“So you never told me. How did prom go?”

“It was nice. The guy I went with was actually nominated for prom king, but he didn’t win. He and his best friend are like the most popular guys in school. Everybody knew it would be one of them, and his best friend won. I don’t know what the vote count was, but I’m sure it was really close.”

“The most popular guy in school, huh?” Vince stared straight ahead not wanting her to notice how much that bothered him. “And you’re not seeing him?”

“Nope, we just had a lot of the same classes. Since I took a lot of dual-credit classes that mostly seniors were taking, we became good friends.”

Vince gripped the chains on his swing even tighter remembering what she’d just said about love happening gradually. If this guy was a good friend, that’s how it started right? He turned just as she swung those jaw-dropping legs in the air and remembered what Romero had said earlier at the restaurant—jailbait.

She’d already said she wasn’t seeing the guy. They were just friends, and why would she have begged to hang out with him if she was interested in Mr. Popular? But obviously Mr. Popular was interested in her. Why else would he have asked her to the prom? The words from the guys ribbing him back at the restaurant echoed in his head. You’re gonna have your hands full, fighting off older guys.

Fighting—even that could get his ass hauled back to La Puente prematurely. But damn it if his adrenaline hadn’t already started pumping and he was already mentally preparing to kick this guy’s ass.

He jumped off his swing and stood in front of her pushing her shoes as she held them out in front of her to get her swinging higher. She giggled when he pushed a little too hard, and it made her swing fly way back and up high.

“So if this guy was so popular, why would he ask you? I mean he’s a senior and you’re what, a sophomore?”

“Junior,” she grinned.

“But you’re a year younger than me.”

“I skipped the first grade. I was a smarty-pants.”

Vince thought about that for a moment. Somehow that didn’t surprise him. Pushing her feet again, he wished he could also push away the thoughts that this older guy took Rose, a fifteen-year-old clearly innocent girl, to the prom. Vince had heard all about the things that happen prom night.

“But still, he could’ve taken someone older.” He rolled his eyes. “Obviously the guy isn’t blind, but you said you’re just friends, so why wouldn’t he ask someone he might get lucky with that night?”

“Oh, he got lucky.”

Vince grabbed her two feet with one hand stopping her midflight using every muscle in his arms and back to keep her there. “What?”

Her eyes grew open as understanding sunk in. “Not with me.”

Vince still held her in place, not understanding. “What do you mean not with you? You were his date.”

She wiggled her feet trying to get loose, but Vince held them tight.

“Grace wasn’t about to let me go to the after parties, Vincent. He dropped me off after prom then partied until the early morning like all the other seniors. I never got the gory details or anything, but it was all over Facebook the very next day who ended up with whom by the end of the night.”

Vince let go of her, and at that very moment, he knew. This staying out of trouble thing was going to be a lot harder than he thought. His fuse had never been very long to begin with, but he’d never felt his temper flare that fast in his life, not even when someone messed with Lorenzo. He knew his brother could hold his own in a fight pretty well. But the thought of some senior taking advantage of sweet Rosie had him instantly on fire. This was bad.

***

A few things happened in the coming days. Grace and Sal got back together, and Vince couldn’t have been happier. He was beginning to feel like a real crumb about passing information on to Sal that he got about Grace from Rose, but he had no choice. Sal was taking a real chance letting his sixteen-year-old, barely licensed cousin drive to and from Chula Vista, but he’d made the conditions very clear.

At first Vince had been a little worried that his wheels would be taken away because Sal had mentioned the car he was driving had originally been bought for Grace. But they didn’t just get back together, Grace was pregnant now, and they were getting married. Sal’s engagement gift to Grace, other than the huge rock he got her, was a brand new SUV.

For weeks Vince remained on his best behavior, and it paid off. He and Rose spent more and more time together as the summer went on. Sal even got them both passes to Sea World, The San Diego Zoo, and Disneyland the week of their birthdays. It was an awesome week. Vince had begun to feel a bond with Rose like he’d only ever felt with his brother. The need to protect her and be there for her was ever present now.

After hearing her mention more than once about her fondness for teddy bears and the collection her father had started for her before passing away when she was very young, Vince wanted to add to the collection. He’d asked her what her favorite bear of all time was, and she’d immediately said Baloo from Disney’s Jungle Book, but she only had a small one of him. So when they got the chance to go to Disneyland, he was determined to get her a bigger one. Only he wasn’t just going to buy her one; he was going to show his shooting skills in the game area and win her a giant Baloo.

Disneyland was the first of the theme parks they hit that week. Up until then, though he made it clear by his actions that he cared about her, he’d yet to openly express his feelings or do anything more to move things further along in their just friends’ status. They hadn’t even held hands. Walking through the crowded theme park changed that. At first he made it seem like a simple act of protectiveness. He didn’t want to lose her in the crowd, so he’d reached his hand out to her, and she took it.