Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, feeling a myriad of emotions. Guilt being the strongest of all. She forced a smile, and nodded. “Of course.”
He kissed her and took his hand off hers so she’d open the box. She did and pulled out a silver charm bracelet. “It’s beautiful.” She examined the different charms. “Did you pick these out?”
He nodded “Every one of them.”
She went through each one. First was a small starfish, then several different sea shells, a sailboat. The running shoe and then the bottle of wine made her smile.
“The lady looked at me kind of funny when I asked if she had a charm that was a jug of wine.” he said.
Sarah laughed. “You must not have been at a very classy place then.”
“Yeah, that must’ve been it.”
The heart charm was engraved Sarah. “Turn it around,” he said.
“Forever yours, Angel” it read. She put her hand over her mouth as the warm tears rolled down her cheeks. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment, then he kissed her. She inhaled deeply, and then brought her attention back to the bracelet. There was one more that looked like a chicken or a duck. She turned to him confused.
“Quack!”
She burst into laughter “Oh, Angel, it’s perfect.” She threw her arms around his neck.
He kissed her and pulled back a little to look at her face, wiping her tears with thumbs and smiled. “Let me see.”
He took the bracelet from her and placed it around her small wrist, fastening it. She held her hand up in the air. “I love it.”
“I love you.” He gazed into her eyes.
I love you, too. The words almost jumped out her mouth but she held them back and smiled. It was torture, but she just couldn’t do it.
He took the cup out of her other hand and placed it on the floor, then pulled her to him. His eyes were on her lips and he lowered his head and kissed her, immediately going after her tongue. She offered it eagerly; wanting him to feel how much she loved him, to make up for not being able to say it. He kept kissing her while he moved further back on the pillow, and then laid down partially over her.
His breathing became stronger and he sucked her tongue a little harder. His mouth moved down, kissing her cheek, then her chin and pushed her head up gently. “I love you so much,” he whispered as he licked and suckled her neck softly, making her body tingle. She caressed his strong biceps as he unbuttoned her blouse.
When he was done undressing her he undressed himself and put on protection. Then he crawled in next to her.
“Sarah,” he whispered. “The first couple of times are gonna be fast. I just can’t control myself with you.”
Sarah gulped. First couple of times?
“I’ll make it up to you though, I promise.”
Sarah gave herself to him willingly. Even through all her nerves, she hoped he could feel how much she loved him. He had to know that. He meant the world to her and there was never a doubt that she wanted her first experience to be here, with him.
CHAPTER 17
Overwhelmed with such staggering emotions, Angel lay there, still in her. He kissed her temple, and then her forehead. He’d felt so many unfamiliar emotions since he’d met Sarah, yet none compared to what he was feeling now.
All those times he’d laughed and thought of guys with girlfriends as fools. How any guy could be satisfied with just one girl had been unimaginable to him. Now here he was looking at Sarah, knowing without a doubt he’d never be satisfied with anyone else but her.
From that very first day when he’d looked into her haunting eyes she’d captured something in him. He’d stupidly thought getting to know her would be enough. He’d been taken in by her wounded eyes, her infectious laugh, her stubborn determination, and without warning he’d been brought to his knees.
He kissed her temple breathlessly. “You’re mine, Sarah.”
She nodded tracing her fingers down his back.
There was no way he could let her out of his life now. The thought smothered him, gripping his every sense. He kissed her softly and tenderly as he rolled over and off her. He sat on the side of the bed for a moment feeling dazed. He stood up and walked toward the door, still naked.
“Where are you going?”
He turned and smiled. “To clean up, I’ll be right back.”
He walked out the room and across the hall to the restroom. When he got back Sarah was sitting up on the bed holding her pants in her hands. He slid back in bed with her. “You won’t need those any time soon.”
He took the pants, bunched them up, and threw them on the sofa across the room. He handed her a towel. “Are you hurting?”
The silly look of concentration on her face made him smile. She shook her head.
“No, but I might be too sore to try again right away.”
Angel got back out of bed and lifted the bedspread up from the top. Sarah moved and crawled under it. He slipped in next to her under the bedspread, and pulled her next to him slipping his arms around her warm naked body. “God, I’m gonna miss being with you everyday.”
She tensed up.
“What’s wrong?”
Sarah shook her head. “Nothing, I just don’t like to think about it.”
Angel didn’t say anything, but couldn’t help wondering why she so determined to go back if she didn’t even want to think about it. Then he remembered Sydney. He kissed her nose. “Maybe once Sydney leaves for school you can consider moving back here.”
The look on her face puzzled him. He’d seen that look before, and it’d made him uncomfortable, but he didn’t know what it meant.
“What’s the matter?”
She looked at him for a second, the disconcerting expression still on her face.
“Sydney,” she said. “Well, it’s not all… how you think.” She hesitated.
His eyes narrowed, not understanding. Then he saw her expression change slightly. “I’m just saying it’s not all Sydney, Angel. I don’t know for sure what’s gonna happen with my mom. She may be out by then.”
The last thing Angel wanted was to talk about her mom. As selfish as it felt he didn’t want anything to ruin the night. Not this night. He kissed her softly. “Let’s not worry about that now, okay?”
