[Moreno Brothers 01.0] Forever Mine

by Elizabeth Reyes

  Angel felt his face warm. “Oh?”

  “I’m working,” she said. “Babysitting for the neighbors down the street.”

  He exhaled slowly. “So when can I pick you up?”

  “I can be ready in about an hour.”

  He’d never felt so damn eager to see anyone in his life. “All right then, I’ll call you in an hour, and you can tell me how to get there.”

  Once off the phone, he walked back in the kitchen where Sofia and Eric were laughing. Angel was surprised he was still there. He remembered Eric saying he had to be up early. He walked over and grabbed a piece of bacon from the pan on the stove.

  “Didn’t you have to be somewhere this morning?” He leaned against the counter across from Eric.

  Eric smiled. “You trying to get rid of me?”

  “Nah, but I remember you tellin’ Romero you couldn’t stick around and hang out with those chicks ’cause you had to get up early.”

  Eric cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Yeah, well, why do you think I’m here so early? I handled my business already and then came over to get my car.”

  “I need to change. I told Mom I’d be at the restaurant early.” Sofia finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher and started out of the kitchen.

  Angel winced. “How early, Sof? I gotta be somewhere soon.”

  “I can drop her off,” Eric said.

  Angel looked back at him. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, I gotta go by there anyway. I’m gonna go work out at the gym. Maybe I’ll pick up a burrito while I’m there.”

  “I won’t be long!” Sofia yelled, running up the stairs.

  Angel glanced at Eric’s plate. “Dude, you just ate.”

  “Yeah, that’s why I gotta work out.” Eric patted his stomach.

  Angel shook his head. He turned around and grabbed a plate out of the cabinet, emptying the rest of the eggs and bacon onto it.

  “So, what happened last night? Did you score?” Eric cocked an eyebrow.

  Angel had a mouthful of food and didn’t respond immediately. After a couple more chews, he shook his head. He didn’t usually kiss and tell, even with girls he didn’t care about, and he knew Eric wasn’t the type to go telling anyone. But he felt especially protective this time.

  “What?” Eric chuckled. “You’re kidding me? She shot you down?”

  “No, she didn’t shoot me down.” Angel scoffed. “We just talked that’s all.”

  Eric laughed some more. “Losing your touch, huh? I thought for sure I’d be hosing down the backseat of my car today the way you were looking at her.”

  “How was I looking at her?” Angel frowned.

  “Like you wanted to swallow her up, that’s how.”

  Angel feigned bewilderment, but he knew just what Eric meant because that’s exactly how he had felt.

  Eric kept on. “Come on, dude. I can’t believe all you did was talk.”

  Angel rolled his eyes, “Nah, man, it wasn’t like what you’re thinking. That’s not what I was going for with her.

  “What?” Eric shook his head. “Angel Moreno is into talking to chicks now? When did you turn into a total wuss?"

  Angel shrugged and took another bite of his food. He avoided looking at Eric, suddenly not sure he wanted to talk about it. “I don’t know, dude. She’s just cool to hang with, I guess.”

  Eric nodded as if he got it. “So you’re not into her? I thought she was pretty hot.”

  “I’m into her, you ass. Just ’cause I didn’t bone her the first night . . . Not all girls are like that, you know.”

  Eric grinned. “So you did get shot down.”

  Angel glared at him, sipping his juice.

  “Well, you’re not making any sense. Either you did or you didn’t. What’s the big deal?”

  “It’s not a big deal.” Angel wasn't sure why, but he was getting frustrated. “I kissed her goodnight if you have to know. But we talked the rest of the time.”

  “So did you find out what was up with her and Jesse?”

  Angel wished he’d slammed Jesse’s head a little harder the other day. “She went out with him way back, and you know what a pussy Jesse is. He can’t let it go.”

  “She actually went out with that idiot?” Eric spoke with a mouthful.

  “Yeah, tell me about it. That’s what I thought.” Angel polished off the last of his breakfast and threw the plate in the sink. He glanced at the clock. “I gotta go finish getting ready.”

