After chatting with Angel for a few more minutes about it then cleaning up the kitchen together, Sarah and Angel jumped in the shower together and got ready for work. They were both scheduled for the noon shift at the restaurant.
Their shower was everything she’d expected—intoxicatingly arousing. She could hardly stand it as he’d kissed her deeply, his fingers alone doing things to her that nearly had her exploding. Then he lifted her against the shower wall with conviction, and she wrapped her legs around his waist eagerly. He slowed it down at first, and he stared into her eyes with that intense and lustful gaze he always wore when they were together like this. He took it so slowly at first it was driving her insane.
“Leo’s right,” he said, kissing her and sucking her lips as he lifted her a little higher. “My girl. . .” He thrust into her so deeply she moaned loudly, dropping her head back. Angel took the open invitation to suck her neck hard as he continued to thrust into her faster and even harder. “My girl is beautiful.” Nipping at her neck with his teeth, he thrust into her one last time as Sarah cried out in ecstasy. “So damn beautiful.”
~~~
Even though they’d been up early, their time in the shower had run a bit longer than they’d anticipated, and they were nearly late to work. Both were still in the back room of the restaurant, putting on their aprons, when Alex rushed in and stopped cold when he saw Sarah.
Sarah smiled, hoping the strange expression he wore wasn’t because he was mad about them being a little late. “I’ll be right out,” she said, hurrying to finish tying her apron.
“I thought you were off today,” he said, walking over to the schedule on the wall.
“No.” Sarah slowed, wondering if somehow she’d mixed up her scheduled days.
Angel peeked over Alex’s shoulder. “That’s tomorrow’s schedule, ass.” He laughed, looking back at Sarah and shaking his head. “Ready?”
Alex muttered something Sarah couldn’t make out, but she followed Angel out to the front of the restaurant without saying anything. Angel headed toward the bar while Sarah went straight to the front to let the hostess, Melanie, know her section was now open for seating. Two girls were the only ones waiting at the front, and Sarah grabbed two menus and dinner settings. “I can take them back,” she said to the hostess. “Is it just the two of them?”
“No, they’re not waiting for a table,” Melanie said then smirked, looking away from the girls. “They’re waiting for Alex.”
Sarah’s eyes shot open and began putting the menus back as she turned to the girls casually. Both were average height, dark haired, and dressed casually in shorts and tanks, but now that Sarah got a better longer look, she saw that both were very curvaceous and their short shorts left little to the imagination. Not to mention they both were top heavy and the tanks each chose to wear showed their assets off well. They even looked alike, and Sarah wondered if they were sisters. As casual as they seemed just moments ago, she knew if Valerie had anything to say about them she’d probably say they looked like sluts.
Alex walked out and met them, and if Sarah didn’t know any better, she’d think he was avoiding eye contact with her. “Enrique just texted me, Mel,” he said, looking exclusively at Melanie. “He’s around the corner. He was just running late, but he’ll be here to cover for me all day.”
Finally, he glanced at Sarah, who tried not to, but raised a brow in question. She knew as well as anyone that neither he nor Valerie had made any promises. But judging by the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing Sarah already knew. Valerie would be furious about this. He took the day off to hang out with not one but two girls after he’d all but ignored her for over a week?
To her surprise, Alex took a step closer to her and lowered his voice. “It’s not . . .” He looked away, a bit frustrated, and she now knew what the muttering was about in the back room. He hadn’t anticipated having to explain this to anyone. “It’s not what it looks like, okay?”
She stared at him then glanced back at the girls. Shrugging, she glanced back at him. “That you took the day off to spend it with them?”
“Yeah, but—”
They both turned when Angel walked out from the dining room into the small entrance. “We busy?” he asked, glancing at the waiting girls.
Just then a group of people walked in and another behind them. Sarah began reaching for the menus again. “Lunch crowd is gonna start,” she said.
