Angel’s eyes met Leo’s for a second, and the guy smiled softly but offered no apology for obviously startling them. Without another word, they headed out.
Once out in the parking lot, to Angel’s relief, Leo informed him he’d just follow them. “My friend lives near the marina, so I can just head to his place from there. But first,” he said as he held out his hand before Angel and Sarah walked past his truck toward Angel’s car. “I have something for you, Sarah.”
They stopped just behind Leo’s ride: an older model pickup truck. He opened the passenger door and pulled out a bouquet of roses. Sarah’s hands were immediately at her mouth.
“I asked my mom and sister,” he said, dipping his chin as he walked toward them, “what, if anything, I should bring you, and they both agreed you could never go wrong with flowers.”
Never go wrong?
He handed them to Sarah, and she took them, smiling big. “They’re beautiful. Thank you,” she said then leaned into Leo, bringing her free arm over his shoulder. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
Leo quickly wrapped both his arms around her back and squeezed. “I wanted to. So glad to finally meet you, Sarah.”
Angel stood there for what he knew was a reasonable amount of time, but still it felt too long. When it was finally over, Sarah and Angel walked away and Leo got in his truck. Angel didn’t say a word even as they placed the roses in his trunk and walked around either side of his car. They got in and Angel started up the car in silence.
“What?” she asked.
Staring straight ahead and then into his rearview mirror, Angel shook his head. “Nothing.”
“You’re being weird.”
Angel had to laugh. What else could he do? Never in a million years did he think he’d be doing what he was doing tonight: going out with Sarah and a dude she’d met just a month ago—a guy who’d just confirmed she’s all he’d thought about lately, had driven hundreds of miles to see her, and had brought her flowers. But what he’d said earlier to Leo was true. He really had no idea what it would feel like to find out he had another sibling out there at this age. Not only that but it was different for both Sarah and Leo. Neither of them had any other blood siblings. Sarah had told him about Leo’s stepsister—one he’d only met a few years ago—no way was that the same.
Open minded.
It’s what Angel was determined to keep being—for Sarah’s sake. He turned to her with a smile. “This whole situation is weird, babe. I’m just gonna need some time to get used to it. That’s all.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his thigh and smiled. “My mom’s been kind of weird about it too. I guess the circumstances are strange for everyone including me.”
That made Angel feel a little better. He really was trying his damnedest here. They arrived at the marina, which had been transformed into this outdoor festival with all the local seafood restaurants both on and off the marina set up outside under tents offering samples and specials on their seafood dinners. The place was more packed than Angel had expected it to be for a weeknight. It made him think maybe he should talk to his dad about considering seafood and lobster dinners for a limited time just for this festival.
They tried several of the samples and walked around for a while before deciding which restaurant they’d go with for dinner. Angel made mental notes of what made him sway more toward one restaurant’s food than the others. Fortunately, Leo didn’t do anything else that had the hair on Angel’s neck standing like seeing the flowers Leo had brought. Of course this would happen on the same f**king night Angel decided to bring her one paltry rose. It didn’t matter though. The roses were a sweet gesture from her brother, while the single one was a romantic one from her boyfriend—completely different.
Angel finally succumbed to his bladder’s needs and excused himself to the men’s room, leaving Sarah and Leo alone for the first time all evening. He was already done and washing his hands when his phone buzzed at his waist. There were two texts from Romero. He clicked on the envelope and read them in order.
Hey, where you at?
You know some dude is getting all cozy with Sarah at the marina? Text me back and tell me what you want me to do; otherwise, I’ll just take care of this my way.
Angel texted back quickly that he was there with them and that the dude was her brother but then added something as he walked out of the restroom.
What do you mean getting cozy?
He turned the corner quickly, knowing Romero could totally misinterpret and exaggerate things of this nature. Sometimes Angel wondered if Romero wasn’t just looking for a reason to pound on someone. As funny as the guy could be, they all knew he had some serious issues with his temper. Beating up on deserving ass**les seemed to be his way of unleashing some of that pent-up anger.
Instantly, Angel’s eyes were fixed on Sarah and Leo. When he’d walked away, he left them sitting across from each other on the bench table. Now they sat side by side with Leo leaning into her. She was showing him something on her phone, and they were laughing. Angel could see how Romero could misconstrue this. His phone buzzed in his hand again, and he clicked on the text from Romero.
Sarah has a brother???
Angel didn’t bother responding. He hadn’t told Romero anything about Leo and hadn’t planned to until he absolutely had to. The last thing he needed was to hear Romero’s two cents on this. If his friend were still watching Sarah and Leo, and Angel knew him well enough to know he was, he’d see Angel with them soon enough. As soon as he reached the table, Leo moved back across from Sarah, and Angel took the seat next to her.