  “Where you going?”

  “Got a date.” Angel grinned, but avoided looking directly at Eric.

  Eric seemed confused at first, but then his eyes and mouth shot wide open as he put his hand over his mouth. “No!”

  Before he could say anything else, Angel shot him a look. “Not a word,” he warned. “Don’t tell Romero anything either. I don’t need to hear his crap on Monday.”

  Eric grinned from ear to ear. “Shut up,” Angel said, walking out of the kitchen.

  “I didn’t say anything,” Eric protested, chuckling.

  “Yeah, well, you were thinking it.” Angel could hear Eric laughing, even as he walked up the stairs, but he had to smile.

  ***

  Sarah couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so alive. Standing under the shower with the warm water running over her body, she thought of Angel as she lathered herself and smiled.

  The past year had been all but hell, and the past two months had been worse with Sydney having to drag her out of her funk every time. But now she felt jubilant. It scared her a little. She was still very aware of the fact that this was Angel—the Angel she’d heard so much about. But he said he was looking forward to getting to know her. He sounded so sincere, and his kisses . . . God, those kisses . . . Just thinking about them made her quiver all over.

  Sydney’s call had woken her up just after seven, and they talked until Angel called. Sydney knew she’d gone out last night for the first time since she’d been out here, and he was anxious to see how it went. Sarah told him everything, not wanting to leave anything out, especially about the kissing. Sydney hadn’t been surprised at all that Angel was interested in Sarah and was happy she sounded so excited but warned her to take it slow.

  She got out of the shower and dressed. She went back in the restroom to get her blow dryer and ran into Valerie, still in her sleep clothes, a long T-shirt and basketball shorts. “Where are you going so early?”

  Sarah’s cheeks reddened. “Angel is picking me up.” She tried not to smile too big.

  Valerie’s jaw dropped and eyes popped wide open. “He is?”

  Sarah nodded, smiling sheepishly. She grabbed the blow dryer and started back to her room with Valerie in tow. “Oh my God, you’re so lucky! Was that who called so early this morning?”

  Sarah stopped at her bed and looked through her purse. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. The more she made out of this, the harder it would be if she turned out to be Angel’s flavor of the week. A faint haze of pain sunk in, just thinking about it. But she knew it was a definite possibility.

  “No, that was Sydney,” she said. “Angel called while I was on the line with him.”

  Valerie rolled her eyes. Sarah knew what Valerie thought of Sydney. She’d never actually met him, but she didn’t understand their friendship. “There’s no way that guy is not in love with you,” she’d said many times.

  Sarah also knew Valerie resented the fact that she had preferred, literally begged, to stay in Flagstaff with him and his family, rather than come and live with Valerie and her aunt. Even now, she talked more to him and was closer to him than she’d ever been with Valerie.

  Valerie plopped on Sarah’s bed. “Are you gonna tell Angel about Sydney?”

  “I already did.” She left out the part about Angel referring to Sydney as a she this morning and the fact that she hadn’t corrected him.

  Valerie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? What did he say?”

  S
arah made a face. “Valerie, we hung out one night. You honestly think he cares?”

  “I’m telling you guys are territorial.”

  She shrugged. “Well, territorial or not, I’m not his girlfriend—”

  “Yet,” Valerie interrupted. “We’ll see what he thinks of Sydney once you two get serious.”

  Sarah felt something tighten in her chest. She thought about how he’d gotten right to the subject of Jesse when they got to the beach—how stone-faced he’d turned when she told him she’d gone out with him. But with Sydney it was totally different. He’d have to understand.

  “What makes you so sure we’ll be getting serious? You, yourself, said he’d never had a girlfriend. Why would he want one now?”

  It was almost a rhetorical question. She didn’t really want to hear the answer. Valerie was ruining this for her. It was way too soon to start worrying about what Angel would think about her relationship with Sydney.

