“Hey,” he said, and she could hear lots of voices in the background. “We just got to the hotel, and now we’re standing around waiting to get our room assignments and keys. Hawaii was not what I was expecting.”

“Why?”

He explained about their hotel being in downtown Waikiki, which was very touristy and not nearly as tropical as he envisioned. There were crowds, high rises, and lots of traffic. Angel was expecting secluded beaches and palm trees.

“I think those are the less-crowded islands, babe. I hear Maui is beautiful.”

“Well, when I bring you back, that’s where we’re going,” he said.

They spoke for a little bit longer until he said they’d gotten their room keys and he was going upstairs to unpack and relax for a little. “A bunch of us are probably gonna go do some sightseeing and maybe hang out at the beach for a little then grab something to eat and head back. We gotta be up early tomorrow morning. The game doesn’t start until noon,” he explained, “but the coach wants us at the school at eight to do some lifting and warming up before suiting up, so the bus will be here at seven.” He paused for a moment. “God, I wish you were here.”

She couldn’t help smiling and feeling all warm and fuzzy. She even encouraged him to enjoy himself even though inwardly she was hoping he wouldn’t too much. He said he’d call her again before he went to bed. Her mom caught the tail end of her conversation just as she hung up.

“So how’s Hawaii?” her mom asked, opening up the fridge Sarah had just closed.

“Different than he’d expected,” she explained what Angel had described.

“Sounds like your typical big city,” her mom said, pulling out the cold cuts and mayo. “And he’s going out tonight?”

Sarah turned to look at her mom, a little annoyed. “No,” she said, failing in her attempt to not to sound defensive. She knew her mom loved Angel, but she had never forgotten a conversation about Sydney and Angel they’d had just months after she’d been out of jail, so she continued. “He and some of the other players are just gonna do some sightseeing then grab something to eat.” She turned to her mom, who was making a sandwich now, not sure if she was purposely avoiding looking up. “I told him to enjoy himself,” she added for good measure just to show she wasn’t at all worried about what he’d be up to tonight or the rest of the weekend.

Her mom finally looked up and smiled. “I overheard someone this morning talking about the game tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a big one.”

Sarah exhaled, glad her mom changed the subject from Angel’s going out to the game. She talked with her for a bit longer before heading back to her room to finish that paper. Feeling a little guilty about the way she spoke to her mom after her mom’s simple comment, she thought of how shocked she’d been a few weeks after her mom had gotten out of jail and made another confession. She’d sat Sarah down and admitted to feeling terribly guilty for having separating her and Sydney. She said watching them together over the years as they’d grown closer and closer she’d been certain Sarah would end up with Sydney. It was why she refused to let Sarah stay with him and his family while she was in jail. She’d been afraid that Sarah might repeat the cycle and by the time she was out of jail Sarah would have a least one baby if not more. Clearly, her mom had been wrong about the kind of love and devotion Sarah had for Sydney. More than once she’d asked Sarah if she was certain she wasn’t in love with Sydney and possibly making a mistake she’d later regret by staying with Angel.

When Sarah had told her mom about Sydney breaking up with Carina and why, her mom hadn’t seemed surprised, but she didn’t say what she was obviously thinking—the same thing Angel had been thinking—that Sydney was and always had been in love with her. This was the one thing Sarah had never shared with anyone.

Not Angel.

Not Valerie.

And certainly not Sydney.

Why not Sydney? Her best friend whom she could share anything with? Because deep inside, in a place Sarah was afraid to admit even existed ever since her mom had brought it up, she’d begun to wonder if maybe her mom had been right about Sydney’s feelings for her.

Sarah would never ask Sydney to tell her the truth because she knew Sydney. If he were in love with her, as long as she was with Angel, he’d never tell her unless she asked outright. And if that were the case, Sarah didn’t know how that would change things between them, especially since she’d vowed never to keep something like that from Angel. So she’d long ago decided she’d never ask Sydney.

Chapter 14

Angel

Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of hours. The hotel had offered a couple of their courtesy shuttles to drive some of the team members around and check out downtown Waikiki and some of the close-by tourist attractions. A few of the guys started talking about a party at one of the hotels nearby. The driver of the shuttle was cool about giving them a ride there but warned he couldn’t wait too long. Angel had already told Alex he was out. He had no intention of partying tonight, especially knowing how early they had to be up and that if anyone missed that bus tomorrow there’d be hell to pay with their coaches once they got on the field. Angel wasn’t about to be one of them. He knew if one f**ked up they’d all be paying for it, but he’d be damned if he’d be the one to blame. Already they’d been duly warned on the bus ride from the airport to their hotel by their head coach.