“When he could be here with you?” Tex asked a little too smug. “This Alex guy sounds like a real idiot if—”
Angel was on his feet instantly, but Romero beat him to it, jumping out of his chair and making the unwavering guy finally flinch. “Calling my friend and his brother,” Romero said, motioning to Angel with his thumb and getting in the guy’s face, “an idiot is real fucking stupid.”
Valerie squeezed in between, trying to hold Romero back as Sarah grabbed the front of Angel’s shirt with both fists. Everyone at the tables around them were on their feet now too in anticipation of a brawl. To Sarah’s relief, old man Andolini pushed his way through the crowd, cursing.
“I didn’t start this,” Romero said when Andolini broke through the crowd.
“Yeah, you never do,” Andolini said, pointing at the door. “Out!” he said loudly. “One week!”
“But—” Romero started to say.
“You no come back for one week!” Andolini persisted loudly. “You argue I make it two!”
Some of the people in the crowd chuckled as Romero reluctantly started toward the door. This wasn’t the first time Romero had been put on time out by Andolini. They all started to walk out with Romero. Sarah knew Angel wouldn’t let Romero take the heat on his own. He had been, after all, defending Alex. Even Valerie and Monica began leaving with them.
Sarah glanced back as Andolini started in on Tex. “I don’t know you but you too. Out! One week.”
“I ain’t going nowhere, old man,” Tex said with a frown. “I didn’t do shit.”
Both Romero and Angel spun around. They’d been coming here for years and had known Andolini for too long. Romero had been getting time out since high school even when it really wasn’t his fault. They always walked out respectfully.
“Who the fuck does this guy—” Valerie stepped in front of Romero again.
Two guys in aprons, who’d rushed out of the kitchen, were already in Tex’s face. “They got it, Romero. Let’s go.”
Andolini held his hand up to the guys in aprons. “Wait until that one’s gone,” he said, pointing at Romero, “before you walk this one out.”
With that, Andolini headed back to the kitchen, assuring everyone things were under control and to relax.
As soon as they were outside, Valerie started in on Romero about embarrassing her, and he protested he hadn’t done a damn thing. “What?” Romero asked, holding his hands up. “The douche insults my friend and I’m supposed to just sit there and let him?” His expression turned into a scolding one, and he shook his head. “You know Alex is not gonna be happy when I tell him about Tex.”
That really lit the fire in Valerie’s already blazing eyes. “You think I care if you—”
“Okay, okay,” Sarah said, worried Valerie might say something rude about Alex as she often did when it was just the two of them and she was venting. She didn’t think Angel but especially Sofia would take too kindly to it. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m still starving.”
“I don’t get pizza from anywhere else but this place,” Romero said as they reached both cars in the parking lot. “How ’bout Chinese? Lucky Dragon?”
“Don’t you need reservations for that place?” Eric asked, walking toward his car.
“Nah,” Romero said, walking around Angel’s car to the back seat. “My uncles know the owner. He’ll get us in right quick.”
“I’m out,” Valerie, who’d been reading something on her phone, said as she and Monica passed Angel’s car. She glanced back. “Isabel got off of work earlier than she thought she would. We’re gonna go meet her somewhere.”
“Don’t go causing any more trouble, Val,” Romero said with a big grin.
Valerie rolled her eyes but to Sarah’s relief didn’t say anything else except to remind Sarah to call her. Curiously, just as they pulled out onto the street with Romero yapping away about the Padres game the night before, Sarah noticed a text come in from Valerie. She clicked on it and read it.
I was going to tell you over pizza tonight until Romero ruined that! >.
Chapter 7
Angel
The moment the girls walked away to the ladies’ room Angel saw that annoyingly smug smirk spread across Romero’s face as he sat back in the booth. Clearly, he’d been waiting for them to leave so he could say something.
“What?” Angel said, sitting back feeling stuffed.
Thanks to Romero’s scene at Andolini’s delaying their dinner, by the time they’d gotten their food, they’d all been so starved everyone ate way too fast.
“I hear Syd’s back.”
Angel rolled his eyes, cracking his fortune cookie open and pulling the fortune out. “Yeah, so?”
Eric watched Angel curiously. The only one he’d told so far was Alex. Romero had been joining Alex during his workouts a lot lately. No doubt this was something they’d discussed.
“So he dumped the girl he’s been with since high school and switched schools to be closer to Sarah?”
Glancing back to make sure Sarah wasn’t on her way back yet, Angel turned back to Romero with a frown. “Who said all that? He’s going to ESU. That’s in Los Angeles, not here.”
“Close enough.” Romero shook his head with that same expression Alex wore the day he told him about it. “Shit. I don’t know, man. I’m thinking Alex has a point. Maybe you do need to have a one on one with this guy. You know let ’im know you’re on to him.”
“On to what?” Angel asked.
“Yeah,” Eric said with a chuckle. “So he transferred to So Cal. It’s still over two hours away. What’s Angel supposed to be on to?”
Thank you!
