Sam was over there before he knew it, pulling Rico away from Brian. "What the hell are you doing here? I don't think you were invited," Sam said through gritted teeth, but Brian only smirked.
"He said he was a friend of yours from out of town," Rico said, obviously confused.
"He is not," Sam said while glaring at Brian.
"That's right. We're a lot more than friends," Brian said suggestively.
"Go, or you'll be late for your shift," Sam said to Rico, not wanting to involve him in this.
Rico left reluctantly, looking back a few times. Sam had a feeling he wouldn't have if he knew what kind of guy Brian was.
"You need to leave or do you want to get the cops called on you?" Sam asked him.
"Me? I don't think so," Brian said threateningly, reminding Sam that he could press charges against him. "I haven't done anything wrong. I saw you talking to that pretty boy, and I just wanted to get to know him a little."
"You stay the hell away from him," Sam warned him. He already considered Rico his friend, and he wasn't going to let Brian mess with him.
"You have gotten brave," Brian said with a sneer. "You sure that's how you want to play this, babe?"
"Fuck off, Brian," Sam told him.
"Nah, I don't think so," Brian said smugly, but then he looked over Sam's shoulder, smirked and started to walk away. "See you around, Liam."
As Brian moved off, Sam turned to look over his shoulder and saw what persuaded Brian to leave. It was Wyatt coming over, looking ready to pay him back for every beating he gave Sam.
"Settle down. It's fine," Sam said, placing his hand on Wyatt's chest.
"You sure?" Wyatt asked and he stroked his face.
"I am. You're here, aren't you?" Sam told him. "I want to let Mrs. Del Rio know about this."
Going in search of her, Sam texted Rico at the same time to let him know that Brian was bad news.
"Not to worry," Rico texted back. "Not my type."
Sam told Mrs. Del Rio that Brian had been there. "I'm so sorry," he told her.
"What are you apologizing for, sweetheart?" she asked and patted his arm.
"I brought trouble to your doorstep. I'm so sorry," Sam told her.
"You silly boy, you want to take responsibility for all the jerks of this world? This isn't your fault. You chased him off. Now try and forget him and enjoy my party," she instructed him.
"OK," Sam told her. He didn't want to be a downer, but he couldn't forget about Brian. It was bad enough for him to approach Sam in town, but that he would come here. That was a bad sign. How far was he willing to go to get to Sam?
While Sam was lost in thought, Riley ran over to him and grabbed his hand. "I came to get Sam," he said to Mrs. Del Rio.
"What if I want to keep him?" she teased Riley.
"No, Mrs. Del Rio. Sam is ours," Riley told her.
"But you got your uncle and those two dogs," she said.
"We need Sam too," Riley told her decisively.
"Is it because he can cook?" she wanted to know.
"Yeah and to watch TV with us and make funny faces when Uncle Wyatt tells us bedtime stories," Riley said.
