Chapter 49: Chapter 49

It was so unfair, and Charlee cursed Danny that even after all this time thoughts of him could almost ruin what should be one of the best days of her life. She hated that Hector’s playfulness was gone and he was now staring at her with that same intensity she’d seen in him before. It wasn’t that she had anything to hide from him. It was just so humiliating. Not even Drew brought it up much because she knew that Charlee had been so mortified by the whole thing that she hated talking about it.

She took a deep breath, trying to come up with a short and sweet version of the truth. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, nor have I ever been in a relationship where I was seeing someone. But like you, I thought I’d started seeing someone last year. That’s what he made it feel like anyway, and it turned out I wasn’t even close.” She smiled, leaning in and kissing him in the hopes that they’d drop it.

“That’s it?” He asked, not looking the least bit satisfied.

Trying to appear as happy as she’d been moments before the thought of Danny had come barreling into her wonderful day, she nodded. “In a nutshell.”

To her surprise, the corner of his lip went up, but he lifted a brow, taking the lightheartedness out of what might’ve been a playful smile. “Do you realize you blink really fast when you’re lying?”

She pulled back, but with his arms around her waist, she didn’t get very far. “I’m not lying.” She was very aware that her eyes blinked like crazy when she lied. Drew had pointed that out years ago. She was just surprised Hector had picked up on it so quickly.

The half-smile was gone, and he stared at her hard now. “You’re doing it again. Why are you lying, Charlee?”

“How do you know—” she caught herself and rephrased that. “Why do you think I’m lying?”

“Because the only time I’ve ever seen you do that was the night I asked you to pretend what happened between us never did. You said you already had and that,” his jaw clenched for a second, “that you’d had an exhausting weekend, and I know now that it was all a lie. So why are you lying now? Just give it to me straight. I can take it. You’ve had boyfriends before, so what?”

“I haven’t.” He was so focused on her eyes now it completely unnerved her.

“Okay, that’s the truth,” he said smugly. She tried pulling away from him now, annoyed that he really thought he had her pegged so quickly, but he held her tight. Staring at her more concerned now, he asked, “What’s wrong with you? What’s upsetting you this much?”

“I’d had a crush on him for years, okay? Then suddenly last year, he pretended to really be into me. I fell for it completely. Even Drew, who claims to have a sixth sense about these things, thought he genuinely liked me, and it turned out he did it all for some kind of stupid football team dare.” She couldn’t even look at Hector anymore. “It’s incredibly embarrassing to talk about, so can we not anymore, please?”

That hardened look was back, but she knew it wasn’t because of or directed at her. He was thinking about what she’d just told him. He pulled her closer, and she leaned her face against his chest. It felt so perfect to be held by him like this that she never wanted to let go, and she took a deep satisfied breath.

“What an asshole,” was the only thing Hector said and the only thing either of them said for a long while. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. There was a strangeness in his voice. “I won’t ask you anything more about what he did, but I do need to know something.”

She lifted her head away from his chest and looked at him. He searched her eyes immediately. “You said you had a crush on him for years. This happened a year ago?” She nodded. “And it still upsets you this much? You are over him, right?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. Gawd, he must think her the most pathetic thing on the planet. “I was over him the moment I found out the truth.” That wasn’t exactly true, but she was over him now and had been for quite a while. “It’s just the thought of telling anyone about it,” she lowered her voice, “especially you, is so . . . embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Charlee.” He rubbed her back. “Only idiots actually give into stupid peer pressure like that. I remember hearing about that kind of dumb shit in school all the time. It was always the assholes who went along with it. And what was so daring about pretending to like a sweet, pretty girl like you anyway? What a schmuck.”

What she’d told him was mortifying enough. She didn’t have to tell him everything. It was just ironic that of all words he could’ve chosen he chose schmuck in this instance. She concentrated on not going into a blinking spasm and shrugged. “So you know now. Can we talk about something else?”

