Grace was wearing a slinky black dress and heels when they got to Sal’s house, and it dawned on Rose that she’d agreed to watch the baby so that Grace and Sal could go out for drinks with her friends, Joey and Taylor.

Vincent’s unexpected news had made her completely forget about it. Relieved that she hadn’t suggested Vincent make a sudden change in route, Rose exhaled. She’d been tempted to have Vincent head to the beach instead where they could have fun on a quilt in a private little cave they’d recently discovered.

“I almost forgot about babysitting tonight.” Rose turned to Vincent with a pout. “There goes our swimming.”

Grace turned to them as she put on an earring. “No, you can still go swimming. I just put him down. He should be out at least until we get home.”

Rose smiled, glancing back at Vincent but didn’t miss the look Grace gave her: that yes, you can go swimming, but be good look. It was no secret anymore that she and Vincent were very much a couple now, but after Grace had walked in on them making out pretty heavily one evening, she’d sat Rose down for a talk. Grace had been so upset that Vince had left immediately, worried that his time in La Jolla would be over now.

To Rose’s surprise Sal had been the one who stuck his neck out for Vincent. He reminded Grace this was typical for a couple their age and assured her that even though Vincent had gone through some rough patches, he was a good kid and was proving to be much more responsible now. That seemed to calm Grace enough to give Rose the courage to speak freely once Sal had left the room.

Having always been close and keeping little from Grace ever, she fessed up about her and Vince being intimate now. Grace had, as expected, been surprised and worried. Rose knew she would be, but she’d also known Grace would want her to share something so personal and important with her. Of course Grace immediately brought up birth control. Since it was something Rose had been thinking about anyway, she decided and promised her worrying sister she’d get on it as soon as possible.

Grace promised to keep this from Sal because when Rose mentioned to Vincent that she’d most likely be talking to Grace about it, she thought he might pass out. Vincent was convinced that if Sal found out, he’d be fired on the spot, and after getting pummeled, he’d be banned from La Jolla for life. But Rose assured him Grace wouldn’t share this with Sal. She did, however, accompany her the day she went in to get on birth control. Rose had gotten her first shot a month ago and would be getting another one every three months.

After Sal arrived to pick up Grace, Rose checked the baby one last time before taking the monitor out with her and Vincent into the back yard. The view from Sal’s backyard was amazing. They couldn’t be in a more romantic setting.

They’d only been in the pool for a few minutes, and already Rose had her legs and arms wrapped around Vincent. “I talked to Enzo while you were changing.”

Rose pulled her face away to look at Vince, tilting her head. She loosened her legs from around his waist and let them fall, so she was standing in front of him instead. Secretly she prayed Lorenzo had maybe promised he’d be good and stay out of trouble so that Vince could stay: a wish she certainly wouldn’t be sharing with Vincent.

“He explained about this last fight. Of course it was stupid. He wasn’t even the one doing the fighting; it was his two drunk-ass friends.” Vince frowned shaking his head. “They were arguing in the car over some chick that blew them both off at the party they were coming home from. When they stopped to drop one of them off, they both got out and started swinging. Enzo got out to separate them.” Vince finally eased up and chuckled. “He said he was even laughing because it was so stupid, but then his friend’s mom came out and made a huge deal of it. First, because of them fighting, then when she realized how drunk her son was, she got even crazier.”

The humor left Vincent’s face as he explained how the guy’s mom called his dad. By the time his dad got down there to pick up Lorenzo, the cops had been called. Not by the guy’s mom, but probably one of the neighbors since they’d been so loud. All for a girl who’d walked out of the party with another guy!

Luckily no one was taken in or even ticketed, but it was enough to alarm his dad into thinking Lorenzo was beginning to get out of control. On top of it all his brother was supposed to have been home hours earlier. Unfortunately Lorenzo thought the whole thing was funny. He did insist Vincent didn’t need to come home after the summer, but from the looks of it, this only confirmed that Lorenzo’s lack of remorse or even concern over his behavior meant Vincent should go home.

“My dad’s finally getting the extra hours at work he’s been wanting to for so long, and he can’t afford to pass up the overtime. He’ll be gone even more now, and with my mom picking up another elderly lady to be caregiver to, she’s gone most of the day even on the weekends.” Vince traced his wet fingers over Rose’s lips, something he always loved doing when they spoke this close. Even after all this time it still made her shiver. “Enzo promised to stay out of trouble, so my dad won’t ask me to come home before the end of summer, but I gotta go back.”

Rose nodded wanting to show she understood though it irked her that his brother couldn’t just be good on his own. “Yeah, you do.”

Vince leaned in and kissed her softly. “Maybe if I can convince him to straighten his shit out and he stays out of trouble for a while, I can move back down here before next summer.”