Frowning, Alex turned away without finishing his explanation about the girls then walked out with them. “Isn’t he scheduled to be here today?” Angel asked Melanie.
“He switched with Enrique,” Sarah said with a lift of a brow. “I guess he had other things to tend to.” She turned to Melanie. “How many?”
“Six,” Melanie informed her, motioning to the group of patrons.
Sarah turned to them with a smile after grabbing the six menus and dinnerware. “Right this way,” she said, her eyes meeting with Angel’s somewhat annoyed expression.
There was no way Sarah would ever hold Alex’s actions against Angel. Her wonderful boyfriend had more than proven himself to be nothing like his brother when it came to commitment. Still, even though he’d never said it outright, Angel had a bit of a chip on his shoulder that maybe Sarah secretly thought he had it in him to be like Alex. She was certain he was thinking that her seeing things like this—Alex leaving with not one but two girls—didn’t help.
Sarah and Angel’s relationship, while seemingly perfect thus far, had by no means been a walk in the park. They’d had their share of drama, including the older girls in college who’d been waiting for Alex’s little brother to arrive on campus. Sarah had thought Dana pushy, but the girl didn’t hold a candle to the older girls who’d literally attempted to seduce the younger less-experienced Moreno brother more than once. This, knowing full well he was in a committed relationship. It didn’t help that some of these bitches were also cheerleaders like Dana. Only unlike Dana it wasn’t just one game a year they got to be around him. They were there at every game—home and away. At their away games, Angel hung out with Alex and the rest of the team afterwards. Sarah tried her damnedest to have faith that Angel would never fall into the temptation of some of these whores. From what Valerie had told her, it wasn’t just the frat parties that got crazy. The football after parties got pretty raunchy too with drunk girls flashing their tits, putting on a show for the guys by making out with each other, and then ultimately offering themselves up to them, sometimes in a form of a threesome.
“I know you trust Angel,” Valerie had said more than once. “But I think even a saint would be tempted by some of the things these skanks offer up so easily. Seriously, how many guys can pass up a girl rubbing her tits up in his face and offering to suck him like a porn star?”
Valerie had also said it was a good thing that Angel was in agreement that neither he nor Sarah would frequent these parties solo. The exception seemed to be away games. The whole team would hang out somewhere after the game that would inevitably turn into what Angel and Alex referred to as a “hang out” not a party. But it had all the makings of a party from the photos Valerie had showed her that got posted all over the Internet: booze, music, and an endless array of drunken girls flashing their goods. Angel’s defense was always “It didn’t start off that way. We were just hanging out and more and more people started showing up.” Then he’d follow up his statement with “I left as soon as things started getting crazy.”
A few hours into Sarah’s shift, while she took a quick break in the back, drinking her vegetable fruit juice straight from the plastic bottle, Angel walked in hugging her from behind. He confirmed what she knew he might be annoyed or even worried about. “Just so you know,” he said, nuzzling the side of her face. “Regardless of the agreement Alex and Val have, I’d never approve of him messing with her head. It’s one thing if he did these things openly and didn’t care who knew. Obviously, he didn’t think you’d be here today, or I’m certain he wouldn??
?t have brought those girls in.”
“He started to tell me it wasn’t what it looked like,” Sarah said, turning around to face him, and tilted her head. “Why do you think he does this if he does care about it getting back to Valerie?”
Angel frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I could ask him if you want.”
“No,” Sarah shook her head quickly. “It’s none of my business. But he has to know she will hear about this.”
Angel nodded as she took the last swig left of her juice and dropped the bottle in the waste basket. He tugged at her hand before pulling her to him then leaning her against the desk.
“For the record, he has let it slip in the past that he really does care about her. He just has a lot going on right now.”
Refraining from rolling her eyes, Sarah let Angel kiss her before pushing him away gently. His dad was there today and already he’d walked in on them messing around too many times. “Yeah, I can see he has his hands full.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Angel smirked.
