Forever Yours
Authors: Elizabeth Reyes
Also by Elizabeth Reyes
Moreno Brothers Series
Forever Mine
Always Been Mine
Romero
Sweet Sofie
Making You Mine
5
th
Street Series
Noah
Gio
Hector
Abel
Fate Series
Fate
Breaking Brandon
Desert Heat
the first book in the
Desert Heat Series
will be released
May 13, 2014.
Forever Yours
(Moreno Brothers 1.5)
Elizabeth Reyes
Smashwords Edition
Forever Yours
(Moreno Brothers 1.5)
Elizabeth Reyes
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2014 Elizabeth Reyes
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Edited by Theresa Wegand
To my P-Nut, I love you, baby,
forever and always
.
Table of Contents
A Note to My Wonderful Readers
Sarah
“I gotta take this,” Sarah said to Angel as she made her way out the kitchen door and into his back yard.
Angel nodded and continued what he was busy doing in the kitchen, but she could tell just by
that
look he already knew it was Sydney calling—again.
He’d watched her send Sydney’s call to voice mail earlier when her phone rang just as Alex was bringing out their mom’s birthday cake. Normally, she didn’t answer his calls when Angel was around anyway, not that she had anything to hide when she spoke to Sydney. Even after all these years, she hated that weirdness she felt whenever she did happen to take Sydney’s call in front of Angel. So she avoided doing so as much as she could.
The only reason she decided to answer it now was because Sydney didn’t call nearly as much as he used to anymore and almost never twice in one day. It worried her. The last few times they’d spoken he’d mentioned having issues with his girlfriend, Carina. Sarah wondered now if maybe something big had happened between them and he needed to vent.
To her relief, he sounded perfectly cheery when she answered. “Hey, Lynni, you busy?”
“Not really. Well . . .” She glanced back at the kitchen window facing the backyard. “I
am
at Angel’s right now. They’re having a birthday party for his mom, but I could spare a few moments. What’s up?”
“A party on a Thursday?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “You know this family. It’s her birthday today, so it wasn’t going unnoticed regardless of what day of the week it is.”
“Oh well, then never mind,” he said quickly. “Go back to the party. I thought for sure you’d be home by now, and I had some down time. Since I hadn’t talked to you in a while, I just thought I’d call and catch up.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. I’ll talk to you another time.”
She felt kind of bad about hanging up, especially because she got the feeling he did have something he specifically wanted to talk about. But she also knew the longer she was out there the weirder Angel would be about it when she finally got back in. He never said anything. Sarah had to give him credit where credit was due. He’d come a long way and was obviously doing his best to be as accepting of her friendship with Sydney as he could, but she knew him too well to not pick up on that vibe anytime the subject of Sydney came up.
Once back in the house she grabbed a small bowl of chips and salsa and headed to the family room. Angel patted the open seat next to him on the sofa where he sat with his dad and Sal.
“Everything cool?” he asked, taking one of the chips and dipping it into the salsa.
“Yeah,” she said. “I just thought maybe something was wrong since he rarely calls twice in one day.” She made sure she pointed that part out. “But everything’s fine. He was just calling to catch up since we haven’t talked in a while.”
She glanced at him nonchalantly before dipping another chip into the salsa. So far so good. No weirdness. He even leaned in and kissed her with a smile. “You missed out,” he said with a smirk.
“On what?”
“One of the guys in the mariachis is new.” He chuckled. “The other guys in the group know Sof is with Eric, but since he’s not here, they decided to punk the guy, telling him she was single and looking for a man. They encouraged him to hit on her. He did and she turned him down, of course, but was nice about it. Then he got all cocky, laying it on a little too heavily. Luckily for his ass Alex was in on the whole thing, so when he got in the guy’s face, we all knew there was no real danger of things getting too explosive. Still, you know Sof. She wasn’t in on it, so she was embarrassed and pissed.” Angel shrugged. “No harm done, but the expression on the guy’s face when he had to look up at Alex was classic. They let the guy in on it before he messed his pants.”
