Now she looked up, but Alex was looking down at his phone texting. “Is he texting you too?”

“No, Romero is,” he said without looking up. “I’m gonna have to pick his drunk ass up and take him back to my place. My mom will freak if she sees him as drunk as Romero says he is.”

Her phoned dinged with another text from Angel, and she clicked on it, expecting to see another stupid picture again, but it was a text.

U love him 2?

She brought her hand to her mouth as the emotion took over. “I’m going with you,” she said to Alex as she responded to Angel’s text.

I love YOU.

Wiping the tear from the corner of her eye, she glanced up at Alex, who frowned. “I told you to ignore him, sweetheart. You don’t wanna be around him right now. Trust me. Romero says he’s being obnoxious.” He smirked, slipping his phone in his pocket. “And if Romero’s saying that, I can only imagine how stupid he’s acting.”

“I still wanna go with you,” she said. “Please?”

Alex pressed his lips together but nodded. “Okay, but if he says anything stupid to you, I’m gonna have to kick his ass.”

The enormity of this dawned on Sarah as she gathered her things. Angel was so angry with her he’d needed time away from her today. What if he was even angrier than she’d first thought? He’d never done anything like this before—not shown up for his shift because he was mad at her then gotten so drunk someone had to go get him. What if he needed more than just a day away from her? What if he asked for a break because he couldn’t stand to be around her for a while? Seeing that damning photo, she now understood why he was so upset.

He’d probably obsessed over it all day like she knew she would’ve if it’d been him and another girl. What if he needed more than a break?

I’d never get over something like that.

Swallowing back the terrifying thoughts the entire time Alex closed everything down in a rush, she followed him out to his car with an enormous knot at her throat.

“So was this like a big fight or what?” Alex asked as they pulled out into the street.

“Yeah,” she whispered, staring out the window but offered no more.

In hindsight, she understood perfectly now why Angel had been so upset. She was actually ashamed now that she hadn’t just told Leonardo to go to hell and driven away. Then she remembered she had tried that.

Still.

She should’ve left the moment that guy whose car she hit drove away. Why had she stayed? Why did she need to know why he did it? This was so not worth it.

Thankfully, Alex didn’t press for anything more. She was certain the tears running down her face had everything to do with it. They reached Romero’s place. Like Alex, Romero had recently moved into his own bachelor pad.

Romero opened the door with a smirk. The music was on loud, and Sarah thought she heard Angel singing. Romero laughed, but the moment he saw Sarah, he stopped laughing. “Dude,” he said to Alex. “Not a good idea, man.”

Alex turned back to Sarah with a look of concern then turned back to Romero. “That bad?’

“Yes!”

Angel sang along to whatever song was playing, and both Romero and Alex looked at each other for a serious moment then cracked up. Sarah might’ve laughed too if her insides weren’t completely churning. She’d never seen or heard Angel so drunk. Making out the lyrics he was butchering only made her feel worse. He only got one part right, but it was enough.

“’Cause this time could mean goodbye!”

Romero laughed again but then got all serious when Alex started walking in with Sarah just behind him. “I’m telling you, man, he’s gonna lose it when he sees her.”

“No, he’s not,” Alex said, walking in.

Having second thoughts about being there, Sarah stayed at the door.

Angel turned from where he was hunched over on Romero’s counter when he saw Alex and smiled. Then he saw Sarah, and it wiped the smile right off. “Why is she here?” he asked Alex then turned to Sarah and asked even louder. “Why are you here?”

“Because . . .” she started to say but could barely get the words out.

“Why?” he demanded even louder, looking back at Alex. “I don’t want her here.”

“Shut your mouth!” Alex said, shoving him.

“I don’t want her here,” Angel repeated the hurtful words then turned to Sarah. “You hear me? I don’t wanna see you right now!”

“Yeah, well this isn’t your place,” Alex snapped back. “And Romero doesn’t want your loud drunk ass here either. Grab your shit and let’s go.”

Sarah pulled her phone out, feeling like an idiot for having insisted on coming with Alex. Clearly Angel was in no condition to talk. This was a side of him she’d never seen, and she felt her heart tearing apart hearing him speak to her that way. There was no way was she getting in the same car with him. She walked away from the door to call Valerie.

“Where is she going?” she heard Angel ask loudly.

“You just told her you didn’t want her here, you dumb ass,” Alex said.

He called out for her again, but she ignored him and kept walking.

“Sarah,” Angel called out again a little louder, and she turned to see him at the door. “Who are you calling?”

“Valerie,” she said, wiping the tears away from her face.

“Why?”