Sweet Sofie (7 page)

After Eric called Angel on the phone the next day, he was relieved to hear he wasn’t mad. Apparently, Sofia had explained to Angel that she’d been the aggressor. She told him Eric had only hugged her a K huasnnd she initiated the kiss. Since Angel hadn’t actually seen the kiss, she made it sound as if they’d just hugged, she kissed him and Alex had walked in. With Alex’s legendary temper, it wasn’t hard to believe he overreacted.

Still, Angel had made it a point to make Eric promise he’d make sure nothing like that would happen again. Now that her brothers were on to them, things would be that much harder. Alex’s warning was enough to keep Eric away for now, but there was no way he’d stay away for good. There had to be a way to convince them they could trust him. But
how
was the million dollar question.

A few days later, Eric would’ve never thought he’d be annoyed about the amount of time they got off school for the holidays. He hadn’t seen Sofia in days. It was killing him. His only hope of getting a chance to hang out with her now was at school. At least until things cooled down with Alex. There was no way he was stepping foot in their house or their restaurant—not for a while.

Still in his pajama pants and t-shirt, he finished unloading the dishwasher. With his dad gone for the day, he thought about calling Romero and asking him if he wanted to go shoot some hoops at the park. He needed to get out, stop thinking about the need to see Sofia.

There was a knock at his back door. Eric peeked out his kitchen window. Incredibly, it was Sofia. She was in her running gear. He gulped, feeling the adrenaline of both excitement and dread flood through him, as he rushed to open the door. The second he opened the door, she jumped in his arms. Eric hugged her, looking around his yard to make sure no one else was out there. The runway behind his property ran the entire length of the block and around the cul-de-sac where she lived. He often took it to get to the Moreno’s instead of going through the front.

He took a step back and closed the door behind her. Before he could even ask, she kissed him and unable to hold back, he took her in his arms. Her hands ran down his back then around to the front of his pajamas. She cupped him, making him groan. “No, Sof. Please.”

“They can’t stop us, Eric.”

“I know, but…” his breathing hitched when he felt her hand wrap around him over his pajamas. Her gaze nearly blinded him. She could be so beautiful, but at the moment she looked so damn sexy it hurt. Her long lashes blinked in slow motion.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The words overwhelmed him. He’d always loved Sofia. At first like a sister, but it occurred to him just then he was
in love
with her now. And here she was telling him she loved him too. “I love you, too, Sofie.”

He kissed her—a softer, gentler kiss than earlier. The tenderness he felt made his heart pound in a way that was different from when she was simply driving him crazy.

Her chest rose and fell a little harder as her breathing accelerated. She took his hand and guided it up under her blouse. Eric gulped at the feel of her soft breast in his hand. He’d only dreamed of doing this, but dreamed about it for far too long. He closed his eyes as he allowed himself to caress it gently.

She began pulling her blouse up. Eric could only stare, but he couldn’t bring himself to move his hand away. He wanted more. He wanted to kiss her there, take her in his mouth.

The doorbell rang and they froze. Eric pulled his hand away from her. “Where are your br Ke a/diothers?”

“Alex and Sal are both in school.” She pulled down her top and headed for the back door. “Angel had just got out of the shower when I left.”

The doorbell rang again and Sofia ran out the back door. Eric waited until she was completely out of sight before heading for the front door. He patted the tent in his pants down.

Even though he knew Sofia was probably halfway home by now, his heart still nearly gave out when he opened the door and saw Angel standing there. He didn’t look too happy, either. Eric held his breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” Angel asked.

Eric shook his head, still waiting for Angel’s fist to come at him.

“Get dressed. Romero’s piece of crap broke down again. We’re gonna have to push it off the road,” Angel laughed, lightening up the mood. “He’s stuck in the left lane holding up traffic.”

Eric laughed more out of relief than humor. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be ready to go.” He hurried to his room to change. His heart had been hammering away from the moment he saw Sofia, but now it hammered for an entirely different reason. After today, there was no going back. If he knew Sofia, things would progress to places he knew could only be deadly for him. As much as he told himself he wouldn’t let it go there—he’d convince her they couldn’t—he didn’t think he had it in him to stop it.

What he felt when he was with Sofia was something he’d never experienced. As levelheaded as he’d always been, no amount of willpower would keep him from going along with whatever she wanted. And he’d seen it in her eyes today, felt it in her kisses. She wanted a lot more.

Just one time

It was only two weeks before Eric was a regular at the Moreno’s residence and restaurant again. Although Alex was cold with him at first, he eventually came around, but things had changed. Sofia knew things would never go back to the way they once had been.

Angel knew Sofia had feelings for Eric. She’d told him the morning after the New Year’s Eve outburst. She wouldn’t hide it anymore. If her brothers wanted to believe she was still a child, they could. But they couldn’t force her to hide the enormous affection she had for Eric. He was back to eating at their place regularly. Sofia fawned over him, making him special meals and deserts.

Alex and Angel watched, pretending it wasn’t any different than how she behaved before New Year’s. But she saw the look of irritation when Alex would walk in the kitchen to find her laughing with Eric. The jabs about him being in their kitchen more than
they
were began to take a different tone, especially from Alex.

Sofia didn’t care. After months of sneaking around, she’d mastered a few things that drove Eric insane. He’d returned the favor, and they’d been so close to going all the way several times. She loved stripping down to nothing for him at his house, but the fear of pregnancy kept them from doing what she wanted to so badly.

It was only a few months before she turned seventeen. Years Nfavoago, her father made a comment she never forgot. “You can’t have a boyfriend until you’re seventeen.”

At the time, she thought it was completely absurd. Now that it was only months away, it didn’t sound so bad. She could hardly wait. Her dad had probably forgotten, but she would be reminding him.

