Gunner shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I never told you about sleeping with Victoria.” He turned to Victoria. “You mind giving us a few minutes?”

“I’m so sorry, Josh. I wasn’t even thinking,” Victoria said.

“Can you just please give us a few minutes?” Gunner said, a little angrier this time.

“Oh yeah, sure. I’ll be back in a few minutes for that breathing exercise, Josh.” She winked at Gunner before she walked out the door.

Gunner closed his eyes and shook his head. “I really don’t like that girl,” he said as he looked at me.

I let out a small laugh. “Victoria is just being Victoria, that’s all.”

“Well, she better not ever pull that shit around Ellie,” he said, sitting back down.

“What did you want to talk about, Gunner?”

“Josh, you need to know something about Heather. I should probably let her tell you, but…” He trailed off, looking down at the floor.

“What is it? Is she sick or something?”

Gunner snapped his head up. “No! Oh god, no. It’s nothing like that. During Heather’s senior year of high school, her, um…her parents both died in a car accident.”

Holy fuck. That poor girl. “I’m all she has, aren’t I?” I asked, feeling tears build up in my eyes. This was the first time in my life I’d even cared about a girl, and I’d just hurt her.

Gunner nodded.

“And my big fucking mouth basically just told her that I didn’t want her as a girlfriend.” I closed my eyes and saw the look on her face when I’d said it.

When I opened my eyes, I turned to Gunner. “I always fuck things up, Gun…always.”

“Elizabeth, let me talk to Heather.”

She nodded and gave me a weak smile. “I think I’ll go have a few words with Victoria.”

Fuck, I hate Victoria.

I caught up to Heather just as she was getting on the elevator. We rode down to the first floor in silence. I followed her as we walked outside. She sat down on a bench and leaned her head back.

“Why did this happen, Jeff? Am I just not meant to find happiness?”

When she looked at me with tears in her eyes, my heart dropped to my stomach.

Shit, this girl can’t catch a break. “Sweetheart, he didn’t mean it. I promise you, he feels something for you, something very strong. He’s just scared of how he’s feeling, Heather. In his mind, he’s this young kid in college, just having a good time. He’s confused, and Victoria threw some shit out there on purpose to confuse him even more.”

“That’s just it, Jeff. What if that’s the life he wants again?” Heather started shaking her head. “Damn it! I’m so damn confused. Do I back off? Do I keep telling him about us? I mean, I want him to remember us on his own, not because I’m feeding him with my memories. At the same time, I need him so much that I…” Heather’s voice broke off as tears began rolling down her face.

“You know what to do. You don’t give up on him. You love him, Heather. You need to be there for him as his girlfriend.” I grabbed her hand and held on to it.

“He told me he wants to start off as friends. I don’t know if I can just be his friend, Jeff. I mean, of course, I will, but…even earlier…shit, I couldn’t help myself. I kissed him!” she said as she covered her face with her free hand.

“Heather, just try your best to do what he asks. If he needs time to adjust to all of this, give him time. Deep down inside of him, he knows he loves you. We just need him to remember it.”

“Yeah…I know. Thanks so much, Jeff,” Heather said with a small smile. “Thank you for bringing me to the hospital to see him. I love you and Ari so much.”

“I know, sweetheart. Let’s head on back, okay? I’m sure Josh is worried that he upset you.” I stood up, still holding her hand in mine.

Gunner and I were quiet almost the whole way back to Mason.

I was still trying to process that he’d slept with Victoria. Fuck me.

Then, I thought back to a party when I’d come close to hooking up with her. Damn. How fucked-up would that have been?

“Dude, I still can’t believe you slept with Victoria. Why didn’t you say something to Josh when he started going out with her?” I asked as I looked over at Gunner.

“Because it was Josh, and I figured he was going to sleep with her and move on. How the hell was I supposed to know he’d end up dating her? Besides, I only hooked up with her once, and I was drunk when it happened.”

I shook my head and smiled. Glad those fucking days are over.

For some reason, I couldn’t wait to get home to Ari and Luke. I glanced over to see how fast Gunner was going.

“I know, dude. I want to get home to Ellie and Alex, too.” Gunner smiled.

“Jesus H. Christ. It must be in your blood. How the hell did you know what I was thinking?” I asked.

We both started to laugh, and Gunner shrugged his shoulders.

“Dude, I gotta know. Where the fuck do you come up with all that sappy shit you throw out there?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I just say what’s in my heart, that’s all,” Gunner said with a wink.

“Okay, dude, like that shit. You just say what’s in your heart? Who says that?”

“I do, and my sappy shit makes your sister happy.” He quickly glanced over toward me with a smile and a wink.

Bastard.

“Did Ellie tell you about the visit with Brad and Amanda?”

Gunner shook his head. “She just sent me a text and said one word—awkward.”

“Yeah, Ari sent me a text, too. She said she pretty much dug holes in her hands with her nails to keep from saying anything to him.”

“What the fuck do you think is going on, Jeff? I mean, come on. Do you really see Brad saying that shit to Amanda?”

“No, but he’s been acting weird lately. All this traveling out of town, and Smitty swears that Brad was with another girl. I mean, he loves Amanda so much. None of it makes any sense, Gunner. None of it.” I looked out the window.

“Dude, I think we need to have a chat with our buddy Brad.”

I glanced back to look at Gunner. His jaw was set, and I knew how he felt. My heart was breaking for Amanda. She was four months pregnant, and her husband had told her she had to hide it and then give up the baby for adoption. Yeah, none of it makes a lick of sense.

Just then, my cell phone rang.

Holy fuck, speak of the devil. I looked at Gunner. “It’s Brad.”

“Hello?” I answered.

“Jeff, I need to talk to you and Gunner right away!” Brad said in a panicked voice.

“Okay…well, dude, we’re almost back to Mason.”

“I just dropped Amanda off at home. I’m coming back out there. Can I meet y’all in a few hours?”

I glanced over at Gunner, and he must have been able to hear Brad because he nodded.

“Sure, dude, just, um…come to Gunner’s house or mine—”

“No. I could tell Ari and Ellie were pissed at me today. I’ll meet you at the main barn. Just give me a couple hours to get there,” Brad said before he hung up.

I looked over toward Gunner. “What the fuck is going on?”

“He must really need to talk if he’s going to drive all the way back out here again,” Gunner said as he shook his head.

“Yeah, he must.”

When I walked into the house, I could smell lasagna. Damn, Ari makes the best lasagna ever.

It was dead quiet in the house. I walked into the kitchen to see my beautiful bride sitting at the kitchen island with her head resting on her arms. The baby monitor was next to her, so Luke had to be sleeping. As I stepped closer, I could tell she was fast asleep.

I smiled as I leaned down and scooped her up into my arms. Snuggling her head into my chest, she let out a small moan.