Angel didn’t say it, but he was glad someone didn’t instantly believe what he’d felt in his gut from the moment he found out about Sarah’s male best friend way back in high school. He knew he was biased, and that’s why it was so impossible to believe the guy couldn’t have any feelings for Sarah beyond friendship. But Alex and Romero seemed so damn sure about it, and they didn’t even know all the details: Sarah kept in touch with him regularly. She told the dude everything and vice versa. Most importantly, he’d dumped his girlfriend for Sarah. He’d left that part out when he mentioned to Alex that Syd and his girl had broken up. He and Romero already made Angel feel like a big enough chump when it came to this.
Romero grabbed a couple of the crunchy noodles from the bowl in the middle of the table and stuck them in his mouth, shaking his head. “I’m telling you. I know what I’m talkin’ about here—”
“What do you mean you know what you’re talking about?” Angel asked, beginning to lose his patience. This was not a conversation he wanted to be having with Romero of all people. “You don’t have a chick. You’ve never had one.”
Eric laughed, and Romero shot him a look. “I’ve had plenty of chicks.”
“Not girlfriends,” Eric pointed out. “All those different girls you screw around with don’t count.” Eric nudged Angel. “Personally, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You and Sarah are solid. Have been for years. Don’t let this guy get in your head.”
“All right.” Romero pointed at Eric. “So if Sof had a guy friend she’d known all her life and was this close to”—he lifted a brow as Eric’s expression started to go hard—“you’d be okay with that?”
“If she assured me they were nothing more than friends, yes,” Eric said, but he’d lost some conviction, and Angel had a feeling he knew why.
There was someone Sofia had known all her life
and recently they’d had some major issues with him, but that was completely different from Sarah and Syd. Sofia didn’t even talk to Brandon anymore. Fortunately, that conversation was cut short when the girls got back.
Everyone except Romero was surprised by how little the bill came to. “I told you the owner knows my uncles.” He smiled, laying his portion of the reduced bill on the table. “He always hooks us up.”
After dinner, Romero announced with a smirk he had a several stops to make before the night was over. Then he pulled out his wallet, smiling as wickedly as only Romero could and announced his soldier had enough helmets for what he had planned. Yeah, Angel would be taking relationship advice from this hopeless romantic.
They dropped off Romero at his place, and then Angel and Sarah headed to the marina. Even though they’d just eaten, Angel knew that after a romantic evening walk along the marina boardwalk Sarah might be ready for dessert. He got the distinct feeling that his less-than-eager attitude about her meeting her dad and brother was bothering her. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he wasn’t happy for her because he was—sort of.
He wouldn’t be telling her this, but he didn’t think her dad deserved her in his life. Sure, the guy had been locked up for a better part of Sarah’s life, but he’d been out for over five years. And the fact remained that even he said it wasn’t until her brother began to show in an interest in meeting her that he actually made an effort to find her. Angel knew his whole not trusting any guy when it came to Sarah had a lot to do with it, but something else gnawed at him, and he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Something just felt off. He’d never been the superstitious type, and he’d certainly never put a whole lot of weight on something like the fortune in his cookie he got tonight at the Lucky Dragon. But the ironic coincidence was unsettling to say the least.
If you feel in your heart and soul that something is wrong, then it probably is.
He just wasn’t sure which of the two things that were bothering him lately this might be referring to: her dad and brother or Syd? Then again it was just a damn fortune cookie. He wouldn’t waste more time trying to figure it out.
For now, he’d go along and join her in her excitement—pretend to be as enthused as she was for the sake of not shitting all over what should be an unexpected but exciting development in her life. He knew this was huge for her, and so far he’d sort of dumped on it, but then he also hadn’t been in the best of moods for other reasons.
They strolled on the boardwalk, and he let her go on about her feelings, thoughts, and anxiousness about meeting her father and brother without interrupting. As expected, a half hour into their walk she was ready for ice cream.
“We haven’t been here in a while,” Angel said, holding the door open to Dipsy’s, the ice cream place they used to frequent a lot when they were first dating.
“I was just here not too long ago,” she said, looking up curiously at the poster behind the counter.
Angel glanced up at the poster announcing their Sundae’s For Two. “That’s new,” he said, already reading what each one consisted of to help decide which one he and Sarah could share.
“Not really. Me and Sydney had one last week. The girl behind the counter said they’ve featured them all summer and are real popular.” She turned to Angel. “I guess it has been a while since you and I were here last.” She smiled then pointed. “Look at that humongo one.” She giggled. “I told Sydney if I ever come back here with Valerie that’s for sure the one we’d share and she’d probably finish most of it.”
Normally, Angel would’ve chuckled along with her and agreed. Instead, he was still trying to shake off the irritation that she and Syd had shared a sundae. This was ice cream for crying out loud. She just said it herself. It was something she’d just as soon share with Valerie. It shouldn’t be a big deal. So why did it feel as if she just said she’d shared a fucking shower with the guy?
“What’s wrong?” she asked, squeezing his hand.
Glancing up at the poster, Angel avoided eye contact with her. He hadn’t even realized his jaw had locked tightly just like every time he thought about what Alex has said about Syd. “Nothing. I’m just wondering if I’m not still too full for this.”
