ll do right by both of them.”

I shook my head. I silently thanked God that I’d never found myself in this situation. I looked back at Heather, and she was just staring at me.

She tilted her head to the side, smiling.

“Okay, spill it. What really happened just now? There’s no way you’d have that type of reaction just because you learned that Ari is pregnant. Plus, you were acting funny before I even said she ewas pregnant.”

“To be honest, I’m not really sure what happened, Heather.” That was the truth.

“Okay. Well, are you better now? I really want to get home and change out of this shirt and skirt.”

I let out a laugh as I got back in the truck.

Heather just rattled on and on the whole way to her apartment. I didn’t think I’d ever heard her talk as much as she was talking right now.

I pulled up to her building and parked the truck.

She sat there for a minute, like she was thinking something over.

“Do you want to come in for a glass of sweet tea or something?”

Fuck yeah, I do. “Sure, I’m not in a hurry to get anywhere.”

***

We sat together in her apartment for almost two hours, talking about everything and anything. I told Heather about my desire to take over my father’s furniture-making business, and she told me about her dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher.

Before I knew, it we had finished two bottles of wine.

While we were laughing about them being in jail, I said,

“I have to admit that I was surprised when Ari called me to come and get y’all out of jail. I just figured that my phone was the only one she was able to get through to.”

“Well, you know the only reason why she called you was so you could see me dressed like a damn whore,” Heather said as she laughed.

She must have thought about what she had just said because her head snapped up to look at me.

Now, why would Ari do that unless she thought Heather had feelings for me? I’m done playing games. It’s time to find out.

Heather was leaning up against the counter while as I sitting on one of her bar stools. I got up and walked toward her. Pulling her into my arms, I didn’t even give her time to think before I backed her up against the wall.

As I started to kiss her she ran her hands through my hair. The small moan that escaped her lips made me want to rip off her damn clothes. When I lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around my waist. The kiss was quickly turning more passionate by the second.

Son of a bitch. I’ve wanted to kiss this girl for so long now. She tasted sweeter than anything I could’ve ever imagined.

She pulled back slightly, trying to caught her breath.

“Josh…I’ve… I’ve never been with anyone before, and...” Her voice trailed off as she looked down at my lips.

My knees just about buckled out from underneath me. I had to put one hand on the wall to hold myself up. Holy shit. Heather’s a virgin.

Closing her eyes, she put her head back against the wall. Leaning down, I started to kiss her neck.

Two minutes ago, I’d been ready to ask the way to her bedroom. There was no way in hell that I was going to that now. Now, all I wanted to do was make her feel cherished.

“Princess, look at me.”

As she lifted her head up, her blue eyes captured mine, and I saw was sadness. My heart broke in two.

“I’d never do anything that you weren’t ready to do, Heather. Ever.”

“Josh…I really want…” She paused, stopping mid-sentence.

“You really want what?”

The look in her eyes suddenly turned to pure panic. She started to shake her head.

“I need you to put me down!” she practically shouted.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Put me down, Josh. Now!”

What the hell is happening?

I put her down, and the moment her feet hit the floor, she pushed me away.

“Heather, I don’t understand. What’s going on? What did I do?”

Turning away from me, she walked into the living room and stopped at the front window, staring outside.

“I really think you need to leave now. This was a bad idea. I was stupid to think that we could ever just be friends. You’ll always want more than this.”

Motherfucker. My head was spinning.

“Um… I’m sorry, princess, but it sure seemed like you also wanted more a few seconds ago. What changed?”

When she turned around, I almost lost my breath. She was crying.

“Don’t ever call me princess again. I don’t want anything more than friendship with you. I’ll never want anything more than that. I had a moment of weakness. It must have been because of the wine or something. I don’t want you, Josh, not in that way. I’m sorry if I led you on. I think it would be best if we just stopped right now.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had seen the look in her eyes. I knew she had wanted me as much as I’d wanted her. Why is she pushing me away?

“Heather…if I walk out this door right now, I’ll keep in mind everything that you just said to me. I promise you that I’ll never approach you again with anything more than friendship. I just need you to make sure that this is what you really want. I have feelings for you. Honestly, I feel things for you that I’ve never in my life felt for any other girl, and that scares the shit out of me. I don’t want to walk away from you, but if you tell me that you don’t have any feelings for me, then I’ll leave. I won’t ever bring it up again.”

I watched her as she just stared at me with tears where rolling down her face. I walked up to her and reached out to wipe them away. When she took a step back, I almost dropped to my knees.

She quickly wiped her tears from her eyes. Looking right into my eyes, she said,

“I don’t have feelings for you other than friendship. I’m sorry.”

My whole world shattered into a million pieces. How could I be so happy one minute and then feel so incredibly sad the next?

I had never in my life cried, but at that moment, I felt like I was about to lose it. Quickly backing away from her, I turned to grab my keys off the counter.

“I’m sorry, Heather. I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday at Garrett and Emma’s party.”

I walked to the door, and every ounce of me was praying that she would stop me. I gave up all hope by the time I got to my truck. Once outside, I sat there for a minute, watching her door.

Then, I started my truck and drove away from the one thing that I thought would finally make me feel happy and complete in this world.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

HEATHER

The moment the front door closed, I fell to the ground and cried. What did I just do? I had never in my life felt the way I did when Josh was kissing me. I’d wanted nothing more than to tell him that I needed him, heart and soul.

He must have waited to see if I’d come after him. After a few minutes, I heard him start up his truck before he drove off.

He left.

He just walked away from me and never looked back.

Oh. My. God. Feeling sick to my stomach, I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Just when I didn’t think I could throw up any more, another round of nausea hit me. Sitting down on the bathroom floor, I leaned back against the wall. I touched my fingers up to my lips as I closed my eyes.

Princess, look at me. I’d never do anything that you weren’t ready to do, Heather. Ever.

Why did he call me princess?

I thought back to my sixteenth birthday.

***

“Daddy, why can’t I see where we’re going?”