Текст книги "Wanted"

Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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Chapter Thirteen

Ellie ……

What the hell? As soon as we walked into Halcyon I could not miss the dirty looks the girl behind the bar was throwing my way. I was so happy before we walked in here. Even if Gunner’s reference to me being ‘his girl’ was just to make a joke it still felt good. Then we walk in and this Crysti bitch is all but taking her breasts out of her shirt and flirting with Gunner. I mean come on skank. I know we are not on a date but she doesn’t know that….. good grief. Wait till I tell Ari about this fucking bitch.

I wonder if Gunner went out with her. What the hell did he see in someone like her? I looked up at her and sure enough she was staring. I looked over at Gunner and he was looking at me with that melt my panties crooked smile of his. If he went out with someone so beautiful as the blonde behind the bar….he would never want someone like me.

You will never be wanted by anyone…………….

“Hey….I’m sorry about Crysti being so rude like that. She’s just a bitch and that’s her problem. Don’t let her spoil our fun day okay?” Gunner said as he took his hand and lifted my chin up to look at him.

God his eyes…..I tore my eyes away from his and moved to look at this lips. I would give anything to kiss him. Just then I saw him leaning down towards me…oh shit….

“Is she an old girlfriend?” I just blurted out in my shear panic. SHIT! Shit shit shit! Gunner instantly stopped and sat back. He moved his hand threw his hair….god why did that turn me on so much. I looked away because I thought I already knew his answer.

“No, Ellie she is not an old girlfriend. She is just some girl I took on a date once.” Gunner said as he looked back over at the bar. Why did he seem mad all of a sudden? I guess I had no right to even ask. I mean…maybe I’m just imagining all of this. Was he really leaning down to kiss me? No….he wasn’t you fool. He is just being nice to me because of Jefferson. Or maybe he looks at me like a little sister. I don’t know. I am getting mixed signals here. Fuck…who am I kidding. I don’t even know what signals to look for!

For some reason my mouth was talking before my brain thought it through. “So how come you went out only once. She seemed to act like she knew you pretty well.”

OH.MY.GOD……did I just really say that?

Gunner let out a small laugh. “I only went out with her as a favor for Jeff.” OH??? This has me intrigued now. “Jeff asked Crysti’s roommate Jemma out and she said the only way she would go out with him is if I went out with Crysti. So we all went out on a double date. Longest four hours of my entire life. She is a self absorbed bitch. Same went for Jemma. Jeff was not the least bit interested after about two hours into the date. It was more like five minutes into the date when I lost interest. I remember I kept checking the Rangers game on my phone pretty much the whole time.”

I let out a laugh at the way Gunner described their double date. Come to think of it…..Jefferson has never really had a long term girlfriend. I wonder if Gunner has. According to Jefferson he has not.

“Have you ever been in a long term relationship with anyone?” I asked just as they called out Gunner’s name for our drinks. Gunner jumped up and walked over to the bar. He said something to the guy at the bar who I could tell said ‘sure thing’.

Gunner set our drinks down at the table and then slid back in. This time I noticed he sat a little closer to me. I could practically feel his body heat. Hells bells….there went that ache between my legs again. I squeezed my legs together to try and relieve it. Jesus…..why did I never feel this with Ryan? What was going on with me?

Friends Ellie….only friends.

Just when I thought I was going to explode Gunner started to talk. “To get back to your question Ellie, no I’ve never been in a long term relationship. Longest I ever dated one girl was maybe four or five dates? I don’t remember. It was when I first came to UT.” Gunner said as he took a sip of his drink.

Okay, so shouldn’t I feel relieved that he has never been in a crazy love fest relationship? Or did this just confirm what I was also thinking….someone like Gunner would never settle down with a girl, especially a girl like me. Totally unworthy of him that is all I was.

Once we finished eating our lunch, the guy who Gunner talked with at the bar earlier brought out our tableside S’mores. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. It was a big wooden bowl and in the center was a little burner. Around the burner in the bowl there were two sticks, some marshmallows, a Hershey candy bar and four packs of graham crackers. Gunner picked up one of the sticks and stuck a marshmallow on it. He handed it to me and I roasted it over the little flame. He opened the crackers and the candy bar and had it all ready to go since my right hand was still sore. Good god could this guy just not get any better? Just then my marshmallow caught on fire and I laughed! Gunner grabbed my hand and blew it out then took the marshmallow and sandwiched it in between the crackers and the chocolate. I was still trying to recover from him grabbing my hand and sending electricity through my overly sensitive body when he took the cracker and put it up to mouth for me to eat it.

