She hung up and wiped her tears. The heartache she felt was suffocating. It took her a while before she realized she was walking in the wrong direction. She spun around and stalked to her car.

***

Sofie’s words were like a bat to Eric’s groin. It took him a moment to recover. When he did, he realized she must’ve been in the store, close enough to hear his conversation.

He tried calling her back several times, but each time it went to voicemail. After working for another half hour, his phone rang again. It was Angel.

“Shit.”

The number one rule when Alex and Angel had laid down the law about him and Sofia was, do not break her heart. Alex had harped on that more than anything ktha0"> . He’d never even brought up sex. He hurried to the break room to answer it.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You better hope my sister stops crying before Alex gets home. What the f**k did you do, Eric?”

She was crying? This was worse than he thought. It was only fish tacos!

“Nothing!”

He explained about his friend Nicky, told Angel Sofia must’ve been there and overheard. “But I swear to God, I was just being polite. I would never do anything to hurt Sofia.”

He told him about Sofie’s call, leaving out exactly what’d she’d said, just said she was harsh. “I really do need to cram, Angel. I just think she’s completely misunderstanding all this.”

Angel’s tone didn’t ease up, even after his explanation. “Well, you better fix this, because I’ve never seen her this upset. I don’t like it.”

“I’m on my way.”

Eric told his manager he had an emergency and had to take off early. His dad would kill him if he knew what he was doing. He’d already warned him he had too much going on. School was his first priority, then work, and last was his social life. The reason why he’d cut down on his time with Sofia. But he had to fix this, and he had to do it now.

The more he thought about on his way to her house, the more he realized why she’d been so upset. He turned it around in his head. If it had been him, he’d be incensed. Truthfully, he had been a little flattered with Nicky’s continual flirting, and now he was feeling rotten about it. He took a deep breath before getting out of his car at Sofia’s house.

Angel met him at the door. “I already told her you’re here, but she refuses to come down. Sarah’s in there with her now.”

Eric had no idea what to do. “Can I go up there?”

Angels face soured. “Hell, no. I’ll go tell her you’re here again and remind her Alex will be home soon.”

Eric stood at the bottom of the staircase, waiting. He looked up when he heard her door open. Angel came out first, followed by Sofia. Even Angel flinched when Sofia yelled, “You’re a liar! You were at her house this week, and you were going there again tonight! But you told me you had to cram!”

Her parents rushed in from the kitchen.

“Sofia, what’s the matter? You’re crying?” Her mom looked up the staircase.

Sofia ignored her mom. “Is that who you were cramming all week, Eric?”

Angel had started down the stairs, but stopped at her outburst. “Sofie, calm down. Let him explain.”

“No! Go get your fish tacos, Eric. Tell Nicky you like lots of cabbage!”

“Sof, I can explain. It’s not what you’re thinking. I swear to you.”

Her parents stared at him. As if his heart could take anymore, Alex walked in.

“What’s with all the yelling?” He took one look at Sofia’s face and his expression immediately we kmme"0">

Mr. Moreno put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Calmado.”

“Nothing,” Sofia said before Eric could respond. She rushed past Angel down the stairs. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

Alex still glared at Eric, but Sofia grabbed Eric’s hand and pulled him toward the front door. “We’ll be outside.”

As soon as they were outside, Sofia let go of his hand. “You’re lucky I didn’t want my brother to blow up.”

“Sof, I swear to you. It’s not what you’re thinking.” His heart was still pummeling against his chest. He knew Sofia could be feisty, but to make such a scene in front of her family? “The software I installed for her on Tuesday was in the store. She brought in her computer. I was only going to stop and install the new one tonight then go straight home. I wasn’t going to hang out with her. You have to believe that, Sof.” He reached his hand out to her, but she backed away. “I love you. I would never do something like that.”

She paced back and forth hugging herself. Alex stuck his head out the front door. “You okay, Sofie?”

She nodded and wiped her tears away. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Alex glared at Eric, then looked back at Sofia. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Alex shot Eric another look before closing the door.

“Don’t ever…” She whispered.

“What?” Eric took a step closer to her.

“Don’t you ever dare cheat on me, Eric Diego.”

He’d never even considered it and ga-damn if he’d ever would now. He reached his hand out and she took it.

“I would never, Sof. You should know that.” He pulled her to him, feeling her arms wrap around him and squeeze him.

“I don’t want you to talk to that girl anymore, and you better never eat any of her food.”