Fate (4 page)

“Where’s
my
beer?” Vince smirked.

Sal lifted an eyebrow as he sat down next to Grace
,
taking her hand. “You’re funny, Vin.”

Even though Sal smiled
,
Vince didn’t miss the hint of contempt in his eyes. Vince knew what his cousins thought of him—what everyone in the family thought. He’d been anything but an angel the last few years
,
and his father often turned to his older brother, Sal’s dad, for guidance.

None of them could know he was actually trying to better himself now
,
but he didn’t have to prove a thing to them. The only ones he’d be proving anything to were his parents. He owed them after all the shit he’d put them through.

“I’ve never even seen such a big yard.” Rose’s voice brought him back to party and away from his resentful thoughts. “They don’t have homes like this in Chula Vista.” Her eyes looked around the yard.

“You’re from Chula Vista?”

That was a bit of a relief. As far as he knew, Chula Vista was about as ritzy as La Puente was. Maybe Sal hadn’t hooked up with a snooty fellow student like he’d assumed.

Rose nodded
,
sipping her soda. Vince studied her delicate features openly, holding nothing back
just
like he always had when he flirted back home. She looked away
,
blinking several times
,
making him smile—a shy one. The girls in his neighborhood were anything but. But again maybe she was just too young.

“How old are you, Rose?”

“I’m fifteen
,
”
s
he smiled lifting an eyebrow
,
“
b
ut I have a birthday coming up soon, too. So I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”

“Oh yeah? When’s your birthday?”

She put her cup down on the table. “July eighth.
^”

“No, shit? Mine is the tenth.”

Sal turned and gave him a look. Vince pressed his lips together and refrained from rolling his eyes. He knew what that look was about.
Watch your mouth
!
Sal was all about respect
,
but Vince had seen the way he’d glanced at him a few times earlier. He was already keeping his eye on Vince and his girlfriend’s obviously virginal
baby
sister. No surprise there. Sal would be watching real
ly
close.

“You seen the koi pond yet?”

Her nose crinkled slightly. “Koi pond?”

“Yeah
,
i
t’s pretty cool
,
right around the other side of the house. You wanna check it out?”

She hesitated for a second then nodded. Relieved, Vince stood up
,
happy about the chance to get away from his cousin breathing down his neck.

Both Sal
’s
and Grace
’
s eyes were immediately on them as Rose stood. “Vincent is gonna show me the koi pond
on the other side of the house
.”

With that same perturbed expression Sal had worn from the moment Vince showed even the tiniest of interest in Rose, he raised an eyebrow. “Best behavior, Vin. I mean it.”

Vince hid his annoyance the only way he knew how—with an evil grin. “You know me.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried.” Sal frowned.

This time Vince didn’t hold back rolling his eyes
,
only he waited until he’d turned his back to them. He’d probably never see this girl again
,
and it was obvious what Sal would say if he so much as thought of making a move. So why the hell did it bother him that Sal was making sure he pointed out in front of her how much he didn’t trust him? Thankfully she didn’t ask about that.

“Do they have a lot?”

Vince glanced at Rose
,
not sure what she was talking about. Now that he knew she wasn’t too young or maybe it was the fact that Sal was throwing out blatant don’t-even-think-about-it bombs, her golden
-
brown eyes were even more impressive in the sunlight
.

Walking next to her, trying hard to keep his eyes from going down to those long
,
sexy legs was becoming increasingly difficult. Normally he wouldn’t bother trying. He’d gape unabashed
,
and the girls he did this to didn’t ever mind his gaping. In fact
,
the drill was
that
if they hadn’t been doing the gaping to begin with
,
they’d gape right back
,
and it was on. But it wasn’t just Sal’s flat
-
out warning that kept him from doing so with Rose. He’d already been witness to her timid demeanor. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

This would probably be a long
,
boring day with his aunt going through every mind-numbing Mexican baby shower tradition
,
and they’d have to stay to be part of each one. If nothing else, Rose would be a nice distraction for the day
.

“Do they have a lot of what?”

“Fish in the pond.” She looked at him curiously.

“Well, the last time I was here—”

“Vinn
ie
!”
h
is cousin Sofia, Sal’s younger sister, called out as she smiled big, walking toward him. Next to her
were
his other cousin and Sal’s youngest brother Angel
,
and his wife Sarah.

“Did you just get here?”
s
he asked
,
hugging him
then looking
up at him. He was finally taller than her.

“About a half hour ago,” he said
,
smiling crooked and motioning back toward his parents.

“How goes it, Vin?” Angel reached out to grab his hand and gave him a hearty handshake. “You staying out of trouble finally?”

Vince felt his smile wane but managed not to frown. He never cared before what any of them thought
;
in fact
,
he made it a point to annoy them by shrugging at these kinds of questions with no real answer
,
acting like the bad seed they thought him to be. Now
they
were annoying
him
.

“For the most part,” he said accepting and returning Angel’s wife’s Sarah’s hug.

