PROLOGUE
Santiago Vega II—known to family and friends as Junior, much to his annoyance—took his time getting back to the front office after dropping off paperwork for Miss Wallis, the school secretary. He loved it when the halls of his high school were empty and mostly silent. It gave him a sense of calm he never got otherwise. Not when he was the oldest of a five-child family who lived in a tiny apartment directly above the restaurant his family ran. The restaurant where his grandpa’s band loved to play music at all hours of the day, because it was always filled to the gills with people from the neighborhood. Junior was surrounded by people all the time—loud, demanding people—so he enjoyed moments of quiet stillness whenever he could.
That made it all the more annoying when he heard raised voices down the hallway.
“You better stay away from her!”
“You two aren’t even together anymore.”
“She’s mine!”
Oh great. Two idiots were about to fight over a girl and Junior had to go that way to get back to his work-study.
Junior turned the corner to one of the side hallways and stopped dead in his tracks. It was worse than two idiot guys. It was Jose Mendez, one of the largest offensive linemen on their high school football team, and Lola León, the biggest troublemaker in the school.
Lola was constantly in the office when he was there, but when Junior was there helping out during his free period, she was always there to talk to the principal after getting kicked out of one class or another. Sure, he didn’t know her well, she was a junior to his senior, but it wasn’t hard for Junior to tell why she was constantly pissing everyone off. She had a terrible attitude and a mouth to accompany it. She said what she wanted and did what she wanted without a care for anyone around her.
As if to prove his point she opened her mouth and said, “Aww, is your fragile male ego hurt because she liked my kiss more than yours?”
Junior’s eyebrows rose. He’d heard that Lola liked girls, but he’d assumed those were ignorant rumors based on how she dressed—in baggy clothes that looked like she’d taken them from a large man’s closet. At least, he’d hoped that was the case after seeing her for the first time in the office a few weeks ago. It didn’t matter that he had no intention of actually talking to the pretty girl. A part of him was selfish enough to be hopeful.
Her taunt seemed to be the last straw for Jose. “Bitch. I’ll give you something to do with that smart mouth of yours.” He rushed her and crowded her into a corner before she could dodge. His hand tangled into her long dark hair and pulled it hard.
Junior jumped into action without thinking. There was no way he was going to sit back and let someone be hurt. Especially not a young woman who didn’t even reach Jose’s shoulder. He charged forward, trying to remember everything his abuelo had taught him about taking down someone bigger than you.
He wrapped his forearm around Jose’s neck and locked it into place with the crook of his other arm. He moved his head to one side just in case Jose decided to try to headbutt him. He looked down at Lola, whose head was pulled back exposing her neck and a pair of wide brown eyes.
Junior didn’t think he’d ever seen her look scared. Pissed off and scowling yes, but not afraid. For some reason her fear released a new level of anger in him. Junior was quiet and serious, but not usually angry. Except at that moment he was livid.
“Let. Her. Go.” He growled in a voice he’d only ever let out when someone was messing with one of his younger siblings. When Jose didn’t immediately do as he said, Junior tightened his grip.
Jose let go of Lola’s hair to grab Junior’s arm with both hands and attempt to pull him off. Somehow he couldn’t. Instead he wheezed.
“Get behind me,” Junior barked to Lola, who was rubbing her no-doubt tender head.
It took her a second, but eventually she did.
As soon as she was behind him, Junior started to loosen his grip around Jose’s neck. However, he knew the impulsive hothead would do something in retaliation, so, at the same time he released his neck, he kicked Jose in the back of the knee.
He jumped out of the way as Jose went down coughing and rubbing his throat. Then he spun on his heel, grabbed Lola’s hand, and began running in the opposite direction. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between them and Jose.
His head swiveled back and forth, trying to find a place for them to lie low, before he grabbed the handle to a door and swung it open. He herded Lola through the empty classroom door, pulling it closed behind them, and backed them both away from the narrow glass window. A second later Junior heard uneven pounding footprints rush past the door. He stayed silent and still until the footsteps faded.
Finally, he turned his attention to the girl next to him. He took a deep breath and told himself to ignore how pretty she was, but wasn’t prepared for the way her eyes would snare him as soon as they met his. Her eyes were a reddish brown that made him think of lava the moment it hit air and began to cool—dark around the edges and still burning bright in the middle. Junior lost his ability to breathe. He couldn’t do anything but stare.
She was the one to break the silence. “I think he’s gone,” she whispered.
“He’ll double back,” Junior murmured.
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s not one to let things go.”
That caused her to make a face and a sound almost like a snort.
Junior noticed a dusting of freckles across the bridge of her screwed-up nose and pale cheeks. He blinked in confusion. It was just so incongruous for Lola León, whose entire family was known for being dangerous hard-asses, to have something as sweet and innocent as freckles.
When he realized how long he’d been staring at her face, and was no doubt making her feel uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. “So what’d you do to piss off Jose?” he asked.