He loved watching Charlee laugh, so he shared a little more. “And get this one. Bathing suits for kids are a gimmick. It’s just the retailers’ way of trying to make money. I can’t even begin to tell you how many pictures she has of Abel and me in the summer, running through the sprinklers in our tighty whiteys.”
Charlee held her hand to her chest, still laughing. “But did she ever dig a hole in the backyard and fill it with water for you to swim in?”
“Yuck,” Hector said as he pulled into his driveway. “Okay, you got me there, but we do have a few pictures of Abel and me—once again in our tighty whiteys—frolicking in a storage tote or ice chest or anything we could turn into a pool because, according to my mom, they were just as good as those cheap plastic pools from Kmart.”
Glad that Charlee didn’t seem at all nervous about meeting his mom, he walked around his truck and met her by the front walkway to the tiny house he’d lived in his entire life and could hardly believe now he was moving away from.
Charlee looked positively adorable. Her long burgundy sweater, leggings, and boots weren’t nearly as provocative as yesterday’s jeans and tiny hoodie, but they were still enough to make Hector’s heart race. “Ready?”
She nodded as he took the pasta dish from her then took her hand in his free one. “Smells good,” he said, bringing the dish closer to his face.
“It’s probably the only thing I know how make aside from the typical sandwich or generic stuff you stick in the oven or microwave.”
“What is it?”
“Ranch chicken pasta,” she said, crinkling her nose. “I got the recipe from one of those ladies passing out samples at the supermarket. It was so good, and when she explained how simple it was to make, I bought the stuff, went home, and voila!”
Realizing his friends and family were going to be around today and watching closely, Hector had to remind himself he couldn’t be kissing her every time the mood struck him or he’d never take his lips off her. But damn it if he didn’t feel like kissing her again, so he moved the dish aside and leaned into her against the porch wall just before they walked in. This kiss had to tide him over for a while, so he made it count, savoring her mouth deeply and sucking on her tongue and bottom lip. Suddenly imagining what it would be like to be in her, he got a little carried away, letting a moan escape.
The front door opened abruptly. “Down boy.” Hector pulled away from Charlee and turned to a slightly amused-looking Abel at the door. “Mom’s watching.”
Hector glanced back at the window near the far side of the porch and winced, remembering they were visible from the kitchen. Turning back to Charlee, he saw she was already bright red. “Don’t worry about it. If she saw the whole thing, she knows that was all me.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Abel took the dish from Hector and smiled at Charlee. “Hi, Charlee.”
Charlee barely nodded, smiling through her redness. “Hi,” she said softly.
Stepping back to let them in, Abel chuckled. “She’s been waiting, dude, asking me all kinds of questions like just how serious you are, and then you put on that little show—nice.”
Hector went straight to the kitchen to get it over with. The second they walked in, his mom gave him a scolding look, but it immediately disappeared when she turned to Charlee and brought her hands to her mouth, smiling. “Ay, que linda!” She held her arms open to her, and Charlee glanced at him cautiously before stepping forward and accepting his mother’s overly zealous hug.
“This is Charlee, Mom.” Hector said in an effort to end the suffocating hug. “Charlee, in case there was any doubt, that’s my mom.”
His mom pulled away to look at Charlee, and instantly, her hands were on Charlee’s hair. “So pretty. No wonder this boy is acting so crazy. He does have manners. I promise you.” She lifted that eyebrow at Hector again then brought her attention to the next most important thing about Charlee—her food. “What is this you brought?”
Abel caught Hector’s attention and motioned for him to follow him out back. Hector shook his head. He didn’t want to leave Charlee to fend for herself with his mom, but his mother noticed and waved Hector off. “Go on. She’ll be fine in here with me.” Charlee gave him a wide-eyed smile, but, otherwise, she seemed fine.
“I’ll be back,” he said in as reassuringly as he could.