Holy fuck…he was feeding me the S’mores. Yes…..yes he could get better!

Gunner started to laugh when the marshmallow trailed from my mouth to the cracker he was trying to pull away. I reached up and tried to break it. Shit it was getting everywhere!

We both laughed as he tried to make and feed me S’mores. I totally forgot all about the bitch working behind the bar. At one point I looked up and if looks could kill I would be dead on the spot right now.

Gunner finally ate his last S’mores and walked up to get two glasses of water. Bitch Crysti was trying to make a conversation with him but I could tell Gunner was not the least bit interested. For one brief moment I let myself believe we were here on our first date. It could not have been any more perfect!

Gunner set the waters on the table and then slid back in. “Thank you so much for lunch Gunner this really was fantastic. I will never eat a S’mores again without thinking about you!” I said as I used one of the wipes to clean my hands and mouth.

“Good because that was my plan all along.” He said to me with that smile.

“What was your plan?” I asked as I looked at the piece of marshmallow that was on the side of his perfect mouth. I could not pull my eyes away from his mouth.

“What are you looking at Ellie? Is there something on my face?” Gunner asked with a smile.

I don’t know what came over me but I reached up with my left index finger and tried to wipe the marshmallow off his mouth. Gunner grabbed my hand and before I knew what he was doing he put my finger into his mouth and sucked on it.

Holy hell….I’m pretty sure I let out a moan…..the ache down between my legs grew ten times stronger. I just stared at him. I could not tear my eyes away from his mouth. It was the hottest damn thing I’d ever experienced in my life. I didn’t want him to stop…ever. He slowly took my finger out of his mouth.

“Now that was the best thing I’ve tasted all day.” Gunner said with a wink and a smile. I just sat there stunned. I don’t even think I was breathing. How did he do that? How could he make me want him so damn much? Did he know what he was doing? Surely he knew that was going to turn me the fuck on.

Okay….I had to clear my head and get away from him because I was so ready to just jump on him. NO!!! I could not do this. Gunner was not looking for a relationship and I certainly was in no way looking to let someone in just to get hurt again.

“Um….I guess we should leave don’t you think?” I said as I looked up at his beautiful eyes. His smile faded for one quick second and then it was back.

“Sure, you probably need to get things ready for tomorrow.” Gunner said as he slid out of the booth. He took my arm and helped me up and guided me out the door with his hand on the small of my back. God please help me right now because every time he touched me I thought I was going to explode.

As we stood and waited for Gunner’s truck to be brought back up he made small talk about graduation. What time was it, how long did I think it was going to last? Once we got the truck and got in and started towards my house he started to talk about the graduation party. Talk about trying to keep the small talk going.

“So did you invite any other friends to come tomorrow night?” Gunner asked trying desperately to make small talk.

“Um, yeah, I think Ari was going to invite our friends Amanda and Heather. They’ve been to a few UT frat parties with us so yeah I think they will be up for it.”

“So just three friends is all you are inviting Ells? I mean this is YOUR party sweetheart so you can invite whomever you want. You know that right?” Gunner said as he watched me very closely.

Huh? What was he expecting me to say I was inviting a guy? My heart sank for just a moment. Was Gunner going to have a date there? I started to get angry just thinking about it. Really honestly Ellie….it’s not like he’s your boyfriend.

“I know. I really only have a few close friends and to be honest I want to start moving away from the high school crowd. I’ve been dying to come to one of y’alls parties for so long. I’m pretty excited about it!”

Gunner let out a laugh. “I know how that feels….wanting to get away from everything high school. Um, so tell me….what Frat parties have you and your friends gone to?”

Oh shit…..busted. “Gunner…please do not tell Jefferson! He would be so pissed at me if he knew. I mean he is so over protective and I’m so shocked he is even having this party for me and…..and….Well I mean we only went a few times and it sucked each time we went. My god those college guys had their paws all over us. It was disgusting! Although, Amanda lost her virginity at one of the parties……but……”

Just then I heard Gunner start choking. OH…Oh no! Oh holy shit….I swear…I have zero filters….ZERO!