  She’d given it some thought when she realized Angel had assumed Syd was a girl. But she pushed it to the back of her mind. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. At the moment, she wasn’t even sure she’d ever have to.

  Valerie made herself comfortable against the headboard. “It’s the way he was with you last night, Sarah. I’ve never seen him act like that before. He’s never been one for public displays of affection. But last night, it was so obvious he wanted everyone to see you were with him.”

  Sarah tried to hide her exhilaration.

  “I’m just saying,” Valerie continued. “If you were like me, I wouldn’t worry about it. Just tell him all about Sydney, and if he walks, oh well, too bad for him, on to the next. But you’re not like me. You’re sweet, sensitive little Sarah. And I saw the way you looked at him last night too, missy. You’re already falling for him. So unless you want troubles, you should start weaning Sydney off your everlasting devotion.”

  The butterflies in Sarah’s stomach stirred, threatening to take off in a wild spin. Sarah walked back to her purse, eyeing Valerie. She put her makeup on silently. She hardly wore any, so it didn’t take very long. She was about to respond to Valerie’s observation, when her phone rang, making her jump. Valerie smiled eagerly.

  “Is it him?”

  Sarah looked at the caller ID and nodded. Valerie flew off the bed and ran over to Sarah’s side, leaning in to try and hear him. Sarah looked at her and giggled. She flipped the phone open and answered.

  Sarah gave him the directions with Valerie glued to her side the whole time. When she hung up, Valerie groaned. “God, he even sounds hot. I swear you are so lucky!”

  Sarah tried to play it cool, but the swarm in her stomach had spun out of control. She’d barely had enough time to absorb what had happened the night before, and now he was on his way to pick her up again. She smiled at Valerie and hurried to finish herself up.

  She filled her aunt in on her plans and gathered her purse together. He drove a white Mustang. She could tell it was an older model, but it was still nice. She looked out the window and watched him get out of the car. He wore dark jeans and a gray crewneck shirt that hugged his chest perfectly.

  “I’m leaving!” she yelled at no one in particular and walked out to meet him.

  Chapter 5

  He’d taken a few steps up the walk when he saw her come out the door. Immediately he was smiling silly. She was dressed casually, yet somehow she had the same incredible appeal as she had had last night when she was all done up—in some ways even more.

  Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she walked down the steps of the porch. She met him in the middle of the walkway. He took her hand in his. He could definitely get used to her soft delicate hand in his. He wanted to kiss her, but he felt weird doing it right in front of her house. His reserve however wasn’t strong enough to fight off the urge to hug her, so he did tightly. He squeezed her, feeling her hair against his face, breathing in everything about her.

  Reluctantly, he finally pulled away and let her go. His hand was still fastened to hers. He looked up at the door. “Do I need to go in?”

  Sarah’s eyes widened, and she shook her head too quickly. “Oh, no, that’s not necessary.”

  Angel wondered if there was something she was hiding, ashamed of. But he let it go and walked her back to his car.

  Once on the road, he found it impossible to keep his hands off her. It was worse than the night before, maybe ’cause Eric’s car was a stick shift. Angel’s car wasn’t, so his hand was free to roam, and roam it did. Every chance he got, he caressed her face, her leg, her fingers. Twice he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. What the hell was wrong with him? He had to get a hold of himself before he freaked her out. Although she didn’t seem to mind, smiling as she caressed his hand.

  He wanted to take her out and show her a good time. But that would have to wait for another time. Today he didn’t want to be anywhere crowded. He had only one thing on his mind, well, besides holding her and kissing her. He wanted to talk to her, get to know more about her, more about this nonsense of her leaving. Most importantly, he hoped today they could come to some kind of understanding. He knew it was insane, but after last night, there was absolutely no way he’d be okay with her being free to see other guys, not as long as he was seeing her. And he planned on seeing her every chance he got. He knew it was a risk, but not riskier than not getting it out there on the table and then possibly seeing her with someone else. The very thought made him clench his teeth.

