clear.
“Right,” Diego said. “How about you worry about finding people who accept you and Kevin for who you are and make friends with them instead?”
Brandon nodded.
“Good,” Diego said. “How about we get you home?”
Brandon was quiet as they drove toward the apartment, staring out the side window, lost in thought. After a few minutes, he looked at Diego. “You’re going to tell my mom about all of this, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not,” Diego said after a moment to think about it. “You are. I’ll be right there with you while you do it, but part of doing what’s right from now on starts with you stepping up and telling your mother everything.”
Brandon didn’t look happy but nodded in resignation.
Chapter 14
Bree figured she and Diego would go straight home after having dinner at the fancy French restaurant they went to, but instead he surprised her by taking her to a club with a full parking lot and Latin music drifting out of an upstairs balcony already packed with customers sitting at small tables.
“We’re going dancing?” she asked, embarrassed when her voice almost came out in a squeak. “I love to dance! I haven’t been in forever. I think the last time I danced was when I was in high school. You-know-who didn’t like it. Said it made him look uncool.”
She doubted looking uncool would ever be a problem for Diego. Something told her he was a very good dancer.
Diego chuckled as he opened her door. “Then I’m glad I took a chance and decided to come here. I kinda thought you might like it.”
Once inside the beautiful entryway with its colorful walls, hardwood floors, and whirling ceiling fans, Bree started to get a little nervous. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said it had been a long time since she’d gone dancing.
The smiling, dark-haired hostess showed them to a table off to one side of the dance floor. While it was close enough to give them a great view, it was far enough away that she and Diego could talk without having to shout. As the server took their drink orders, Bree watched the couples on the dance floor moving and twirling to a hip-swirling beat that was already making her tap her toes. She recognized the dance, but wasn’t sure she could replicate the smooth, confident steps.
“I’ve never salsa danced,” she admitted when the server left. “I don’t think I’ll be able to move like them.”
Diego smiled and reached across the table to take her hand, not bothering to glance at the couples dancing. Instead, he had eyes only for her. “Don’t worry about it. I can teach you the steps. Just relax and let the rhythm take over.”
Bree wasn’t so sure about that, but she was willing to give it a shot. No way was she passing up the opportunity to dance with Diego.
Their drinks came as Diego was pointing out the basic steps, highlighting the foot placement and the sway of the dancers’ hips. The more Bree watched, the more she was sure that an embarrassing face-plant was coming her way in the near future. Even though she loved to dance, she wasn’t all that graceful at it.
“How’s Brandon handling being grounded for the rest of the summer?” Diego asked, sipping his Jack and Coke, his attention once more focused on her.
She picked up her strawberry daiquiri and took a careful sip. The perfect balance between rum and fruit, it was cool and refreshing. She didn’t often drink anything but wine and had no desire to make herself look any more foolish on the dance floor. “Better than I thought he would.”
Bree had been shocked when Diego had walked into the apartment the night before with Brandon and Kevin trailing behind him a whole hour before she was supposed to pick them up at the movie theater. Then she’d almost lost her mind as Diego gave her a brief synopsis of the evening’s events.
To say it had been a very long night was putting it mildly. Kevin’s parents had come over and listened as Brandon and Kevin spilled every single detail of their involvement with Elliott Gillespie and his Hillside Rider gang contact. Diego hadn’t said much, letting her son and his best friend answer all the questions. Bree was horrified—not to mention terrified—that Brandon had put himself in a position like that again. But there was some part of her that was proud he was standing up to all of it now.
She had no doubt Diego had