Hector (10 page)

It was bad enough to see the one girl, Leticia, throw herself at
him the way she had, especially since they knew perfectly well she’d just met
him. But both Drew and
Charlee’s
jaws had dropped
when they saw him pull the second girl to him and proceed to make out with her
as well. Drew had been that close to honking as they sat there in her car,
watching the whole thing unfold just a few spaces away. But Charlee had begged
her not to.

There was no question where the three of them were headed and what
the rest of their night entailed. The way he’d skidded out of there in such a
hurry just added to her disgust. Obviously, he could hardly wait to get to it. And
although Charlee would never admit it, even to Drew, she’d been green with envy
that those two
whores
got to do with
him what she’d been fantasizing about doing for days. But she’d never stoop to the
level of being with a guy who clearly had zero respect for women, no matter how
beautiful he was.

Granted those two sluts didn’t deserve any respect but still.
Didn’t he have any respect for himself? If those girls were so ready to jump in
his truck just minutes after meeting him, surely this wasn’t the first time
they’d done something like this.

Reality kicked her in the gut as she walked in the room and the
very first thing her eyes saw was Hector standing around with Walter and some
of the other guys in the class. He glanced at her for a moment and smiled when
their eyes met. The visual of him and those two girls in the parking lot
thwarted what should’ve been all out bliss that he’d actually showed up and
she’d be seeing him this close
every
day now.

Charlee smiled back but looked away quickly. Her only hope now
was that, aside from being a pig, he was a conceited jerk, because, honestly,
who would blame
any
guy for taking up
girls offering a threesome?

Feeling the irritation overwhelm her, she took a seat at one of
the tables furthest from where Hector and the other guys were standing. For the
past three days when he didn’t show up to the meetings and just a few minutes,
ago she was so ready to mentally lynch him from her thoughts that she completely
disallowed herself to have any more fantasies about him. Now here it was only
the very first time she’d seen him since being witness to that shameless parking
lot scene, and she was already making excuses for his behavior.

A few nights this past week, she actually wished she hadn’t seen him
that night with those girls so she could continue her harmless
fantasizing
. But seeing
him
now only reaffirmed that being around him every day might
not make those fantasies seem so harmless anymore. It was also painfully
obvious from the way he’d handled those girls that it hadn’t been the first
time he’d been in a situation like that.

This could be bad news. Her hopes that maybe he’d changed his
mind about joining the school team had been crushed. Falling for someone like
Hector would not only be hopeless but, in her case, it would be
bad
. She could feel it already, and
she’d barely spoken to the guy.

Glancing up when she heard the group of guys laugh, their eyes
met again. Even as he laughed, he’d been watching her from across the room. Turning
away this time not returning the smile, she began to set up her chess pieces.
She was really beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

She sunk in her seat a bit. Her assumption about him being a
conceited jerk was also slowly flying out the window. This whole week when he
hadn’t showed up, she’d played out a few theories in her head: perhaps making
the U.S. team was obviously commendable but joining a college chess team wasn’t
cool enough for him, or maybe he was so arrogant as to think he didn’t
need
to show up to the meetings or labs for
the school team. Maybe just like he had on Saturday, he could show up at just the
tournaments and blow everyone out of the water. She’d even imagined him walking
in, completely full of himself and unapproachable.

Now here he was not only socializing and looking as down to earth
as the next guy but he genuinely seemed to be enjoying the company of these
people—her people—people she would’ve never in a million years thought would be
intermingling with someone like him. He’d taken two girls home Saturday night
for crying out loud. Most of the guys here looked as if they’d never taken a
girl home
period
. Still, for someone
her mother would probably refer to as a lady-killer and who’d won the way he
did Saturday to actually come in here and not act superior in
any
way, well, it was just infuriating!