  He’d packed sodas in Sarah’s ice chest from the night before, and they stopped at a deli for sandwiches. They drove to Mount Soledad, the local state park. It had lots of cycling and hiking trails, but was known for its massive, man-made caves. It overlooked the ocean and had the most spectacular views. He was sure Sarah would love it.

  Angel had been there many times with his brothers and the guys. He knew the place pretty well. He’d bring her back for cycling later. But today he had a much calmer visit planned.

  Sarah looked out the window, admiring the amazing views. “My God, this place is better than the cliff last night. I didn’t think that was possible.”

  She was right. No matter how many times he came up here, it was always as unbelievable as the first time. He took in the view himself then looked at Sarah. His body could feel the moment getting closer, the moment he would have her in his arms again. He held her hand the entire ride, and he squeezed it gently.

  He picked one of the more private picnic areas. The park wasn’t crowded at all. They pretty much had the area to themselves, except for the occasional cyclist riding by. Angel pulled the ice chest and a blanket out of the trunk of his car and took her by the hand. Sarah headed for the picnic table under a big wooden canopy. But Angel shook his head and pulled her toward a grassy area under a tree.

  “Over here.” He grinned.

  Sarah’s eyes widened a bit, but she smiled and followed behind him. They laid out the blanket and put down the ice chest. No sooner had they sat down, than Angel was kissing her, at first softly and sweetly. Then he pulled her back gently, laying her down on the blanket, and he propped himself up on his elbow next to her. He held her head on his hand, while his other roamed her body over her clothes.

  His hand ran over her stomach and then down her outer thigh. He was completely aroused, and he knew she felt it.

  He bit her lower lip softly then worked his way down her chin. She tasted so damn good. He moved her head up gently and dove into her neck, kissing, suckling, and biting softly.

  “Angel,” she whispered hoarsely.

  He groaned as he continued to kiss and suckle her neck, wishing now they were somewhere more private.

  “Angel.” He could feel how hard she was breathing.

  He sucked her neck one last time then glanced at it as he pulled away smiling, satisfied when he saw a small but noticeable dark pink spot just below her ear.

  He looked at her and couldn’t help kissing her one last time. When he was finally able to pull himself
away from her, he lay there on his elbow, staring at her wet pink lips, and played with her hand. He was about to tell her how perfect it felt having her there next to him when she stunned him with an unexpected admission.

  “I’m a virgin.”

  Angel stared at her blankly for a second, not sure how to respond. The idea of being her first rattled every nerve in his body, and his muscles tensed. When he didn’t respond immediately, Sarah sat up and pulled away from him.

  “Wait, hold on.” He reached for her.

  She pulled her hand away from his reach. “I’m only telling you so you won’t think I’m a tease if things don’t go as far as you’re expecting.”

  He sat up, quickly pulling himself next to her again. But before he could respond, she added, “I’m just not ready for anything like that, especially with everything that’s going on right now.”

  Damn it, he felt like a pushy prick, no better than Jesse. “That’s fine, Sarah.” He caressed her cheek. “I’m sorry I came on so strong. I’m not usually like this. I don’t know what it is, but I can barely control myself around you.”

  She looked somewhat embarrassed and bit her bottom lip. “I feel the same way around you.”

  He put his arm around her and kissed her head. With her baby soft hair against his face and her alluring scent, he was afraid of getting carried away again. He pulled away, quickly looking at his watch. It was almost noon. “You hungry?”

  “Starving, actually—I skipped breakfast.”

  Angel frowned. “You should’ve said something.” He pulled the ice chest in front of him.

  “You didn’t give me a chance.” She giggled.

  He loved seeing her smile. “Ha, ha.” The sarcasm prompted her to laugh even more.

  They sat legs crossed, eating quietly for a few minutes. Though he didn’t try too hard, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He even enjoyed the way she ate, tearing the pieces of sandwich with her hands rather than biting right into it. She ate slow and gracefully. She was only half done with her sandwich when he shoved the last piece of his in his mouth. Angel’s phone rang, and he patted his pockets then realized he’d left it in the car.