“I know,” Sofia sniffled, “but he really has changed, Sal.”

Sal shook his head adamantly. “Don’t you see, Sofie? He just pulled one over all of us.” He stood up suddenly. “You have any idea what Alex and Angel will have to say about Brandon taking you into his bedroom?”

The way Sal put it, it sounded so different than how it had happened. “It wasn’t like that.”

Sal gave her that look Sofia hated so much. That ‘you’re being naïve again’ look. She frowned. “If I had said no, he wouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t.”

Sal’s expression went even more severe. “Is that what he told you?”

“He told me before he kissed me, to tell him to stop and he would.” Sofia was drowning in guilt again.

“That’s bullshit, Sof. He shouldn’t have had you there in the first place. Should’ve never put you in that predicament to begin with.”

Sofia thought of some of the other things Brandon had said to her, and knew even Sal would fly off the handle if she told him. After making Sal promise he wouldn’t say anything to Alex and Angel, she drove by Eric’s house. His car wasn’t in the driveway and she wondered if he’d gone back to Los Angeles.

Tired of crying, and tired of thinking about it anymore, she went to the restaurant to put in some hours and try to keep her mind off him.

***

With his emotions raging, Eric’s first thoughts were to head to Brandon’s house after leaving Sofia’s. Then he remembered Brandon saying he was leaving first thing Saturday morning. Nothing would’ve made him feel better at that moment than to beat the living shit out of Brandon. < ofdon/p>

There was no hiding his feelings when he walked in the door, and his dad wasted no time asking him what the matter was. Eric simply said, “She cheated on me,” and headed to his room. Seeing him that upset, there was no way his dad was going to back down.

He could hardly even speak when his dad came in the room to try to console him. He kept the pillow over his face so his dad wouldn’t see what a pu**y he was. It was sickening. Finally enraged that he could turn into such a crying mess, he got up and grabbed his gym bag. He held it together long enough to convince his dad he was going to be okay, and that he could in fact drive without doing anything stupid.

After working out at the gym, he sat in his car thinking. He’d finally got it together and stopped blubbering. He kept telling himself it was just a kiss, but it still hurt like hell. Sofia had made such a big deal out of him having coffee with Asia. She had to know a kiss was so much worse, so why? That’s what bothered him the most. Was she tired of Eric? Was he not enough for her anymore? Did she actually have feelings for Brandon?

His throat began to tighten again, annoying him to no end. What was even more maddening was it had only been hours since he last saw her, and already he missed her like crazy. He wasn’t even sure how much longer he could fight the urge to answer her calls.

His cell phone went off, making him jump. Squeezing his eyes shut for a second, he picked it up to look at the caller ID. To his surprise, it was Sal. Could she have told him about it? If Sofia was going to tell any of her brothers, Sal would be the one. He almost didn’t answer, but the need to hear anything that might make him feel a little better prevailed. “Hey, Sal.”

“Eric, you got a minute?”

He knew—that much was obvious. Eric tried to sound casual. “Yeah, what’s up?”

Sal jumped right in with both feet. “Sofia told me what happened.”

Eric took a deep breath, willing the emotions that washed over him away. “Hmm,” was all he could muster without risking his voice breaking. For a moment, he considered hanging up. He completely regretted answering now.

“I know you’re mad, Eric. Hell, I’m mad. It was wrong of her to do it, and I’m not making excuses for her, but I seriously think Brandon planned this.”

The thought wasn’t one Eric hadn’t considered. He cleared his throat. “But she went for it, Sal. Is that how much I mean to her? This is the first time me and her have had to be apart, and she goes and does this?” He banged his steering wheel.

“I know. I know. You have every right to be pissed. I’m with you on that. I just think you should really think about the big picture. You two have been together too long—been through too much, to let something like this ruin it all. Sofia loves you.”

“Then why?” The damn tears were already rolling down his face and he squeezed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Did you ask her why?”

Sal was quiet for a moment. “No, but I can tell you why I think she did it.”

Eric didn’t say anything, just clutched the phone and gulped hard, concentrating on not letting Sal hear how upset he hodth="was getting again.

“I think Brandon put her on the spot. He came on strong. With all of us around, when the hell has Sofie ever had to deal with any guy coming on strong? I can guarantee you he didn’t give her much time to react.” Sal paused, but when Eric didn’t say anything he continued, “That ass**le took advantage of the situation.”

Annoyed, Eric wiped a tear away. “When’s he coming back?”

Sal chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I wanna know.”

Feeling a little better and much more confident he could speak without breaking down, Eric sat up. “I can’t just let this go, Sal. I don’t know. Maybe with time I will, but right now I don’t think I could stand to even look at her.”