Hector shook his head, feeling a little annoyed. “Nah, he did prepare. I helped him actually. He just choked like he always does. But that’s just who he is. That doesn’t mean he’s not really into her.”
“Well, I thought so too,” Drew quickly countered, “until I went with him and Charlee to his grandpa’s assisted living facility.” She smiled big. “You’ve been there with him too, right?” She gave him a knowing look.
Hector stared at her blankly. “Yeah?”
“He’s not so awkwardly shy around everyone, now, is he?”
Still drawing a blank, he thought about it harder, feeling a little stupid because he had no clue what she was talking about.
She frowned now and sat up. “How many times have you been down to the old folk’s home with him?”
“A few.” So Walter wasn’t shy around his grandpa or the other oldies he played. Big deal. Hector didn’t see how that was going to help.
“And did you meet Natalie?”
Hector had to think about it for a moment. “His gramps’ nurse? Yeah, I met her. She’s been there every time.”
“And?”Drew pressed.
When he thought about it a bit too long for Drew’s liking, she plopped her hands down on the table, and her eyes flew wide open. “Oh my God, I’ve only been there once with Charlee, and we were there for all of five minutes before we picked up on it. Charlee even thought it was cute, but at the time, I was too annoyed to give it much thought because I didn’t like how rude Natalie was to Charlee.”
Hector lifted an eyebrow unbelievably. “Natalie was rude to Charlee?” Natalie was a sweetheart. He had to wonder if Drew was exaggerating or if this was a chick thing.
“Yes, she was rude to her. She obviously has a thing for Walter and wasn’t thrilled about him bringing Charlee with him. The girl wasn’t exactly sweet to me, but she must’ve picked up on Walter crushing on Charlee because she really laid on the rude with her.” Drew dug into her chip bag and shook her head. “Though, the big lug is as oblivious about it as you are. Charlee and I actually considered getting involved and maybe giving him a clue, but after the way she treated Charlee, we both said, ‘screw her.’”
This was total news to Hector. He’d been there a handful of times with Walter now, and while he noticed Walter seemed comfortable enough with Natalie, Hector hadn’t caught any interest she might have in him. Still, he liked where Drew was going with this. It wasn’t as simple as he’d been thinking. “So what’s your plan?”
“We get Walter and Natalie together! Charlee even says they’re perfect for each other. His grandpa’s in love with the girl. This will be a piece of cake.” Drew smiled wickedly. “Once they’re together, trust me, he’ll need to get over Charlee real fast because that cute little nurse with the big attitude won’t be having it.”
Hector thought about it. Funny, he hadn’t picked up on any discourteous behavior from Natalie. But then he wasn’t another girl vying for Natalie’s love interest.
“And here’s the beauty of it.” Drew had Hector hanging on her every word now. “Walter’s going to be traveling with Charlee a lot, right? Spending time on the road, staying in the same hotels. Natalie already doesn’t like Charlee.”
Hector didn’t even realize he was frowning until Drew laughed. “Relax. This is where you come in. I can guarantee you she’ll have issues with it that may lead to arguments and fights and ultimately her not being able to deal with it. I know I’d have a hard time dealing with my man going on the road with someone I knew he had a thing for, especially someone as adorable as Charlee. So you’ll actually be helping him out. If she knows Charlee will have her hot boyfriend with her along on said trips, she won’t be so freaked out about it.” Drew reached for her straw and took a sip of her soda. “You’ll be Walter’s hero, not someone who betrayed him.”
“Did you just call me hot?” Hector smirked.
With a laugh, she rolled her eyes. “Get over yourself.” She reached for her purse. “But I will need your number. We gotta collaborate here. Charlee cannot know about this. She’ll kill me. As a matter of fact, I have to get going, or she might get suspicious. I’m never gone this long without her knowing where I am, and she sort of already caught on this morning that I might be up to something. Only today, I knew she’d be out of it for most of the day, so I figured I could pull this off. Let’s have it.” She held her phone up, ready to enter his number in her phone. He gave it to her, and when she was done, she stood up.
“I’ll be in touch with you to let you know what I come up with. I’ll have to think fast. Charlee was already talking about going back home.”
“What?” Hector stopped in his tracks. “Why?”
She continued to walk, making him walk with her. “It’s what she does. That’s how she deals with being upset. She runs into her little Charlee hole and wants to hide from the world. I talked her out of it for now. But if this goes on much longer, I don’t know that she won’t change her mind.” She must’ve seen the worry in his face because she added. “Don’t worry. If you knew how my mind works, you’d know I’ll probably have a plan before I even get home. I’m all over this.”
Hector smiled now as they walked out the restaurant. Drew seemed as genuinely excited as he was beginning to feel. And she wasn’t kidding about how fast her mind worked. By the time they got back to 5th Street, Drew had already gone over several possibilities about how they could go about this. The more excited she got, the faster she talked.
“Catch your breath,” Hector said as they got out of his truck.
Drew laughed, but she did take a very long dramatic deep breath. “I needed that.” She laughed.
Hector stared at her for a moment then smiled. “So you’d do all this for Charlee, even though there’s a possibility she could kill you if she found out?”
