Walter hadn’t talked about Charlee nearly as much as he normally did, and still the workout with him that morning had been grueling. After hearing Charlee say she wanted more last night, it made it that much more torturous to have to hold back from giving it to her. To think, if it weren’t for his loyalty to Walter, a guy whose only move so far was to invite her over to see his robot and play chess with his grandpa, Hector could be holding Charlee every day now.
She wanted more, damn it. He’d suspected she might but couldn’t be sure. Now he was one-hundred percent sure that if he asked her to be his, all his, she’d be willing to at least give it a go. And if they gave it a go, he’d make sure it’d work out, because after having just a tiny taste of what it’d be like, he was sure if things ever went further between them there would be no turning back for him.
Hector still didn’t know too much about her, but he knew enough. He knew she was sweet, smart, and when he looked into those eyes, he felt things he couldn’t understand but felt damn good. To be able to feel that all the time would be heaven.
Grabbing a handful of clipboards, he threw them in the box under the counter, and they crashed loudly. Continuing to mutter under his breath, he cleared off the counter of the greeting station in front of 5th Street. Someone behind him sneezed, and he didn’t bother doing the polite thing and saying, “Bless you.” He was too fucking irritated again to talk to anyone. The sneezing went on again a few more times before he finally glanced back, not bothering to hide his annoyance, and to his surprise, he saw Drew staring back at him. She didn’t look nearly as friendly as she had last night.
Wiping her nose with a tissue, she glared at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. I must be allergic to assholes.”
If he weren’t in such a bad mood, he might’ve laughed at that. “What?”
“I just called you an asshole,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I got that. You mind telling me why?”
She leaned against the counter and glared at him. “I don’t even know where to start. Maybe because you made my best friend feel special and kissed her like she’s never been kissed before then avoided her for days only to finally tell her to just forget it ever happened.”
“I explained why and even apologized for that. And she is special.” Hector’s words got a little louder now. “I never took that part back.”
Drew lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe because she cried all the way home last night because the guy she’s crazy about told her he’s crazy about her too—only not enough.”
“She cried all the way home?” Drew had just told him Charlee was crazy about him, and all he could focus on was this part. He slammed his fist on the counter. This was the last thing he needed to hear this morning. “I never meant to make her cry.”
“Yeah, well, you did. And F.Y.I., it’s not the first time she’s shed a few tears for you.” Feeling his stomach drop like a brick, he stared at her as she continued. “You can’t tell her I told you though.”
Hector peered at her. “But last night she’d been drinking. What other time did I make her cry?”
Drew rolled her eyes. “First of all, you’re delusional if you think the only reason she cried last night was because she was drunk. Second, I know what kind of girls you’re used to. We saw the little show you put on with those girls in the parking lot after the tournament.”
She paused for a moment, letting that sink in, and it did. Hector felt sick. Charlee had seen that? As if reading his mind, Drew nodded. “Yep, we were just a few cars down, and saw the whole thing and how eagerly you drove out of there. And let me assure you Charlee is nothing like that.”
“I know that.” Hector said quickly. “I’ve told her that more than once. I know she’s different. That’s why I was worried last night. She’d not like the girls guys go to these parties to meet. I knew she’d be vulnerable.”
Drew tilted her head, looking very unimpressed. “So she’s different—special even, just not special enough?”
The receptionist that usually worked the greeting station arrived, making Hector free to leave. He didn’t like that anyone within earshot could hear their conversation. He walked around the counter. “Let’s talk outside.”
He walked out into the parking lot, and Drew followed him. “Can you just be honest here? Do you really care about Charlee? She said you told her you do last night. Was that just a lie because you saw a few tears and freaked—”
“Hell no! I wouldn’t do that.”
Drew put her hand on her hip and wiped her nose with the tissue in her other one. “So, it’s true then. You do have feelings for her, but you’re incapable of being with just one girl at a time.”
“It has nothing to do with that, Drew. I can’t be with her.”
She gave him the hairiest of any eyeball he’d ever seen. “What do you mean you can’t be with her?”
He shook his head. Visions of Charlee’s pained expression last night battered him. “It’s a long story, and I can’t tell you anyway because . . .”
“Because what?” Drew crossed her arms in front of her, the hairy eyeball replaced with curiosity.
“Because I just can’t. It involves someone else.” He crossed his arms in front of him now, leaning against the block planter wall in front of the gym.
The hairy eyeball was back. “You’re already seeing someone? Or several someones?”
“No,” he shook his head. “It’s nothing like that.”
“And whatever or whoever this is, is worth it? Worth passing up on Charlee—making her cry?”
“Look,” Hector said, annoyed that she kept reminding him about Charlee crying. “I should’ve never kissed her, and I should’ve never told her how I feel about her. And the only thing I ever lied about was when I insinuated that the kiss we shared meant nothing to me. But there’s nothing I can do about that now.”
“Okay,” Drew said, looking even more annoyed than when she got there. “I didn’t drive all the way down here to leave even more confused than when I got here. So you’re telling me you do have feelings for her and that kiss did mean something, even though you wish you hadn’t now.”
“I never said I wished I hadn’t. I said I shouldn’t have. It just makes things even harder now.”
Drew ran her fingers through her hair, looking completely flustered now. “Are you trying to be so annoyingly cryptic, because this is confusing as hell.”
Hector let his head drop back. She didn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, and he doubted she was going to let this go now. “Walter is in love with her, okay? Or at least he thinks he is.” Hector pointed his finger at Drew. “But you can’t tell her. I don’t want him finding out about what happened between Charlee and me. When that happened, I already knew he was in love with her or whatever. He and I go way back, and I owe him this much—probably more. To at least stay away from the one girl he’s ever felt like this about.”
Drew’s mouth had dropped open and closed several times throughout his explanation. “But she doesn’t like him that way. And I’ve been around them. He can hardly speak to her without stuttering or acting really weird.”
Hector shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Either way she’s all he ever talks about, and he’s working on the weird thing.” Hector frowned, remembering the stupid muted confidence bobbing-head thing. “He’s a shy guy, is all.”
Drew stared at the ground, shaking her head then glanced up at him looking completely bewildered. “I knew I saw something in the way you looked at Charlee. I saw it that very first time at the tournament. I saw it last night. What if she’s the one, Hector? Are you really willing to take the chance of missing out on that for Walter? He’s never going to get her anyway. Why should all three of you be miserable?”
Hector took a deep breath and glanced at his watch. “Have you eaten?”
Her brows pinched. “Not since breakfast, why?”
“I mentioned it was a long story.” It was a gamble, and it wasn’t a story he was proud of or cared to relive, but he knew she’d never understand otherwise. Maybe someday she could explain it to Charlee. “You wanna grab something to eat, and I can tell you all about it. Might make it easier to understand.”
With a lift of her eyebrow, Drew nodded, and they made their way to his truck.