He ran his hands all over her naked body, and closed his eyes inhaling deeply. Having her this close with absolutely nothing in between them drove him nuts. He was ready again.
He kissed her harder this time, wanting to swallow her. As much as he wanted to make love to her again and again he knew she was sore, and he wasn’t about hurt her. That’s not how he wanted her to remember their first time.
But he made good on his promise to make it up to her. After catching his breath, he worked his way all the way down her. Feeling her tremble as he kissed the inside of her thigh made him smile. Oh, she wouldn’t be forgetting this night. He’d make sure of that.
***
Valerie drove Sarah to the mall. They were all going out for Angel’s birthday later that evening. Sarah was picking up her gift to him and Valerie wanted to buy a new outfit. Alex was going to be there so of course she was hoping to make him drool.
Sarah was nervous about her gift. The bracelet Angel gave her was so special she wanted her gift to be just as special. Angel wasn’t one for flashy jewelry but she felt this called for some kind of jewel. She’d picked out a simple silver chain and had it engraved. Forever Yours, Sarah.
Sarah was his, in every way now. She wanted something that would remind him of that every day, especially when she went back to Arizona. It had been over two weeks since she’d given herself to him for the first time. Ever since then they’d done it every chance they got. It got more enjoyable every time. Just thinking about it made her warm.
Both she and Valerie examined the chain when the clerk handed it to Sarah over the counter.
“Hey, that’s real nice.” Valerie said.
Sarah crinkled her nose. “You think so?
It’s not too cheesy?”
“No, not at all.” Valerie traced the engraving. “Oh, he’ll love that.”
Valerie walked out to answer her phone and Sarah finished paying for the chain. By the time she was out of the shop, she caught the tail end of Valerie’s conversation and knew she was talking to Alex. She turned to face Sarah.
“What’s that smile about?” Sarah teased.
They walked slowly through the mall.
Valerie shrugged. “He’s funny, but I don’t know. I hate getting my hopes up.”
“What did he want?”
“To know if I’m going tonight.”
Sarah was surprised. She knew Alex was still calling Valerie but she didn’t expect him to still be trying to see her. “Is he?”
“Yeah, he said he was hoping he’d see me there. He wants to talk to me.”
“Well, that’s good. Right? “Sarah frowned, thinking of how she’d egged Valerie on before and how it came back to bite her. She was doing it again.
“Not really. I told him I’ve been talking to Reggie again. I didn’t lie. He really has been calling and texting me lately. He asked if I was going back to him and I told him I wasn’t sure. That was a lie.” Valerie’s face soured. “I don’t want a boyfriend. Especially not feeling the way I do about Alex. I think he’s just being a Moreno. The whole Reggie thing struck a nerve, I’m sure.”
“You still have feelings for him?” Sarah couldn’t figure Valerie out. She thought she got over guys so easily. But Alex had made her cry pretty bad.
Valerie’s expression said it all and Sarah felt for her. “I was doing fine until he started calling again. If I see him tonight I know it’s gonna be even worse.”
Sarah stopped herself before saying something too hopeful. She wasn’t going there again. “Well, no sense in worrying about it now. Just play it by ear.”
They finished up their shopping and were headed home in the car. Valerie stopped talking about Alex and Sarah didn’t want to bring it up again. She was flipping through a Cosmo when she got a text from Sofia that almost stopped her heart.
OMG Romero walked in on me and Eric! Can you talk?
Sarah bolted upright and hit the send button. Sofia answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
“I went over to pick up a DVD I wanted to borrow.” She giggled “Hold on.”
Sarah waited stunned. For the life of her, Sarah could not figure out how Sofia could find anything about this whole situation humorous. From the first time Sofia had mentioned Eric kissing her, she could hardly contain herself. Ever since, much to Sarah’s horror, she’d filled her in on every stolen moment her and Eric had. Each one got heavier than the last. Her heart was racing, and Sofia was giggling!
She heard a door close then Sofia’s voice again. “Okay, I came outside, Angel just got home. Anyway, Eric was home alone but had just gotten out of the shower. He only had a towel on and we started making out.” She lowered her voice “Sarah, his towel came off and I saw everything!”
Sarah was going to need smelling salts soon. She fanned herself with the magazine.
Valerie glanced at her, “You want the air on?”
Sarah shook her head, “Then what?”
“I turned away. He felt really bad, kept apologizing and asking if I was okay. I was. It just really took me by surprise. But it was exciting.” She giggled again, unnerving Sarah to no end. “Then we heard a knock on the door. Romero didn’t even wait. He came right in. I grabbed a DVD off the shelf and ran out of there.”
Exciting?
Sarah fanned harder. Valerie looked at her weird and turned the air on. Sarah welcomed the cool air. She was beginning to perspire.
“Did Romero say anything to you?”
“No, he just stood there speechless. You think he’ll say anything?”
“I don’t know.”
She honestly didn’t. This was out of control. She wished she could tell Sofia to please not tell her anything more. She didn’t want to know. It was bad enough she was already keeping something big from Angel. She wasn’t sure which was worse. The thought made her shudder. But she knew Sofia was all alone with this.
