They announced the last two players standing: Hector Ayala and Morgan Bisbee. Walter seemed to think Hector had this, and for some reason, that appeared to bother him. “I would’ve rather had Kowalewski on the team,” he whispered as the time on the last match began. “Obviously speed play is not his thing, but he’s a force to be reckoned with in regular tournaments. He would’ve been a tremendous asset to the team.”

Charlee shifted her weight from one leg to the other, chewing her pinky nail. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since Hector had started his match with Kowalewski. They’d gotten up with everyone else and went and stood closer to the last table where Hector and Morgan sat battling it out.

From where she stood now, as much as she wanted to pay close attention to the moves being made on the chess board, she could barely keep her eyes from wandering to his face. He was one of those players that checked out once he started playing. As many people that surrounded the table, it was obvious he was deep in his own world. The intensity in his eyes, as he watched his opponents move and then made his quickly, was unrelenting.

Charlee swallowed hard, her eyes traveling from the crease between his eyes, as he studied the pieces on the board, to his heavily lashed eyes. This close she could see a small scar that ran across his left brow, splitting the brow just so. It was the perfect imperfection to an otherwise flawless face. She also noticed how tight his jaw would clench just before he made a move. As big as his hands were, his fingers moved about the board gracefully from one side to the other without dropping any of the pieces.

As the game came down to the last few minutes and they began to move at a much faster speed, the crowd’s whispers became louder with excitement. Speed chess had never been Charlee’s thing. She could barely keep up with their moves, so it was difficult to anticipate what Hector’s next move might be. Yet as they moved at what seemed like a ridiculous speed now, her heart began to pound against her chest. Any minute now, they’d have a winner. Then she saw it. Hector could bring his knight to f6 and his queen could swing over to the H file. He was going to win. He was going to win!

In the next couple of moves, it was over. The crowd clapped, seemingly as impressed as Charlee was. Hector stood surrounded by the officials and team trainers. Cameras, including phone cameras, went off left and right. Many congratulated Hector, while others from the team walked up to shake his hand and introduce themselves.

Charlee wished she had it in her to at least take advantage of the flurry and take a few pictures of her own: photos she could keep on her phone and stare at forever, maybe even while she . . . At the moment, she stood frozen in place barely able to believe that he—the guy she’d been secretly obsessing about all week—was now on her chess team and very likely would soon be attending ESU.

For someone who wasn’t too keen on Hector being the newest member of the team, Walter changed his tune real fast. Hector went from being the unknown last minute contender to the newest member of the team—a team that would soon be going to the Junior National Olympiad. Everyone wanted to know him now. As soon as things finally began to die down and Hector was done with all the unrehearsed interviews for the school paper and meeting with all the trainers, Walter grabbed him.

He stood a few feet away from Charlee and Drew, congratulating Hector, and then he glanced up in Charlee’s direction. Suddenly terrified at the thought of Walter possibly bringing Hector over to introduce him to her, Charlee grabbed Drew’s arm. It was one thing to fantasize about this guy and worship him from afar; it was quite another to actually speak with him. She wasn’t ready for that. She hadn’t given it much thought, but she’d come up with something soon enough—work up the nerve to even talk to him slowly in the coming weeks a little at a time, not all in one night.

“Let’s go,” she said. “You’ve been a good sport all this time. Let’s go check out those boots you wanted to buy. We can grab some Taco Bell on the way. My treat.”

Drew stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, no, you don’t.”

Charlee turned to face her smirking friend. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know when you were planning on telling me, and I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but you got a thing for this guy—a major thing.”

Charlee glanced back at Walter and Hector who were already walking toward them then turned back to Drew wide-eyed. “What?” She tried pulling Drew along with her again, feeling instantly mortified. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she whispered loudly. “I don’t know him. I’ve never even spoken to him.”

“Well, now’s your chance.” This time Drew held Charlee’s arm and turned her around just in time to see that breathtaking smile once again as Walter and Hector approached them.

Chapter 4

Annoyingly, Hector was still feeling an incredible amount of guilt every time he even looked at Walter’s bloated face. The least he could do was agree to walk over and talk to the girl he was trying so hard to impress.

Just a few feet away from them, Hector spoke through his smile, “If you start doing that thing with your head and biting your lip, I’m out.”

“But—”

Hector turned to him incredulous. “Are you seriously gonna do that again? I wasn’t kidding, dude. I thought we talked about this earlier.” Hector lowered his voice. “Trust me. You look like an idiot. Do not do that again, okay?” He discreetly placed his hand on Walter’s arm then squeezed hard and whispered. “Okay?”