She nodded, unable to even speak. After changing, she and Sarah walked out to meet the guys. It had become routine for Angel and Sarah to drive to the beach and hang out for a few hours every day before he went home. But he always left it up to Sofia if she wanted him to take her home first, or if she wanted to jump in with Eric. This time, she climbed in Angel’s car before he even asked.

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Sofia knew Eric would wonder why, but she didn’t care. She was tired of their charade. Eric got to enjoy their moments and still play the single ready-to-mingle part, while Sofia lived on constant lock down. It was maddening.

The next day, Sofia managed to avoid Eric for most of the day, until the after-school pep rally. Forced to wait with Sarah during the rally, while the principal riled everyone up about the big game that night, she had no choice but to watch the guys around girls again. All the guys on the team wore their jerseys every Friday.

Eric was now as tall as her brother Angel, but the biggest difference was he had light brown curly hair versus Angel’s dark straight hair. He’d really filled out in the last couple of years. The jersey he wore made him look even bigger around the shoulders and he looked so damn cute it killed her.

She watched him from across the rally, where he stood with the rest of the team. When it was over, everyone spread out. The cheerleaders made spectacles of themselves around the players. Angel headed toward her and Sarah, while Romero and Eric, as usual, hung around with all the ogling cheerleaders. Romero lowered himself a bit, letting one of them jump on his back for a ride. He said something to Eric, who then did the same with another cheerleader. The girls laughed so loudly, Angel turned as he reached Sarah and laughed.

Sofia was incensed. It was all she could do to keep from crying. The jerk had seen her—knew she’d be watching, and still went ahead and let that girl on his back. She was done with their alone time. In fact, she was going to look into getting her license. She hadn’t wanted to before, because needing rides from Eric was the perfect excuse to be alone with him, but she was done. Maybe, if she had a car, she would finally get some real freedom.

That night at the game, she sat with Sarah, Sarah’s cousin Valerie, and one of Valerie’s friends. A group of boys she didn’t recognize sat near them. One of the boys smiled at her as he sat down. She smiled back. He was cute. Tall, not nearly as muscular as Eric, but then Eric worked out every day with the football team. This guy was obviously not a player since here he was watching.

The boy glanced over at her a few times before finally scooting his way closer.

“Hi, I’m James. What’s your name?”

“Sofia.” She smiled.

“You have real pretty eyes.” His sheepish smile made it easier to accept the compliment.

“Thanks.” She pulled a strand of hair away from her face.

She didn’t realize Valerie had been listening in until she asked. “You guys go here? I’ve never seen you.”

James shook his head. “Nah, I go to Lincoln. But this rivalry is so big—everyone wants to see this game.”

Valerie nodded. “Well, you sat on the right side.”

James laughed. He introduced the rest of his friends to the girls. He was by far the best looking of the bunch. Two of them were still in middle school.

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Sofia talked with James the whole game. After the game, James and his friends walked them back to the parking lot, where Angel’s car was parked. They always waited there until Angel and the guys were done showering and dressing.

She leaned against one of the cars parked near Angel’s. Sarah was standing on the driver side of Angel’s car, with the door open. She turned the radio on. When Sofia glanced at her, Sarah motioned for her to come over.

“I’ll be back,” Sofia said to James, and walked over to Sarah.

“What?”

“You’re making me nervous,” Sarah whispered.

“Why?”

Sarah chewed her lip and glanced at James. “You don’t think Angel’s gonna be mad if he sees you hanging out with these guys?”

Sofia smiled. She’d thought of that, but lately Angel hadn’t been so bad. He wasn’t likely to make a scene like Alex would. “That’s Alex.”

She explained Angel wouldn’t be thrilled, but unlike Alex, he wouldn’t do anything unless the guys were disrespectful, and she assured her James wasn’t.

James had made his way over to where Sarah and Sofia stood. Everyone else followed. Sarah still seemed apprehensive. Sofia went back to talking to James. Valerie stuck her head in Angel’s car and turned the radio up a little more.

Sofia walked away from the group with James so she could hear him better. They were standing on the other side of the car very much alone when she glanced over and saw Angel, Romero and Eric approach the group by the car. Romero was the first to speak up. “What is this? A f**king party?”

Her heart thudded when she heard Eric ask what Sofia was doing over there. Both she and James turned to see him stalking toward them. He didn’t look happy.

“Is that your boyfriend or something?” James asked, sounding a little panicked.

“No,” she whispered.

James stood up a little taller, ready to face off with Eric. Sofia felt for him, but she had no way of warning him. Eric was just a few feet away. Unlike her brothers, Eric was usually the calm and more reasonable of the bunch, but his expression now was reminiscent of Alex.