Cherished (Wanted #4)(16)
Author: Kelly Elliott

My father turned and walked away. I put my hands on hips and gave Jeff a what-the-fuck look. I shook my head as he shrugged his shoulders.

“What? The man scares me. He’s threatened my life before, so excuse me for panicking. I felt the best thing to do was to come clean, but…” Jeff took a deep breath and quickly let it out. “But I see I was wrong.”

“Ya think? Dickwad.”

I started making my way out of the barn and up toward the house. I walked up to Ellie, who was standing on the porch.

She just looked at me. “What happened?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know. Have y’all sung ‘Happy Birthday’ yet?”

Ellie smiled and shook her head. “Why don’t you go take a quick shower and change into something of mine?”

“Oh god, thank you, Ellie. This horse shit stinks. Jeff will need to take a shower, too, and borrow something of Gunner’s.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Ellie said as she looked over at Jeff.

“No, you don’t, but I will say that your brother sure can make me happy one minute and so pissed-off the next.”

Ellie put her fingers up to her ears. “Eww…eww…stop! Yuck!”

I started to walk away when I heard Ellie say to Jeff, “Oh no, you horny ass. You go shower in the guest bathroom. I’ll bring you a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.”

I turned and looked over my shoulder at Jeff.

He smiled and winked at me. Then, he mouthed, Sorry.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Yep. Stupid, romantic dickwad.

I sat on Gunner and Ellie’s back porch and watched Ari run around, chasing Luke. I couldn’t help but smile when Luke would scream every time Ari grabbed him and swung him around. I glanced over and saw Ellie with her hand on her stomach, gently moving it up and down. Gunner was holding a sleeping Alex in his arms as he talked to Brad.

Ellie glanced over and smiled at me. I held up my beer to her, and she winked. She said something to Gunner and Brad, and then she made her way over toward me.

“Have you talked to Mom?” Ellie asked as she sat down next to me.

I smiled and nodded. “I did. I still can’t believe she’s moving to Mason.”

Ellie let out a giggle. “I know. What about being engaged to Philip?”

I smiled as I watched Ellie getting all excited from just thinking about it.

She started shaking her head. “I mean, her life has changed so much, and her dreams are finally coming true. She’s getting a nursing job at Mason Memorial Hospital, and Philip asked her to marry him.” Ellie turned and looked at me. “She’s gonna be here for the birth of the baby! I mean…she’ll be here for everything this time.”

A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. I reached over and wiped it away.

“I know, Ells, I’m excited about it, too. I’m even more excited that she’s going to be here during this pregnancy.”

Ellie nodded and put her head back against the chair. “I think it’s a boy.”

I started laughing. “And what makes you think that?”

“He moves a lot, like he is always twisting and turning in there.”

I glanced over toward Gunner, who was still talking to Brad. Amanda was now sitting in a chair with Maegan on her lap. They were laughing at something they were doing.

“Has Gunner mentioned wanting a boy?” I took a drink from my beer.

Ellie shook her head and smiled. “Nah, he just always says he wants the baby to be healthy, but I think he wants a boy deep down inside.”

I heard Luke call out as he ran by, “Daddy!”

I jumped up, grabbed him, and gave him a hug and kiss. He pushed me away. As soon as I set him down, he took off running again. Now, Mark was chasing him. As Mark ran by, he shot me a dirty look. Smiling, I turned to walk back up onto the porch, and I sat down.

Ellie started laughing. “So…sex in my barn, huh?”

I smiled as I put my lips up to the beer bottle and took another drink. “Blame it on your sister-in-law.”

Ellie snapped her head over and looked at me. “You two are something else. Why was Mark giving you the death stare?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Probably because he walked in on Ari sitting on top of me, grinding and—”

“Stop! Just stop talking. Ugh…poor Mark.”

Ellie stood and smacked me on the back of the head before walking over to Gunner. She took Alex out of his arms and made her way into the house.

“Hey, handsome,” Ari said as she walked up. She leaned down and kissed me.

“Who has Grace?”

Ari rolled her eyes. “Who else? My mother. She is currently telling Grace all about Katharine Hepburn. She’s making plans for a K.H. movie marathon when Grace reaches the age of five.”

I shook my head as I handed Ari my beer. “Five, huh? I’m impressed your mom is holding off for that long.”

“Don’t be. I walked in once and saw Grace in her bouncy chair, sitting in front of the TV, watching Bringing Up Baby.”

I let out a laugh as Ari giggled.

“I swear…the first string of words Grace will say will be a Katharine Hepburn quote,” she said.

“Probably. So…when can we leave? I really want to finish what we started earlier.”

Ari giggled. “What did we start earlier?”

I gave her a smirk. “Oh please…like you don’t remember rubbing that fine body on me, getting me all worked up.”

Ari bit down on her lower lip and smiled. “Hmm…I don’t really remember that. You might have to remind me.”

I instantly felt my dick growing harder. “Come on, let’s go.”

I stood up, and Ari went to go say something to me as she glanced over my shoulder.

“I think my wife needs to get back that warm and happy just-fucked feeling.”

Ari slammed her hand over my mouth as she looked at me with horrified eyes. I closed my eyes as she slowly removed her hands.

I opened my eyes and whispered, “Your dad is behind me, isn’t he?”

Ari nodded. I turned around to see Mark standing there, holding Luke. He shook his head, and if looks could kill, I swore I would have fallen over on the spot.

“Sometimes, I lie in bed and just ask God…why? Why Jeff Johnson? Why?” Mark said as he looked up toward the sky.

“Oh, Daddy, knock it off.”

Ari walked past me and went to reach for Luke, but Mark held up his hand.

“Your mother wanted to bring the kids home with us. Maybe you could pick them up tomorrow evening?”