Sarah got loose from him and walked over to put her purse away in the cabinet. Angel got caught up, checking something on the computer, and she took the moment to check her phone quickly for any missed calls or messages. She had another email from Leonardo, so she clicked on it curiously and read it.
Sarah,
I figured I bragged enough about this over the summer to everyone else. Might as well brag to my sis. I caught this whopper at Havasu last month. I didn’t even go there to fish. I was there to just party and kick it with friends, but someone handed me a pole, and I threw it in the water. It was my first time ever fishing and my first fish ever caught. I’d like to think this year is a first for a lot of things for me like talking to my sister and then meeting her for the first time. =)
Your bro,
Leo
Sarah smiled, clicking on the attachment he sent. It opened up to a photo of him shirtless again in swim trunks, proudly holding up a fish. He wore dark shades and a ball cap, but she couldn’t help miss the hard muscle on his bare chest all the way down to his v-cut muscles because his trunks hung so alarmingly low. Thanks to Valerie, she knew what those near obscene muscles were called. Angel had then later further clarified what they were actually called, when Sarah traced her fingers down his, telling him what an incredible turn on they were—lower oblique’s. Though Valerie liked to refer to Alex’s perfect ones as sex lines—lines she said she loved kissing all the way down to his . . .
Flinching when Angel opened the cabinet next to hers, suddenly Sarah turned to him just as he smiled inquiringly. “I scared you?” he asked then looked down on her phone that she curved the screen slightly out of his sight.
“No,” she said. “I was just distracted, reading another email Leonardo sent.”
Angel’s brows came together slightly. “Another one?”
“Yeah,” she said casually, making the screen black on her phone. “He just wanted to show me a photo of a fish he caught over the summer. Said it was his first ever.”
Angel raised his brows curiously now. “Oh yeah? Let’s see.”
As much as she was already trying to convince herself it was silly to be thinking the photo was somewhat inappropriate, she knew Angel would no doubt find it questionable too. Was he really showing off the fish or something else? This was her brother!
Earlier, before his performance in the shower, she’d actually thought Angel might let go that her brother had referred to her as beautiful more than once. She’d been too turned on at the moment to put much thought into his well-timed thrusts, but now that she gave it more thought, it could be a sign that like with Sydney he was already having his doubts about Leonardo.
I trust no one.
Sarah gulped, clicking on her phone and handing it to him nonchalantly, not even wanting to look at him as she adjusted her purse in the cabinet. He was silent for a moment as he took in the photo, until she finally turned to look at him.
“Cool, huh?” she asked, feeling lame but wanting desperately to play it off as if she’d noticed nothing unusual about the photo Leonardo had chosen to send her.
Angel eyes went from the screen up to hers then back down again. “Yeah, cool.”
It was all he had to say, but she didn’t miss the tightening of his already locked jaw. She took the phone as soon as he handed it back without another word about it. It was just an innocent photo from her brother—a photo that would likely have Valerie drooling and asking her to forward it to her, especially after she heard about Thing One and Thing Two whom Alex had taken the day off to hang out with.
Angel handed the phone back to her, and Sarah was a little surprised he didn’t say more. “Time to get back to work,” he said with a stiff smile and leaned in to peck her.
First chance she got she’d forward the photo to Sydney to ask his opinion. What she loved about Sydney most was how objective he could be, but often times, even when she thought Angel was overreacting, Sydney played devil’s advocate taking Angel’s side—helping her see he wasn’t just being a hard ass. Somehow she got the feeling this would be one of those times.
Chapter 9
Angel
With just a week before his first game and the fall semester starting the Monday after that, Angel was relieved Sarah had been right about Syd not making it out to see her again. She’d mentioned he got a job and made sure to emphasize that his new roommate was a girl Syd said was “pretty cool.” Angel got that Sarah was hoping that would soothe his doubts about her longtime friend feeling for her more than just that—friendship.
