Hector (11 page)

Charlee didn’t even know why this surprised her. Of course, he’d
be interested in Drew and not her. Why would he? Drew was outgoing, playfully
flirtatious and charmingly confident—everything Charlee wasn’t. No wonder he’d
been smiling at her from the moment she walked in. He probably planned on
asking about Drew even before she got there.

“It’s only a day away,” she said, making a move immediately after
Walter did and took his rook. “I’m sure she already has plans.”

She didn’t mean for that to sound as snippy as it had, but she
couldn’t help it. Her irritation had reached a new level now. She was irritated
at Walter for obviously throwing the game. Was he really that afraid of playing
Hector the Great?

She was irritated at Drew for being so damn likable—irritated at
Hector for staring at her as he had earlier from across the room and giving her
an inkling of hope that there might actually be more to that stare. But mostly,
she was irritated at herself for even going there.

Why would she even consider getting caught up on a guy like
Hector? Hadn’t she learned her lesson already about getting her heart set on
someone she knew was completely out of the question?

“Well, let her know, or you could come alone,” Hector said then
put his hand on Walter’s shoulder. “
Or
you could come with Walter here. You’re coming, right, Walt?”

Walter smiled at her sheepishly then glanced at Hector and
nodded. “Yeah, sounds like fun.” He turned back to Charlee. “You can ride with
me if you want.”

Wonderful.
Drew had Hector’s attention, and Hector
had just lumped Charlee off on Walter. As if asking about her friend hadn’t
made it entirely clear he had zero interest in Charlee, he had to double stamp
it with this.

“Felix Sanchez is supposed to drop by,” Hector added.

Oh yeah, that made it better. If Walter bored her Friday night,
she could drool over the famous man whore. Trying desperately not to frown but
unable to even muster a smile, she glanced at him coldly. “Yes, Walter mentioned
something about that.” She looked quickly back at the board because even as
irritated as she was, she couldn’t look into those sinfully playful eyes
without feeling drawn into them. “But thanks, I already have plans.” She
cornered Walter’s queen, knowing exactly what he’d do next, and when he did,
she took it with her next move. “Checkmate,” she said, glaring at Walter.

If she had it in her, she’d call Walter out for such an obvious phony
loss. Was he really
that
spineless?
Had he no confidence in his game at all? He hadn’t made the U.S. team for
nothing. But she wouldn’t embarrass him. She knew all too well what it was like
to be spineless. Maybe if she weren’t, she’d stare back at Hector like she’d
caught him doing several times during this game alone. Instead, she’d looked
away quickly every time. No wonder Drew was the one Hector and every other guy
they met together, were ever interested in. Drew would’ve stared right back,
maybe even smiled and done or said something witty.

“Wow, that was fast,” Hector said, standing up. “What happened,
big guy? Not your day?”

Walter shrugged. “I told you she was good.”

Not
that
good. “Hmm,
that felt a little too easy,” Charlee said, trying not to sound too sarcastic
as she reset her pieces on the board again.

Glancing up for a moment, her heart sped up as she watched Hector
and Walter trade places. Hector spun the chair Walter had been sitting in
around and straddled it just as he had the first one. Charlee gulped at the sight
of him even closer to her now. Why couldn’t he just sit like a normal person?

He quickly set up his pieces then leaned over a bit with
that
smile, “You ready?”

For once, she didn’t look away. It took all the courage she could
summon, and she ignored the shivers already racing throughout her entire body. Out
of nowhere, she felt suddenly enlightened. Sitting so close to her now, he
didn’t seem so elusive—so bewildering. He was human just like her, albeit a
very sexy, nearly perfect human, who made her tingle without the need to even
touch her. Still, this guy didn’t possess superpowers or walk on water—although
she’d hardly be surprised if he did.

It wasn’t fair.
She
was
the one that had fantasized about this guy for almost two weeks now. Just
because she wasn’t as outgoing as Drew or as slutty as those girls Saturday
night, that shouldn’t make her invisible. She may not exude sensuality like
some girls did, but she was no ugly duckling—not anymore anyway. At the very
least, she’d be noticed. Chess, if anything, was the one thing she could be
confident about. Charlee had done her homework. It was time to make
herself
noticed.

