Seeing Hector’s Adam’s apple move as he gulped hard, she tried not to fall apart completely. “I’ve apologized to Walter, Charlee.” He turned to Walter his face pale now and full of regret. “Did you tell her that too?”
Walter nodded. “I did and that you weren’t the one actually harassing me, just your friends.”
When Walter had mentioned this earlier, she felt sorry for him. Just as she’d been so quick to glorify Danny’s noble behavior because he hadn’t actually thrown food at her like the other kids, Walter gave into the obvious man crush he had on Hector and overlooked that he allowed his friends to treat him that way—ostracize him until he dropped out of school. Now it pissed her off.
“Oh well, take a bow, Mr. Ayala,” she said, her words dripping with venom now. “I guess that makes you better than them. But don’t talk to me about proof, Hector, because if you think I’m going to believe a word Drew says—”
“You don’t have to! I can show you the texts.”
“I’ve seen the texts!” She tried walking by him.
“Charlee, it’s true,” Walter said. “He showed me. You didn’t read the whole thing, but it’s really not what you’re thinking.”
Pathetically, Charlee felt a glimmer of hope that maybe, at the very least, this part was explainable. She turned to Hector, her chest now heaving. She was so worked up.
“I can explain it,” Hector said, the remorse still so heavy in his eyes that it scared her. “I can’t take back what happened in high school with Walter, but I swear to you I tried to make up for it. I nearly sacrificed the best thing that’s ever happened to me just so I could make up for it. And that’s you, Charlee.”
Charlee turned to Walter, wondering why he hadn’t told her this, but he looked just as lost as she felt.
“Have a seat please and I’ll explain,” Hector said then turned to Walter. “You too. I have something I need to come clean to you about also.”
Confused, Charlee and Walter exchanged glances then took a seat on Walter’s bed. Suddenly, Hector seemed nervous, and that made her nervous again. Did she even want to hear this?
To her surprised, he addressed Walter first. “Walter, I think I’ve been in love with Charlee since the night of the speed tournament. I tried to fight it. I really did.” Charlee, whose weak heart was already swelling, stared at him, trying not to give in so easily. He turned back to her now. “I felt so guilty about the shit my friends had done to Walter in high school I just couldn’t justify going after the girl he was so infatuated with.”
“Dude,” Walter said, squirming in his seat.
“It’s okay, man.” Hector assured him. “She already knows, but only because I had to tell her.” Feeling the need to, Charlee smiled at Walter, and he glanced away quickly, obviously embarrassed. “Anyway,” Hector continued, his attention back on Charlee now. “That’s why the texts between Drew and me started. Your friend really does have a sixth sense. She was right about me, and she was also right about Danny.”
The smile completely vanished as Charlee stared at him, confused now. “She came to 5th Street the day after the keg party.” He smiled a little crooked. “She called me an asshole. She said she knew I had feelings for you but was under the impression that I just didn’t want to commit to one girl.” Now he turned to Walter and explained the whole Operation-get-Nat-and-Walt-together scheme.
“You and Drew planned that?” Charlee asked, surprised it never occurred to her that her scheming friend had had a hand in that.
“Yeah,” Hector winced. “But that’s a good thing, right, Walt? Things turned out beautifully.”
Walter smiled, nodding, so Hector turned back to Charlee and explained the texts. “She was offering to text me a list of your favorite things, but it didn’t feel right to continue being sneaky when I didn’t have to anymore. But there was never anything inappropriate about our texts. I can show you them, and you could read them all from the very first to the very last.”
Relief sunk in, and she could already tell her heart would be willing to overlook his past mistakes about not standing up for Walter. Walter seemed to be okay with it, and Hector did make a great effort to make it up to him and do right by Walter by staying away from Charlee for so long. She could certainly attest to that. He did try to keep things between them from happening for too long. Sadly, it didn’t change the fact that Drew had still betrayed her in such a horrific way.
