Hector (45 page)

As she brought her knee up on the bed, Hector grabbed her ass
with both hands and squeezed hard. She gasped as she lifted her other knee onto
the bed and straddled him. Hector squeezed her ass even harder as she slid onto
him. The second she felt him going in, she slammed down, and wrapped her legs
around his waist and her arms around his neck, loving how deeply she felt him
this way. How many times had she fantasized about being completely wrapped around
and literally a part of him like this?

It was as incredible as she’d imagined, and she swayed her hips
in sync with his, lifting and slamming her back down on him. She spread even
more, wanting him in as deep as possible. Every slide up and down on him rubbed
that perfect spot, and she felt ready to come already. She moaned as she felt
her climax building, and he began to slam her down onto him even harder. “Come,
baby,” he urged against her ear.

Holding on to him tightly, she began to come undone, crying out
as a current of pleasure shot through her entire body. Groaning loudly, Hector
slammed her down one last time with a harsh grunt, and his entire body went
rigid.

With their hearts pounding at each other’s chests, they held each
other that way until their breathing began to ease. “You’re gonna be late,” he
said against her neck without moving.

“I don’t care,” she responded also not moving an inch.

He laughed lightly then spanked her behind softly. It was much
softer than he had last night, but it still made her smile. “You start that up,
and I won’t make it to class at all.”

Now he pulled away and looked at her with a strange smile. “You
really like that?”

She lifted an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.
“Maybe.”

“No guessing games, Charlee,” he warned. “How can you be into
that if before last night you were a virgin?”

Seeing the suspicion in his eye, Charlee knew exactly what he
must be thinking. She started to move off him, but he held her down. One hand held
her waist and the other squeezed her behind again. “Look. I don’t care if you
weren’t. I just wanna know why you thought you had to lie.”

“I didn’t lie.”

“But . . .” He stared at her, and she knew what his eyes were
saying.

Her behavior last night and today had been nothing like that of a
naive and apprehensive virgin. Maybe she should’ve been less eager, but with
him, that was impossible. Now she’d be forced to tell him something so
incredibly embarrassing. Cupping his face with her hands, she kissed him. “Okay,
no guessing games, but it’s not something I can explain in just a few minutes.
I’m already late.”

He loosened his hold on her waist but squeezed her ass again.
“Tonight we talk.” With an evil smile, he added. “We were supposed to yesterday,
until you took advantage of me. I feel so used.”

She laughed, getting off him.
“Poor guy.”
Smiling that evil little smile she got the feeling he liked a little too much,
she bit her bottom lip. “I promise to behave tonight.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
He said quickly and
pulling her by the hand toward him, “I didn’t say all that.”

Laughing, she kissed him again but assured him. “Okay, but
tonight we will talk.”

They both stood up, and for a moment, they both walked around her
bedroom completely naked and it nearly dazed her. He disposed of the condom
while she searched for the panties she’d held in her hand just prior to
dropping everything and straddling him. How her life had suddenly changed so
drastically in such a short span of time was still unbelievable to her.

***

Not surprisingly, Charlee spent her entire day, trying
to concentrate on whatever she was doing to no avail. Her mind kept wandering,
and she kept getting hot flashes. When she wasn’t having thoughts that had her
dampening her panties, she was struggling to calm her anxiety about the
conversation she’d be having with him tonight.

What did come as an unpleasant surprise was how detached and
indifferent Hector had behaved in the chess lab. While he did sit with her and
pecked her softly one time, he was very reserved the rest of the time. She
didn’t expect him to be all over her, but the way he’d acted, even around his
friends and family, she was sort of expecting him to be a little more
affectionate. It felt almost as if he didn’t want anyone to know about them.

She tried to not read too much into it. At first, she thought
maybe he was just trying to be private about it. Maybe he was reserved about
these kinds of things in public. Then she remembered the shameless little show
he put on with those two whores in the parking lot just after the tournament
and how he hadn’t seemed to care at all if anyone saw him making out with not
one but two girls.

