Sofia was so choked up she couldn’t even answer, but it didn’t matter. Alex didn’t give her a chance before shouting, “Your friend had his tongue down her throat!”

Angel looked dumbfounded.

“Maybe I had my tongue down his throat!” Sofia cried. “Ever think of that?” All three brothers stood their staring at her. Alex blinked and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. “I’m not a baby anymore, Alex. I’m tired of you treating me like one!”

She saw him gulp. “You’re sixteen, Sof.”

Even though his tone was much softer now, it enraged her. He’d just threatened to hurt Eric if he was ever around her. Cut him off from her life just like that. “I’ll see him if I want to. You can’t stop me!”

She pushed past Romero who’d been standing at the kitchen door, watching and listening to the whole show. Then Alex was yelling again. “You hear me, Sofia? Like hell you will!”

Oh, she heard him all right. Sofia ran up the stairs but she was done with her brothers running her life. She slammed her room door shut before falling onto her bed sobbing.

*

As bad as things had gone, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been. When Alex walked in the kitchen, Eric had been but seconds from squeezing Sofia’s ass with both hands. She did things to him that made him lose his mind completely. He knew it was a bad idea to be doing anything to her with her brother just yards away. For as much as he tried to fight it, fight her, it was impossible. Being with Sofia was like an addictive drug. He knew the consequences could be deadly, and yet he craved her more than anything. The more he had, the more he wanted.

After Eric called Angel on the phone the next day, he was relieved to hear he wasn’t mad. Apparently, Sofia had explained to Angel that she’d been the aggressor. She told him Eric had only hugged her a K huasnnd she initiated the kiss. Since Angel hadn’t actually seen the kiss, she made it sound as if they’d just hugged, she kissed him and Alex had walked in. With Alex’s legendary temper, it wasn’t hard to believe he overreacted.

Still, Angel had made it a point to make Eric promise he’d make sure nothing like that would happen again. Now that her brothers were on to them, things would be that much harder. Alex’s warning was enough to keep Eric away for now, but there was no way he’d stay away for good. There had to be a way to convince them they could trust him. But how was the million dollar question.

A few days later, Eric would’ve never thought he’d be annoyed about the amount of time they got off school for the holidays. He hadn’t seen Sofia in days. It was killing him. His only hope of getting a chance to hang out with her now was at school. At least until things cooled down with Alex. There was no way he was stepping foot in their house or their restaurant—not for a while.

Still in his pajama pants and t-shirt, he finished unloading the dishwasher. With his dad gone for the day, he thought about calling Romero and asking him if he wanted to go shoot some hoops at the park. He needed to get out, stop thinking about the need to see Sofia.

There was a knock at his back door. Eric peeked out his kitchen window. Incredibly, it was Sofia. She was in her running gear. He gulped, feeling the adrenaline of both excitement and dread flood through him, as he rushed to open the door. The second he opened the door, she jumped in his arms. Eric hugged her, looking around his yard to make sure no one else was out there. The runway behind his property ran the entire length of the block and around the cul-de-sac where she lived. He often took it to get to the Moreno’s instead of going through the front.

He took a step back and closed the door behind her. Before he could even ask, she kissed him and unable to hold back, he took her in his arms. Her hands ran down his back then around to the front of his pajamas. She cupped him, making him groan. “No, Sof. Please.”

“They can’t stop us, Eric.”

“I know, but…” his breathing hitched when he felt her hand wrap around him over his pajamas. Her gaze nearly blinded him. She could be so beautiful, but at the moment she looked so damn sexy it hurt. Her long lashes blinked in slow motion.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The words overwhelmed him. He’d always loved Sofia. At first like a sister, but it occurred to him just then he was in love with her now. And here she was telling him she loved him too. “I love you, too, Sofie.”

He kissed her—a softer, gentler kiss than earlier. The tenderness he felt made his heart pound in a way that was different from when she was simply driving him crazy.

Her chest rose and fell a little harder as her breathing accelerated. She took his hand and guided it up under her blouse. Eric gulped at the feel of her soft breast in his hand. He’d only dreamed of doing this, but dreamed about it for far too long. He closed his eyes as he allowed himself to caress it gently.

She began pulling her blouse up. Eric could only stare, but he couldn’t bring himself to move his hand away. He wanted more. He wanted to kiss her there, take her in his mouth.

The doorbell rang and they froze. Eric pulled his hand away from her. “Where are your br Ke a/diothers?”

“Alex and Sal are both in school.” She pulled down her top and headed for the back door. “Angel had just got out of the shower when I left.”

The doorbell rang again and Sofia ran out the back door. Eric waited until she was completely out of sight before heading for the front door. He patted the tent in his pants down.