“Are we good?” Hector asked, looking very worried still. “I think I covered it all, but tell me if you need anything else clarified.”
She stood up now, anxious to hug him and so incredibly happy that at least he hadn’t betrayed her. Immediately his arms were around her, and even though they’d just spend the entire weekend together, it felt as if she hadn’t been in his arms in so long. He kissed her softly, and after the kisses they’d shared all weekend, she got the distinct feeling he was holding back, but she didn’t blame him. They were standing in Walter’s room, and he was sitting there watching them.
“But now I have a question for you,” he said as he pulled away. The worried expression was back. “Did you go see Danny when we were in Maryland?”
“No.” She shook her head immediately but braced herself to tell him the truth. “That letter I said was from Gwen,” she paused, waiting for him to nod. “That was from him. Gwen ran into him last week, and she mentioned I’d be in town and was hoping to get together with me. So the night before, he brought it to her and asked her to give it to me. She brought it to our lunch, and the only reason I didn’t tell you it was from him was because, at the time, I wasn’t planning on even reading it, so I didn’t think it mattered.”
Charlee paused once again because the emotion of knowing what Drew had done overwhelmed her again. Before she could continue, he pulled her to him again and kissed her head. “I know that had to be a blow, babe.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even believe it at first. I thought for sure Danny was lying, and then she admitted it.” Charlee glanced away, wiping the away the tears that had once again begun.
“Charlee, please don’t be mad at me, okay?”
Not liking the sound of that, her brows furrowed, and she stared at him. “What?”
“Drew is outside.” She pulled away from him. “Listen to me, baby,” he said, reaching for her and holding her to him. “She explained it to me, and trust me, I felt ready to spit when she first told me about what she’d done too. But after hearing her explain why, I think, maybe, you’ll understand.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing that could excuse what she did.”
Hector bobbed his head from side to side. “Well, maybe not, but I think you should at least hear her out. If I really didn’t think you’d understand, I would’ve told her to go to hell instead of where she could find you. But it’s up to you.”
Suddenly choked up, Charlee wanted nothing more than there to be a good reason for what Drew did, not just so she could forgive her, but so that her heart wouldn’t hurt so much. It literally ached, mourning the loss of her best friend.
Visions of Drew on her knees, sobbing on her front lawn came to her now. If that wasn’t genuine regret, she didn’t know what was. She nodded and followed Hector outside. Drew stood across the street, leaning against her car. She straightened out when she saw Charlee.
“I’ll wait here to give you your privacy if you want, but if you prefer, I can go with you too,” Hector said, squeezing her hand. “Up to you.”
She smiled, feeling a little shaky already but decided she needed to do this alone. “I’ll be okay by myself.”
Drew started toward her when she saw Charlee coming to her, and they met at the curb. Drew’s face was a mess, and Charlee hated that she already felt like hugging her. For a moment, she didn’t even care why Drew had done it. She could see it in her friend’s sorrowful eyes she regretted it immensely, and that’s all that mattered.
“They had a picture of me,” Drew began her voice so broken
it choked Charlee up instantly, and she brought her hand to her mouth in an effort to not break down too. “The one I’d sent of my breasts to that asshole Greg I’d gone out with. Apparently, he’d forwarded to someone who was threatening to go viral with it. When you turned Danny down the first time, he came to me to confess about the party and asking you to it, but only because he knew you’d say no. He didn’t want to do it. They were pressuring him. They told him to ask me to try and convince you, and if I didn’t, the picture would go viral.”
Charlee nodded. She understood why Drew felt she had to. It made total sense. She’d be applying for college the very next year. That could’ve ruined her.
“I told them to fuck themselves and I didn’t give a shit about the picture.” She shrugged. “There were more scandalous things out there than a girl flashing her boobs. I’d live. Danny was really happy. He thought for sure I’d agree to convince you.”
Charlee stared at her confused now. “But you did.”