Sarah laughed because she could only imagine. “Poor guy,” she said, glancing around for Sofie.
Sofie was standing with Alex now, laughing. Apparently she’d gotten over it, but Sarah remembered all the times Sofie had to deal with that kind of reaction from her big brothers
for real.
“They mean well.”
If Sarah had a dime for every time she’d had to remind Angel’s sister this about her brothers over the years, she could pay for her entire education in cash. It was true. Sofie’s brothers could be on the overbearing side, but in the end, they really did mean well. Sarah had often wondered what it would be like to have grown up in such a big family and have brothers like the Morenos.
In fact, she’d never admit it, but there had been plenty of times she’d felt a little jealous about how close they all were. She’d grown up all alone. It’s why she’d always been so grateful for her best friend, Sydney, who was the closest person, aside from her mom, she had as family. No matter how much she knew Angel didn’t buy it, Sydney really
was
like brother to her. At least that’s how she’d always seen it.
Still, days like today–when the Moreno’s had been celebrating their mom’s birthday and as usual the whole gang of them and their friends were there—Sarah couldn’t help feeling a little bittersweet. Their mother had been showered all afternoon with gifts and serenaded by the mariachis, and her kids had cooked for her, not allowing her to cook at all. And what a meal they’d prepared! Since they all had grown up helping run the family restaurant, they all knew their way around the kitchen, so she’d had a feast made with lots of love.
Growing up, except for the times she’d spent them with Sydney and his family, Sarah and her mother had always celebrated birthdays and holidays alone—just the two of them. And while her mom had done her best to make it feel special, there were so many times Sarah wished her mom would get married and have more kids. She’d be the best sister ever, just as she had been to Sydney all those years and always would be.
Not only had Sofie had to deal with her three overprotective brothers but she’d also had two of their friends, Romero and Eric, to deal with her whole life. Eric, who was now her boyfriend was much calmer than her brothers, and Sofie had told Sarah that was exactly why she’d had been so drawn to him even way back when they were kids. Romero never stood a chance with her because he was worse than her brothers. At least Alex asked questions before going for the jugular, not Romero.
Sarah felt the pang of guilt. Too often she’d been a little jealous of the big happy family gatherings when she should have been grateful to be included.
Not even a half hour later after having taken Sydney’s call her phone buzzed again. She’d set it down on the coffee table in front of the sofa where she still sat with Angel. She saw him glance down at it, but he quickly looked away and laughed at something Romero was telling him and Sal.
Sarah picked it up, hoping it wasn’t anything from Sydney but a little worried it might be. She was worried, not because of Angel, but because she’d picked up on something not being right when Sydney had called her a second time in one day after she hadn’t heard from him in days.
To her relief it wasn’t Sydney. It was a text from her mom.
Are you going to be there much longer? I have a surprise for you, and I can hardly wait for you to get here already.
That piqued Sarah’s interest instantly, and she smiled.
Surprise?
Her mother had never been good about keeping surprises from her for long, so it made her wonder how long she’d had this up her sleeve. She hadn’t heard anything about this until now. Sarah
was
turning twenty-one that year, but that was still months away.
She didn’t even realize what a big goofy smile she wore until she noticed Angel staring at her strangely. “My mom,” she said as she texted back. “She’s asking how much longer I’m gonna be. She has a surprise for me.”
The strange expression on Angel’s face was replaced with one as curious as she felt. “Surprise?”
“Yeah,” she said as she sent the text asking for a hint. “My mom’s never been good about keeping surprises from me. In fact, she stinks at it. It’s why she can’t get me anything for my birthday or Christmas until the day before because she doesn’t trust herself not to blow it early.” Sarah laughed. “Whatever this is she probably just got it today, and already she’s texting me to ask when I’ll be home.”