Angel stared at her as she continued to make herself comfortable and lifted the blanket for him to slip in next to her, but he couldn’t even move. He stood there taking extra-long deep breaths that did nothing to calm him. He actually hoped it might be Sydney she was apologizing to for not calling last night—anyone but Leo. The second she hung up she looked up at him, and he must’ve looked as ready to explode as he felt because her smile fell.

“That was my mom,” she said quickly. “She’d asked me to call her once we got up here, but I forgot.”

She went on to explain the rest, but all Angel could think of, as he felt his body give way to the tension that had taken it hostage so instantly, was this was bad. Even as he placed the tray of breakfast on her lap and she kissed and thanked him gleefully, his eardrums were still ringing. How the f**k was he ever going to be able to hear Sarah even mention she’d chatted with Leo again without losing it? Yesterday when he’d told her he didn’t want her alone with the guy, he didn’t realize that each time Leo spoke with her he might be sweet-talking her ass like he’d apparently been doing for months. He didn’t want to be mad at her. God, he didn’t want that ass**le to ruin this trip for him, but he felt ready to spit now that the reality was sinking in. She’d gone along with this guy calling her baby and beautiful all this time, and she’d had no intention of telling Angel about it.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

Angel lifted his glass of juice and downed the whole thing, needing something to cool his insides. He was not going to argue about this now. Maybe when they got back home he’d bring it up again. He’d ask for more details about exactly what she and Leo talked about late into the night—something he’d be putting an end to given the eye-opener he’d gotten on the drive up. But he wouldn’t sour this trip.

“Nothing,” he said, placing the empty glass down on the tray.

He leaned into her, deciding he wouldn’t even tell her that for a moment there he thought she was apologizing to Leo for not calling him last night. The very idea of her telling him she meant to call him last night even after the argument they’d had on their way up had him clenching his teeth so hard he’d given himself a headache.

“Nothing,” he whispered again against her lips then kissed them. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back.

Chapter 21

Angel

The girls weren’t quite as daring as the guys. While all five guys decided to try the more challenging skiing trails, Sarah, Valerie, and Sofie opted for the easier, less treacherous ones.

Angel was glad that of the five guys he and Sal seemed to be at the closest level of skiing above the others. Eric was close behind, but Angel kept up closest to Sal. He was hoping to get a moment or two alone to talk to him while they waited for the other guys to catch up. Alex’s size and the fact that he went skiing least of all of them didn’t make him graceful on the slopes. Eric did the smart thing and took it slowly and easily down the trails. Romero was, as usual, a mess. The guy skied about as often as Alex, but he insisted on going twice as fast.

“Someone oughtta get a helmet on that guy,” Sal said as they watched Romero untangle his skis from the bush he’d just ended up in.

Eric made his way over to help Romero while Alex passed them slowly, wobbling a little. Angel laughed. “Those two should really be skiing with the girls.”

“No shit,” Sal said. “The last thing Alex needs is to mess with that ankle.”

Angel hadn’t even thought of that as he glanced back at Alex. At least he wasn’t like Romero, who already was headed off in another direction, arms flailing in the air and moving way too fast for his own good. Alex was taking his time being much more cautious, though his ankle probably did have a lot to do with it.

When they were far enough away and they stopped for a breather, Angel turned to Sal, pulling his goggles off then glancing away suddenly, not wanting to be looking at him when he asked what he wanted to ask him.

“So do you think a brother calling his sister baby girl, beautiful, or even baby is creepy?”

He glanced back at Sal, who was shaking the snow off his hair with his hand. He stopped for a moment to look at Angel and thought about it. “Hell yeah. Why?”

Angel shrugged. “It’s what Sarah’s brother calls her.”

Sal had started to put his own goggles back on then stopped to look at Angel. “Did you ever do your homework on this guy like I said you should?”

Frowning, Angel shook his head to make sure Alex and Romero weren’t nearby. He knew what those two would have to say about this, and he wasn’t in the mood to hear it. “Once her brother took off to Mexico,” he said, looking back at Sal, “I figured there was no rush.”

He explained how he knew Leo would be gone for months and even though Leo never did stop communicating with Sarah the whole time he was gone Angel had so much going on he put it on the back burner. Truth was Angel didn’t even know where to start. He did Google the guy’s name a few times, but it was overwhelming. Apparently, the name Leonardo Ortiz was a pretty common one. He’d gotten a ton of hits, but none of them had anything to do with Leo.

“I already told her I don’t want her alone with him,” he said emphatically.

“And how do you plan on keeping that from happening?”

Of course, Sal would bring up something he hadn’t even thought of. “She just won’t,” he said, feeling a little stupid. “He lives out of state. If he ever wants to get together with her, they’ll have to plan it. She’ll know not to plan anything unless I’m there.”