Even after the lab as they walked with Walter and a few of the
other guys to the parking lot, he hadn’t even held her hand. It wasn’t until
they were in the privacy of his truck that he’d practically attacked her. If
she weren’t so instantly and incredibly turned on by it, she might’ve had the
presence of mind to push him off her sooner. It took a while, but the more she
thought about it, even as he sucked away at her tongue and lips, her lifelong
battle with insecurity resurfaced, and she pulled off and slid away from him,
quickly moving closer to the door.

He stared at her breathlessly, his brows furrowing immediately.
“What’s wrong?”

Trying desperately to squash any memories of Danny and how easily
she’d been duped by him, she reminded herself this was completely different.
Hector said he loved her and she believed him. He wasn’t ashamed of her, and
there was no damn reason for him to be. She wasn’t that freak anymore.

Still overcome with emotion and unable to put into words what she
was feeling, she reached for the door handle.

“Where you going?”

“I gotta go,” was all she could manage to say, but he reached for
her hand and held it.

“Wait. What’s wrong? What did I do?” She tried opening the door
and pulling her hand away, but he held it tight. “Charlee talk to me,” he
insisted, his voice as panicked as she felt. “This is why I said no guessing
games. I suck at this. I’m totally lost here. Just tell me what I did.”

She gave up trying to get out of the truck and let her head fall
back against the seat and tried gulping back the enormous boulder lodged in her
throat now. “You’ll think I’m petty.”

“No, I won’t,” he said, quickly bringing his arm around her waist
and sliding her closer to him. “Tell me,” he whispered in her ear.

That alone was enough to make her shiver even at a moment like
this. Maybe she
was
a freak. She
turned to face him. “It felt almost as if you were pretending nothing’s
happened between us again while there were people around. Then as soon as we
were alone, it was okay to do,” she touched his arm that held her close now,
“this.”

This time, he let his head fall back. “I
was
pretending nothing happened.”

Her heart dropped, and she straightened out this time,
successfully managing to pull away from him. “I knew it.” She opened the door
and rushed out, slamming it behind her.

Hector was immediately out of the truck too. “Charlee wait!” She
saw him rush around to catch her just a few parking spaces away, jumping in
front of her. The moment he was face to face with her and saw her tears, his
face went hard. “Fuck! I knew I should’ve just told you.”

“Told me what?” She searched his angry eyes. Her heart couldn’t
take any more. If it was anything like what she was thinking, she was flying
home tonight and never looking back.

“I was pretending, but not around everyone, just Walter.”

She stared at him, breathing hard as he wiped the tears from her
face. “Walter?”

“Yes. He’s the reason why I didn’t try anything with you sooner.”
He spoke quickly and deliberately now. “He’s why I asked you pretend nothing
happened after that first kiss. He was totally into you, and I was supposed to
be helping him impress you, but then I started falling for you. I tried my damnedest
to fight it, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t until he told me he’d started seeing his
grandfather’s nurse that I asked him if he was okay with me asking you out.”

He took a deep breath, pulling her to him, and wrapped his arms
around her. She wrapped her arms around him, still processing everything he’d
just said. He’d been helping Walter try to impress her? Walter was seeing
Natalie now. But most importantly Hector wasn’t ashamed of her?

Pulling away but still holding her hand, he continued. “That was
Saturday. I called you as soon as I finished talking to him, but he’d asked me
not to mention his being all into you. He said it was embarrassing, so I didn’t
think it was a big deal if I left that whole part out. Then tonight . . . It
just felt weird. I know he’s seeing someone else now, but realizing how quick I
was to move in on the girl he’d been pining for all this time, I kind of felt
like an asshole, so I thought I’d at least tone it down a little, maybe give it
some time before I’m all over you in front of him.” He shook his head, still
wiping the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should’ve just told you all this
Saturday.” His expression went from deeply regretful to suddenly concerned.
“But seriously, babe, why are you so quick to believe the worst? Did that
sleazy first impression you had of me really stick that hard?”

“I never thought you were sleazy,” she frowned. “I told you, you
made the most unforgettable first impression on me. Remember?”

“Yeah, but then I went and made that shithead move, asking you to
pretend that night never happened.”

