Valerie plopped on Sarah’s bed. “Are you gonna tell Angel about Sydney?”

“I already did.” She left out the part about Angel referring to Sydney as a she this morning, and the fact that she hadn’t corrected him.

Valerie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Really? What did he say?”

Sarah made a face. “Valerie, we hung out one night; you honestly think he cares?”

“I’m telling you, guys are territorial.”

She shrugged. “Well, territorial or not, I’m not his girlfriend -”

“Yet,” Valerie interrupted. “We’ll see what he thinks of Sydney once you two get serious.”

Sarah felt something tighten in her chest. She thought about how he’d gotten right to the subject of Jesse when they got to the beach. How stone faced he’d turned when she told him she’d gone out with him. But with Sydney it was totally different. He’d have to understand.

“What makes you so sure we’ll be getting serious? You, yourself said he’d never had a girlfriend. Why would he want one now?”

It was almost a rhetorical question. She didn’t really want to hear the answer. Valerie was ruining this for her. It was way too soon to start worrying about what Angel would think about her relationship with Sydney.

She’d given it some thought when she realized Angel had assumed Syd was a girl. But she pushed it to the back of her mind. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. At the moment, she wasn’t even sure she’d ever have to.

Valerie made herself comfortable against the headboard. “It’s the way he was with you last night, Sarah. I’ve never seen him act like that before. He’s never been one for public displays of affection. But last night it was so obvious he wanted everyone to see you were with him.”

Sarah tried to hide her exhilaration.

“I’m just saying,” Valerie continued. “If you were like me, I wouldn’t worry about it. Just tell him all about Sydney and if he walks, oh well, too bad for him, on to the next. But you’re not like me. You’re sweet, sensitive little Sarah. And I saw the way you looked at him last night too, missy. You’re already falling for him. So, unless you want troubles, you should start weaning Sydney off your everlasting devotion.”

The butterflies in Sarah’s stomach stirred, threatening to take off in a wild spin. Sarah walked back to her purse, eyeing Valerie. She put her make up on silently. She hardly wore any, so it didn’t take very long. She was about to respond to Valerie’s observation, when her phone rang, making her jump. Valerie smiled eagerly.

“Is it him?

Sarah looked at the caller ID and nodded. Valerie flew off the bed and ran over to Sarah’s side, leaning in to try and hear him. Sarah looked at her and giggled. She flipped the phone open and answered.

Sarah gave him the directions with Valerie glued to her side the whole time. When she hung up Valerie groaned. “God, he even sounds hot. I swear you are so lucky!”

Sarah tried to play it cool, but the swarm in her stomach had spun out of control. She’d barely had enough time to absorb what had happened the night before, and now he was on his way to pick her up again. She smiled at Valerie and hurried to finish herself up.

She filled her aunt in on her plans, and gathered her purse together. He drove a white mustang. She could tell it was an older model but it was still nice. She looked out the window and watched him get out of the car. He wore dark carpenter jeans and a long sleeve gray crewneck shirt that hugged his chest perfectly.

“I’m leaving!” she yelled at no one in particular and walked out to meet him.

CHAPTER 5

He’d taken a few steps up the walk, when he saw her come out the door. Immediately he was smiling silly. She was dressed casual, yet somehow she had the same incredible appeal as she had had last night when she was all done up. In some ways even more.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she walked down the steps of the porch. She met him in the middle of the walkway. He took her hand in his. He could definitely get used to her soft delicate hand in his. He wanted to kiss her, but he felt weird doing it right in front of her house. His reserve however wasn’t strong enough to fight off the urge to hug her so he did, tightly. He squeezed her, feeling her hair against his face, breathing in everything about her.

Reluctantly, he finally pulled away and let her go. His hand still fastened to hers. He looked up at the door. “Do I need to go in?”

Sarah’s eyes widened and she shook her head too quickly. “Oh, no, that’s not necessary.”

Angel wondered if there was something she was hiding, ashamed of. But he let it go and walked her back to his car.

Once on the road, he found it impossible to keep his hands off her. It was worse than the night before. Maybe cause Eric’s car was a stick shift. Angel’s car wasn’t, so his hand was free to roam, and roam it did. Every chance he got, he caressed her face, her leg, her fingers. Twice he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. What the hell was wrong with him? He had to get a hold of himself before he freaked her out. Although she didn’t seem to mind, smiling as she caressed his hand.

He wanted to take her out and show her a good time. But that would have to wait for another time. Today he didn’t want to be anywhere crowded. He had only one thing on his mind, well, besides holding her and kissing her. He wanted to talk to her, get to know more about her, more about this nonsense of her leaving. Most importantly, he was hoping today they could come to some kind of understanding. He knew it was insane, but after last night there was absolutely no way he’d be okay with her being free to see other guys. Not as long as he was seeing her, and he planned on seeing her every chance he got. He knew it was a risk, but not riskier than not getting it out there on the table, and then possibly seeing her with someone else. The very thought, made him clench his teeth.