She almost chickened out, because it was something Drew would say, not Charlee. But she sat up straight, full of determination. Lifting an eyebrow and refusing to give into the urge to break the eye contact with him, she smiled. “I was born ready.”

~*~

For the first time today, Hector was able to indulge in Charlee’s deep blue eyes for more than just a few seconds. Okay, so maybe dark eyes were not the only kind that could take his breath away. Unlike the rest of the day when she’d pull away from his staring, this time he had been the one that looked away first. He had to before Walter noticed but mostly before he gave into the incredible urge he had to tell her just how amazing her eyes were.

Once again, Walter hadn’t wasted any time getting right to his lame plan of action. The second Hector had walked into that chess lab, Walter was on him. It actually worked out that Hector had a fight that Friday and that they were having a party afterwards. He’d invite Walter and Charlee to both, even though he didn’t think Walter would capitalize much on the opportunity. But regardless, not only would Hector be more than even with Walter but he was determined to slowly rid himself of the guilt that, annoyingly, even after the time he’d put into Walter’s workout last night, still lingered.

This should’ve been a painless enough payback, but then Walter had to open his big mouth around the other guys. Now Hector would be stuck hanging out with this bunch of virgins tomorrow night. As if that weren’t bad enough, Walter nearly blew the first part of the plan already. The plan was to let Charlee beat Walter so that Hector could play her and take extra-long between moves. This would give Walter a chance to make small talk with her, and if he got stuck, Hector would be there to help him out.

Walter was supposed to have brought up the fight so that Hector could be the one to invite her since Walter didn’t have the huevos to do it himself. But so far, not only had Walter hardly said a word but he was so ridiculously obvious about letting her win Hector thought she’d catch on for sure.

Hector was now the one making all the small talk while Walter sat there like a damn mute. How the hell did he expect to impress this girl? Worst of all, it was happening again. In spite of her indifference toward him on Saturday night, Hector thought it might actually be possible for him to be attracted to a cute little redhead like Charlee. Now he knew it was. Not only was he having an exasperatingly hard time keeping his eyes off her but he found it impossible to not add a flirtatious undertone to everything he said to her.

His comment about her friend Drew was meant to tone it the hell down and throw her off a little. He was sure if she hadn’t already, she would notice his eyes tracing every inch of her face: her eyes, her lips, and that porcelain skin. Then there were the freckles. She didn’t have as many as you’d expect on a redhead, but he never thought freckles would be so damn distracting or that he’d be having visions of kissing them slowly, one by one. Even that sexy little red eyebrow she’d lifted at him when she said she was “born ready” had sucked the air out of him.

Well, he’d just have to suck it back in because there was no way he’d be doing anything to move in on a girl Walter was so hung up on, no matter how unlikely it was that she’d be reciprocating Walter’s feelings. Hector was already going above and beyond anything he’d normally do for someone he didn’t even know all that well. And it was all for the sake of shaking the guilt that had troubled him for too long. He wasn’t about to blow all his efforts away for this. Nope, this wasn’t happening.

With everything he had going on in his life anyway, he didn’t have time for relationships. The most he could do right now was fun. And there were plenty of other girls out there he could have fun with. Saturday night had been further proof of that. Of course, Sam had thrown a wrench in that one, but Hector had no doubt he’d finish what he started with those two eventually. The girls had been just as disappointed as he was, and since he’d invited them also to Friday night’s party, he’d make it up to them soon enough.

After taking his turn, Hector glanced at Walter, giving him a look as Charlee took her time studying the board. Walter stared at him blankly. Hector opened his eyes wide, willing Walter to come up with something—anything. But frustratingly, Walter remained silent.

“Your turn,” Charlee said, sitting back in her chair.

Unlike most players who leaned in the whole time studying the board and focusing on their possible next move, Charlee would sit back during her opponent’s turn. Hector had observed that about her even during her game with Walter. For some reason, it irritated him now. Maybe it was because that chip on his shoulder was growing by the minute from her continued unimpressed and indifferent attitude toward him. Her sitting back the way she was made it seem as if she were sending out a message loud and clear—she didn’t have to put much effort into beating him.

He knew he was being paranoid, and most likely, as usual, he was over thinking things. She’d sat that same way during her game with Walter, but obviously, she really hadn’t had to try in that case since he’d so easily let her take the game.

With the sudden urge to not just win but really show off, Hector thought of some of the moves Sam had used on him in the past: the maddening ones Hector never even saw coming.

Thoughts of Sam distracted him for a moment. Hector had been so relieved to find out Sam was going to be fine. Having lost the only father figure he’d ever had recently, Hector wouldn’t be able to handle something happening to Sam.