Drew nodded. “He went back and told them what I’d said, and few days later, he came to me again.” She scrunched her face up and looked away. “You remember what was going on around that time with my mom and my brother’s coach, right? My dad was already so devastated.” She shook her head. “Well, my idiot mother and that fucking coach taped themselves having sex. Someone got a hold of that too, and they were threatening put a like-mother-like-daughter video together, alternating my stupid tit’s picture with her video and going viral with that. They sent me a snippet of the disgusting video, and there was no way I could let my dad to see it or be publicly humiliated that way.
“Danny assured me that it was an inside-joke thing and that you would never even know it. He said all the girls at these parties never knew about it, and they kept it on the down low so the next year when it happened again no one would know. It’s the only reason I agreed to do it.” Her face suddenly crumbled again. “I wanted to die when they did what they did on Facebook,” she cried. “I swear I wanted to kill all of them. I went to Danny’s house and physically attacked him, but he swore to me he didn’t know they were going to do that. I didn’t believe him, until there was this huge brawl at school, and I found out it was Danny and his closest friends against some of the bigger assholes behind the whole Facebook thing. It really divided the whole,” she lifted her fingers to do an air quote, “popular crowd at school after that. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I just couldn’t. You were so devastated. I was terrified you wouldn’t understand. And earlier when you confronted me about it, I couldn’t tell you because my dad was there. I just—”
Charlee hugged her, and Drew cried openly now against her shoulder. She’d heard enough. As hurt as she’d been just hours ago, she now felt for Drew and all she must’ve been going through herself that entire last year. “I love you, Drew, and I understand why you did it now.”
Drew squeezed her tight. “Please tell me you’re not going back home.”
Charlee smiled, feeling an enormous and complete relief come over her now. For several horrifying hours there, she really believed she’d lost her best friend and her first love all at once.
“No, I’m not going home. Are you kidding? And give up our new beginning? Not a chance.”
They both glanced back at Hector, who stood at Walter’s stairs. His muscles were bulging a little through his tight t-shirt, and he was smiling at them now. “You’d be nuts to walk away from that hot thing too. He really is a dream, Charlee, and not just because of his looks. He truly cares about you.”
Charlee mouthed the word, “I love you,” and Hector mouthed them back.
“He is,” Charlee sighed deeply, feeling completely drained but more content than she ever had in her life. “He really is.”
Epilogue
A four-day cruise was exactly what Hector and Charlee needed after the grueling Junior World Olympiad. As a team, they came in second, which was excellent because they hadn’t even been expected to place in the top three. The Ukraine had been favored all along to take it all, and they did. But the U.S. pulled a major upset against Hungary, and now Hector and Charlee could celebrate in style.
Charlee had actually taken first in one of the longer tournaments. It was very impressive. Hector had been so proud of her he’d skyped Sam, even though it was about four a.m. in Florida to say, “In your face!” when she beat out the contender Sam was so sure would take it.
The cruise was nice; although, they were sharing a cabin with Abel. So they had to get really creative and sneaky about any alone time in bed. As freaky as Charlee thought she was, doing anything with Abel in just the other bed in the cramped cabin was not going to fly. Not to mention Abel had warned Hector before they even boarded he didn’t want to be walking in on anything or waking up to anything that would make things awkward for the rest of the cruise. He’d actually told Hector to keep it in his pants for the weekend. That wasn’t happening, not with the incredibly romantic sunsets, dinners, and general atmosphere of the cruise. So far their creativity had come up short.
They were up on the top deck now, looking out into the moonlight. They’d be docking in Ensenada in just a few hours. They really should be in bed already. It was late, but Charlee had insisted on going up there to take a look at the stars. It was such a clear night you could see them twinkling as far as forever.
Hector stood behind Charlee, hugging her as she leaned against the rail, looking out into the ocean. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so content in my life,” she said, taking a deep breath and leaning her head back into his chest.