He walked out, following Abel. Doña Benitez, the older lady that lived in the back house and her daughter and grandkids were already out there, setting up the serving table. He greeted them all as he followed Abel to the grill. “Dude, mom’s gonna be all over your ass the moment she gets you alone.”
“It was just a kiss,” Hector rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, one that had you moaning.” Abel laughed flipping over the carne asada.
If it were anyone else but his mom who’d seen, Hector might be laughing too. “Did she hear me?”
“I don’t know, but I sure as hell did.” Abel frowned when of the smaller pieces of meat fell in the grill. “Damn it,” he adjusted the other pieces. “Listen, I’m supposed to be having that talk with you.”
“Again?” Hector plopped down on the patio chair next to the grill. Now he could laugh. “What? Does she think this is my first time?”
Abel gave him that knowing look. “No, but she does have a point. You haven’t been in any trouble or fights outside the ring in a long time. I saw you at the party the night of your fight. You had that ready-to-murder look on your face when she was dancing with that other guy. Don’t even get me started on your flagrant broadcast to the entire gym that she was off limits. Are you sure you’re ready to handle being this hung up on a girl?”
Hector frowned. “That was just Nestor, and, of course, I can handle it.”
Abel turned to him, staring at him for a moment. “First of all, you did pick a nice one. I’ll give you that. I never would’ve made you out to be into redheads, but she’s beautiful, and that little body of hers,” Abel whistled, flipping over the meat on the grill as he swayed his hips. “Dayum!”
The thought of Abel checking Charlee out so closely and what might be going through his head as he swayed those damn hips pissed Hector off. “Is there a point to this shit?” He squeezed the arm of his chair, glaring at his brother.
Instead of Abel smirking like Hector thought he would, his brother turned to him now, looking anything but amused. “My point is she’s a head turner. Get used to it. You’re gonna need to handle your reaction to it better than you have so far.” Flipping the meat one last time, Abel closed the lid on the grill. He turned back to Hector, who was now feeling a little stupid that he’d walked right into that one. “You’re not a minor anymore, little brother. Those fists of yours are lethal, but you can’t go around unloading them like you always have in the past. The shit’s real now. You can get your ass thrown in jail. And just now, doing what you did out there, knowing mom’s just inside, already you’re not thinking straight when you’re with this girl.”
“That’s not true,” Hector said, feeling annoyed that Abel would blame anything on Charlee. But he hated to admit Abel was right about one thing: Hector hadn’t even slept with Charlee yet, and already he’d felt ready to murder for her more than once.
Abel shook his head. “Whatever, dude. Just the fact that you actually brought her home to mom speaks volumes about what this girl’s doing to you already. You know me. I’m usually with you about mom worrying too much. But I gotta tell you this makes me nervous. You’re a loose cannon as it is when you snap, and something tells me you’ll snap for this girl in a heartbeat.” Abel looked at him very seriously now. “I need you to promise me that you’re gonna stop and think before reacting, no matter what the situation is. There’s only so much I can do for you. You snap bad enough, no amount of money is gonna get you off.”
Hector stared at him for a moment, thinking about that, then looked away. He did think before reacting. The night of the keg party he’d gone for that asshole’s throat instead of using his fists. When h
e’d knocked the guy out for Walter, his only thoughts were to get him off Walter. He’d been in save mode—not attack mode. The night at the party, his thinking was different. He wanted nothing more than to hurt the guy—bad. If Hector had used his fists, he would’ve done some serious damage, and yet he had the presence of mind not to.
Standing when he saw Noah, Gio, and the gang arrive through the side gate, Hector was relieved he could end this conversation.
“Hey,” Abel said before the guys got too close. Hector looked at him but didn’t say anything. “Promise me.”
He nodded, knowing full well that would be one tough promise to keep. “Yeah, all right.”
Glad for the interruption, he walked over to meet the guys. He was glad they both brought their girls. Roni even brought her best friend, Nellie. “I thought you were bringing the baby.” Hector asked Noah and Roni.