Though she and Eric were making the most of their stolen moments, and she was tired of lying about where she was going all the time. The sneaking was exciting, but they’d had too many close calls. She wanted to be able to just say, “I’m going to be with Eric all day.”

More than anything, she wanted the damn girls at school to know Eric was off limits. They’d already had another argument about a girl who was all over him all the time, and even asked him to the prom. Eric promised that if he couldn’t go with Sofia, he wouldn’t go at all. Sofia felt bad. She didn’t want him to miss his prom, but him taking someone else was out of the question.

Sarah and Angel were back together, and as inseparable as ever. It was a Friday night and all the guys and Sarah were over. They were out back playing pool. Angel and Sarah were cuddling in the corner, while Alex and Romero played. Sofia stood next to Eric as usual, laughing it up. Alex glanced up from where he’d bent over, ready to take a shot. Sofia caught the glare and smirked. “Who’s winning?”

“Who do you think?” Alex said, easing up his expression.

“This just isn’t my game,” Romero said, “Try me at bowling. Then you’ll lose your ass.”

Alex rolled his eyes and took a shot.

“You guys wanna go bowling tomorrow afternoon?” Romero looked around.

“I’m down,” Angel said.

“No.” Sarah raised her eyebrow. “You have a fitting tomorrow.”

Angel groaned. “That’s tomorrow already?”

“A fitting for what?” Romero asked.

“His tux, for the prom,” Sarah answered for him.

“No shit.” Romero laughed. “You’re actually wearing a monkey suit?”

“Aren’t you?” Angel stood up off his bar stool and walked over to the small fridge next to the bar.

“You have to.” Sarah added.

“I dunno. I’m not sure if I’m even going.” Romero turned to Eric. “You going?”

Sofia tensed up. Eric shrugged. “Depends.”

Romero glanced up from where he was ready to take a shot. “On what?”

Eric took a deep breath, glancing at Sofia. “If these guys will let me take Sof.”

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Sofia almost choked on her gum. Both Alex and Angel stopped what they were doing and stared at him. She had no idea he was going to just put it out there like that. Before they could answer, he added, “Otherwise, I’m not going.”

Everybody seemed to hold their breath.

“We could go together.” Sarah finally broke through the tension. “It’ll be fun.”

To Sofia’s complete disbelief, Alex lifted a shoulder. “If Angel’s gonna be with you guys all night. I’m okay with that.”

Sofia could hardly contain herself. All Angel had to say was okay and they were home free. He finally looked away from Eric and glanced back at Sarah. Sarah gave him a pleading look, and Sofia knew it was done deal.

Angel shook his head, but smiled at Sarah. “Yeah, we can do that.”

Sofia jumped off her bar stool, hugged Angel then Sarah. Next, she rushed over to Alex and squeezed him.

“All right, all right,” he said, sounding as annoyed as she expected him to.

Just so she’d be able to get away with hugging Eric, and she wanted to so badly, she hugged Romero. Sarah laughed. Finally, she came back around to Eric, who gave her a warning look, but she hugged him anyway. “Yay, I get to go to prom!”

She knew her parents wouldn’t have a problem with it, either. They loved Eric.

***

The Prom was Eric’s first chance to make a statement about his and Sofia’s relationship. If there was ever any doubt that Sofia was off-limits, Eric made things crystal-clear now. He’d seen enough eyebrows lift as they walked around, holding hands, to know people would be talking even after prom.

Angel and Sarah being elected prom queen and king should’ve been a good thing. Except an ex-flame of Angel’s, Dana, had had a few too many, and she and the rest of her cheerleader girlfriends decided to protest and demand a recount. It started to get ugly when all of Sarah and Sofia’s friends from the track team came to Sarah’s defense.

Dana and a few of her friends were actually escorted out during Sarah and Angels dance. Sofia was livid. More than once, Eric had to hold her back. The Moreno in her was alive and well and ready to kick some ass.

The only mistake Angel made was giving Dana a moment when she begged for it just outside the banquet hall. Eric suspected the tears streaming down her face had a lot to do with Angel giving in—big mistake. Sarah walked away, with Sofia going after her.

Angel only spoke to Dana for a moment before going after Sarah, but he had his hands full. Sarah insisted he take her straight home. Of course, Angel wasn’t having it. He asked Eric if he could just hang out with Sofia for an hour or so, then meet up with them later at the beach. Eric wished Angel good luck, and was off and running.

As usual, Sofia en [ualof her joyed tormenting Eric. There was a small hidden cove they’d discovered just weeks ago at the beach. The massive boulders and lush bushes that surrounded it rendered them virtually invisible to the rest of the world.

With a blanket and a few beers in hand, they entered their secret cove. Eric’s heart beat more erratically than it normally did when he knew he’d have Sofia in his arms soon. Each time with her had become harder to resist doing what they both yearned for, but knew they shouldn’t—couldn’t.

No sooner was the blanket down than they were on it, kissing frantically. He loved the way Sofia was always just as crazed as he felt when they were together. She drove him insane, yet she did nothing to hide her need for him.

Her hands were at his zipper. “Sof, baby, no, not here.”

“Why? No one can see us.”

“What if your brother shows up?”

Sofia frowned. “Are you kidding? Sarah is so pissed, and I don’t blame her. That bitch, Dana, nearly started a riot. Angel should’ve told her to go to hell. They’ll be here, but it’s going to be a while before he convinces Sarah.”

Eric gulped as Sofia continued to unzip him. With that crazed teasing look in her eye, she smirked and began to straddle him. Eric sat up with one hand on the blanket to support himself, and the other on her leg. “Babe, we can’t.”

“Just once,” she whispered, “don’t you wanna feel it, just one time?”

Was she crazy? He wanted to feel it over and over with her, but this was insanity. “I don’t have any protection.”