Something’s come up. Melanie’s gonna cover for me tonight at the restaurant, and I won’t be able to see you before your practice either. Maybe after?

Immediately, his laughing mood was squashed. Something came up? Had she actually given up hours at the restaurant to hang out with Sydney longer? Somehow he didn’t think it’d take a whole lot of persuading on Sarah’s behalf for Sydney to decide to stay another day. Maybe more. Angel had seen the way Sydney looked at her yesterday and seen the way he held her in his arms when she hugged him. Angel may as well have been invisible those first few moments they embraced. If it had been anyone else, Angel would’ve blown a fuse. Hell, even with it being Syd, her longtime best friend, Angel had still felt close to losing it.

Alex said something to him as he began to text back, but Angel was too caught up in what he was texting to listen to him.

What came up?

He sent it and stared at his screen impatiently, his knee shaking rapidly as he waited. Luckily, she responded quickly.

I’ll tell you about it later. I gotta stop texting now. I’ll call you in a few hours.

A few hours? It was almost noon. Sydney must’ve decided to hang out longer. The idea that Sarah might’ve asked him to hang out longer and was now blowing him off for Sydney brought back all those old feelings of unease he hadn’t felt in so long.

Alex said something again and Angel turned to him. “What?” he snapped.

He hadn’t intended to sound so irritated, but it couldn’t be helped. He was beyond irritated.

Alex peered at him then frowned. “Look. If you’re gonna get all weird about not telling Sarah, then forget it. I’ll make some calls and see if I can get someone else to cover for me.”

“Nah.” Angel shook his head. “I’ll do it. I just won’t mention you at all.”

“You sure? ’Cause you’re getting all pissy about it.”

Staring down at his phone still, Angel shook his head again. “Not at you. I didn’t even hear what you said.” He waved his phone at him. “I was reading a text.”

The scowl on Alex’s face morphed into a smirk. “Trouble in la-la land?”

Angel rolled his eyes, looking out the window. “Her best friend’s in town, and she took the day off from work.”

Alex was quiet for a moment, and Angel glanced in time to see him do a double take then saw his brows jump. “The dude from back home?”

Clenching the phone in his hand, Angel glanced away from his brother. “She lives here now, remember?” he said, avoiding the topic of Sydney. He wasn’t in the mood to discuss this, especially because he already knew Alex’s take on it. “This is her home.”

“You know what I mean, ass,” Alex laughed. “This is the guy she grew up with, right? No wonder you’re getting all stupid about technicalities. So what? She took the day off to spend it with him?”

“I dunno,” Angel muttered, continuing to look out the window and swallowing hard, but he refused to give his brother the pleasure of seeing how much this bothered him. Alex was already having too much fun with this.

“Well, I can’t say I blame you,” Alex continued, his tone a little more serious now. “I don’t know why you allow that shit.”

“Allow it?” Angel asked even more irritated now. “What am I supposed to say? I forbid you to hang out with your friend?”

“Friend.” Alex scoffed. “What guy puts that much energy or spends that many years hanging onto a friendship with a chick unless he’s hoping to eventually get past the friend zone? I hate to say it, but I will ’cause your dumb ass needs to hear it. He’s probably in love with her.”

“He’s got a girlfriend, Alex,” Angel said, trying desperately not to buy into what Alex sounded so sure about. “Has for years.”

“And he’s still driving all the way down here to spend time with Sarah?” Alex looked at him, even more disgusted. “How long did you say she’s known this guy?”

“Since they were kids,” Angel said, attempting to look more interested in his phone so Alex would just drop it.

“Like Sof and Eric,” Alex pointed out.

“No,” Angel turned to him, feeling the irritation peak. “Not like Sof and Eric. They’ve never had those kinds of feelings for each other.”

“Well, maybe she hasn’t,” Alex said, turning onto their street.

“That’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

Angel was glad they were almost home because he was done having this conversation. He started taking off his seatbelt so that the moment Alex stopped the truck he could jump out.

“All I’m saying, bro, is I’d keep my eyes and ears open,” Alex warned as he pulled into their driveway, his playful tone long gone. “There’s no way I’d be driving this far to see a chick who has a man unless I was seriously hoping to get something out of it.” He shrugged, and even after they stopped, Angel didn’t jump out of the truck like he’d planned. Instead, he stared at his brother and waited for him to finish. “Maybe he really is just her friend. But if forbidding her to see him, which is what I’d do, is out of the question, I’d for sure not allow too much time alone with him. If I were you,” he said even more seriously, “I’d get her on the phone right now and ask to meet them somewhere. Don’t be stupid. Don’t give that ass**le this much time alone with her.”