***
The good news of getting the go-ahead from his uncle about summer in La Jolla was quickly paled when he found out Rose would be out of state for the first week. Her family was taking a last-minute vacation to Laughlin, so he’d been in La Jolla over a week now, and he may as well have been in La Puente. The only contact he’d had so far with her was their damn texting still. She was home now, and he was dying to see her. He still hadn’t even asked if he could use the restaurant’s car, which Sal had let him use to get to and from work, to drive out to see her.
The last few days she’d been busy packing because she was moving: nowhere far, just out of that scummy building she lived in now. Rose had asked Vince to share as little as possible with Sal about anything her sister was up to. He’d already blown it by letting Sal know they were in Laughlin, but fortunately Sal hadn’t asked much about it.
Finally, Rose said she might be able to see him tonight, only she had to convince her sister. Apparently, thanks to Sal, even though he wasn’t with her sister anymore, she was still holding on to the advice that Sal had given her before they broke up that Vince shouldn’t be trusted.
He walked into the dining room of the restaurant where Sal was chatting with his friend Romero. Vince had been around Romero before. He liked him. He wasn’t wound nearly as tight as Sal was. And from what he’d heard, he was a bit of a hothead himself so Vince could relate.
Vince hadn’t even finished tying his apron when Sal was already asking if Rose was still in Laughlin.
“Nah, they got back a few days ago, but she’s been busy packing for uh…” Shit! Vince finished tying his apron and tried to recover from the slip and changed the subject. “You think maybe it’d be okay for me to drive out tonight and see her for a couple hours after my shift?”
“You mean unpacking right?” Sal asked and Vince could feel his cousin eyeing him as he pretended to concentrate on tying his apron.
He gave a few vague answers to relieve Sal’s further curiosity with the whole packing/unpacking thing. Vince thought they’d gotten past it. He was even relieved when Romero started in on him about Rose.
“You and Grace’s sister, huh?” Romero asked tossing his napkin on his plate with a smirk then burped.
Vince was about to respond when Romero added another irritating comment. “She’s straight jailbait, man.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t believe it when Grace said she was only fifteen.”
The smirk on Romero’s face was so annoying Vince couldn’t help but give in to his obvious riling. “Jailbait?” He was trying not to glare but knew he’d failed miserably. “What the hell does that mean?”
Oh, he knew what he meant all right, but that would only be true if Rose were promiscuous and tried to pass herself as older than she was.
Obviously this amused Sal’s stupid friend because he smirked even bigger now. “Means you’re gonna have your hands full, fighting off older guys who might mistake her for an eighteen-year-old.”
To his own surprise, this really pissed him off. Rose was his friend and one of the sweetest girls he’d ever met. “No I won’t,” he said raising his voice, “’cause she’s not like that.”
Practically laughing now, Romero lifted his hands in the air. “You wanted to know what I meant. I was just explaining.”
What an asshole! Maybe Vince didn’t like this guy so much after all. Of course Vince knew what he’d meant about jailbait, but what he really wanted to know was what Romero was insinuating about Rose. Before he could recover, Sal added his own two cents.
“Romero is right. She did already get asked to that prom by an older boy.” Now even Sal smirked. “I dunno; you really think she was busy for days of unpacking? That’s kind of odd. Isn’t it? You sure maybe her prom date wasn’t keeping her busy?”
Completely ignited now by these two assholes, the words flew out before he could think it through. “She was packing, okay? I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but they’re moving.”
Seeing Sal’s smirk fall flat gave Vince some satisfaction. Who was irritating whom now?
“Moving where?”
“They’re not sure yet. That’s another thing that’s kept her busy, Sal. They’ve been busy looking for a new place, too. But all we do is text, so she can’t write it all down.” Since it was already out, he may as just tell him. Vince didn’t know a whole lot anyway then it hit him, and he grinned. “If I see her tonight, I’ll finally get to talk to her. I can get the whole scoop for you.” Vince felt kind of crummy about giving Sal any information on Grace when Rose had specifically asked him not to, but he really wanted to see her. At this point he’d say anything.
“Sure you can go see Rose, Vin.” Sal suddenly smiled.
Yes! Vince had never felt so smug in his life. The smug feeling didn’t last very long because Sal quickly turned it around on him.
He proceeded to tell him under what conditions he could use the car. First off, he reminded Vince that Rose was only fifteen and warned him that if he did anything disrespectful or got her in any kind of trouble, his ass was gone. There were no second chances.
Romero got up in the middle of Sal’s warning speech and said he was out but not before adding one more jab. “Listen to your cousin, Vin. A girl like that can be trouble.”
That did it. “A girl like what?” Vince took a step away from Sal and one toward Romero. “You don’t know shit—”
“All right, all right!” Sal put his hand on Vince’s shoulder with a chuckle.
Sal assured him that Romero was just messing with him as Romero continued to walk away laughing.
“She’s a very nice girl.” Sal continued to smirk.
Maybe they were just messing with him. He’d had his balls busted plenty of times by his friends, but already things felt different when it came to Rose.