He leaned in, kissing her softly, and then slowly his tongue became more ravenous. She held both hands to his face, kissing him back equally insatiably until she tingled everywhere, but he cut it short, breathing heavily as he pulled away. Rubbing the tops of her thighs, he smiled that breathtaking smile. “You wanna go see something? It’s close by here. I didn’t realize how close you lived to it.”

She nodded, staring at him all dreamily, and she didn’t even care. There was no hiding how she felt about him now, and she didn’t have to anymore.

He leaned in against her forehead again. “Or we can stay here if you’d prefer.” His fingers grazed the bare small of her back now. In this position, Drew’s ridiculously short hoodie had ridden halfway up her back, exposing her entire lower back. The touch of his fingers sent a tingling sensation up her spine, making her shiver against him. “I am not about to ask you to get off me.”

“Oh.” She sat up, realizing she had to move off him in order for him to stand. Okay, maybe she would have to try a little harder to not get so mesmerized by him. It was a little embarrassing.

She scooted back and pulled her legs off his big thighs. Feeling her face warm a little, she wondered what he’d think of her fantasies in which she’d sat on him that very same way many times minus their clothes. The heat moved down from her face to her neck and warmed every part of her body as the reality began to set in. If this were really happening, if she weren’t really going to wake up from this soon and find out all this was just another fantasy of hers, the possibility of her fantasies happening now was very real.

They got in his truck and set out to the mystery place Hector said he’d rather just show her than tell her about.

His truck was an old classic one, something he said his brother had passed down to him. As soon as she got in, he made sure the seatbelt in the middle seat was accessible to her, and Charlee chewed her bottom lip, loving the fact that he wanted her sitting right next to him.

“He’s got a badass Gran Torino now,” Hector said as he continued to explain about the old cars he and his brother drove. “He’s always been into classics, and,” he shrugged, “so have I.”

Charlee smiled, pondering whether or not she should mention she already knew that. She wondered if he’d think her creepy for knowing so much about him, his brother, and his friends already. For the time being, she decided she’d just let him talk and keep that tidbit to herself.

“If you’re not familiar with Gran Torinos,” he continued, “it’s the car they used in Starsky and Hutch. Maybe you saw the movie with Ben Stiller. That’s a lot more current than the TV show. Anyway, now Abel’s looking into getting a fifty-eight Chevy Impala.” She loved watching how excited he got when he spoke about his brother, like the night of his fight when he talked about Abel going for the title. “We’re gonna restore it together.”

“So it’s just you and your brother, no other siblings?” She already knew the answer to this as well, but it seemed like something she should ask.

“Yep, just me, him, and my mom.” He turned to her with a questioning expression. “I’ve never done this, but I get the feeling this isn’t typical.”

“What is?”

“You and me. I don’t know a whole lot about you yet. All I know is that you do something to my heart I don’t quite understand, and ever since I kissed you . . .” He paused and seemed to think about that for a moment. “No, I’m thinking now it started way before that. I haven’t been able to think about much else but you. And even though I don’t know much about you, here we are—officially together. Normally, there’s a courting process to get to know each other before things become official, right?”

She hadn’t even looked at it that way. Now she really debated on whether she should just admit she knew so much about him, like how, according to the Roni’s blog, even though he was the youngest of the four partners who owned 5th Street, he handled the books. Roni called him a mathematics genius—another thing he and Charlee had in common. Math had always been her strongest subject. But then most chess enthusiasts were good at math, so that wasn’t too surprising.

Another big thing she knew about him was that it was his idea to start the Children’s Burn Foundation in honor of Jack, the late 5th Street founder who’d passed the gym down to him and his friends. Hector had been a victim himself and suffered some minor burns in the fire there at 5th Street. Being a minor himself at the time, he’d been in the children’s burn ward of the hospital and saw firsthand what those kids have to go through, so that’s when he came up with the idea.

Feeling guilty now that he didn’t know much about her and yet she’d already fallen in love with everything she’d read about him, she decided to fess up. “Actually, I know a little more about you than you think.”