She almost chickened out, because it was something Drew would say,
not Charlee. But she sat up straight, full of determination. Lifting an eyebrow
and refusing to give into the urge to break the eye contact with him, she
smiled. “I was born ready.”

~*~

For the first time today, Hector was able to indulge in
Charlee’s
deep blue eyes for more than just a few
seconds. Okay, so maybe dark eyes were not the only kind that could take his
breath away. Unlike the rest of the day when she’d pull away from his staring,
this time
he
had been the one that
looked away first. He had to before Walter noticed but mostly before he gave
into the incredible urge he had to tell her just how amazing her eyes were.

Once again, Walter hadn’t wasted any time getting right to his
lame plan of action. The second Hector had walked into that chess lab, Walter
was on him. It actually worked out that Hector had a fight that Friday and that
they were having a party afterwards. He’d invite Walter and Charlee to both,
even though he didn’t think Walter would capitalize much on the opportunity.
But regardless, not only would Hector be more than even with Walter but he was determined
to slowly rid himself of the guilt that, annoyingly, even after the time he’d
put into Walter’s workout last night,
still
lingered.

This should’ve been a painless enough payback, but then Walter had
to open his big mouth around the other guys. Now Hector would be stuck hanging
out with this bunch of
virgins
tomorrow night. As if
that weren’t bad enough, Walter nearly blew the first part of the plan already.
The plan was to let Charlee beat Walter so that Hector could play her and take
extra-long between moves. This would give Walter a chance to make small talk
with her, and if he got stuck, Hector would be there to help him out.

Walter was supposed to have brought up the fight so that Hector
could be the one to invite her since Walter didn’t have the
huevos
to do it himself. But so
far, not only had Walter hardly said a word but he was so ridiculously obvious
about letting her win Hector thought she’d catch on for sure.

Hector was now the one making all the small talk while Walter sat
there like a damn mute. How the hell did he expect to impress this girl? Worst
of all, it was happening again. In spite of her indifference toward him on Saturday
night, Hector
thought
it might actually
be possible for him to be attracted to a cute little redhead like Charlee. Now
he
knew
it was. Not only was he
having an exasperatingly hard time keeping his eyes off her but he found it
impossible to not add a flirtatious undertone to everything he said to her.

His comment about her friend Drew was meant to tone it the hell down
and throw her off a little. He was sure if she hadn’t already, she would notice
his eyes tracing every inch of her face: her eyes, her lips, and that porcelain
skin. Then there were the freckles. She didn’t have as many as you’d expect on
a redhead, but he never thought freckles would be so damn distracting or that
he’d be having visions of kissing them slowly, one by one. Even that sexy
little red eyebrow she’d lifted at him when she said she was “born ready” had
sucked the air out of him.

Well, he’d just have to suck it back in because there was no way
he’d be doing anything to move in on a girl Walter was so hung up on, no matter
how unlikely it was that she’d be reciprocating Walter’s feelings. Hector was already
going above and beyond anything he’d normally do for someone he didn’t even
know all that well. And it was all for the sake of shaking the guilt that had
troubled him for too long. He wasn’t about to blow all his efforts away for
this. Nope, this wasn’t happening.

With everything he had going on in his life anyway, he didn’t have
time for relationships. The most he could do right now was fun. And there were
plenty of other girls out there he could have
fun
with. Saturday night had been further proof of that. Of course,
Sam had thrown a wrench in that one, but Hector had no doubt he’d finish what
he started with those two eventually. The girls had been just as disappointed
as he was, and since he’d invited them also to Friday night’s party, he’d make
it up to them soon enough.

After taking his turn, Hector glanced at Walter, giving him a
look as Charlee took her time studying the board. Walter stared at him blankly.
Hector opened his eyes wide, willing Walter to come up with something—
anything
. But frustratingly, Walter
remained silent.

