Hector (29 page)

Lisa hugged him hard, and he hugged her right back, admitting to
himself she
did
smell really nice.
She then introduced him to her friend Estella. Estella smiled and shook his
hand.

“Wow. Did you get bigger or what?” Lisa exclaimed, her eyes all
over his chest and upper arms.

Hector smiled.
“Maybe a little.”

When Lisa gave him a knowing look then reached up and touched his
arm again, he glanced away, not wanting to encourage the flirting. If it were
anyone else, he’d just as soon go along with it, but not Lisa. “C’mon,” he said,
taking in just how crowded the place really was.

They were going to have to make their way back through that mess
to get to the front row. “Stay close,” he said, turning back to her, and
reached out his hand.

Lisa took it immediately, but he didn’t mind, even though she
quickly laced her fingers through his. She
had
to know why he’d done it. There was no way she’d be able to stay close in this
crowd if he hadn’t. Glancing around trying to decide which would be the fastest
way to get there, he froze when his eyes met
Charlee’s
.
Her hair was down again like the day of his fight. Only she didn’t wear a dress
this time. She wore skintight jeans with a turquoise sweater that made the blue
in her eyes even more striking. She’d done something else tonight too. Her lips
were so red it made the color of her fair skin that much more brilliant at the
same time enhancing the red in her hair, brows, and freckles. She practically
glowed.

Yanking him out of the hypnotic trance he’d gone into from just
seeing Charlee, it finally dawned on him. She and Drew were standing near the
entrance, staring at him—with Lisa.

He smiled, but neither of them smiled back. Charlee looked away
altogether.
Well fuck
. What were they
doing here anyway? He considered maybe going their way and saying hello, but
then they began walking in the opposite direction. Hector didn’t miss the way
she turned heads. How couldn’t she? Once again, she stood out like a bright
flame in a sea of gloomy hues of gray. Involuntarily, his teeth began to grind
as he pushed his way through the tight crowd.

When they finally made it to the front row where a very impressed
Lisa and Estella sat next to him, the thought of going back to find Charlee
seemed impossible. What would he say to her anyway? The fights were open to
everyone. It was something to do on a Friday night then follow it up after with
a neighborhood party—also open to anyone. But the nagging question of why she’d
chosen tonight to come plagued him. Was it because of what he’d said to her
yesterday? Was it that obvious how crazy she drove him now? Is that why she was
so incredibly done up tonight? Even as casual as her outfit was tonight
compared to the night of his fight, she looked just as
amazing
.

As pleasant as the thought was that maybe she had come here
tonight looking to possibly continue where they left off last time, Hector knew
it was out of the question.
Gadamnit
!
Life was
a fucking bitch!

Distracted most of the fight with thoughts of Charlee, he glanced
around hoping, although he wasn’t quite sure why, to spot her. He finally got
into Noah’s bout toward the end. It’d been a pretty close matchup until then,
and then Machado came alive. Noah’s legs began to look like rubber.
No, no, no!

They both fired away punches until one landed on Noah’s chin and
he went down. Hector was already on his feet and staring at him, stunned. He’d
never seen Noah go down, but within seconds, Noah was back up. Machado tried
taking advantage of the momentum and Noah’s still-dazed state and came at him
again. Thankfully, Noah was saved by the bell.

Hector rushed over to Noah’s corner. Abel was there now too.
Everyone was talking to Noah at once, so Hector didn’t say anything until it
was almost time for Noah to go back in. “Noah!” Noah turned to look at him.
“You got ’
em
with your left hook last time. It’s
still his weak side.”

Noah nodded then turned to Gio who was talking to him again.
Hector returned to his seat. When the next round started, Noah came in like a
tornado, firing away hard. The place got so loud Lisa and Estella brought their
hands to their ears but continued to cheer for Noah to stay in it, even as
Machado landed another hard one on Noah. Hector had filled them in on Noah and
his history with Machado.

They were all on their feet now. Hector cupped his hands around
his mouth, “Use that left hook, Noah! C’mon! Do it and you
got
this!”

