Page 74 of Angel

“Yeah, I heard.”

“Are you joining?”

“Sure.” I took my coat from his hand.

“You might get too hot for this after a few minutes, but I thought I’d grab it anyway.”

“Thanks,” I smiled up at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, Lia stared. I turned to look at her but she’d already turned her back and begun walking away.

Angelo wrapped his arm around my shoulder and lead me through the foyer and across some kind of small sitting room, then through a back door.

We crossed the edge of the patio, walked past the covered pool, and ended up in a grassy area beneath some tall trees. ‘Grassy’ being a loose term, since anything once green on the ground died months ago. Not far off, a tall iron fence signaled the end of the property. Through another line of trees hints of another house were just visible. I started to turn away but stopped when I noticed the security camera mounted on the fence.

Sliding my eyes towards the other end of the yard, I spotted another one.

Again: Just when I’d conveniently forgotten about the big-time Mafia family my boyfriend came from...

Franko explained the rules of the game, ones which barely made sense, then split everyone into two groups. As Tre played college football, he counted as two people.

I went where I was told to, ran where it seemed I needed to, and even managed to evade capture for a few seconds the one time I had the ball.

Surprisingly, the game that at first seemed so boring turned out to be loads of fun. Mrs. Salvatore, delicate though she looked, was a badass on the field. Having her on my team became a plus.

It was probably a good that Franko declared the game over when he did. I was panting and perspiring underneath my sweater. Bits of hair stuck to my face and I probably looked a mess, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t wheezing.

Angelo came over from the other team and planted a kiss on my lips. “Sorry to have to beat you.”

I shrugged as he looped his arm over my shoulder. “All’s fair in love and war, right?”

His mouth dropped to right next to my ear. “I’ll let you win at something else later tonight.”

A wonderful shiver went down my back.

Mrs. Salvatore checked her wrist watch. “Dinner is in twenty minutes.”

We all tramped across the yard. I glanced surreptitiously around, thinking Lia might still be watching me.

Instead, though, she ran past me and Angelo and jumped onto Franko’s back. He wailed and tried to shake her off. Refusing to go, she locked her arms and legs around him.

“Carry me back to the house!” she demanded.

“I’ll dump you in the pool, that’s what I’ll do.”

Nearby, Tre watched with what seemed like a look of longing on his face. He had it bad for Lia.

“Huh,” I said out loud.

“What?” Angelo questioned.

I quickly shook my head and gave his waist a squeeze. “Nothing. I just can’t believe how hungry football made me.”