Her smile didn’t flatline like last night when he told her she was a good friend, but it did lose some of its glow. “I just wanna see her happy. She deserves to be.”
With his insides already stirring, Hector could hardly wait to get on with this. The excitement of knowing this might actually work made him smile. He was glad now that he’d decided to tell Drew everything. This day could’ve gone in a completely different direction, and now he felt over the moon. “I know I said it already, but Charlee really is lucky to have you as a friend.”
That really snuffed what was left of her smile. “You did that yesterday when I said that. Why is that a bad thing?”
She was quiet for a moment then shrugged. “Let’s just say this is not an entirely selfless act on my part. You’re not the only one whose conscience is dragging him down. I need to do this for me as much as I do for Charlee.” Hector waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “I gotta go, but I’ll text you.”
That last revelation didn’t sit well with him. Did Drew mean she’d done something to Charlee she felt guilty about? No way. The girl had protective best friend written all over her. She’d even marched in and called him an asshole for making her friend cry.
He made a mental note to bring it up again if he ever got the chance.
Chapter 21
If there were any rhyme or reason to the days Hector showed up to the chess lab, Charlee could prepare herself accordingly. Monday she was fairly confident he wouldn’t be there because the last two weeks he’d been consistent and only showed up toward the end of the week. She’d been right and thankfully so because she still hadn’t felt up to facing him yet.
It was Tuesday now, and as Charlee walked to the chess lab, her heart sped up. As unlikely as it was that he’d be there this early in the week, the rattled nerves she felt from the possibility of seeing him again were out of control.
Since Friday, more and more had come to her about their conversation that night. She hadn’t just cried on her way home. She cried when she spoke with him. She just couldn’t remember why—or rather what explanation she’d given him for her tears.
Glancing up, she quickly lost
her train of thought. Ross stood by the stairway she needed to take to get to the chess lab. He was leaning against the rail with both hands in his pockets, smiling—waiting for her. This was the first time she’d seen him since Hector had blown up at her for talking to him last.
“You promised you wouldn’t be talking to him anymore.” Completely startled by Hector’s voice, Charlee nearly jumped.
With her hand on her chest, she glanced up at Hector, who was now walking alongside her, staring Ross down, and she gathered her thoughts. Was this something she’d promised Friday night? “I did?”
“Something like that.” He took a step in front of her and stopped. “Last week you said you wouldn’t be talking to him anymore. Is he waiting for you?”
Charlee looked up behind Hector. Ross wasn’t leaning against the rail anymore, but he was still there, only the smile was gone, and he seemed to be contemplating whether he should still wait or leave. “I don’t know.”
“He’s a bad guy, Charlee.” his words urged. “Trust me on this. Like the guy Friday night, you don’t want to associate with him. I can get rid of him for you. Just say the word and I will.”
She shook her head. “No.” His already hardened eyes seemed to almost darken with that, so she touched his tense arm and added, “I won’t associate with him anymore, but I don’t need you to say anything or do anything to him.”
“How ’bout I do it to you?”
“What?”
Before she could try to figure out what he meant, he leaned in and kissed her softly. As expected, her lips gave into him without even the slightest resistance. When he pulled away, he smiled, licking his lips. “In case he didn’t see that,” Hector said with a smirk then brought his arm around her waist, pulling her against his hard body, and kissed her again this time deeper.
Push him away. Tell him he can’t do this. It’s not fair!
But her brain was no match for her heart. It pounded soundly and happily in her chest as Hector’s delicious mouth continued to devour hers. Even after Hector pulled away, she stood there breathless and feeling completely enchanted. This was the last thing she expected to happen the very next time she saw him.
Hector turned around then brought his smiling face back to face her. She glanced back in Ross’s direction too. He was gone.
“You see,” Hector smiled even bigger. “That was a much more pleasant way to handle that. I didn’t even have to touch the douche.”
The second she could manage to move her wobbly legs, Charlee began walking. She wasn’t sure what she should be feeling, but at the moment she was feeling it all: excited, confused, a little angry, but not sure if she should be angry with herself or Hector. Mostly though, she felt embarrassed—embarrassed about how easily she’d given into his amazing kisses. Frustration was also peaking in her lineup of emotions. She’d been having a hard enough time getting over something that never was, and now she had more to add to it.
Hector stopped her again just as they reached the stairs, placing his hand on her arm. “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. But I couldn’t help myself. It was either that, or I might’ve done something to him. No,” he stopped and thought about it for a second, “I would’ve definitely done something to him.”
“You can’t do that again, Hector.” It almost hurt to say the words, but she had to. “It’s not fair,” she added with a whisper and began up the stairs.
“I know,” he agreed with a regretful frown. Then his eyes brightened a bit. “But if he even thinks of still trying to talk to you after that, you have to admit I’ll have good reason to react any way I see fit.”
This time she stopped and looked at him. “No, you don’t.”
His face went all serious again. “What do you mean? The guy thinks you and I are—”
“But I know we’re not. And if he decides to talk to me again and you happen to see it, you will not react any way you see fit. I’ll handle it.”
