As the tournament began, Charlee found it impossible to keep her eyes off him. Something nervously strange, but at the same time exciting, stirred in her the entire time. Even after he’d won twice and was moved to the next table as the players were narrowed down to just eight, the chances of him actually winning the whole thing seemed slim. She’d heard at least a little of each of today’s contestants, yet she’d never once heard of Hector.
Turning her phone away from Drew’s view, she Googled his name. There had to be something about some of the tournaments he might’ve been in or won. Even she got a few hits when she typed it in her own name.
Almost everything that came up was about his boxing. Her heart sped up a little when she clicked on one of the hits and a few images of him in the boxing ring shirtless came up. His half-naked body was everything she’d imagined and more. He even had a tattoo on his very muscular upper chest.
After staring at the photos, she clicked on a few of the other hits. There was one from this past summer of a ribbon cutting for the grand reopening of 5th Street, the gym Walter had mentioned Hector boxed at. Tapping on one of the photos so her phone would zoom in on it, she swallowed hard at the sight of him and a few other handsome guys in suits, smiling big. Her eyes were glued to his image.
“He’s part owner.”
Charlee flinched at the sound of Walter’s voice so near her. She knew he’d been sitting next to her, but he’d been so into observing the competition she didn’t expect him to be watching what she was doing. She instinctively moved the phone out of Walter’s curious eyes. “I uh,” she looked back down at the phone and closed out the browser. “I was just trying to get some stats on his game.” She stared ahead, refusing to look Walter in the eye. “I know a little about all the other contestants, but I’ve never heard anything about him.”
“Did you find anything?”
She frowned, still staring straight ahead but made sure she didn’t look in Hector’s direction. She pretended to be overly interested in the only female still in the competition. “No nothing. Aside from his boxing, there were a few hits about the online tournaments he’s played and won but nothing near this level of competition.” In an attempt to sound almost snobby about her doubts in Hector’s abilities as a chess player because it was less embarrassing than Walter picking up on her real reasons for her interest in Hector, she continued without looking at him. “Is he supposed to be good or something? Because I’m a little surprised he’s still in it.”
Walter shrugged. “If he was invited, I’m sure he’s pretty good.” Charlee finally turned to look at him. He froze for a split second, and in the next he was doing that thing with his head again, moving it up and down. “Probably not as good as me, but you know,” he bit his bottom lip again and even closed his eyes without saying more.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes flew up and his head stopped moving. “Yeah, why?”
“I dunno. It’s just that you were . . .” She waved the thought away with her hand. “So what’s his forte? I’m thinking it’s gotta be speed play, or he wouldn’t be in this still.”
Walter nodded. “I actually don’t know too much about Hector’s game, but I agree. Speed’s gotta be his thing. My money is on Kowalewski taking the whole thing today.” He pointed at a blond guy with glasses playing in the next table over to Hector’s left. “That guy right there. If both he and Hector win this round, they’re up against each other next. If Hector wins, then he’ll likely take the whole thing because I don’t think anyone else here is a stronger player than Kowalewski.”
Charlee stared at Kowalewski, though she’d rather have been staring at Hector. But she’d already been caught Google-stalking him on her phone, so she needed to be even more discreet now or at least continue to reaffirm that her curiosity in him was merely in the best interest of her chess team. They needed the best player here to replace a player she thought was one of if not the strongest on the team.
To her surprise and somewhat annoyance, not only did Drew stick around for the entire tournament but she seemed just as interested in seeing if Hector would win. They all watched in anticipation as Hector took the seat in front of Kowalewski and shook his hand over the chess board. If Walter’s prediction was right, this could be it. It seemed Walter wasn’t the only one thinking what he was thinking, because this time around, things got really quiet. All eyes were on the mysterious dark horse who had ridden in and taken down each of his opponents with ease. It seemed everyone knew this would be the real challenge.
Squirming in her seat as the game commenced, Charlee’s eyes were fixed on their play. She didn’t even care that she was now showing complete and blatant interest in Hector, because everyone else was too.
Thirty minutes later when Kowalewski reached over to shake Hector’s hand, admitting defeat, Charlee nearly jumped out of her seat. She managed to remain seated, though her hand did fly to her mouth. Drew turned to her with a curious twinkle in her eye. Charlee withdrew the huge grin she knew was plastered on her face now and quickly pretended to be wiping something off her lips. She sat back in her chair, glancing away from Drew’s inquiring stare.
Her best friend was too damn perceptive for her own good. Charlee wouldn’t give her anything further to scrutinize. Doing so proved harder than expected. After Hector took down Kowalewski, Charlee could barely sit still. Visions of him sitting in the school’s small chess lab flooded her mind. She knew that if he did make the team, she’d likely not only get to know him but she’d for sure get to play him eventually—sit for hours across from him close enough to touch him if she ever dared.