Page 40 of Love or Leave

Just then, they all heard Cara's funny little laugh across the room and turned. Antonio's foot started tapping under the table. What the hell was this Jalen kid saying that was so fucking funny?

"She looks like she's having fun," Ethan said.

They all looked over and saw her beautiful eyes all crinkled and happy as she bent slightly forward, laughing.

Had she smiled and laughed that much when they'd gone out?Definitely not at his parents' anniversary party. But maybe she did at the euchre tournament?

"And if she heard you say 'allowed to,'" Ethan added, with a pointed look at Adam, "she'd marry him out of spite."

Max's already deep scowl deepened further.

"Don't you want her to be in a happy relationship?" Ethan asked. "That's what she wants."

Max slowly calmed down and sat back, piercing Antonio with his gaze. "Just tell me it wasn't something criminal."

Antonio hesitated, then wanted to punch himself for almost lying. "No," he said. "Nothing criminal."

Max assessed his eyes for a long moment before finally breaking eye contact and reaching for his beer. He knew how much Max loved his sister. Honestly, she was more like a daughter to him.

The fact that Antonio was lying to him, and sewing seeds of doubt about Cara's date, made him hate himself even more.

What the hell was he doing? How did he become this kind of person? He always thought of himself as a good friend. He wanted to be someone you could count on.

Instead, he'd become someone you wouldn't want to leave alone with your sister.

"She'll figure it out," Ethan said. "She's definitely smart enough."

"She's lacks experience to see red flags. Look how long it took her to figure out Cooper," Max said. "I still worry she'll start that bullshit back up again."

Antonio took a drink and stayed quiet.

After that concert, there was no way. Max didn't have to worry about Cooper ever again.

But he obviously couldn't put his friend's mind at ease without admitting he'd been sort of seeing his sister. He glanced across the room at Cara and wondered if they should just come clean.

"How did your parents' anniversary party go?"

Antonio blinked over at Adam, who was watching him curiously. Could Adam tell that he'd been watching Cara?

Shit.

Hopefully not.

"It went bad." Antonio twisted in his seat, forcing his attention elsewhere and fighting the urge to glance across the room. "Fran brought someone. And Mom called her out. It was a disaster. I left ten minutes after I got there."

His friends winced in unison.

"Is it serious between them?" Ethan asked.

Antonio shrugged. "I don't think so." He remembered how sick he felt standing across from Fran at that party. "They don't seem compatible. She's always been very high maintenance, and the guy she brought is fucking Blake Hunter."

All three of them made matching “oh” faces when they recognized the same. "That survivalist guy, right? With the news segment?" Adam asked.

Antonio nodded.

"I saw a clip of him killing a wolverine with a rock and skinning it with a pocketknife," Ethan said, a look of absolute disgust on his face. "It was gruesome."

"Has she changed a lot?" Max asked. "Become outdoorsy?"

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