Yanking Hector 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.