Hector (35 page)

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.

Hector had noticed but didn’t think anything of it, even when
Walter mentioned she always got it right. Drew pointed out that Walter hadn’t
asked for his sandwich made in any particular way but apparently Natalie had
made note of his preferences. She also mentioned how Natalie would laugh at all
of Walter’s jokes, no matter how lame they were. But most notably, Drew said
there was no hiding how impressed Natalie seemed with Walter’s level of intelligence.
That
she’d said was the clincher. Drew
said she wasn’t being mean, but Walter had little else to impress this girl with,
so it was huge that Natalie was already so taken by his intellect.

It amazed Hector that Drew had picked up on all this in one visit
while he’d been there several times and never made anything out of any it. To
his credit, he
did
think it odd that
a young girl like Natalie would choose to work at an old folk’s home instead of
a hospital or clinic with young staff like her. All the other nurses there were
old and crabby-looking. They looked like they belonged there, but not Natalie; although,
Hector never would’ve attributed it to having anything to do with wanting to be
around Walter. He just thought it had something to do with the amount of money
she might be getting paid being someone’s exclusive nurse.

Of course, Walter had been just as clueless as Hector when he
told him. Sunday morning, when Walter had come in for his workout, Hector got
right to it. The workout that morning was pretty much a wash because Walter had
stopped so often to listen to Hector tell him everything he’d picked up on from
Natalie in the past few weeks. Hector could kick himself now for not thinking
of setting Walter up with
anyone
else
sooner. The poor sap had been instantly excited about the prospect that someone
was actually interested in him. Right there laid the real reason why Hector
hadn’t thought of setting Walter up with anyone else. If he had to be honest,
the idea that anyone would be interested in Walter had never crossed his mind.
But Walter
was
making progress with
his weight loss now. And the haircut and brow trimming had been huge
improvements. The best thing about this was that none of that mattered with
Natalie. Her attraction to him was obviously for what was on the inside, not
the outside.

By Monday evening, Walter was already talking about going to the
movies in a few days with Natalie. It didn’t surprise Hector that Walter said
it had been
her
idea after Walter
brought up wanting to see a new movie coming out that week. But it didn’t
matter. The most important thing was he’d talked about Natalie the whole time
and only once brought up Charlee. That was only to mention that she seemed a
bit down at chess lab that day, prompting Hector to make an early visit to the
lab that week.

He knew it was way too soon for it, but he hadn’t been able to restrain
himself from kissing her, especially after seeing that shithead smiling and
waiting for her. Already, he was marking what was
his,
and they weren’t even there yet. But after a week of Walter
talking non-stop about his new love interest and the successful date to the movies
with her, Hector was ready to go for it. He could hardly stand to be around
Charlee anymore and hold back.

Drew worried it was too soon and thought he should wait at least
until Walter kissed Natalie. She said as awkwardly shy of a guy as Walter was
this would likely be his first kiss so that would certainly seal the deal.
After getting his first taste of that and especially if things went any further
between him and Natalie, Walter would be saying, “Charlee who?”

Only a week after springing the plan into action, Hector got a call
from Drew. This whole time she’d done nothing but text him, so he had a feeling
this was bad. Normally he didn’t answer his calls while he was in the middle of
training someone, not even Walter. Abel said it was in bad form. You were
supposed to give your trainees your undivided attention at all times. But
Walter wasn’t exactly a paying customer. Hector had agreed to train him for his
own reasons. So he told Walter he had to take the call and rushed out.

“Hello?”

“We need to move this along a little faster.” The urgency in Drew
voice only worried him further.

“Why? What happened?”

“She’s talking about going back home again. She says she needs to
get away. I’m doing my best to talk her out of it, but she’s saying things like
maybe she can finish up the semester via the internet. Because of her status on
the chess team, she thinks they might give her special privileges if she lies
and says someone is sick at home.”

Hector brought his hand to his head, his stomach dropping instantly.
“You mean leave for good?”

“Yes! Either you take your chances that Walter will still be
upset with you and just tell her how you feel or you get that boy to first base
with Natalie already!”

“How long do you think you can hold her off?”

“I don’t know. She’s in her room now, looking into the online school
stuff. I’m not sure if it’s even possible, but if it is, it’ll probably take at
least a few weeks for her to get it all together.”

“A few weeks?
I think I can pull
something off in that amount of time.” He thought he heard Drew groan. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said sounding frustrated. “You just need to think
of something
fast
.”

Hector’s mind raced. Walter had just finished telling him he and
Natalie would be going to the aquarium later that day. Maybe he could give him
some
more
tips on how to make the
first move. Ever since Drew mentioned that once Walter got that first kiss down
Hector should be golden, he’d been laying it on thick that Walter should just
go for it. From what Walter had told Hector, he was certain Natalie would be
more than willing.

“Okay, in the meantime, I’m setting her up with a friend of
mine.”

“
What
?” he didn’t even
realize he’s been pacing until he stopped cold.

“It’s just a double-date thing. This guy I went out with a few
times has a friend who thinks Charlee is cute. So I figured—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Hector gripped his phone tightly,
already regretting that he’d cussed at
Charlee’s
best
friend but feeling like his choice of words just may get worse. “You’re gonna
have her go out with someone else?
Someone who’s
already
interested in her?”

“It’s just one date, and—”

“I don’t care if it’s just coffee!”
Fuck Walter
. “Did you already set this up?”

“I’m waiting for him to return my call, but I’m sure if they
don’t have plans tonight, they’ll be up for it.”

“Tonight?”
He started pacing again.
“You’re gonna do this tonight?”

“I was desperate, Hector.” She lowered her voice. “I needed to
distract her so she could stop talking about going back home.”

“Call the guy back.” Hector said almost through his teeth. “Tell
him to forget about tonight then text me
Charlee’s
number.
I’ll
distract her.” He
stalked back toward the front door of the gym. He couldn’t believe this shit.
All week long, Drew had been spot on with all her ideas and now she comes up
with
this?
“And do
me
a favor, will you? The next time there’s an emergency like
this,
call me before you go setting her up with anyone else. I can guarantee you I’ll
come up with something better.”

Drew was quiet for a moment. “Are you sure? What about Walter?”

“I’ll worry about Walter. Just cancel that double date.”

“Hector,” she whispered.

He stopped just before entering the gym.
“Yeah?”

“Who are you gonna tell her gave you her number? She can’t know I
did this. I promised I’d stay out of it.”

“I’ll think of something. And don’t worry. I won’t mention you,”
he said then just before going inside he added, “Drew?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for doing this. I owe you big time.”

She was quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“Anything for Charlee.”

There was a noticeable change in her tone, and Hector remembered
her I-need-to-do-this-as-much-for-myself-as-I-do-for-Charlee comment. He
considered asking her to clarify, but he didn’t have time. He needed to talk to
Walter, and then he had a very important phone call to make.