Page 25 (1/1)

"Grace knoe’re just friends Just like so to worry about

Vince slipped his hand into hers underwater and stared at her "What other guy friends?"

She turned to him, and Vince saw the effort she made to hide her surprise to his question "I…I have a few friends in school"

"Friends like me?" He squeezed her hand now "Because I don’t have any friends like you, Rose, none You’re the only one"

"Well" She licked her lips looking away "They’re just guys I talk to But no…not like with you"

"Good" He took a few steps off the stairs, pulling her with him in the water "Just so you know," he said as he dipped his head back into the deeper water When he popped back up she was still holding his hand and still staring at hi a bit bewildered "I don’t need anyjust you andher a little closer to him but not too close in case souys shohen I’m around, I won’t be very friendly" He lifted the corner of his lip, as Rose began to get what he was saying "Don’t get me kicked out of La Jolla, Rosie Because that’s probably what’ll happen"

As the back door slid open, he let go of her hand and dove into the deep end When he popped up on the other end of the pool, Rose popped up next to him They both held on to the side as Grace walked back into the house again She’d brought out leht his attention back to Rose He’d been busysure Grace closed the door all the way "I don’t have any other friends like you either You’re the only one"

Feeling the onset of one of biggest goofiest smiles to date, Vince cursed the fact that he was in Sal’s backyard, or he would’ve attacked her with a million kisses Instead he reached for her hand and squeezed "Good That’s exactly what I aiting to hear"

The end of su up on thehe was so glad now that he’d made perfectly clear They of course still held hands every chance they got Soht Sal see anything to disrespect Rose So if he ever caught Vince holding Rose’s hand, he’d have to cut hi for Rose what he felt now and not be doing anythingher hand was a show of restraint even Vince didn’t know he had in hiiven all the ti suit The risk of his ti to take

Then one night just a couple of weeks before the dreaded end of his suo see Rose, he got the text fro to Nevada!

With his sto a sudden dive, Vince responded i if he should just go or wait for her response He decided he’d wait He didn’t want to make her wait to have to pull over to respond Nevada? What the hell? He re hi of this summer and the friend they knew out there But why they’d be ot a DUI His class-A license was taken away Without that, he can’t work any with roo about getting et enrolled over there this fall

Vince panicked Sal and Grace were away for the weekend Rose wasn’t his girlfriend yet But he had every intention of staying in touch with her once he left and co out to visit her as s official between them in the very near future then he would come back next sum

Do you have to go? Can’t you stay here with Grace?

Since Grace and Sal had announced their engagee in her conduct with Rose FroeRose the attention and affection she never had in the past Sal told Vince in confidence he thought the calculating bitch was up to so Grace would have a much better life now, and if her mom wanted to have any part of it, the one way to stay on Grace’s good side was through Rose

Of course Vince didn’t share this information with Rose especially since he could tell that, while she didn’t ade Little by little this summer Rose had opened up to Vince about her relationship with her mother or lack thereof She said she didn’t care, and what her mother lacked in parental attention and affection, Grace more than made up for But Vince saw the expression in her eyes when she spoke about her soardless of how irl who’d been neglected by a parent for too long, Rose craved her mother’s attention When Grace moved in with Sal, they told Rose she was more than welcome to move in, too--that Sal had plenty of room But Rose chose to stay because her mother said she wanted her to Rose said she’d decided to stay because she didn’t want to switch high schools, but Vince knew better He’d seen the twinkle in Rose’s eye when she told him her mother actually wanted her to stay