Leo?

Angel walked around to confirm it was, in fact, Leo on the screen just before Sarah clicked the window away and closed the screen.

“Why does he call you that?”

He didn’t even care that his tone was so severe. The adrenaline rush still pumping through his veins had him searing, and he could have kicked himself for not having followed up to find out more about Leo.

“He just does,” she said, reaching out to touch his face. “I asked him why in Havasu.” She shrugged. “All he said was that’s how he thinks of me because I’m so much smaller than he is.”

“He’s been calling you that since Havasu?”

She nodded but said nothing more. Why that made this so much worse he had no idea, but it did. So he was her brother. Angel had heard of sicker more perverted things in his lifetime. This guy was strange all around. He’d jumped off the damn Jet ski when she panicked on him. Who does that? Even Sal had thought that strange when he told him about it. Now this?

Sarah kissed him softly then started to move away toward her bed again, but Angel held her arm. “I don’t like it. Does he call you anything else that’s gonna turn my stomach?”

It didn’t matter anymore that she might think him absurd for being jealous of her brother. He was done being disingenuously okay with this whole damn thing, because the truth was he hated it. He hated to know she chatted with the dude late into the night sometimes. She admitted this openly to Angel because it was okay. This was her brother after all. Only Angel still had that bad feeling about him, and now it had just doubled.

Baby girl?

What the f**k?

“No,” she said but looked away too quickly, so Angel tugged her arm again, forcing her to look in his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, but nothing about it or the sudden vacant expression on her face felt sincere. The fact that she didn’t call him on it, throw in his face the reminder that this wasn’t just some dude calling her by a cutesy name—it was her brother and he had nothing to worry about—spoke volumes. She did understand why hearing the guy call her that set off alarms. That goddamned brother of hers had managed to put a damper on their getaway, and it hadn’t even started.

Chapter 20

Sarah

The drive to Big Bear started off quiet and uncomfortable. Sarah couldn’t help feeling guilty that she hadn’t told Angel about Leonardo’s pet name for her. She’d known he wouldn’t like it from the moment she first heard Leonardo use the term of endearment. But she felt even guiltier about the fact that, as awkward as it had first felt, the pet name had since grown on her and she liked it now. She had considered telling Leonardo it made her uncomfortable because he didn’t seem to have any qualms about calling her that in front of other people, so it was likely he’d do it in front of Angel eventually. He’d done so in front of his friends and even in front of Valerie when he’d hugged Sarah goodbye the morning they left.

Curiously, Valerie hadn’t thought it odd. She’d giggled and asked Sarah how it felt to have such a hot bad boy calling her something so sweet. Sarah hadn’t told her the truth—that it was kind of exciting—because she knew Valerie would interpret it the wrong way, and she didn’t want to bother explaining the whole thing about her dad calling her that too. So instead, she’d just reminded Valerie that she already had a hot guy back home who’d been calling her sweet names for years.

But there was more she was feeling guilty about.

Another thing she’d never told Angel and certainly wasn’t planning on telling him now was how final Leonardo’s goodbye felt when he’d first told her about going to Mexico months ago. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but that night he called her to tell her about it felt different. It was as if he were saying goodbye to her forever. The whole “I’ll talk to you next year” he’d told her felt like a ruse. She’d even asked him if there was something he wasn’t telling her, because she felt it in his words. He’d been uncharacteristically cold when he spoke to her that night. She’d actually been choked up when she hung up. She had this feeling in her gut she’d heard the last of him, that just like her dad he’d satisfied the curiosity of getting to know her and he was disappearing from her life now too. She’d been hurt and felt humiliated that she’d managed to make such an insignificant impression on both men that neither had any interest in continuing their relationships with her.

So when he’d called her less than a week later, she’d been overjoyed, more than she should’ve been. She’d really thought she’d never hear from him again. Later that night when she’d called Sydney, the only person who knew how broken up she’d been about her brother’s goodbye, he’d even warned her.

“You’re worrying me, Lynni,” he’d said.

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t be this excited about him calling you.”

“Not excited,” she’d insisted. “Relieved. You know I really thought that was it. That he was gone forever.”

“I know but still. I’d wait until you calm down a little before telling Angel. I can guarantee you it’ll worry him too.”

Taking Sydney’s advice and because she knew what he was saying was true—that Angel would question her excitement—she waited days before mentioning it. As expected, Angel hadn’t shared her excitement, so she’d been glad she hadn’t said anything sooner.