“Your turn,” Charlee said, sitting back in her chair.

Unlike most players who leaned in the whole time studying the
board and focusing on their possible next move, Charlee would sit back during
her opponent’s turn. Hector had observed that about her even during her game
with Walter. For some reason, it irritated him now. Maybe it was because that chip
on his shoulder was growing by the minute from her continued unimpressed and indifferent
attitude toward him. Her sitting back the way she was made it seem as if she were
sending out a message loud and clear—she didn’t have to put much effort into
beating him.

He knew he was being paranoid, and most likely, as usual, he was over
thinking things. She’d sat that same way during her game with Walter, but
obviously, she really hadn’t had to try in that case since he’d so easily let
her take the game.

With the sudden urge to not just win but really show off, Hector
thought of some of the moves Sam had used on him in the past: the maddening
ones Hector never even saw coming.

Thoughts of Sam distracted him for a moment. Hector had been so
relieved to find out Sam was going to be fine. Having lost the only father
figure he’d ever had recently, Hector wouldn’t be able to handle something
happening to Sam.

Being so busy with Sam and training, Hector all but forgotten about
Charlee’s
snobbish attitude until Walter had showed
up last night. Even though Hector refused to ask outright, he did get a few
things out of Walter about what the people on the school’s chess team thought
of him so far. They’d been thoroughly impressed. Of course, Walter didn’t say
who exactly, and Hector was not about to ask, but he seriously doubted Charlee
had been one of the ones so impressed.

It wasn’t until they were into the game a good ten moves that Hector
picked up on
Charlee’s
plan. He couldn’t be sure yet,
but if he weren’t mistaken, she was imitating the opening moves from his game
in Saturday’s tournament, not the game in the final round against Bisbee
either. This was the opening he’d used on
Kowalewski
—the
player he’d knocked out before Bisbee, the one who was supposed to have been
the biggest threat, the guy he'd specifically prepared his opening novelty for.

After a few more moves, there was no mistake about it. It was
exactly the game he’d played.

Clenching his jaw, his mind raced now. What was she doing? She
had chosen to play this for a reason. Why? Should he be flattered that she’d
obviously took the time to examine his game and apparently memorized it, or
should he be pissed that maybe she really was being snobbish—showing him up?
What idea had she found that he hadn't when he prepared for
Kowalewski
?

Hector looked up at her after her latest move, meeting those deep
baby blues once again. Nothing in her blank expression gave anything away. He
decided not to let on that he knew what she was doing, because he still
couldn’t figure out why. Instead he would use the fact that he knew what moves
she’d be making before she actually made them to his advantage.

He’d completely given up on helping Walter make small talk with
her. If Walter couldn’t even come up with a few comments about chess, the one
thing these two had in common, then he couldn’t be helped. More onlookers gathered
around Hector and Charlee: onlookers who may very well be thinking the same
thing he suspected both Walter and Charlee thought—that maybe he wasn’t cut out
for the U.S. team or even the school team. It’d been common knowledge that whoever
made the U.S. team would be automatically invited to play for the ESU team.

Walter was
on his own
. Right now, Hector
was on a mission. There was something more important he needed to focus on now.
Obviously, Charlee was up to something. Hector was going to figure it out one
way or another.

And then, she played her new move. It was bold, nothing like the
quiet play that had led up to this position.
Kowalewski’s
knight
had
passively retreated here, but this was a challenge, a pawn pushed up the last
file on the board, like a bomb going Ka-boom on his king’s pawn shield.

Hector couldn’t help but smirk. Was she getting nervous? Sure she’d
taken out the pawns in front of his king, but it was such a gamble. He could
just fend off her attack and then slowly squeeze out a win in the endgame.

The next move proved she was panicking because she sacrificed her
queen for a pawn. Hector smirked again as he took her queen and set it aside
with a sympathetic shrug. She wouldn’t even look at him now. Hector watched her
serious expression, more than amused at how she made her next move so quickly.