Sarah wasn’t sure if she should feel sorry for her or admire her. Sofia’s world was full of overbearing cavemen. But it didn’t seem to slow her down.
“That’s Eric on the other line!” Sofia squealed. “I’ll call you back!”
There was a click and the call ended. Sarah put the phone down still completely stunned.
“What was that about?” Valerie asked.
“Trust me. You don’t wanna know.”
She was home by the time Sofia called her back. Eric had been honest but told Romero as little as possible and Romero promised he wouldn’t say anything, but he thought Eric was incredibly stupid.
Sarah was relieved to hear it and glad she wasn’t the only one now that knew. But she still worried that Romero might get drunk and spill it somehow. Tonight would be interesting. Everyone would be there.
CHAPTER 18
As usual Angel’s heart raced at the sight of Sarah. He kissed her as soon as she got in the car. It was supposed to be a friendly hello kiss, but unable to restrain himself, he kissed her passionately until someone in the back seat cleared their throat. Sarah pulled away immediately and turned around. Romero, Eric, and Sofia were crammed in the backseat.
“I didn’t see you guys.” Her scandalized expression when she saw them surprised him. This wasn’t the first time he was ravenous for her in front of them.
“My bad.” Angel smirked, pulling out of the driveway. “I forgot anyone was back there.”
“I was just talking to you before she got in the car, ass.” Romero protested.
Angel chuckled lacing his fingers into Sarah’s and placing their hands together on his lap. Sarah stared straight ahead, a bit too rigid. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. He hoped she wasn’t mad.
The ride to the bowling alley was a pretty quiet one, except for Romero protesting about the music. Angel hit the off button to shut Romero up and glanced in the rearview mirror for his reaction. What he saw was Sofia resting her head on Eric’s shoulder.
“You tired Sofi?”
She sat up immediately. “No.”
Angel glanced at the clock on the dash. It was only eight. “She falling asleep on you, Eric?”
Sarah shifted in her seat, brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it. He immediately forgot about Sofia and smiled instead. He was glad she wasn’t mad. He had to remember just because he could care less what anyone thought about the crazed way she made him feel, Sarah was a bit more modest.
When they got to the bowling alley Angel took Sarah aside. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “You mad?”
Her confused expression relieved him, “About what?”
“Nothing.” He kissed her, feeling kind of dumb. “Never mind.”
He should’ve known something like that wouldn’t have made her mad. Whatever it was she was over it now. She looked at him weird but didn’t ask anything else.
There were a lot more people there than Angel expected. He knew Fridays were busy, they turned the lights down and played music, but this crowd was huge. Most of the guys from the team showed up, and, apparently, Sarah and Sofia had invited the track team because there were a lot of them there as well.
Sarah and Sofia walked away to mingle with their friends from the track team. Angel didn’t mind. He was still holding out hope her friends on the team would talk her into joining, and she’d decide to stay. There were only a few more weeks before she was leaving and it killed him. But he wouldn’t dwell on that and ruin the night.
Romero handed him a soda and put his arm around his shoulder. “Happy birthday, big guy.”
Angel sipped the straw cautiously. He knew better. Sure enough it tasted like gasoline laced with some soda. Angel coughed. “What the fuck?”
Romero laughed and s
o did the other guys standing around him. “It’s your birthday man. Don’t be a pussy!”
Someone always snuck in something to pour in the soda. And he knew the guys were going to try to get him wasted because it was his birthday. But he had other plans for later that night. There was no way he was missing out on that.
These things were always the same. Everyone was underage, so the only chance anyone had of getting a buzz was to sneak stuff in. He was sure half the people there were packing. Angel didn’t even like hard liquor. The only thing he’d ever go for was beer and even then it was one or two at most. But he didn’t want to disappoint the guys so he pretended to keep drinking. He knew they were all drinking the same crap and before long no one would notice when he dumped it out.
They’d been there almost two hours and Angel couldn’t believe people were still arriving. The place was almost too crowded. Angel could tell Sarah was trying to give him his space with the guys. She’d come over and hang with him for a little bit then walk back to mingle with her girlfriends.
He didn’t have a problem with her staying by his side the whole night, but he knew Sarah. She wasn’t having it. Giving him his space for some inane reason had always been important to her.
Alex showed up late but Angel appreciated it. He knew this kind of party didn’t even compare to the parties he was attending now that he was in college. But, yet, here he was looking happier than ever to see him.
“Happy birthday, little man.” Alex shook his hand then pulled him in for a bear hug.
Angel groaned when Alex purposely squeezed him hard. Only Alex could make him feel small.
He cut him loose and looked around. “Damn, this place is packed.” Alex looked pleased.
There was too much alcohol floating around. That was never good. He’d already noticed some of the employee’s stern expressions. There was only one security guard. An older guy in his fifties, and he’d had a hard enough time breaking up a verbal altercation earlier, between two girls. Of course, it didn’t help that there were a bunch of idiots around yelling Fight! Fight! Fight!
Angel kept his eye on Sarah most of the night, but when Alex got there he lost her in the crowd.
Romero walked by and Angel tugged his shirt. “You seen the girls?”