“No,” she said quickly. “That’s not what—”

“And then,” Angel said, fully aware he was raising his voice to the point where he might start yelling but he didn’t give a shit anymore because he was livid. “And then after he explains all this, you decide to stick around and let him close enough to kiss you?”

“What? Who said—?”

“I saw pictures!” he boomed. “Of you and him against your car. His face is close enough to touch yours, and you touched him. Admit it, Sarah. You’re attracted to the guy, and the fact that he says he did this because he’s in love with you makes it all better!”

“No! Of course not! I—”

“What? Are you two gonna be friends now?”

“Angel, calm down, pl—”

“Are you, Sarah? Are you collecting best friends who are in love with you now?”

She didn’t say anything, and he knew he was being an ass**le now, but he couldn’t help it. The jealousy was eating him alive. She’d stuck around and allowed this guy, who didn’t deserve even a minute of her time, to stand that close to her. A guy who admitted to being in love with her. She stood there and admired his arms and tattoos and then f**king touched them!

“I gotta go,” he said, clicking the end button on his phone before he crushed the damn thing in his hand.

He stood there, heaving in and out in a desperate attempt to calm himself, but he couldn’t. The phone rang in his hand, and he silenced it then chucked into his open car window. This time he knew better than to answer it. Running both hands through his hair, he leaned against his car and closed his eyes.

“Tough day?”

Angel opened his eyes to see a familiar smiling face. Bruxa, a girl from the cheer squad, stood behind her car parked in the stall next to his and opened the trunk. She threw her book bag in her trunk and closed it then pouted playfully at him.

“You look like you could use a drink.”

“I could actually,” he said.

Her brows shot up in surprise, probably because she was one of the several older girls on the cheer squad who’d come on pretty strong in the beginning of his freshman year despite knowing full well he was in a relationship. She’d been pretty blatant about flirting with him even when she knew Sarah was nearby or in the stands watching. At one point, she’d made it clear she’d be up for just fun no strings attached and she didn’t even mind that she’d be the girl on the side, but Angel had turned her down flat. Sarah had said her name went with the evil bitch because it sounded like the Spanish word for witch, bruja.

“Well, let’s go,” she smiled wickedly. “I’ll buy the first round.”

Angel eyed her from top to bottom. She was what Romero often referred to as “definitely bangable.” He wondered if this was how Alex dealt with sharing Valerie. Did being with someone else, even if it was only temporary and meaningless, really help numb the pain? The very pain he was feeling now from knowing that his Sarah might actually be feeling something for Leo?

Chapter 24

Sarah

Angel never showed up for his shift at the restaurant. Alex had to come in for him and wasn’t too happy about it. All he said was Angel had called him at the last minute to tell him he wouldn’t make it because something had come up that he’d explain later. Both Alex and Sofie were surprised Sarah didn’t know where he was, but she didn’t explain about their fight. She didn’t want to talk to anybody about it until she talked to him first, though she had called Sydney before her shift in tears. She’d tried and tried to get a hold of Angel and texted him several times until she finally gave up, but she was beginning to worry now.

It was closing time, and no one had heard from him yet. “You still haven’t talked to Angel?” Alex asked, walking into the back room. “You two have a fight or something?”

“No, I haven’t,” Sarah said, closing the cabinet where she’d just stuffed her apron into then turned to Alex, who was leaning over the desk checking something on the computer. “And, yeah, we sort of did,” she finally admitted.

Alex glanced back at her and stared at her for a moment; then his face soured. “Is that what this is all about?”

“I don’t know,” she said, quickly regretting that she may’ve inadvertently gotten Angel in hot water. “We had an argument on the phone, but I don’t know why he’s not here or where he is.”

The rock that had started forming in her stomach the moment she dialed Angel today was now an unbearable boulder. She’d forgotten how intense he could be when he was that angry.

Alex started to say something when his buzzing phone on the desk distracted him. A few seconds later her own phone dinged in her purse, and she dug for it quickly. It was a text from Angel, and she exhaled in relief as she clicked on it. It was a photo, the photo Romero had apparently taken of her and Leo the moment she’d touched his tattoo. From that angle, they did appear to be standing incredibly close, and her insides tightened even more. Another text came through from Angel and then another and another until she had about six in a row with the same damn picture.

With her eyes beginning to blur, she responded calmly.

Where are you? We need to talk.

“Is that Angel?” Alex asked.

She nodded but didn’t want to look up so he wouldn’t see her teary eyes.

“Ignore him. He’s drunk.”