Hector 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 like 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 5th 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 5th 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.