He calmed when he saw Ross slow down then stop all together. Abel’s words came to him. This shit’s real now. You can get your ass thrown in jail. Only because of this Hector didn’t slam Ross up against a wall or even grab him by the shirt like he really wanted to. But he did walk up to him with a purpose and got in his face.

“You here looking for my girl again?”

Seeing the stunned look on Ross face only enraged Hector further, making him clench his fists. The guy shouldn’t be so surprised. He’d seen Hector kiss her.

“I just wanted to—”

“Ask if you still have a chance?” Hector cut him off, his insides getting hotter by the second. “You don’t.” He gnashed his teeth. Remembering that this was the same guy who once wondered if Charlee was red everywhere made it even harder for Hector to hold back.

“I just want to apologize—”

Hector grabbed him by the shirt now. He was done listening to his bullshit. “You already have. She told me you did. Now you have a second to tell me why you’re really here before I beat your creepy stalker ass into tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay,” Ross spoke quickly now. “I know she didn’t buy my apology, so I just wanted to explain to her how that first day I met her that wasn’t me. I was high and I’m not usually like that. Before that day, I’d never seen her once, and it seems like after that I saw her everywhere. It was driving me crazy. I hated that she still seemed so freaked out whenever I tried to talk to her. I wanted her to understand. I’m not a bad guy like she thinks.”

Incredibly, this annoyed Hector even more. “Nah,” he shook his head, “you are a bad guy. You don’t get a second chance, not with my girl. And let me tell you something else. If I see your ass creeping around or I find out you’re still trying to explain your stupid shit to her, I’m coming after you. Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her. You hear me? You see her, you look the other way.” Hector squeezed Ross’s shirt even harder, nearly picking him off the floor. “This is the only warning you get.” The second Ross nodded in understanding, Hector let him go. “Now go!”

Hector wanted him out of his face before he changed his mind about letting him off with just a warning. Not a bad guy his ass! He knew he promised both Charlee and Abel he’d be cool, but if that wasn’t warning enough, the idiot deserved anything Hector did to him if he even thought about still coming around Charlee.

***

Friday hadn’t come fast enough. Hector was now on at the airport ready to board a plane and spend the entire weekend with Charlee.

He took the moment she went to use the ladies’ room as they waited to board to finally talk to Walter again about her. The guy had made some major progress on his weight loss, and from the looks of it seemed Natalie had dropped a few pounds herself as well. Hector hadn’t been back to the old folk’s home with Walter in a few weeks, but Natalie had dropped Walter off at the airport tonight, and while their goodbye kiss was awkward at best, Hector was fairly certain this was a huge step for Walter. “So I take it you and Natalie are getting serious.”

Walter smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I guess. She’s met my parents from all the times she’s been around them at the hospital and having to talk to them when they asked her if she was interested in being my gramps’ exclusive nurse. Now she’s talking about me meeting her mom and grandma.”

Hector smirked at Walter’s uneasy expression. “That’s good, right? You don’t wanna meet them?”

Walter shrugged. “She’s told me about them, and from what I gather, they’re both hard asses. Not sure I’m ready for the inquisition.”

Hector laughed now, for a second, the thought of Charlee’s parents coming to mind. He’d gotten to know her a little better in the last few days, but she’d still told him very little about her family.

“You’ll be all right,” he assured Walter then decided to just put it out there. Walter had already witnessed them together at the lab, and since that first day when she’d been so upset about his lack of affection in public, Hector hadn’t held back after that. “Charlee met my mom.”

As expected, Walter seemed surprised. “Already?”

“Shit, first day,” Hector laughed, leaning his elbows on his knees and put his hands together. Hector explained about his mom overhearing him and Abel and how she’d be gone the next day and as usual got her way

“I was worried too and it went fine. You should be too. Whatever you do, don’t blow it by refusing. If she wants you to, just take one for the team and get it over with. You’re going to have to eventually anyway.”

Walter agreed with a shrug then smirked. “So you’re serious, too, then? No more threesomes or juggling more than one hot babe at a time.”

Hector sat up, glancing in Charlee’s direction as she walked out of the ladies’ room and walked toward them. “Nope, only one hot babe for me now.”

“That’s kind of hard to believe,” Walter said also looking in Charlee’s direction. “But since this is Charlee we’re talking about, I can see how she’d make even a player like you wanna settle down.”

“Well, she has,” Hector said quickly. “Now shut up with the player talk.”

Walter laughed just as Charlee reached them. “What’s so funny?” she asked, smiling.

“Nothing, he’s just being stupid,” Hector gave Walter, who was still chuckling, a look. “C’mere.” He reached out for her and sat her on his lap.