But Valerie couldn’t talk too much shit. She was the stupid one who, after watching him blatantly flirt all day with other girls, ended up in his bed that night.

Between Alex and his foulmouthed, hotheaded friend Romero, there were few times when she could actually get away with hanging out with guys without some kind of eruption. Last year, after seeing Alex’s behavior with the girls at his booth, she decided to just ignore him and have some fun of her own. She’d gone there with a couple of girlfriends, and they’d quickly gotten the attention of other guys.

Even now, knowing his explanation for it all and just remembering how it felt to see him ham it up with those girls, it still made her angry. Her face actually heated at the memory . . .

Valerie tried to concentrate on what Monica was saying to her and not look over Monica’s shoulder where she could still see Alex leaning against the booth counter, grinning from ear to ear. The girl talking to him was playing with her hair, her hips swaying from side to side as if she were listening to music. Then she handed him her phone, and he started tapping something into the screen. Valerie didn’t doubt for a minute that he was giving the girl his number. It turned her stomach, and she casually placed her hand on her belly.

Thankfully, she soon had a distraction. They’d wandered away toward where the bands were playing. A group of guys, who looked as if they’d just come from a Padres game because they were all sporting Padres tanks and jerseys, came up to talk to Valerie and her friends. One of the quieter ones of the group with an impressive build and timid smile, Oscar, bought Valerie a beer. She’d been standing with him and the rest of the group by the stage where the bands had been playing for all of ten minutes when Romero tapped her on the shoulder. “Where’s Alex?”

She was instantly annoyed because this had been the drill for years. If Alex didn’t approach her when she was with a guy, his loyal goon just loved stepping in for Alex.

“At his kissing booth, passing out his number,” she practically hissed. “At least that’s where he was the last time I saw him.”

In the usual way things went down, the moment Romero had Oscar’s attention he stared him down hard as if to say “Say something. I f**king dare you.”

Wisely, Oscar didn’t, and Romero continued to stare at him even after he’d turned away. She’d always considered Romero’s smirk sexy, but it was grating at that moment and any time it was directed at one of the guys she was trying to be friendly with.

Romero finally turned back to Valerie. “He’s looking for you.”

Before she could respond that she didn’t care, Alex was there.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at Oscar no doubt.

“I’ve nothing to say to you, Alex, and I’m busy right now.”

“Just give me a second, Z. I’ll make this fast.”

The visual of Alex putting his number in those girls’ phones came to her, making her wild with jealousy again. “No!”

“Is there a problem?” Oscar asked, his two friends stepping up behind him.

That’s when she knew her time with Oscar was over. Either she said there was a problem and watch the explosive outcome or she walked away with Alex and hopefully they could convince Romero to leave with them.

Romero had already started to say something when she set her beer down on the table and grabbed Alex’s arm with one hand and Romero’s with the other. “Let’s just go.”

“Who is he?” Alex demanded as they walked away, slipping his hand in hers and squeezing.

“I just met him, Alex!” she said, tugging at Romero’s arm. Not surprisingly, he was the harder one to calm once his brawling instincts flared up.

“Let it go, man.” Alex turned to Romero. “I’m cool. He’s not worth it.”

Romero finally stopped glaring at Oscar then turned to Alex and Valerie, the glare morphing into a grin. “Little bitch thought his three on two would scare us.” He scoffed.

“You guys are ridiculous!” Valerie huffed, walking away from both of them.

“What did I do?” she heard Romero ask.

“Go tell Angel and Sal I’ll be back in a few,” Alex said, catching up to Valerie.

Within minutes, they were on one of the side streets off the main strip, arguing loudly.

“I have to be friendly with them, Z. They’re customers!”

“And that means exchanging phone numbers with them?”

“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t—”

“I saw you!” she said even angrier that he’d have the nerve to deny it. “They handed you their phones, and you put your number in.”

He stared at her for a moment, looking confused, then shook his head. “The website,” he said. “The restaurant’s website. I was showing them where they can look for discount coupons.”

Valerie shook her head. It was more than that. She’d played the ole text-me-or-let-me-text-myself-from-your-phone-so-I-can-have-your-number game plenty of times. She’d seen the exchanges, the all-too-cheeky grins Alex had given those girls. He was feeding her bullshit as usual.

“Okay.” He held his hand up. “Okay. One or two may’ve asked for my number, and I did put it in their phones.”

Valerie pushed him and attempted to storm away, pissed at herself for making him admit it. It was what she’d never wanted: confirmation. Now that she had it, she could feel her throat constricting already. But, of course, he didn’t let her by. “The restaurant’s phone, baby,” he said, pressing himself against her and forcing her to move backwards until her back was against the wall. “They could look it up anyway, and if my not giving them the direct number to my cell isn’t a hint, then I don’t know what is.”