Strangely, this only made him want to see her even more now. He’d give in to any and all of Sal’s conditions. By the end of his conversation with Sal, Vince felt like he’d made a deal with the devil himself because behaving and keeping Rose out of trouble weren’t Sal’s only conditions. Sal wanted him to get him as much information on Grace as he could.
Vince finally agreed and it was on. If Grace said yes, Vince would be seeing Rose tonight.
CHAPTER SIX
Rose
Her phone beeped and she read the text.
I’m here.
Those two little words had her insides spinning. This was the first time she’d be seeing Vincent since the shower. Rose had finally convinced Grace, who’d been seriously warned by Sal, that Vincent shouldn’t be trusted to let her hang out with him. Of course these were warnings that had come when her sister and Sal were still together, but her sister had taken them very seriously.
Since Grace was so leery about allowing it and thought Rose was still too young to have a boyfriend, Grace made her promise this was nothing more than a friendship. Up until now that was all she and Vincent called it, so she had no problem agreeing to that.
Rose understood why Grace was so apprehensive about Vincent. Some of the things he’d done or gotten in trouble for in the past were pretty bad, but Rose could feel it in her heart that he was a good guy. He’d made some mistakes: mistakes he’d learned from and that he was really trying to make up for. Her heart fluttered remembering how he’d said he was doing everything he could to stay out of trouble. His incentive was that if he did stay out of trouble, he’d get to spend the summer in La Jolla. The possibility of hanging out with her was all he needed.
She texted back that she’d be right down then kissed Grace’s forehead. She was now sound asleep in the bed they shared. Grace wasn’t feeling well lately. She said she was under the weather, but Rose knew better. Her break up with Sal had affected Grace in such a way that she’d made herself ill. Their trip to Laughlin had been, in part, to try and get her mind off him. Grace was trying to play it off that she was better, but Rose didn’t buy it. For that reason alone, she made sure not to do anything wit
h Vincent that might upset her sister. Her sister had enough on her mind; Rose didn’t need to add more.
Stopping to check herself in the mirror before walking out of her room, Rose took a very deep breath. She never imagined that seeing Vincent again would be this nerve-wracking.
“Where you going?”
Her mother sat on the sofa watching her novella as Rose made her way to the front door. The question was almost rhetorical. Rose knew her mother didn’t actually care, but she answered anyway.
“Outside, my friend is downstairs.”
Her mother lifted an eyebrow then asked. “How’s your sister doing? She feeling any better?”
“I think so,” Rose turned to face her. “She’s sleeping right now.”
As expected, her mom upped the volume on the television when the commercial was over and her novella came back on. She didn’t bother to ask Rose any more about Grace or the friend waiting for Rose, not even how long she’d be gone. Rose stood there for a moment waiting to see if she might ask anything else. When she didn’t, Rose didn’t say another word; she just walked out. She was long over the sting that her mother simply had no interest in being a mother to her. Rose had Grace. That was all she needed.
Shaking away thoughts of her mother and Grace, her belly began doing flip-flops as she walked down the stairs toward the picnic area where she’d told Vince she’d meet him.
Her heart danced in her chest as she turned the corner and saw him. He stood there by the picnic tables near the playground wearing faded jeans and a white tank top holding his keys in one hand and smiling big the instant he saw her. Rose remembered that butterfly-inducing smile, but somehow it was even more amazing now. Maybe it was because seeing him in a tank top that showed off his toned arms and shoulders instead of that out of place polo added to the overall picture. The girls at her school would die for him.
“Hey,” she said when she was close enough.
She hadn’t even realized it until that moment that like him, she hadn’t stopped smiling from the second their eyes met.
“Hey,” he responded; his dark eyes practically sparkled.
With her heart still galloping away, it nearly skidded to a stop when he held his arms up and outstretched them for her. “Do I get a hug?”
Grace’s words were immediately in her head. Rosie, you said he’s just a friend. Promise me that’s all this is going to be. Not only did Grace think Rose was too young for a boyfriend, she was worried about her little sister getting her heart broken. Rose was sure this fear stemmed from the horrendous pain Grace was still feeling from her own breakup, but she had to agree Vince had heartbreaker written all over him. Rose wasn’t about to add more worry to Grace’s plate, but she hugged him anyway. Hugs were harmless, right? She’d hugged some of her guy friends at school before. No biggie.
Feeling his strong arms wrap around her tighter than she’d expected then taking in the smell of his hair and feel of his warm skin against her face had her thinking twice. Being in his arms like this felt heavenly, and she prayed he couldn’t feel her heart punching through her chest.
He pulled his face away from her but still held her, looking in her eyes, the smile gone now. That tenderness she’d seen in his eyes at the shower made an appearance. For a moment she thought he might kiss her, so she pulled back. “You got here fast.”
She started toward the picnic table, her insides still going wild. Was he actually going to kiss her? He couldn’t. Could he? No, no, no. She promised Grace. The last thing she wanted was to upset Grace in any way right now.
“Yeah, it wasn’t as far as you and Sal made it sound.”