“Oh my god……. are you okay? I mean oh my god, oh my god! I can’t believe I said that out loud…..I mean….oh holy shit……oh no! Please Gunner don’t repeat that…ever! Oh god…first I slip about Ari to Jefferson and now Amanda! Holy hells bells Amanda is going to kill me and if Jefferson ever found out that one of my friends….oh my god I almost said it again……” There it went….my mouth talking when my brain clearly had checked out again.

“Jesus H. Christ Ellie please…just PLEASE stop talking! You’re making it worse!” Gunner said as he had tears running down his face. Thank goodness we were stopped at a traffic light. I looked over at Gunner and busted out laughing. I laughed so hard and it felt so good. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard or had so much fun. I loved spending time with him. I didn’t want this day to ever end. Everything about him made me happy. His eyes, his smile, his touch….his laugh. We must have laughed for a good five minutes. God it felt so good to just be carefree and relaxed.

I was surprised Gunner knew where I lived. I don’t ever remember him coming over to the house. “How did you know where I lived?” I asked as we were driving down the street that lead to our simple three bedroom house.

“I’ve been here plenty of times Ellie. You were just never home. I think you might have been home one time but I usually just waited out in the car for Jeff.” Gunner said with a smile. He looked up and his smile faded and was replaced by a look that scared the shit out of me. I looked over towards my house as Gunner parked his truck.

Holy hell. Ryan was sitting on the steps to my house.

Chapter Fourteen

Gunner ……

As soon as I saw that bastard sitting on the steps I had to fight the need to pound his face into the ground.

“What the fuck is he doing here?”

Ellie was just as shocked as I was. “I don’t know why he is here. SHIT! My mother is here also Gunner. She is going to ask questions about what happened! What am I going to tell her??” Ellie just about started to cry.

I didn’t have time to worry about her damn mother. I just wanted to know what this little prick was doing here waiting for my Ellie…..I mean….waiting for Ellie.

“I’ll get your stuff in the back but let me help you out of the truck.” I started to say but Ellie threw the door open and got out of the truck before I could stop her.

“Where the fuck have you been all night Ellie. I’ve been worried sick about you!” Ryan said as he jumped to his feet and started to walk over towards Ellie. I reached into the back seat and pulled out her two bags and her backpack. I so wanted to tell this douche bag not to talk to her that way but I needed to stay out of this or I might end up in jail for kicking his ass.

“What are you doing here? Why are you waiting on my porch for me?” Ellie kept looking back up at the house. What the hell was she looking at? Was she waiting for her mother to come out? I thought I saw someone standing in a window but I looked away when that little prick started yelling at Ellie.

“FUCK yeah I’ve been waiting here for you. I was here last night waiting for you to come home but you never did. Where were you Ellie?” Ryan said as he moved closer to Ellie. I was standing behind her so I took one step closer to her and that stopped him in his tracks.

Pussy bastard.

“I don’t know why you are here Ryan and I have nothing to say to you. I’m sorry you waited for me but we are through. I thought I made that perfectly clear yesterday after I saw you with Jessica. As far as where I’ve been…well that is just none of your business.” Ellie said with her shoulders straight and square. Good girl. Stay strong…I heard her voice crack while she was talking but I was so fucking proud of her.

Just then that little bastard laughed and looked at me. “What were you out fucking this guy because I wasn’t good enough for you to fuck Ellie?” He did not just say that to her.

I immediately dropped Ellie’s bags and backpack and went straight after that fucker. I had him pinned up against the house before he even knew what hit him. It took all of my strength not to beat the shit out of him for talking to her that way.

“You better apologize to her right now you fucking bastard.” I said as I held him even tighter in my grip. I heard Ellie behind me let out a gasp.

“OH MY GOD Gunner NO don’t hurt him! Please just let him go he’s not worth it.” Ellie was trying with all her might to pull my arm off of Ryan’s neck with her left hand.

“Ellie I need you to stand back. I’m not letting him go until he says he is sorry for what he said to you.”

I could hear him trying to say something so I let up on my hold just a bit. “I want you to apologize to her and then tell her you will never bother her again or I’m going to come after you with a few more of my friends and Ellie’s brother.” I said up against his ear.

