Walter would just have to appreciate the fact that Hector did think to come to him first before he did anything. He wouldn’t have to find out any other way. Hector was manning up and telling him before anyone else did.

“You done?” Hector asked as he walked up to him in the locker room.

“Yeah,” Walter wiped off his sweaty face with a towel. “It’s definitely getting easier, and I actually like the way I feel when I leave here now, not like before when I’d be dragging my ass out of here in total pain.”

Hector patted Walter on the shoulder. “That means you’re getting there. Eventually, you’ll be doing this just for that feeling, not because you need it.” Hector straddled the bench and leaned against the wall. “I gotta talk to you.”

Walter turned to him and stopped mopping his face, letting the towel drop on his shoulder. “What’s up?”

“The way you’ve been talking about Natalie this week, I get the feeling that trying to get Charlee is a thing of the past.”

Hector kept a close eye on Walter. He was doing the honorable thing here, asking for Walter’s blessings to go ahead and do what he’d wanted to for what seemed like forever now. But he also needed to get one thing straight. Once he did, he didn’t want Walter so much as daydreaming about her, because after today, Hector wouldn’t be taking any steps back. He’d be going forward with this full throttle, and if she was all for it, Charlee would be his.

Walter was pensive for a moment before responding to Hector’s statement. “All this time, even after you told me you thought maybe Natalie was interested in me, I thought Charlee would still be the ultimate goal, if I could ever get there.” He shrugged. “I almost feel guilty now that I saw Natalie as a consolation prize, someone I’d be settling for. To tell the truth, this whole week talking to Charlee was just as nerve-racking as always but nowhere near as exciting and as easy as when I talk to Nat.” Walter seemed almost embarrassed by that. “I was nervous at first, thinking that knowing Natalie might be looking at me in a way I would’ve never imagined would change things—that I wouldn’t feel at ease as I always have talking to her. But we’ve had our moments this week, and things are still the same.”

“That’s a good thing.” Hector smiled. Walter had no idea how good that was for Hector too.

“I see it now, Hector.” Walter smiled a smile Hector had only seen the day he brought out the robot from his trunk and told Hector Charlee had been impressed. “What you said you saw and I had such a hard time believing. Every time Nat looks at me now, I see it.” He shook his head, but the smile was still there. “It’s no different than how she looked at me before. Now I have to wonder how long she’s been feeling this and I was too blind to see it.”

“Which means,” Hector reminded him with a smile, “that what you were thinking, that she only noticed you because you started making this transformation isn’t true.”

Walter laughed full on now, and Hector was relieved to see him so damn happy. “That’s the best part about it. I mean I still wanna lose weight and all. And I’m gonna keep coming to the gym no matter what, but it’s nice to know that, unlike with Charlee, that’s not the only thing Nat will appreciate about me.” He stopped laughing and got a little serious. “That’s not to say I think Charlee is shallow or anything, but you know what I mean. Charlee’s never been anything but nice to me, but obviously my personality alone is not gonna cut it for her. And it’s just as well, because after spending so much time with Nat this week and then trying again to feel comfortable with Charlee, I think maybe she and I are just too different.” He scrunched up his nose. “Plus her head is always somewhere else. I always get the feeling she’s not really listening to me.” He laughed again. “I guess in a way that’s a good thing because I always manage to say something stupid around her.”

Hector laughed now too, and he’d like to think he knew just where Charlee’s head had been when Walter had been trying to make a connection with her. “So you’re done with Charlee then, right?”

Walter nodded then slipped a dry t-shirt on. “Good,” Hector said, standing up but lost the courage to look Walter straight in the face when he said it, so he smiled at one of the trainers walking out of the locker room and waved, “because I think I’m gonna ask her out.”

Hector held his breath, still not looking in Walter’s direction, but after the silence went on for too long, he had no choice. To his surprise, Walter was smirking. “Funny, it never even dawned on me that Nat might be looking at me as more than just her only patient’s grandson, who she had no choice but to be nice to. It’s not surprising really since I’m usually pretty lame about picking up on those kinds of things. But I’ve seen the way you look at Charlee. I was beginning to think I was just paranoid since, obviously, you weren’t doing anything about it. I thought maybe you just liked what you saw but she wasn’t really your type.”

“I don’t have a type, Walter.” Hector smiled, feeling a little stupid that here he thought all this time Walter hadn’t noticed his fascination with Charlee. “I only recently found this out. And the only reason I hadn’t done anything,” he crossed his fingers behind his back. Walter seemed happy enough now. Hector didn’t have to tell him just how weak he’d been about staying completely away from Charlee, “was because I knew you had a thing for her. But you’re cool with this now.”