She was quiet, and he could see from the corner of his eye that she was staring at him. Sarah knew him too well, which only irritated him more. Clearly, she’d already picked up on the fact that her bringing up Syd was off-putting. Why then had she? He worked his jaw and knew now there’d be no denying it.
“I can get a single one for myself,” she said, “if you don’t want to share one of the bigger ones.”
Angel turned to her, unable to soften the stony expression he knew he wore now. “Which one did you share with Syd?”
He knew she might think him petty, but he had a feeling what the answer to the question of why she’d brought it up might be. If she was trying to make her spending time with Syd sound casual and innocent—if she thought she could start weaning Angel onto the idea because it just may turn into a reoccurring thing—it wasn’t happening. Angel would set things straight right now. He’d never made it a secret that while he accepted their friendship he didn’t like it. She’d never asked him to like it, and he knew he never would. So talking about the time she spent with Syd without Angel would never be a casual and pleasant conversation, regardless of how innocent it may sound.
Her face fell for a moment, and he hated that. They’d been having such a good time up until she brought up Syd. She recovered fast enough, but he’d seen it—the disappointment that she couldn’t bring up Syd this casually without things getting tense. But it couldn’t be helped. His girl had gone out for ice cream with a dude who’d just dumped his longtime girlfriend for her, and they’d shared a sundae. She had to know the only reason this scenario was acceptable at all was because Syd was her longtime friend, but it’d still never be pleasant.
“The marshmallow crunch,” she said, lowering her voice.
Angel moved over to stand behind her and brought his hands around her waist, squeezing her tight. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he kissed her cheek. He’d made his point. Sydney would always be a sore subject, but he didn’t want to upset her or for this to ruin the evening.
Glancing up at the poster, he inhaled. “The Chocolate Swirl Monster sounds good.”
She turned to him with a sudden smile, and it felt as if she were about to say something but decided not to at the last second. She glanced back at the poster instead then spoke. “You sure?” she asked. “They’re pretty big.”
“I’m sure,” Angel said, kissing her temple again.
His plan to send the message that talking about her and Sydney was not something he would be embracing so easily seemed to have worked because they were back to her dad. He didn’t want her keeping anything about Sydney from him, but he certainly didn’t want her thinking just because the guy would be closer now he’d be a welcome subject. Before Sydney’s surprise visit, Sarah had mercifully kept any talk about him to an absolute minimum.
Sitting there across from each other sharing the sundae felt intimate. Angel listened to her go on, trying not to visualize her doing this with Syd.
“So I’m gonna email Leonardo tomorrow morning,” she said, licking her spoon. “I’ll keep it short and to the point, offering up no information about myself. And I’ll respond to my dad . . .” This was the second time she seemed to catch herself. “Uh . . . Omar, letting him know I’ll be responding to Leo.”
“It’s okay to call him dad, you know?” Angel said, offering a small smile, and shrugged. “I know he’s never been a real father to you, but technically he is your dad.”
For as much as Sarah had said in the past that she’d never had an interest in finding or meeting the man who’d fathered her, Angel had seen the excitement in her eyes already. It had to feel good to finally say “dad.” It’s what scared him most. He was trying to think optimistically, but the thought of this guy weaseling into her life
after all these years and possibly hurting her or even just disappointing her, was enough to worry him.
“I know,” she said, taking another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. “It just feels weird.” She tilted her head sideways as she stuck her spoon into the ice cream and left it there. “On an unrelated topic,” she began and then stopped and chewed her bottom lip. “When’s the last time you talked to Dana?”
That came way out of left field, and while Angel wished he could say “who,” he knew exactly who she was talking about. As far as he knew, they both only knew one Dana, but he had no idea why she was bringing this up now.
“Dana? I don’t even remember,” he lied. “Where’d that come from?”
Sarah sat back, placing her hands on her flat belly with a bit of a frown. “Oh, I’m so stuffed now.” Angel stared at her, waiting as she lifted and dropped her shoulder. “She’s been posting about the San Diego-Hawaii game. I didn’t see it. Valerie did. She said I might wanna let you know Dana might be up to something.” She lifted a very telling brow, her carefree demeanor going a little on edge. “Seems she’s really looking forward to seeing you. She’s even posting old photos of you holding her. You know from back in the days when you two weren’t an item. You just took lots of sweet pictures together with you all over her.”
“Okay, first of all,” Angel said, sensing the mood taking a turn for no good reason at all, “it’s been years since I’ve spoken to or even seen her. We are not gonna get into this—”
“I don’t wanna get into it,” she said, sitting up suddenly. “I just thought I’d give you a heads up. Obviously, last summer when you took a photo with her at the game she caught you by surprise, right? I don’t know,” she added, pushing her chair out. “Maybe you didn’t say a word to her, but you did smile real pretty for the photo.”
Angel pretended to think about that, feeling like an ass, especially since Sarah rolled her eyes at his feigned bewilderment. But at least she smirked. He’d been caught. Damn it. “I forgot about that,” he said, but that wasn’t so much of a lie as a stretch.