“I’ll be in touch with you to let you know what I come up with. I’ll have to think fast. Charlee was already talking about going back home.”

“What?” Hector stopped in his tracks. “Why?”

She continued to walk, making him walk with her. “It’s what she does. That’s how she deals with being upset. She runs into her little Charlee hole and wants to hide from the world. I talked her out of it for now. But if this goes on much longer, I don’t know that she won’t change her mind.” She must’ve seen the worry in his face because she added. “Don’t worry. If you knew how my mind works, you’d know I’ll probably have a plan before I even get home. I’m all over this.”

Hector smiled now as they walked out the restaurant. Drew seemed as genuinely excited as he was beginning to feel. And she wasn’t kidding about how fast her mind worked. By the time they got back to 5th Street, Drew had already gone over several possibilities about how they could go about this. The more excited she got, the faster she talked.

“Catch your breath,” Hector said as they got out of his truck.

Drew laughed, but she did take a very long dramatic deep breath. “I needed that.” She laughed.

Hector stared at her for a moment then smiled. “So you’d do all this for Charlee, even though there’s a possibility she could kill you if she found out?”

Her smile didn’t flatline like last night when he told her she was a good friend, but it did lose some of its glow. “I just wanna see her happy. She deserves to be.”

With his insides already stirring, Hector could hardly wait to get on with this. The excitement of knowing this might actually work made him smile. He was glad now that he’d decided to tell Drew everything. This day could’ve gone in a completely different direction, and now he felt over the moon. “I know I said it already, but Charlee really is lucky to have you as a friend.”

That really snuffed what was left of her smile. “You did that yesterday when I said that. Why is that a bad thing?”

She was quiet for a moment then shrugged. “Let’s just say this is not an entirely selfless act on my part. You’re not the only one whose conscience is dragging him down. I need to do this for me as much as I do for Charlee.” Hector waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “I gotta go, but I’ll text you.”

That last revelation didn’t sit well with him. Did Drew mean she’d done something to Charlee she felt guilty about? No way. The girl had protective best friend written all over her. She’d even marched in and called him an ass**le for making her friend cry.

He made a mental note to bring it up again if he ever got the chance.

Chapter 21

If there were any rhyme or reason to the days Hector showed up to the chess lab, Charlee could prepare herself accordingly. Monday she was fairly confident he wouldn’t be there because the last two weeks he’d been consistent and only showed up toward the end of the week. She’d been right and thankfully so because she still hadn’t felt up to facing him yet.

It was Tuesday now, and as Charlee walked to the chess lab, her heart sped up. As unlikely as it was that he’d be there this early in the week, the rattled nerves she felt from the possibility of seeing him again were out of control.

Since Friday, more and more had come to her about their conversation that night. She hadn’t just cried on her way home. She cried when she spoke with him. She just couldn’t remember why—or rather what explanation she’d given him for her tears.

Glancing up, she quickly lost her train of thought. Ross stood by the stairway she needed to take to get to the chess lab. He was leaning against the rail with both hands in his pockets, smiling—waiting for her. This was the first time she’d seen him since Hector had blown up at her for talking to him last.

“You promised you wouldn’t be talking to him anymore.” Completely startled by Hector’s voice, Charlee nearly jumped.

With her hand on her chest, she glanced up at Hector, who was now walking alongside her, staring Ross down, and she gathered her thoughts. Was this something she’d promised Friday night? “I did?”

“Something like that.” He took a step in front of her and stopped. “Last week you said you wouldn’t be talking to him anymore. Is he waiting for you?”

Charlee looked up behind Hector. Ross wasn’t leaning against the rail anymore, but he was still there, only the smile was gone, and he seemed to be contemplating whether he should still wait or leave. “I don’t know.”

“He’s a bad guy, Charlee.” his words urged. “Trust me on this. Like the guy Friday night, you don’t want to associate with him. I can get rid of him for you. Just say the word and I will.”

She shook her head. “No.” His already hardened eyes seemed to almost darken with that, so she touched his tense arm and added, “I won’t associate with him anymore, but I don’t need you to say anything or do anything to him.”

“How ’bout I do it to you?”

“What?”

Before she could try to figure out what he meant, he leaned in and kissed her softly. As expected, her lips gave into him without even the slightest resistance. When he pulled away, he smiled, licking his lips. “In case he didn’t see that,” Hector said with a smirk then brought his arm around her waist, pulling her against his hard body, and kissed her again this time deeper.