They reached her condo, and Angel could see the light from the television flickering inside, so he knew her mom was still up. Sarah came around the car, and he leaned against it, bringing her to him with one hand around her waist and pulling a strand of hair behind her ear with the other.

“So what do you think?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I think he makes a pretty good first impression.” He smiled, staring into her eyes. “Even Alex thinks he’s cool.”

Her expression suddenly went from smiling to an adorably confused one. “I just thought of something. If Romero didn’t know I had a brother, how did he know who Leo was?”

Angel chuckled, kissing her on the forehead. “He texted me when I was in the restroom to tell me you were with a dude at the marina. I had to explain who Leo was before he went over there and got all Romero on Leo.”

Sarah’s mouth fell open slightly then she smiled. “Ah, okay,” she said. “No wonder.” Then she frowned. “Does he really think I’d do that? Sneak around to go hang out with another guy?” Before Angel could respond to that, she smirked. “I mean if I ever did I certainly wouldn’t do it in public somewhere where I know you and your friends frequent.”

Angel squeezed her hard feigning anger until she laughed. “Not funny,” he said but then added in case she was actually offended. “You know Romero. He’s ready to pounce at the first sign of drama. He’s always been like that. Kick ass first; ask questions later.”

She lifted her brow slightly, but her lip twitched so he could see she wasn’t too offended. “Well, I’m glad you and Alex have such a good friend who’s looking out for you guys, but you’d think after all this time he’d know things are a little different for you and me than they are for Valerie and Alex.”

“He does,” Angel said, hugging her tightly, knowing he’d soon be letting her go and he didn’t want to. “You know he does. That’s just Romero for you. But he did text me before doing anything, something I’m sure he wouldn’t have done if it had been Valerie.” He pulled away and smiled at her with a shrug. “So there’s the difference.”

“I guess.” She laughed then toned the smile down a bit. “You all ready and packed for Hawaii?”

Angel nodded but said nothing. It’d just dawned on him a few days ago that this would be the first time in a long time he’d be away from Sarah for longer than just overnight like all his other away games.

“You excited?” Her eyes brightened a bit in what he could only assume was an attempt to look excited for him.

Again he didn’t say anything but shook his head.

“Why?” she asked, confused. “This is Hawaii! I’d be excited.”

Lifting a brow slowly, Angel stared at her. “Would you really? Even if you were going without me?”

Her big smile waned and she pouted. “Probably not. But you should try and make the best of it, still.

“I will,” he said, kissing her softly. “I just know no matter what, with everything I see or do out there, I’ll be wishing you were there.”

“It’s a big game too,” she offered.

“Yeah.” He nodded in agreement. “And that’s probably what I’m most looking forward to, not the five-hour flight each way. Not the being on an incredibly romantic island getaway . . . with my brother.”

Sarah laughed. “Well, I’m sure he’ll make the most of the romantic island.”

That made Angel frown. “That’s neither here nor there, Sarah. You know all I’ll be thinking about is you the whole time.”

He reiterated that last statement nonverbally, using his lips for a few more minutes before he finally had to let her go. Tomorrow was his last day here, and then he’d be gone for the long weekend. He was only glad they’d gotten her first meeting with Leo out of the way and it’d been fairly painless. Already he was beginning to feel a little better about the whole thing.

Chapter 13

Sarah

“Are you sure?” Valerie asked Sarah for the third time.

Sarah nodded as they made their way back to their cars in the college parking lot where the buses were taking the team to the airport. To her surprise, Valerie had actually showed up to see Alex off the way Sarah had for Angel. Valerie and Alex were having one of their amicable weeks together, but Sarah was certain Valerie wasn’t getting her hopes up that she wouldn’t hear any rumors of what or who he would do in Hawaii this weekend. This was why she still had plans to go to Havasu for the weekend and was still trying to convince Sarah to join her.

Sarah was so grateful she didn’t have to worry about that kind of stuff with Angel. Though she’d never admit it, there was a little part deep inside her gut that worried she’d hear something. Even if it was just that Dana had tried cozying up to Angel or did something else equally as annoying, it still would piss her off no matter how much she didn’t want to give Dana the pleasure. Then there were the other older girls from the cheer squad, who would also be in Hawaii this weekend. Some of them had tried repeatedly to seduce Angel. Shaking the unnerving thoughts away, she turned back to Valerie. “I have a paper I really need to get done,” Sarah reminded her.

If it were anyone else, she might also add that she wasn’t going to rock the boat with Angel. When she’d mentioned Valerie’s invitation to Havasu to Angel, he didn’t say he’d mind her going, but he didn’t say he’d be fine with it either. She also knew Angel well enough. They all knew this would be a big college drunk-fest, and she’d been honest when she told Leo that kind of stuff wasn’t her thing, especially if Angel wasn’t with her. But if she said something like that to her cousin, it would feel like she’d be rubbing in the fact that Alex and Valerie didn’t have what she and Angel did. So she left it with the excuse of the paper she needed to write, which was not a lie.