“Didn’t mean to barge in on you like that,” Leticia said as they walked toward him.

The second she was close enough to him, Leticia reached for his hand. “Are you free for the rest of the evening, or did she stake her claim for tonight?”

Both of their eyes were telling of how much they’d had to drink tonight. Before he could begin to even think of a good enough response, Miriam slid her hand into his other one. Thankfully the doors to the banquet room opened and out walked Walter and the other guys from the chess club. The guys did their best to not gawk, but Hector knew this was not something any of them could ever imagine doing, so he saw the reserved humor in their eyes. Walter all out smiled, waving. “Thanks for having us, Hector.”

Seeing an opportunity, Hector took it to get away from Leticia and Miriam. “Hold on. I wanted to talk to you guys before you leave. I’ll be out in a minute.” Walter and the guys nodded and kept walking toward the door. He turned back to the girls, pulling his hands loose from their hold and lowered his voice. “Yeah, I’m kind of taken tonight, ladies.”

Immediately their smiles faded, and Leticia lifted her brow. “I saw her leave.”

Not wanting to be rude and remembering he did invite them there with the insinuation that they’d finish what they started last week, he took a deep breath. “I’m meeting her somewhere else. But you two are welcome to stay as long as you want.”

He made a mental note to never insinuate anything to these two again.

“Will you be coming back in after you talk to your friends?” Miriam asked then smiled wickedly. “Or do we say goodbye to you now.”

Hell no. Hector wouldn’t even be having another beer until he savored the very last lingering hint of Charlee in his mouth. “No, I’ll be back.” This would be the ideal time to wink, but he dared not. Instead, he started walking away. “You two go on back in.”

Visibly disappointed, the two girls walked back toward the banquet room. He never would’ve thought he’d be so thankful to see Walter in his life. Smothering the life out of the guilt that began to fester, he walked outside to talk to the guys for as long as possible.

Chapter 12

With the memory of Hector still so clear in her head, Charlee could very easily visualize Hector lying over her, touching her where her fingers touched now. He was sliding in and out of her wetness, not her secret toy she had to hide deep in the box with the other stuff she mailed herself from home.

The idea that this may not be the only pleasure she’d have of this nature ever was no longer an impossible one. It usually took longer than this for her to start trembling when Drew was home, because Charlee was terrified of turning it on for fear her friend would hear it and know just what a freak Charlee really was. But tonight was different. Just closing her eyes and remembering Hector’s kisses so vividly, the way his tongue slid all around like silk in her mouth, her fingers and her toy, even without power, were all she needed.

Burying it deep inside herself just as her entire body began to quiver, Charlee felt the spasms shoot through more intensely than she’d ever had before and struggled to refrain from moaning as she squirmed under her blankets still sliding it in and out. As the spasms slowly calmed, her heart still pounded uncontrollably. She lay there for a moment breathing hard, still thinking about the possibility that one day maybe Hector would do this to her. For so long, she truly believed deep inside that she’d never open up her heart to anyone again. But her urges had always been so insatiable—so much so it was the one thing she never shared with anyone. Not even Drew. She really believed she was destined to only experience this kind of pleasure alone.

***

Even after one of the best damn orgasms she’d experienced to date, Charlee still had lain awake most of the night, thinking of Hector and everything he’d said to her. She should’ve been a zombie this morning. Instead, she felt strangely invigorated. She would’ve liked to say it was the excitement of getting to work with the kids today, something she enjoyed so much. But she knew it was for an altogether different reason.

She’d been almost embarrassed last night to admit to Drew that she’d let Hector kiss her, even after seeing him with those two girls. Of course, Drew not only hadn’t passed judgment she helped reassure Charlee she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life. Drew made her promise one thing: if nothing became of it, she wouldn’t let this take her all the way back to that dark place she’d once been.

“People make out at parties all the time, and nothing comes of it, Charlee.” Drew had said then dramatically gasped and added. “Many do way more than just make out too, you know. So please promise me that if this is all it was for him you don’t freak out okay? If, and I’m not saying it will, but if this turns out to be just that, then we’ll go out and celebrate. You got your first time out of the way.”

Charlee agreed, not wanting to argue, but she wondered how many of the people that did stuff like this had to face their one night stands every day. The school chess labs weren’t mandatory every day, but they had to do a lab at least twice a week. Then there was the U.S. team. They met less often, but they’d even be traveling together eventually. Things could get very awkward. She finally decided she wouldn’t do what she normally did and worry about something that hadn’t even happened yet.

Last night, Drew had watched her very closely as Charlee gave her the blow by blow of her make-out session with Hector. Well, Charlee’s version of the blow by blow. She’d kept a few things to herself, like how incredibly aroused she’d been. She’d never felt anything like it. Finally she understood what the big deal about sex was, and she hadn’t even had the real thing yet. Last night had been just a precursor, and it’d been amazing.