Rose sat on the picnic table that directly faced her and Grace’s bedroom window. She knew Grace would be worried when she woke and Rose wasn’t there. With that in mind she started to text Grace to let her know where she was.
“But I’m right here, Rose. You don’t have to text me,” Vince teased.
“I’m not texting you,” she teased right back.
“So who are you texting?” His tone had changed a little, and she glanced up at him to see his eyebrow lifted, but he still smirked. “I’m just curious.”
“My sister—she was asleep when you got here. I just don’t want her to worry when she wakes.”
She sent the text then brought her attention back to Vincent. He hadn’t changed at all since she’d last seen him, but something had. Completely. While he’d unnerved her at the shower a few times with his flirtatious smirks and comments, she now felt more than unnerved. The excitement of being here with him was unreal. She really hadn’t thought she’d see him again and certainly not this soon. Sure, he was related to her sister’s boyfriend, and she figured at the time she’d run into him eventually, but with his being so far, she didn’t think it’d be often.
Her heart had done a few somersaults the day of the shower, but that was nothing like the way her heart felt now seeing the way he gazed at her. The fact that he’d come to see her and that he’d been good because he wanted to spend the summer here—near her—had her head spiraling now in delight.
She hadn’t actually expected to hear from him even after they’d exchanged numbers. The texting had turned into a daily thing—day and night. They’d even emailed on subjects a little too long for texts: subjects like the one she still had questions about.
“I’m still surprised Sal let you take his car to come see me. Grace told me about how adamant Sal was that you shouldn’t be trusted.”
She knew it was a sore subject for him. When he’d sent her the email explaining about his past indiscretions, as he referred to them, there was no hiding the tone of it. He resented having to tell her. But he had to because he preferred she’d hear it from him and not his cousins. Only the things he’d told her didn’t seem like quite enough to make Sal so distrustful. Yes, getting caught tagging was bad, but he explained it, and while she agreed he’d made a bad choice being there in the first place, he’d had the good sense not participate. He told her about a few fights he’d been in recently, and how his brother had been caught shop lifting, and that his mom blamed him. Not that Vincent had ever shoplifted but some of the guys he hung out with had, and Vincent had brought them around Lorenzo.
“It’s not his car. You kidding me? He’d never let me drive that thing. It’s the restaurant’s car, but I did have to make a few promises and was duly warned again about behaving myself.”
He hid the resentment pretty well behind that sexy smirk, but she could still see it. There was no hiding the anger deep in his eyes. There had to be more to this. “Can I ask you something pretty personal?”
He nodded, but his smirk slowly fell.
“I know you told me about the things you’d gotten in trouble for: the tagging, the fights, all that.” She shrugged. “As bad as those things are, I can’t help but think those are pretty typical for a teenager. Okay, maybe not the getting arrested part, but fighting and talking back to your parents and all don’t seem enough to make Sal give such serious warnings about you.” She tilted her head hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. “Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?”
His jaw locked, and she knew she’d touched a nerve. There was more. Rose sat up straight. As much as she liked Vincent and somehow she just felt like she could trust him, she needed to be sure. She owed it to herself and to Grace to make sure she wasn’t getting involved even just as friends with someone who might be dangerous.
Rose turned to look up at him, but he glanced away. “There is more, but I don’t want you to know about every stupid thing I’ve ever done. It’s in the past. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m straight now.”
Rose peered at him. His last comment made her think of the reality show on TV about thugs who go to a tough-love boot camp to be literally scared into going on the straight path. Some had done some horrible things. Surely Vincent couldn’t be that bad. Almost afraid to ask she did anyway. “What do you mean by straight?”
He jerked his head
to meet her eyes wide open. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I’ve always been, you know, straight in that sense. I just meant—”
Rose laughed at his misunderstanding. “I know that’s not what you meant, but there’s this show on cable called Scared Straight. Kids get sent to boot camp to get straightened out.”
“Yeah,” Vincent frowned, “I’ve seen it.”
“Some of those kids are pretty messed up.” Rose cringed, remembering the episode where one kid had tried to burn his own parents’ house down while they slept in it and the other kid who was caught bringing a knife to school he planned on using against one of his teachers. He said he wasn’t really going to do it, but he’d been in so much trouble already, they sent him on the show anyway.
“I can’t say I was much better.”
Vincent glanced away again as Rose’s heart plummeted. “I wanna know.”
“Why?” He turned back to her now the sparkle in his eyes replaced by something much colder. “I’m not like that anymore.”
The mood had changed completely. She hated that she’d looked forward to this for so long, and now that may’ve all been for nothing because she couldn’t get involved with someone that messed up. His looks alone screamed bad boy. He had a tattoo at only sixteen; he carried himself with such confidence that the girls at her school would be all over him, and the boys wouldn’t dare mess with him. He cussed a little too much. He’d even admitted to smoking weed once upon a time, but he’d been smart enough to stop. All that, but he couldn’t possibly be a bad boy who’d plan to knife a teacher or blow up his parents’ house. Yet, here he was comparing himself to them.