“My mom begged them to leave him with her,” Gio explained. “She has my little cousins for the day, and they love helping her watch him.”
Roni didn’t seem thrilled. She even pouted. “I miss him already, but Noah said I could use the break.”
“You could,” Nellie said, taking a seat next to her around the patio table. “It’s only for a few hours. You haven’t had a drink with me in ages.” She squeezed Roni’s arm, teasing playfully. “Cut the cord every now and again.”
“That’s why Gio’s mom is keeping him when we take that cruise,” Noah said, taking the seat on the other side of Roni.
“Oh my God,” Roni gasped, “don’t remind me: a whole four days away from him. I don’t know how I’ll survive.”
Noah rubbed her leg. “You’ll be fine, babe. It’ll be fun, and we’ll be back before you know it.”
“So is everyone in?” Gio turned to Nellie, who was the coordinator of all things 5th Street now, including trips.
“Everyone but Abel,” she said, mouthing the words thank you to Hector when he handed her a cold beer then continued to pass the rest around.
Abel glanced back at her for a second before going back to his grilling. “I’m waiting on a call from my publicist to make sure I don’t have anything lined up that week. I’ll let you know.”
“Just make it fast,” Nellie said, taking a sip of her beer, “because the tickets are selling out.”
Hector finished passing out the beers and started back to the house to get Charlee.
“Speaking of the cruise,” Gio’s fiancée, Bianca asked, “did you decide to invite that guy to the cruise after all?”
Slowing down, Hector glanced back at Abel for a reaction, his brother continued to grill, not even flinching.
“No,” Nellie shook her head. “I’m still on the fence about him. I’m not sure I wanna be stuck on a date with him for four days. He might get the idea that I’m getting serious, and the only reason I even considered inviting him was so I won’t be the third wheel to you guys all weekend.”
Other than Abel reaching for his phone there was still no reaction from his brother. Interesting. Hector thought about it as he walked toward the back door. Like Hector, Abel had never been one for serious relationships, but Hector could’ve sworn he picked up on something from his brother ever since Nellie had been signed on as the gym’s event coordinator. Maybe he’d been wrong.
His thoughts were switched over to Charlee the instant he heard her voice. Already, he could hardly wait to be near her again.
Chapter 25
The time Charlee got to spend alone with Carolina, Hector’s mom, who insisted Charlee call her Caro, wasn’t nearly as nerve-racking as Charlee had expected. She did ask a lot of questions about Charlee’s family, her plans for the future, and, most awkwardly, her feelings for Hector. But all in all, things had gone well. Charlee had decided yesterday, when she agreed to no holding back or guessing games, she would be completely honest about her feelings. And since this would likely get back to him, she kept her response as true and uncomplicated as she could without sounding too sappy.
Trying to keep herself from blushing, she chewed the corner of her lip and smiled at Caro. “Your son is very sweet, and I’m very glad I met him. I like him a lot.”
Apparently that wasn’t enough for Caro. She stared at Charlee with a smirk so mischievous it made Charlee nervous. “What about love? Have you ever been in love, Charlee?”
“All right, Mom,” Hector said, walking in the back door, once again saving Charlee when she’d needed him most. “I should’ve known better than to leave her with you so long.”
“What?” Caro spun around to face him, her hand quickly on her hips. “I’m just making conversation.”
“Yeah, yeah,” He walked up to Charlee, immediately taking her hand in his, and kissed his mom on the forehead, almost as if to mollify her as he whisked Charlee away with him toward the back door. “That’s enough alone time for you two. I have some more friends who want to meet her.”
Charlee smiled at his mom with a look of regret that their conversation had been cut short, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. She’d never been so relieved in her life. If she was really going to stick to the being honest and upfront thing and Hector hadn’t walked in at that moment, she may’ve had to admit the truth. With every kiss, every touch, every deep breath she was forced to take from just being near him, she was falling harder and more profoundly than she ever imagined was possible for Hector already.