She nodded, glancing down. “I know, but I still never thought you
were sleazy.” She kept it to herself that she and Drew did think him a pig
after seeing him with those girls, but who was she kidding? The very next time
she saw him, she was ready to let him kiss her regardless.

“So why jump and think the worst so fast?” He peered at her.
“Talk to me, Charlee. I told you I’d try my damnedest to get this right, and
I’m going to, but you need to help me out here. I don’t wanna have to worry
you’re going to run off every time you think the worst.” He leaned his face
sideways, looking into her eyes. “Tell me. What’s it gonna take to get you to
believe I’m not a sleaze and I do love you. I just make stupid mistakes
sometimes, but I’d never purposely hurt you.”

Charlee took a deep breath, feeling the enormous relief she’d
felt a moment ago replaced with slow-boiling anxiety. “First of all, stop saying
that. You’re not a sleaze, and I never thought you were one, but,” she glanced
around then back at him, “you are right about one thing.” He lifted his brow
now, waiting. “I am too quick to jump and think the worst.” She scoffed,
shaking her head. “I was already having visions of jumping on a plane home
tonight and never coming back.”

“What?” He spit the word out staring at her.

She wasn’t sure if he was more shocked at that or hurt, and,
already, she regretted admitting it.

“Are you kidding me?” If it weren’t for the hurt in his eyes,
she’d think him furious. “Just like that you’d walk away?”

“It’s what I was going to talk to you about tonight.”

“Well then, talk.”

“Right here?”

“Yes, right here, right now, because you just scared the crap
outta me.”

She shook her head, reaching out for his hand, and he took it. “I
didn’t mean to.”

He touched her hair, his expression softening a bit, and stared
deep in her eyes. “Okay, but you did. So tell me.”

She wasn’t sure where to start, and she sure as heck hadn’t planned
on having this conversation with him here in the middle of the school parking
lot, but he seemed adamant. “It’s long, Hector. It goes back to when I was a
little girl.”

He startled her by putting his arms around her suddenly and
hugging her. The hug was a tight one, and she loved being in the warmth of his
big arms. She gave into it completely, leaning her face against his chest. “I’m
sorry I made you cry and think whatever it is you were thinking, okay?” She
nodded without pulling away from his chest. “You forgive me?” She nodded again.
“Are you in a hurry to be anywhere right now?”

She shook her head, smiling at how quick she’d gone from feeling
mortified and hurt to utterly in love again.

“Good,” he loosened his hold on her and pulled away. “Because that’s
twice that you’ve lost it on me and like that.” He snapped his fingers. “And I
need to know what the hell I’m doing wrong so that doesn’t happen again, so
start talking, and we’ll go grab something to eat, but the whole time you talk.
I have all the time in the world tonight, so I don’t care how long it is.”

She nodded in agreement. This was it. He’d either think her a
pathetic freak or this would prove once in for all he really as wonderful as
she suspected and she could finally trust that this wasn’t too good to be true.

They started back to his truck. “I’m listening,” he said.

Oh boy. It was now or never, so she may as well get it over with.

Chapter 28

“I’ve always been very awkward,” Charlee began, “very
shy, so bad that I had to be homeschooled because my socializing skills were non-existent.”

They stopped just outside his truck, and she glanced up at him
for a reaction, but at the moment, he reminded her of his brother because his
expression gave nothing away.

“My mom coaxed me into trying to go to public school a few times,
but each time it was disastrous.”

“Why?”

“I haven’t always looked this way. My hair isn’t really straight
either, it’s super curly.” He smiled. “But not like
Roni’s
,
okay? We’re talking nappy curly. Add that to it being bright red with a face
full of freckles and me being so incredibly shy that I’d turn bright red the
moment any teachers called on me in class. I hated having all eyes on me, and I
hated having to speak up, because every time I did, I’d flub my words. Once the
kids caught on to how easily they could make me turn beet red, I was an easy
target. I became their entertainment.” He wasn’t smiling anymore. Now she saw
his jaw working. “None of the girls wanted to be friends with Charlee the Freak,
and even though I had Drew, who had been my friend since we were babies, she
couldn’t always be there, so I begged my mom to take me out again and just let
me be homeschooled.”