It wasn’t even just about looks. She and Walter were the only
other two on the school team who were also on the U.S. team with him. Nobody
else in here had even been invited to play in the tournament. Hector was
superior to mostly everyone in here in more ways than one. She’d hoped to see that
he was stuck-up, arrogant—at the very least a little smug. Instead, he was
being mindful of everyone. He’d even smiled at her—
twice
.

She hadn’t realized how lost she was in her thoughts until
someone pulled the chair across from her out. “Hey,” Walter said as she looked
up.

“Hey,” she smiled then went back to setting up her board.

In the last few days, Walter had been talking to her a little
more often than before. It seemed his sitting with her and Drew at the
tournament then bringing Hector over to meet them after had sort of made them
friends, not that she hadn’t been nice to him before. The Monday after the Ross
incident, she’d gone right up to him first thing when she got to the chess lab
and asked how he was. She’d even thanked him for what he’d done once again, although
he didn’t seem too thrilled to be talking about it. But he did mention having
to go to the emergency room the day after. Of course, she felt terrible, but
he’d changed the subject quickly. She got that he was evidently embarrassed.
She didn’t want to embarrass him further, so she’d stopped asking him anything
related, except for the few times she’d asked about Hector.

This week, she’d made it a point
not
to ask about Hector at all until yesterday morning. More out of
hope than anything, she’d asked if Hector had decided not to join the school team
after all. Walter said he hadn’t talked to him since.

Walter began arranging the chess pieces on his side of the board.
“Kind of cool to have someone like Hector on the team, huh?”

She stopped arranging her pieces and looked up at him again. Hearing
the man-crush in his voice only added to her already conflicting feelings about
Hector. “What do you mean someone like Hector?”

Walter smiled a little bigger this time but still looked every
bit as nervous as he always did when he talked to her. Charlee would never hold
his weirdness against him. In a small way, he reminded her of
herself
. She, too, did dumb stuff to hide her embarrassment
or feeling out of place. Only now, there was an added oddity to Walter’s normal
weirdness. “I told you he boxes, right?” She nodded, pushing away the visual of
Hector shirtless and in the ring. “So he’s fighting tomorrow night, and he said
if we go, we can all get into the after party right there at 5
^th
Street.” He leaned in, wincing a little as if in pain. “His brother is Abel
Ayala. Not sure if you know anything about boxing, but he’s getting pretty
famous around East L.A. and in the boxing world.”

Charlee stared at him. She’d never heard of him, but she could
hardly believe that on top of it all Hector had a brother who was
pretty famous
. No wonder those girls
were all over him. With fame, there also came fortune. Wow. She didn’t think he
could be any more unattainable.

“Anyway,” Walter said, clearing his throat, still wincing as he
set up his last piece. “He said it hasn’t been formally announced and probably
won’t be for months until everything is finalized, but it looks like Abel’s
going for the heavyweight title next year. That’s what the party is for. And
it’s not open to anyone else but close friends and family, so it’s cool that
Hector said we can all go.” Walter’s eyes suddenly opened even wider. “He said
Felix Sanchez might even be there.”

Charlee caught herself as her mouth fell slightly open. Felix
Sanchez—now there was a name she recognized. He’d become one of those household
names now like Shaquille O’Neal or Tiger Woods. Even if you knew nothing about
the sport they played, everyone’s heard of them because they were all over
television and tabloids either for good reason or bad.

In the case of Felix, there was a little from column
A and
a little from column B. While he did a lot for his
charity to help troubled youth and he won quite a few big bouts, he was also in
the tabloids a lot. Because of his famously boyish good looks, in spite of how
many fights he’d been in, his many romantic escapades with Hollywood starlets
and other famous female athletes had made the front pages of countless gossip
magazines.

Charlee purged the incredible urge to roll her eyes. Of course,
Hector would be closely acquainted with someone like Felix. In a way, she was
happy to hear this. His inviting the guys in the chess club to such an
exclusive party had only furthered the confirmation of one thing: her theory
about Hector thinking himself to too good to hang with the chess club people
was completely debunked. She needed something,
anything
that would remind her he wasn’t perfect. Sure being
friends with someone like Felix added to the already staggering mountain of
cool Hector stood atop of, but it also helped further the other conclusion
she’d come to about Hector Saturday night.

