About Sydney . . .

Sarah

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 woke her up just after seven, and they talked until Angel called. He 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?"

Sarah 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.