This was something she wasn’t ready to admit out loud yet. It was almost embarrassing, but the truth was they’d become official yesterday, and already he’d brought her to meet his mom today. The frightening speed in which this “relationship” was getting serious was coming from both sides. She’d have to keep that in mind as her wary heart feared her feelings for him were light-years ahead of where they should be.
“So did she grill you good?” Hector asked as they stepped out into the yard.
“It wasn’t too bad.” Charlee smiled then laughed at the astounded look on his face. “It wasn’t.” she insisted. “But your timing was, as usual, perfect.”
He slowed down and peered at her now. “Really? You know you’re still gonna have to answer that question eventually.” He stopped, leaning in and kissing her softly. “Only I’ll be the one doing the asking,” lowering his voice to a whisper, he pulled her close to him, “because I really want to know.”
“Get a room!”
Both Charlee and Hector turned to a smug-looking Gio as the rest of the gang laughed. Charlee glanced back at Hector, who wasn’t laughing. “I usually use that one on him and Bianca.” He smirked now. “I’m sure he’s been dying for a chance to use it on me.”
They started toward the patio table where all his friends sat except for Abel and Noah, who were over by the grill. Ironically, seeing the women with Gio at the table, knowing these were the people closest to Hector—the very ones she’d been reading about all this time online and now it appeared she may be joining their group—made her even more nervous than meeting his mom.
After meeting them all, Charlee sat and chatted with the girls who picked both her and Hector’s brain about the U.S. chess team. They all seemed genuinely sweet and very curious about her relationship with Hector.
“Okay, you have to tell us how this happened, because there is no way Hector would be bringing a girl to meet his mom unless he was serious,” Roni said, leaning on her arms against the table as soon as Hector walked away when the guys called him over to the grill.
“Yeah,” Nellie sat back, taking a sip of her beer. “I wasn’t aware either of the Ayala brothers did serious.”
All three women stared at her. Roni and Bianca’s eyes were full of anxious curiosity while Nellie seemed a little on the skeptical side.
As usual, hating to be the center of attention, Charlee felt her face warm. “Well, it was and it wasn’t sudden.” She had to smile at the confusion in their faces.
Explaining quickly and briefly how they’d known each other for over a month now and how things
had been a bit complicated, she told them how she, too, hadn’t thought he did the exclusive thing. “In fact, he sort of made that clear early on, and then, I don’t know. He called me yesterday out of the blue and said he wanted to talk to me.”
She gave them a very brief rundown of the agreement they’d come to yesterday then smiled. “And here we are.”
“Well, good for you,” Bianca said. “You stuck to your guns and forced him to give into things your way.” She turned to Roni and Nellie. “For all his talk of never inviting any girls to a friendly gathering or even the Friday Night fights because they might get the wrong idea, I knew he’d give in eventually.”
Charlee wasn’t sure she liked the use of the word forced. Clearly, Hector had made up his own mind. She’d forced nothing on him. But she focused on Bianca’s last statement now. Hector told her about the girl at the fight the night of the keg party, the girl he said had been the only other girl he’d ever even come close to having a relationship with. He’d been concerned that Charlee might not be over Danny—someone that as far as he knew she hadn’t been in touch with in over a year. It never even occurred to her to ask if maybe he still had feelings for this girl. The fight he’d invited her to, after all, had only been a few weeks ago. And according to Bianca, unless he wasn’t concerned about girls jumping to conclusions, he’d never invite any of them to even a fight. Not only had he invited this girl but he had her sit up front with him.
Pushing the thought aside, she concentrated on the conversation, glad that the curiosity had moved from Charlee and Hector to Nellie’s love life.
A few hours later, Charlee said her goodbyes to everyone. The only one she hadn’t said goodbye to was Abel, who was busy on the phone off to the side of the yard. He got off the phone just as Hector and Charlee had begun to walk off toward the side gate.
“I’m in,” Abel announced, walking back toward the group.
Hector Page 30