She echoed his sentiments exactly. Although he wouldn’t ruin such a romantic moment by mentioning what would make this moment even more perfect, he did glance around to make sure no one else was up there with them. The top deck was completely abandoned, and it was well after 2 a.m., so he didn’t expect anyone else joining them anytime soon. He kissed her lower chin, and she tilted her head in reaction, granting him further access to her neck.
“Happy anniversary,” he whispered.
Her body suddenly went stiff. “Anniversary?”
He smiled, kissing her neck again, a little smug that he had one up on her. He knew coming into this new world of being in a relationship that this is the kind of stuff girls usually kept track of, not the guys, and he had a feeling he’d suck at it since he was so bad at remembering birthdays even. Though he had to admit it was Roni and the other girls who teased him just before the cruise about actually being with the same girl for months now that had made him check a calendar out of curiosity. The weekend just before they moved into their new house—the day he’d gone and picked her up and they made it official after eating grilled cheese sandwiches from a truck was exactly six months ago today.
She turned around to face him, looking a little worried. “Yep,” he said, kissing her nose. “Today is six months since we made this official.”
Her eyes brightened now. “You’re keeping track?”
Though she smiled, she sounded as if she felt a little guilty, so he let her off the hook. “Not so much,” he pulled her closer. “Roni and the girls brought it up just before the cruise, and I had to look it up. But six months, huh? Feels like just yesterday that I couldn’t keep my eyes off you at that tournament.”
“And you couldn’t keep your hands off those two girls,” she teased with a smirk, though there was a hint of distaste in her eyes.
So many times Hector had wanted to explain to her that nothing had ever happened between them except for the kisses they shared in the parking lot that night, but he never thought it a good idea to bring up. He’d just as soon let her forget about that and had since decided to never revisit it. How the hell was that coming up now, on this most romantic of nights on a cruise ship, in the middle of their anniversary talk?
Charlee spun herself around slowly in his arms to face the ocean again. “I know you think I did, but I didn’t actually ever do more than what you saw in that parking lot with them.” She didn’t say a
nything, and he was almost glad she wasn’t facing him now. “I told you about Sam getting in a wreck just before he moved, right?”
He filled her in on how it had happened that very day and he’d had to cut his night short as soon as he turned on his phone and got the news.
“But you would’ve otherwise, right?” Without giving him a chance to answer, she added. “I take it with the amount experience you have with those types of girls you’ve done a lot of crazy things in the past.” Just when Hector thought the conversation might be taking a turn into the uncomfortable, she moved her ass against him, rubbing him in just the right place, instantly arousing him. “Ever done it out in the open where you just might get caught?”
The second it hit him what she might be suggesting, the tension he’d begun to feel bubbled over into smoldering need. Bringing his hand down to the bottom of her adorable one piece shorts suit, he ran his hand up her bare thigh and leaned in to her ear. “Not out in the open . . .” he whispered. “Like here.”
Feeling her tremble, he brought his hand all the way up her thigh and around to feel her bare behind. His heart sped up when he realized she wore nothing underneath. He’d been around her all day, saw the jumpsuit she’d chosen to wear, the one he’d at first mistaken for a very short sundress because the shorts were so loose, and not once had it crossed his mind that maybe she’d worn it for a reason. “Did you have something in mind today with this outfit and no panties?” Unable to stand it anymore, he squeezed her ass.
She giggled in spite of the tense reaction her body had to his question. “Maybe.”
With a near growl, he sucked her neck, bringing his hand around the front and between her legs. She gasped but still spread her legs for him. Hearing her made him even crazier, and he rubbed what was now fully erect and throbbing against his shorts on her behind.
His perfectly freaky little girlfriend swayed her hips, driving him even more insane. Glancing around again to make absolutely sure there was no one around, he moved quickly, pulling a condom out of his wallet and himself out of his shorts. Amazed at the easy access the loose and stretchable fabric of her shorts provided, he effortlessly bent her over then slid right in.
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