“If you let go of me I will tell her……just let go of me I can barely breathe dude.” So I pushed off the fucker and stepped back a few steps. I stood next to Ellie and waited for the bastard to catch his breath.

“Um, Ellie I um, I didn’t mean what I said, I’m sorry. I should not have talked to you that way.“

He acted like he was finished and was not going to go on with telling her he would leave her alone so I took a step back towards him.

“Yeah and I um, I won’t ever bother you again. I understand we’re over. I’m sorry I hurt you Ellie. I really am. I hope you believe me.” Ryan said as he bent down to pick up his baseball cap that flew off when I pinned his ass against the house.

Ellie didn’t say a word to him as she watched him walk away. As soon as he got in his car and drove away I saw her whole body just start dropping. Holy shit! I reached out and grabbed her to hold her up.

She looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you Gunner. You are starting to make it a habit of coming to my rescue.” She said with a weak laugh. I pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, bent down and kissed her forehead and smiled at her.

Just then I heard the front door to Ellie’s house open. Ellie and I both looked over at the same time and Ellie pushed herself out of my arms and started to walk up the stairs. I walked over and picked up the bags and back pack I had dropped on the ground.

“Um, mom I’ll be the house in just one second.” Ellie turned towards me and held out her hand. “I’ll take those from you Gunner and thank you again for today. I had a wonderful time.” Ellie let a small but weak smile come across her face. Just as I was handing them to Ellie I heard a raspy voice start to talk.

“I always knew you would turn out to be a whore. There is no other way you could get a man…nope, you will never be wanted by someone like that Ryan boy or by this handsome fella. You give it up for this one also you damn whore?”

Ellie’s whole body started to shake and I saw the tears coming down her face as she slowly closed her eyes. Almost as if she was trying to block out what this monster was saying to her. I could not believe this was her own mother who was talking to her this way. At that moment all I wanted to do was take her away from here, from this woman who was causing her all this pain.

I took a step back away from Ellie. I turned and walked over to my truck and put the bags back inside. I walked back up to her and almost threw up looking at her distraught face. Her mother was still calling her names and going on and on but I tried to block her out of my head and only look at my sweet Ellie.

I walked up to the step right below the one she was standing on. She opened her eyes and looked at me. I took my hands and wiped away her tears. She tried to smile but the tears would not stop. All the life was drained from those beautiful blue eyes.

Holy Fuck…my heart has never hurt so goddamn much in my life.

“Do you have a suitcase sweetheart that we can pack your clothes in?” I asked as I heard her mother start to laugh. Ellie nodded her head yes.

“Let’s go inside and pack up your stuff okay? Can you do that for me sweetheart?”

My sweet innocent Ellie was just standing there broken. How could a parent say such hateful and hurtful things to their own child?

Ellie and I both turned to walk into the house. Just then her mother stepped in front of us.

“You can’t take her away from here. She has to stay with me she can’t leave me.” Ellie’s mom said in her drunken slurred voice. “She has to stay with me. She is not going anywhere with you so she can be your whore.”

I took a deep breath and looked right at her. “You really think I’m going to let her stay here with you and take this abuse? I suggest you move out of the way Ms. Johnson. You wouldn’t want me to call the police now would you?”

Ellie’s mother looked at me with a stunned look on her face. She stepped out of the way and I lead Ellie into the house.

“Show me where your room is sweetheart.”

Ellie walked towards her bedroom but stopped at a hall closet. She opened the door and I saw a suitcase sitting on the very top shelf. I reached up and took it down along with another bag and then walked with Ellie into her bedroom. I shut the door to her room only to hear her mother yelling.

“There will be none of that in my house you dirty whore! Pack your shit and get the fuck out of my house you no good for nothing bitch whore!”

I watched as Ellie slid down her door and hit the floor crying. My whole body started to shake. I balled my fists together trying to stop the anger that was growing inside. The emotions I was having were confusing as hell and scared the shit out of me. God I was being torn apart inside watching this beautiful girl fall apart. I just wanted to beat the shit out of somebody. I took a few deep breaths to calm down. I knew what I had to do. Now I just needed to do it.

