“I told you.” The shorter girl said with a big smile then reached her hand out to Hector. “I’m Miriam and this is Leticia.” Hector shook Miriam’s hand then Leticia’s as well.

“Finally, a Latino on the team,” Leticia said. “I was cheering you on for that reason alone, but then Miriam said you were from 5th Street in East L.A., and I couldn’t believe it. I used to live right by there.”

“Really?” He smiled.

Out of habit because it’s what he usually did when girls came up to him like this and because Leticia’s body language was giving him the go-ahead to do so, Hector checked her out. Very nice. Miriam wasn’t half bad either but nothing real eye catching—your typical Hispanic girl—long dark straight hair, big dark eyes and a little too much makeup. But Leticia had it going on and she knew it too. She was tall and slender but not too thin. The curves were in all the right places, just like he liked them, and she was showing just enough cle**age to tease at how nicely stacked she was.

“Yes, I did,” Leticia smiled a little more seductively now that she saw she had his full attention. “Not for very long, but even after we moved, we used to go back a lot because my mom liked the grocery stores in that area.”

Hector nodded as Leticia continued to talk. He glanced at Drew, who did nothing to hide the annoyance she was obviously feeling over this little interruption. Charlee didn’t look too happy either, but she wasn’t as blatant as Drew. He had a feeling what they were thinking, because he was sort of wondering himself. These two didn’t look the chess tournament type at all. And they were dressed more like two girls out on the prowl for the night than they were for a chess tournament. “We play chess too,” Miriam said as if he’d read his mind.

“Not good enough to enter a competition like this,” Leticia added with another flirtatious smile.

For the first time since they’d arrived, Charlee suddenly spoke. “It’s by invitation only.”

“Yeah, you don’t just enter to try out for the U.S. team,” Drew explained.

The sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed by Leticia because her eyebrow lifted. “I know that.”

“Have you ever played in a speed tournament?” Walter asked.

Apparently he was the only one of them that failed to catch the snarky tone in Charlee and Drew’s remarks, because he seemed genuinely curious.

Leticia must’ve mistaken Walter’s question to be another jab at her level of chess skill, because her response was just as snappy. “No, but I have been in tournaments.”

“Ever won any?” Charlee asked, those deep blue eyes of hers finally staying in one place long enough for Hector to really get a good look. He’d never seen lashes the color of hers. From this distance, he could see they were as bright red as her hair. From further away, they’d looked almost dark brown, but he saw now that was only because they were so thick. It made the blue in her eyes stand out even more. They were something else: way different than any eyes he’d ever admired up close. And he could easily get lost trying to count all of the delicate freckles sprinkled over her cute little nose and around her eyes.

He glanced back at Leticia now. She’d gone from looking pissed to smiling playfully again as she whipped her long hair back. “I’ve won a few actually. But I’m not here to talk about me. I just wanted to congratulate the newest member of the U.S. team.” She actually let out a loud hoot and did a fist pump. “You make me so proud, Hector.” She moved in closer, handing her phone to Miriam. “Will you take a picture with me?” Without giving him a chance to respond, she wrapped her arms around his torso and adjusted them both so they now stood directly in front of Drew and Charlee but with their backs to them.

Never one to miss an opportunity like this but more than anything feeling the need to make up for having come across like such a sap earlier, Hector pulled her close. He felt her ample cle**age press up against his chest, and he moved his hand up and down her back as they posed for the photos. Miriam then asked Walter if he could take one of the three of them together and he did. The girls got a little silly and loud, asking Walter to take more photos: one pose here, a different pose there, one after another. Leticia, who’d been touchy-feely from the very first photo, eventually slipped her hand into Hector’s.

By the time the impromptu photo session was done and the playful but mostly flirtatious banter was over, both girls were making it all too clear that if he were up for hanging out with one or both of them tonight, so were they. This was more than enough distraction. He’d just about forgotten about Charlee and Drew until he saw Walter searching the room, looking a bit disconcerted. There weren’t anywhere to be seen.

Hector pulled away from Leticia’s hold for a moment and leaned closer to Walter. “What happened? Did they leave?”

“I don’t see them.” Walter shrugged with a frown. “I didn’t even notice when they left.”

“They left as soon as I took the first photo,” Miriam informed them.

“Are they good friends of yours?” Leticia asked. “Because I’m sorry, but they were a little bitchy.”

Hector smirked, feeling even more relieved now. He couldn’t argue there. They had been on the bitchy side, especially Drew—further confirmation that she’d been flirting with him. Walter, on the other hand, seemed completely at a loss.

He looked at the girls blankly. “They hardly said anything.”