She wasn’t at all sure how serious he was about boxing, but if
his brother was going for a major title, Hector couldn’t be far behind. Felix
was the perfect example of what anyone even considering getting involved with
Hector had to look forward to. She almost smiled smugly. This could very well
kill the already weak temptation to continue to fantasize about the guy.

Catching Walter’s pained expression one more time, she finally
had to ask. “Are you okay?”

The pained expression morphed into an even weirder one, and he
started doing that head-bobbing thing again. “Yeah, I’m just a little sore is
all.
Me
and Hector had a long
workout last night over at 5
^th
Street.”

Charlee lifted an eyebrow. “You work out with him?”

“Yep,” the head bobbing got more severe until Hector’s hand
landed heavily on Walter’s shoulder and Walter froze.

“I’ll play the winner.” He pulled out the chair next to Walter,
spun it around then straddled it, resting his big arms on the back.

Charlee’s
mouth went dry in reaction to
seeing him this close so suddenly, and her heart kicked into overdrive
instantly. Not only had he interrupted the thoughts she’d been so lost
in—thoughts of him once again, working out—he was now staring at her with that
smile that made her insides liquid.

“But let’s put a timer on this one,” he added, still smiling and
looking right at her. “I heard you’re the resident tactician. I don’t have all
night,” his eyelids went a little heavy and he smirked, “not tonight, anyway.”

Panicking about feeling her face already heating, she was
incredibly thankful that he turned his attention to Walter, patting him on the
shoulder. “Let’s say forty minutes tops, big guy? This way I still get to see
enough of your game to get an idea what I’m in for, but we don’t go too long.” She
was just getting over the flush from the last comment he made to her when he
turned to her again with a smirk. “I know you like going at it long and taking
it slow, Charlee.” His playful smile made her breath catch. “But tonight you
can indulge the new guy, right? We can do this nice and slow another time. I
promise.”

She had to clear her throat for fear her voice would be a croak
since her mouth was still bone-dry. “Forty minutes is fine.”

How in the world she’d concentrate on her game with him sitting
there watching her and in that manner was beyond Charlee.

“Okay, forty minutes it is,” Walter said, setting the timer on, “unless
someone wins sooner.”

That just might happen. Charlee was already contemplating letting
Walter win—the sooner the better. She was already having a hard enough time staying
composed and breathing steady. She couldn’t imagine beating Walter, which she’d
done several times in the past, and have to sit there directly across from
Hector.

Walter’s opening was the same as usual. She already knew what his
next few moves would be. Damn Walter and his predictable play. How was she
supposed to let him win without making it too obvious?

After the third uncharacteristically bonehead move on Walter’s
part, Charlee looked up at him. Was
he
trying to lose? Their eyes met but not for long, because he immediately went
back to staring at the board.
Great
.
Maybe he was nervous about playing Hector too.

“So did Walter tell you about tomorrow?”

Charlee glanced at Hector. Why was it so damn hard to even look
at him for too long? She nodded, glancing back at the board, and made her next
move, taking Walter’s knight. She was now officially ahead in the game. If
Walter continued to make the bad moves he’d been making from the beginning, she
was sure to win.

“So you
coming?”
Hector asked, his
unyielding stare burning into her now.

Chapter 6

Glad that it was Walter’s turn to move, Charlee glanced
away, taking a quick moment to think about what Hector was asking her. He
wanted to know if she was coming to see him fight Friday evening then hang out
at a party where he’d be for the rest of the night. Just as the excitement began
to build, Hector squashed the growing tingling sensation when he added with a
smirk, “Bring your friend, Drew. She wanted to help me celebrate, remember?
Tell her she’ll get her chance tomorrow night.”