It didn’t.
But he was done with the negative attitude. Thankfully, Sarah had toned down the talk of Syd, and it was back to the minimum, only mentioning once or twice a week that he’d checked in with a text or quick phone call. Between Sydney and Leo, Angel had to be careful about being the suspicious boyfriend who questioned everything about his girlfriend’s friend and her newfound brother. But fuck if he didn’t have enough to worry about with Syd, now Leo with his compliments and the near-naked photo he sent her made it hard not to feel suspicious.
So far, from what little Angel had shared, Alex hadn’t questioned the validity of Sarah’s dad and brother. But there was no way Angel was telling him about that photo. Alex would no doubt make his opinion crystal clear. Angel doubted Leo would show off his catch by sending that photo with his shorts hanging that low to any dude, or they’d for sure think his ass gay. Unless he’d specifically planned on sending it to a chick, it would be the only reason he’d even take a picture like that. He was certain Alex would agree, so he kept it to himself. The last thing Angel needed was for Alex to refuel his suspicions.
Maybe it was the best or only photo he had of himself with the stupid fish, and he hadn’t thought it through before sending it to his sister. Maybe the guy was just an idiot. Who knew? But he was done listening to Alex and Romero. Neither of them had ever come close to having what he and Sarah did. Where the hell did they get off giving him that kind of unsolicited advice? From now on Angel would be cool and keep his thoughts to himself about it all. He’d concentrate on being the supportive boyfriend Sarah needed instead.
Grabbing a couple more slices of pizza from the kitchen’s island countertop, Angel headed back into Romero’s front room where his uncles were setting up for the charades tournament they’d all soon be playing. It was his uncle Max’s birthday, and this was how he chose to spend it. The man was part owner of a titty bar, he was single and in his thirties, and this is what he was doing on the Saturday night of his birthday? What was worse was that, with Sarah’s mom gone all weekend, there were things Angel would much rather have been doing at her place right then. Instead Sarah was adamant that they had to be there. Since Romero had never missed out on any of the parties or gatherings they ever had, it was only right to at least show up for a little bit. At least Angel had gotten Sarah to agree they’d only hang out a few hours. He smiled as he sat down next to Sarah.
>
“All right, let’s get this shit going ’cause I got some places to be later,” Romero said, standing up. “Teams?” He glanced at Angel and Sarah. “No-brainer. You two are one.”
There were a few guys there from Manny and Max’s bar, and Romero teamed them all up. “Sof and Eric got five minutes to get here or they miss round one,” Romero said to Angel then turned to Alex. “Alex, me and you?”
Alex’s face soured. “Max, you sure you don’t wanna team up against Manny and Moe?” Alex asked.
“No way,” Max said, stretching and cracking his knuckles as if this game required any physical endurance whatsoever. “Me and Manny are the dream team when it comes to charades.”
Alex turned back to Romero, his face as sour as ever, but then smirked and rolled his eyes. “I guess I’m stuck with you.”
“Are you kidding me?” Romero said with a scoff. “I’m the king of charades. Stick with me, and we’ll be the new dream team of charades.”
“Yeah.” Alex laughed. “I’m sure that’ll make the girls go wild.”
Angel laughed, surprised Alex was even there. He would’ve thought with the two chicks Alex had left the restaurant with today he’d still be busy or at least have better things to do on a Saturday night than be here playing charades with Romero’s uncles.
The front door opened, and everyone turned to see Eric and Sof walk in. Behind them was Valerie and right behind her a dude. No way would she be stupid enough to bring another guy here, especially not if Romero’s reaction at the pizza place was any indication of what might happen if she did. She knew full well there was a good chance Alex would be here tonight. If anything she had to know Romero would not take too kindly to any guy she showed up with. Angel turned to Alex, who was already on his feet, the laughing expression completely wiped from his face. Angel handed Sarah the plate with the pizza he’d been holding and stood up cautiously.