Hector shook his head. “Charlee, if I see that scumbag anywhere near—”
“Let me ask you something,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her and tilting her head. “Who were those girls you sat in the front row with Friday night?”
Oh, yeah, if he was going to act as if a kiss somehow gave him any liberties to do and say what he pleased, then she’d be taking a few liberties of her own. She almost smiled at the way he so desperately tried to hide how her question stunned him.
He recovered quickly and answered. “They were friends. One was actually. She’s someone I knew from high school, and she brought her friend along to watch the fight.”
She lifted her eyebrow. Was he trying to insinuate that, because he’d only met her friend that night, it had to be completely innocent? “Did you have fun with them too in the parking lot like you did with the two other girls you met the night of the tournament?”
The fact that she knew about that didn’t stagger him quite as much as she would’ve thought. Still he pressed his lips together before responding. “No. We were supposed to grab a burger after, but when I overheard someone talking about inviting you to that keg party, I cancelled so I could go look for you instead.” This time she was the one stunned and obviously he noticed. He took a step closer to her. “The decision was a no-brainer, Charlee. You were my priority.”
She gulped, feeling something strange happening, but she dared not even think it. It was hard not to the way he stared at her now. His eyes looked deep into hers like they had on the dance floor that night and then later that same night when he’d kissed her so profoundly. That same stare made her insides feel all kinds so of craziness.
Still, she reminded herself that while his eyes and kisses may be saying one thing, he’d made it clear more than once now that anything deeper with him was out of the question. And as much as she’d love to give into having the pleasure of being in his arms, experiencing those amazing kisses of his, even if it was only temporarily, she knew she couldn’t. She didn’t have it in her to do that. Inevitably, she’d be in tears and drowning in despair, knowing someone else was enjoying those arms and amazing kisses too. There was no way she could do that. But what was fair was fair.
“Well, thank you for making me your priority that night. And given the circumstances Friday, I’m glad you reacted the way you did with that jerk at the party. Even today, I know you meant well, but this needs to stop.” She hated to admit the next part, but she’d since decided she had to be honest from here on. No more games of any kind. No more wondering what he might be thinking nor making it unclear what she was thinking or feeling. He already knew anyway. She’d use her big drunken declaration in some way to her advantage. “You said it yourself, Hector. I’m not like those girls you hang out with so casually.”
He nodded, still staring at her in that way that was going to be the end of her. “I can’t do this and pretend it doesn’t affect me, and I won’t anymore.” She glanced away, unable to take his penetrating eyes anymore.
“I agree,” he said. “And just so you know,” his fingers grazed her arm. That alone was enough to send shivers swarming through every part of her body, and just like that he had her locked in his hypnotic stare again. “I can’t do it either without feeling more. And while I’ll do my best to let you handle this guy, I can’t make any promises. I’m just being honest. I don’t think he deserves so much as a nod from you, but I will promise that if I do decide to do something it won’t be what I did today.”
Smiling at him as if that were a good thing, Charlee took a deep breath. Maybe the fact that Hector had just promised never to kiss her again was the last thing she thought she’d ever ask him to do, but deep inside, she knew it was the smart thing. The tingly feeling she got just from being around him and knowing that he felt something for her too made it feel all the more impossible that she’d ever give up hope for more. Any more kisses from him would certainly have her clinging to something that he already said wasn’t happening.
Hector’s own forced
smile suddenly disappeared, and he looked at her suspiciously. “Since we’re in agreement now that this guy’s a douche you shouldn’t be associating with, can you tell me now what question he was gonna answer for you later? Maybe that’s why his dumb ass is still creeping around trying to run into you so he can answer it for you.”
Charlee had to think about it. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about and then it came to her. “He mentioned wanting me to give him another chance.”
Hector’s entire face went rigid and his brows pinched. “A chance for what?”
Shrugging, she responded. “That’s exactly what my question was just before you got there. He never got a chance to tell me.”
“And he never will,” Hector said very seriously.
She stared at him for a moment but decided not to argue. Clearly after seeing the way Hector kissed her today and judging from his reaction to Ross around her in the past, there was no way Ross could still think there was any chance of anything with her. Charlee didn’t think she’d have to worry about Ross still wanting to answer that question.
Finally able to tear herself away from his those eyes, Charlee made her way up the stairs, feeling drained. Going back home for a few days—weeks maybe—to regain a little of the willpower she now felt completely devoid of, was beginning to sound like a really good idea because even after her little speech to him, if he so much as asked to kiss her one last time, she’d be in his arms in a heartbeat.
~*~
Drew was a fucking genius. This plan of hers was not only working out, it was happening a lot faster than Hector had expected. He’d gotten the text from Drew Saturday night. She told him to plant the seed as soon as possible. Get it in Walter’s head that Natalie was interested in him.
In hindsight, Hector felt a little stupid now that he hadn’t noticed what Drew said was so pathetically obvious, and she couldn’t believe he’d never noticed how lovesick Natalie was. Drew even gave him specifics he could point out that even Hector couldn’t believe he’d missed. Like how when Natalie made Walter a sandwich, she was very meticulous about making it just the way he liked it right down to the extra pepperoncinis and choice of bread—seven grain.
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