I took out my cell phone and sent a text to Jeff. Did he know this was how his mother treated Ellie? Surely not….if he did he would have taken her away from this long ago. There is no way he would have let her stay here if he had known his mother was still verbally abusing Ellie.

“Ellie, where is your cell phone?”

Ellie reached in her back pocket and pulled it out and barely handed it to me before she just let her hand fall to the ground. Shit! It was her sprained hand too. Broken….my sweet girl was just giving up. Fuck I wish I could just take away her pain.

I slid down on the floor next to her and started to look for Ari’s number. After I sent Ari a text I set the phone down on the floor and picked Ellie up and moved her to sit on my lap.

I’m not sure how long we sat there while she just cried in my arms. She finally stopped sobbing and looked up at me. Those beautiful blue eyes red and swollen and so sad. I made a vow to myself right then I would do whatever it took to always protect and take care of her. Always…..

“You have to stop doing this.” Ellie whispered.

“Doing what sweetheart?” I asked her as I looked into her eyes.

Ellie put her forehead up against mine and I thought I was going to die right then and there. “Stop coming to my rescue, I’m going to expect it from now on.” She said with a slight laugh.

“Ellie sweetheart, I’ll always come to your rescue. For the rest of our lives……I will never let anyone hurt you ever again.” I said as I felt my heart beat pick up even faster.

I stood up making sure I did not let her go. I walked over and set her down on her bed. I opened the suitcase and started to take the clothes out of her closet and put them in the suitcase. I was starting to get a little freaked out because Ellie was not moving at all. She just stared at the floor. SHIT! Where the fuck was Jeff?

Then I heard him.

“What the fuck did you do her?” Jeff was yelling at his mother.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about? That little whore was out all night sleeping around and then came back here to my house and caused a scene for the whole neighborhood to see. It was disgusting.” Ellie’s mother said as they walked down the hall towards Ellie’s room.

“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up right now! What the fuck is wrong with you? That’s your daughter you are talking about. She is NOTHING like you so don’t you EVER call her a whore again. She is leaving mom and you will never see either one of us again. Do you understand me? That means no more money from me. No more help. My god……If I find out that you have been treating her like shit this whole time…..you will be out on the streets. When I paid this house off I made sure it was put in my name. You will have nothing! Do you understand me? NOTHING!”

Just then the door to Ellie’s room flew up and Jeff looked at me and then down to his sister who was still sitting on her bed but now she was crying again. I have never seen Jeff look so devastated before. I already knew he was blaming himself. Jeff would give up his own life for his sister. I could see it in his eyes…..he was hurting bad.

Jeff walked over to Ellie and fell to his knees and Ellie immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and just cried hysterically. God how I wish I could make her feel safe like that. Just then I heard Ari. I looked up and she was standing at the door. “Mother fucker……” she said as she looked at Ellie coming apart in her brothers arms.

She looked over to me and tried to give me a small smile. I just looked down at the suitcase and back up at her. She nodded her head yes to me. Next thing I knew she had taken over packing up Ellie’s clothes and whatever little possessions she thought Ellie would want to take.

I just stood there. I had no idea what to do. What could I do to help her with this pain? Jeff got up and sat down next to Ellie who was still crying. He put his arm around her and just kept repeating…”Shhh it’s going to be okay honey….it will all be okay”

He looked over at me and gave me a look that clearly said thanks. I nodded back my acknowledgement to him. Once Ellie calmed down and somewhat stopped crying Jefferson started to talk to her.

“Ellie honey, you will stay at Ari’s house until we figure this all out. I need to run back and let them know I’m leaving for the day so Ari is going to take you to her house okay? Are you okay with that Ells?” Jeff said as he looked over to Ari who was now standing there with Ellie’s suitcase and another small bag. Ari gave Jeff a smile and it looked like Jeff could not tear his eyes away from her. He seemed to be lost in Ari’s smile. Something I knew a shit ton about after spending time with Ellie today.

He was fucked….just like I was.

Ellie started to talk and that snapped Jeff out of his day dream.

“Um….sure that is fine but can Gunner give me a ride to Ari’s. I need to talk to him. I mean if that is okay with you Gunner?” Ellie said as she looked up at me.

Holy fuck, the look on her face about dropped me to my knees. She wanted me…..not Ari or Jeff….she actually wanted to be with me.

“Of course it’s all right sweetheart, anything for you.