“You look good,” Sarah said as she pulled away
,
and Angel took her hand.

“Thanks.” Vince rubbed his hand against his neck feeling a little awkward standing there as they all stared at him inquiringly.

“Where’s Lorenzo?” Angel asked before casually looking in Rose’s direction.

“He didn’t come.”

Vince didn’t offer any further explanation. The last thing he wanted was to get into why he’d been forced to come and his brother hadn’t. They probably already knew
,
but it wasn’t a subject he felt like talking about. He noticed that both Sofia and Sarah were now looking in Rose’s direction. She must’ve noticed also because she spoke up. “Vincent is going to show me the koi pond.”

They all nodded at the same time as she answered their curious unspoken question. Vince didn’t miss the warning look that followed from Angel. Clearly, like Sal
,
he was sure none of them trusted him
to han
g
out alone with Grace’s baby sister.

After Sofia explained where they’d find the koi food
,
they were finally able to move the hell on. Vince snuck in a peek
at
those long legs before looking up
,
and to his surprise Rose was smiling. Then she wrinkled her nose that cute way she’d done earlier when he first mentioned the koi. “Are you really such a bad boy?”

“No.” The word flew out defensively surprising even himself. Typically he couldn’t care less what anyone thought of him.

“You don’t look bad.” Her smile teased as they reached the pond. “Oh how pretty,” she said pulling a strand of hair behind her ear and looking down into the pond.

Vince looked down at the koi
,
but his eyes quickly made their way back to her face. She was a little on the plain side. That could just be because she was so young and wore no makeup
;
yet there was something about her. Sure
,
she was cute in a very innocent way
,
but it was more than that. He wondered if maybe it was psychological. Maybe the rebel in him was already twisting up reason
s
to piss his perfect cousins off for having such little faith in him. She looked up and caught him staring
,
so he smirked. “So I don’t look bad to you,
h
uh?”

Her eyes widened
,
and she smiled. Again he noticed what the sunlight did to her light eyes. Okay maybe she wasn’t
that
plain looking.

“Well except for that tattoo on your forearm.” She pointed at it. “What’s that about?”

Fighting the urge to shove his hand in his pocket to hide the tattoo
,
he shrugged. “Probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“What is it?” She stared at it
;
her curiosity
was
even more heightened
than
it had been before his last statement.
Great.

“It’s my incredibly stupid
,
temporary
-
insanity moment is what it is. It’s what happens,” he said as he took a seat on the rock bench next to the pond
,
“
w
hen you do weed with your dumb
-
ass friends.”

“You do weed?” she whispered
,
eyes wide open glancing around.

He chuckled at the innocence in her startled eyes. “Not anymore. As a matter of fact
,
this stupid tat is the reason I stopped. Of course I knew enough about the evils of drugs. I’d seen plenty of people in my neighborhood including some of my friends do some dumb shit because of it
,
and still like a dumb
-
ass I did it with them for a while. Then one time when we were all high
,
we decided getting these matching tats would be the coolest thing.” He shook his head remembering how the next morning he tried in vain to rub the damn thing off. “The next day I made up my mind—never again. I’ve never seen my mom so pissed. Well, up until then. I’m just glad my brother hadn’t been with me. That would’ve been
bad
.”

“What does it say?” She sat down across from him on the other bench.

He stared at it
,
feeling the same stupidity he always did whenever he looked at it. He explained the skull and bones was something they’d always tagged on walls—a symbol of their pact—brothers until death
t
hen the letters
L.P. Locos
just under it that was now permanently tattooed on his forearm. “The
l
etters stand for La Puente.” Shaking his head again he looked up at her. She was still staring at his hand. “I only hope this is as stupid as I ever get.”

“I don’t think it’s so stupid. Lots of kids at my school have tattoos. Some are pretty cool. But if it’s something you would’ve never done sober
,
then I can see why it bothers you.” She looked up at him with a faint smile. “A lot of people do things they regret when they’re under the influence.”

He smiled back looking into those eyes. They kept changing shades
between
light brown and gold. “Something tells me you’ve never even tried alcohol.”

She shook her head
,
frowning. “No offense, but I wouldn’t do that to my body. I’m on the
v
olleyball and
s
occer team
s
at school. I know what drugs and alcohol do, not just to your mind but
to
your body. No thanks. I’d like to keep my body just like it is
;
thank you very much.” Her hand traced the outer part of her thigh
:
t
he part Vince had first noticed when he saw her. Forcing his eyes away from the finger that traced that tone muscle up her thigh
,
he straightened up and looked in her eyes again.

“But it’s crazy how many people I know that do
a
ll the time
.” She lowered her voice again like she had earlier
,
and he was glad because it made him smile
,
softening the intensity of what just watching her touch her leg was doing to him. “Not just alcohol
,
but weed. There’s a guy in my building that sells the stuff. The cops have raided his apartment a few times.”