Angel nodded still feeling a little shaky. He hadn’t intended on being so harsh but the words had just spewed out. He stood there still reeling from what Dana had said about Sarah. He didn’t want the guys to notice that Dana had gotten to him, but he couldn’t even force a smile.

Eric seemed concerned. “Are you okay, man?”

Angel nodded again and glanced back in Sarah’s direction. He turned back at Eric. “You think I should tell Sarah about this?”

“Hell no.” Romero said.

“Nah, I would.” Eric said.

“You would?” Angel asked.

Romero shook his head, eyes closed. “Screw Dana! Why you gonna get Sarah all upset ‘cause of her?”

Eric made a gesture looking around. “She’s gonna hear about it eventually. I guarantee it. Dana was loud, dude. They’ll probably add to it, too. I’m just saying, if it were me, I’d come clean. It’s not like you did anything wrong. Just leave the part out about her yelling that she slept with you. Sarah’s cool dude, she’ll get it. Just don’t make that big a deal out of it.”

Angel eyed them both. There was no way either of them could know Sarah had almost broke things off because of Dana.

Feeling like he’d swallowed a brick he turned to see Sarah walking toward him. She smiled and blew him a kiss. He managed to smile but damn he dreaded having another conversation about Dana with her.

*

No one was home, when Sarah and Angel got to his house. Angel walked Sarah to the den and put his book bag down on the coffee table.

“I’m thirsty,” He walked toward the kitchen. “You want something to drink?”

“Yeah, I’ll take water or a diet soda if you have it.”

Angel walked to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of waters out of the refrigerator. When he walked back into the living room Sarah was on her knees on the sofa looking at the pictures that sat on the shelf behind it. She picked one up to get a closer look. Angel saw her eyes brighten and knew immediately which one it was. He put the waters down on the coffee table.

“Oh my God, is this you?”

“Give me that.” He reached for it.

Sarah pulled away. “You’re so cute.” She giggled.

He tackled her on the couch, but she hid it behind her. He held her down trying to take the picture from her. She squirmed and laughed hysterically.

“What a cutie you were with your little mullet.”

“It’s not a mullet.” His arms were under her now searching for the picture. She could barely breath she was laughing so hard.

“Okay, okay!” she shrieked. “You can have it.”

Angel took it from her and put it back on the table face down. He leaned over her and kissed her. They made out for a while, and straightened out quickly when they heard something outside. It turned out to be nothing, and Angel laid right back against her.

“What time do your parents get home?”

“Different times.” He continued to peck her. “Depends how busy they are.”

“So, they could get home any minute?”

“Um hum,” He began to kiss her neck.

“Then get off me.” She giggled, squirming and arching her back at the touch of his tongue on her neck. She pushed her hands against his chest. “Angel, I’m serious, if your parents walk in, I’d die.”

He kissed her long and deep one last time, then sat up and straightened his pants. “I can’t stand for a while.”

Sarah smiled looking at the tent in his pants. She sat up and rubbed his shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”

“Oh yeah, just give me a few minutes.” He grabbed the remote and turned the television on. The first thing they saw was a heavy older woman being interviewed about her twenty cats on the news. “Okay, I’m good now.”

Sarah gasped. Then immediately burst into laughter. “That is so mean.”

He changed the channel, flipping around for a while and finally left it on an episode of a reality show about building motorcycles. He pretended to be into it. “I talked with Dana today.”

Sarah pulled her arm off his shoulder, but he grabbed a hold of her hand. She’d told him that morning she didn’t need to hear the details about his talk with Dana, so long as he took care of it.

“I’m only bringing up ‘cause you’re probably gonna hear about it.”

She stared at him.

“I’d already talked to her earlier in the day, and thought that would be it,” he said. “But I should’ve known better when she hadn’t said too much.”

He could see Sarah searching his eyes. “She made a scene after practice.”

“A scene?”

“Yeah, a scene.” He hugged her and pushed her back gently on the sofa. “Sarah, it’s nothing I wouldn’t have even brought it up, but I didn’t want you to hear about it from someone else.

“What did she say?"

Angel tried kissing her, but she pulled away. “Sarah, let’s not do this again, babe. Seriously, the only thing that matters is that I straightened things out and she won’t be acting stupid anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“No question about it.” He kissed her and hoped he was right.

She stared at him for a few moments. “Okay.”

Thankful it hadn’t turned into another dreaded discussion about his feelings for Dana; Angel groaned and buried his face in her neck. He pressed himself against her and his hands made their way down her body. He started putting his hand up her blouse when they heard someone at the door.