With both fighters firing away, the place went wild. Then it
happened: Noah came up with a massive left hook, landing it solidly on
Machado’s temple, and Machado hit the canvas
hard
. Hector jumped up and down, fist pumping like a crazy person.
He turned and hugged Lisa then hugged her friend too. Just like when Hector’s
opponent went down a few weeks ago, Hector knew this was over.

Seeing Noah go down had scared the shit out of Hector. For a few
minutes there, he’d begun to wonder if Noah was going to be able to pull this
off, even if he made it through the final round. The scorecard more than likely
would’ve been in Machado’s favor. Abel, Noah, Gio, and Hector had had many wins,
but this was by far one of the sweetest.

It was such a rush that it wasn’t until everything had calmed and
they were all in the training room again that Hector thought of Charlee again. Even
then, he’d still been busy listening to Noah’s take on the fight when something
Santos said hit him like an electric current.

“Did you see Nestor trying to talk to the redhead?” Santos
laughed then said something in a lowered voice.

“What was that?” Hector asked, moving away from Noah, Abel, and
Gio and toward Santos. Santos looked at him confused. “What did you just say?”

Santos smiled again.
“About Nestor?”

“Yeah,” Hector already felt irritated, and he didn’t even hear
the second part, but whatever it was, Santos found it amusing as shit.

“He’s out there hitting on some redhead.”

“Right now?”

Santos nodded. “Last I saw—”

“Is she with another girl?” Hector started walking before Santos
even answered.
“A blonde?”
The odds of there being
more than one redhead out there were slim, but they did have a big crowd
tonight.

“Yeah, they’re like the only two white chicks out there. Why? You
know them?”

Ignoring Santos, Hector rushed around some more guys coming into
the training room. He needed to warn Charlee about Nestor. Just then Nestor
walked into the training room, smiling big. This was even better. He’d warn
Nestor about Charlee.

Nestor smiled at Hector. “Looks like I’ll be getting laid
tonight.”

“You think so?” Hector asked ready to slam Nestor against the
wall.

“Oh yeah,” Nestor continued, smiling big.

Nestor almost walked past him, but Hector stepped in front of
him. “And what makes you think that?”

Nestor backed up a step, pinching his brows. “Because I just
invited some chicks to a keg party tonight, and they said they’d be there.” What
had turned into a somewhat defensive expression eased into a smirk and Nestor added.
“Hell, I may even have me a twofer.”

“Really?”
Hector did his best to sound
as calm as he could. “The redhead you were talking to out there?”

Nestor’s smiled.
“Yeah, Charlee.”

Just hearing him say her name made Hector want to punch him in
the throat. “
Charlee
is
my friend which means she’s off limits
to you.” He turned to the other guys who were listening also and raised his
voice a notch.
“To all of you.”
Nestor began to frown,
pushing Hector’s agitation to another level. Speaking louder and more demanding,
he took a step closer to Nestor. “You have a problem with that, Nestor?”

Abel, Noah, and Gio were now looking at them too, and the
training room got quiet.

“Nah, man,” Nestor said, glancing around as if he’d just realized
who he was talking to. “I just didn’t know—”

“Well, now you do. And stay away from her friend while you’re at
it.” Hector wasn’t even sure why he added that last part, but Drew was
Charlee’s
friend, and for that reason alone, he didn’t want
this asshole taking advantage of her either.

Nestor stared at him for a little too long without saying
anything. The tension in the room was so thick it was a living thing, and at
the moment, it held its breath. Hector saw Abel making a move. No one knew
Hector
better
than Abel. If Nestor so much as said the
wrong thing right now, shit was going down because Hector’s patience was spent.
This guy either agreed right now or Hector would make him.

Nestor gave him a very stiff nod before turning to Santos then
back to Hector. “You got it.”

Hector stared at him hard. He didn’t trust Nestor as far as he
could throw him, and the way Hector felt right then he could probably heave
Nestor clear across the room. Without saying another word to Nestor, he
continued on his way out. He needed to find Charlee and Drew now and warn them
about this party Nestor had invited them to.

Chapter 18

“You don’t have to do this, you know?” Drew said as
they pulled up to the stop light.

