“I know! I know!” she said, feeling completely ridiculous now. “I’m sorry. I just got spooked. It’s not you; it’s—”

“Stop the Jet ski,” he said. “Stop it right now.”

“What?” she asked confused, looking back at him.

They were in the middle of the lake. “Kill the motor,” he ordered her, so she did.

The moment they’d slowed enough he jumped off. “Leonardo!” she turned to him then turned the Jet ski around. “What are you doing?”

“I need to talk to you,” he yelled from where he was floating. “But I need you to feel safe. I’m off now. You can take off whenever you want to—need to.”

“What?” she said, feeling incredibly stupid not to mention guilty. He’d been nothing but a sweetheart to her all day. “This is crazy. Get back on! We can’t talk this way anyway, and there are too many boats out for you to be floating out there like that. It’s dangerous. Leonardo; please get back on!”

“I’d never hurt you, baby girl,” he yelled.

“Okay, I believe you,” she yelled back. “Just get back on before you get hurt.”

He hesitated but then started swimming toward the Jet ski. He climbed on and again sat behind her, his cold body feeling good against her now dry and scorching hot swimsuit.

“Forget talking in private,” he said against her ear. “I’ll tell you on our way to get Valerie.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be,” he said immediately. “Don’t you ever be sorry about being suspicious and playing it safe. Okay?” She nodded, feeling like a complete idiot until he took a deep breath and spoke again. “I’ve been lying to you.”

Chapter 18

Angel

“No, it wasn’t anything like that,” Angel said, feeling stupid about Friday night all over again. “No one got arrested, but we’re all in punishment-drills hell now. The coach is not letting us off easy.”

Sal asked Angel about Sarah. Apparently even he’d seen some of the photos being posted all over including footage of some of the drinking games Angel hadn’t seen and thankfully hadn’t participated in. Angel explained briefly that she’d been a little concerned but they were good now.

Glad that Alex had since gone up to the room, Angel took advantage of his moment alone to talk to Sal about Leo, especially now that Sal had brought Sarah up. Sal could help him validate his gut feeling that something wasn’t right for good reason, not just because Alex’s and Romero’s first instincts were always to crack their knuckles and assume the worst. His older brother also wouldn’t hesitate to tell Angel to get his head out of his jealous ass and just accept that this guy could be the real deal—that maybe Angel was just feeling weird about having to share Sarah’s affection with yet another guy.

He brought Sal up to speed about her dad and Leo, leaving nothing out. He told him everything: the flowers, the near-naked photo Leo had sent her, how often they spoke online and on the phone, and how her dad had just disappeared all of a sudden. He even told Sal about Leo busting the guy’s lip in the restaurant’s parking lot. Of course, Sal was more concerned that Alex had made a scene in the restaurant, but they moved past that.

“So what’s her brother have to say about her dad disappearing?” Sal asked, getting back to Leo. “He doesn’t think it’s odd?’

“I guess not. Sarah said he seems more pissed about it. At one point, she said he told her their dad can go to hell. He hasn’t been talking to him either.” Sal was quiet for a moment, and Angel continued, getting to what he really wanted to talk about. “The thing is, Sal, I got this bad feeling about her brother. I don’t know what it is, but something tells me not to trust him. And now he’s out in Havasu with her. I just can’t shake the feeling that he’s up to something.”

“Is that who that thug was?” Sal asked, his voice going up a tenor. “The one in the photos Valerie posted? I was wondering if I should even mention it because I wasn’t sure you’d seen it. Is he the one with all the tats?”

“Yeah, that’s him.” Angel frowned. “What do you mean wondering if you should mention it? Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I figured you’d get all crazy, and what good would it do with you all the way in Hawaii? But never mind that,” Sal said, dismissing Angel’s annoyance. “How the hell is a guy like that related to sweet little Sarah? He’s got bad news written all over him, and he doesn’t look a thing like her. How do you know he’s even her brother?”

Finally! “That’s what I’m saying!” Angel, said standing up because he was suddenly too antsy to sit anymore. “Other than her douche bag dad’s word that this guy is related to her, we have nothing else. But what am I supposed to do? Sarah seems pretty confident that he’s her brother. And worse yet, she’s excited about having a sibling. He hasn’t asked her for anything or done anything shady, so my hands are tied.”

“No, they’re not,” Sal said immediately. “Do your homework, man. There’s gotta be a way to find out if he’s really who he says he is. But be prepared to find out he just might be her brother, Angel. Maybe, just like for me, the first impression of him got to you. I thought he was a thug with all his tats and shit, but that impression doesn’t fit what you just told me about him. Other than the photo you called inappropriate, nothing else seems shady about him.”