“I want to.” Charlee looked up from her phone’s navigation
screen. “According to this, we’re a block away.”

“Do you even know what a keg party is?”

“Hello!” Charlee tried desperately to sound chipper.
“A party involving many or one keg of beer.
Everyone pays at
the door per cup or for a bracelet.

Drew smirked. “You had to look it up, didn’t you?”

Charlee couldn’t help but smirk. Damn. Did she have to memorize
verbatim? “It was pretty self-explanatory, but, okay, I looked it up just to
confirm.

“You don’t even like beer, Charlee.”

“I never said I didn’t like it. I prefer wine coolers, but I can
do beer just fine.”

“I was wrong, okay. I admit it. He’s a sweet-talking jerk, who
obviously can’t get his fill of girls.” Drew said as they slowed because of all
the cars cruising by the party. “But you don’t have to go to one of these
stupid parties if you’re not feeling it. You have nothing to prove.”

Suddenly Charlee felt bad. If anyone wasn’t feeling it, it was
Drew. She sounded just awful. “I’m not trying to prove anything.” She reached
over and touched Drew’s leg. “But if you’re not feeling well, let’s just go home.”

Drew turned to her. “I’m fine, Charlee. I just want to make sure
you are too.” Drew pulled into a parking space at the end of the block, several
homes away from the one where the party was. “I would like nothing more than
for you to go into that party and enjoy yourself. Dance a little. Maybe even
exchange numbers with someone, but I know you. You’re holding it all in. It’s
okay to be disappointed.”

Charlee frowned, glancing out her window at some of the people
walking toward the party. As much as she’d been playing it off that she didn’t
buy Drew’s sixth-sense crap about Hector,
of
course,
she was secretly hoping Drew had been right.
Of course,
she was once again completely disheartened when she’d
seen him with yet another pair of girls. But she was really done this time. She
was only happy that Drew had witnessed the whole thing with her: his eyeballing
the girl before he reached her then hugging her before escorting her and her
friend to sit with him in the front row.

There was no way Drew could argue with her now. The guy’s wasn’t
changing his colors for any one girl, not even Charlee, who Drew seemed
convinced Hector looked at so differently than all the others. As mad as she
wanted to be at herself for beginning to believe it too, she wouldn’t be. It
was true Hector was a sweet talker. It wasn’t just what he said but how he went
about it. He didn’t have to apologize yesterday. What had happened between them
was water under the bridge now—or should’ve been anyway. Yet he’d gone out of
his way to tell her that he really meant it when he’d told her she was
different. There was such sweetness about the way he spoke to her—looked at her—when
he said it too not just yesterday but the first time he’d told her that. Obviously
she wasn’t different
enough
.

Now she was determined to wash her mind of him. This would be a
good start. She could go to this party, let her hair down, maybe meet someone,
and possibly even let someone new kiss her so she could finally stop obsessing
about the only guy who ever had. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t stop. She’d come
to that conclusion earlier. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for people like
Hector, who had so many experiences to compare, to easily move on to their next
conquest.

It was so not like her, but she was certain a little alcohol
could do the trick. Truth was she wanted nothing more than to go straight home,
get into her jammies, and crawl in bed. But she knew what would happen then.
The tears would inevitably start, and she refused to do that again.

She sat up, turning back to Drew. “If you’re feeling well enough,
I’m up for this.” No, she’d be honest and admit it. “I
need
to do this.”

The familiar bright smile Charlee was so used to seeing on Drew
was back. Red nose and all, she actually looked excited. “Good! But I won’t be
doing any drinking just so you know. I finally caved and took medicine for this
damn cold.” Drew sniffled and reached for a tissue from the glove compartment
then blew her nose.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough, Drew? I can always do
this another time.”

Drew shook her head adamantly, opening her door. “I’m fine, and
you are not putting this off even one more day. We’re doing this tonight. I’m
just doing it minus the booze.” Charlee got out of her side nervously then
looked over at Drew across her car’s roof. “But you, my dear,” Drew lifted her
brow with a smirk, “will hang loose and enjoy yourself tonight. This night will
not be a waste if I have anything to do with it.”