Hector

She’d been fine up until she got home and tried smiling cheerfully for Drew. Her friend had seen right through her. All it took was one pout and the million dollar question. “You saw him, didn’t you?”

Charlee had fallen apart all over again, and Drew dove right in with her best friend duties of holding her, consoling her, breaking out the ice cream, and then staying up with her into the late hours of the night talking. Drew was able to finally convince her of one thing, and as jagged a pill it was to swallow, it made sense. This was a good thing.

“You’ll get over it, and you’ll be stronger for it.”

Drew hadn’t been aware of just how sweet Hector had been to Charlee that night at the party—how convincing, without even having to say it, he’d been about making her feel as if she weren’t just another one-night stand—how deeply he’d looked in her eyes and melted her completely. It hadn’t been just a hot and heavy moment between them.

She knew none of that mattered now, but she wanted Drew to understand she wasn’t being such a crybaby over nothing. After what she’d already been through, she knew better than to trust some fake, kind words from a guy. She’d been completely naïve the first time. This time she felt what Hector was saying to her. There was no way to explain it, but Drew got it. That’s why she loved her so much. She totally understood.

“I believe you, Charlee.” Drew said with that sympathetic smile. “I saw it too. There’s something about the way he looks at you. I saw it at the party again. But maybe he’s just that good. Even though, with his looks, he doesn’t have to be.”

“I know! That’s what I keep thinking. Even if his act had been as obviously bogus like Danny’s . . .” Charlee stopped and Drew stared at her silently. Charlee hadn’t said that name in over a year. “I probably still would’ve fallen for it,” she whispered, glancing down at her hands.

Drew reached over and took Charlee’s hand in hers. “No you wouldn’t have. You were younger and completely inexperienced when Danny got a hold of you. Plus that was totally different. There was no way you could’ve ever imagined what he was up to. But just like that experience, Charlee, you grew from it. I’ve watched you be overly cautious about these things, and trust me, even with my sixth sense I’m always going on about, I didn’t see this coming from Hector. Sure, I was nervous this would be the case, but I truly believed I saw something else in the way he acted with you. So if you say you even felt it, then I believe you.” Drew sighed. “I guess the jerk is just really that good.” She smiled weakly at Charlee. “That’s why this is a good thing. We were both duped by one of the smoothest, if not the best at being smooth. Anyone else who comes along now will have nothing on our reinforced ass**le radars.”

Surprisingly, her words made Charlee laugh out loud. Ironically, they made her think about Hector explaining his scar. He’d learned from it, and ever since, he hadn’t let his guard down as much. Charlee had another scar to reinforce her ass**le radar. She only hoped she’d be strong enough to not let her guard down again.

By Saturday she was over it. At least she told herself that, and she did her best to enjoy her time at Walter’s and then at the play Drew’s dad had gotten them tickets for that night.

Since then, she’d seen Hector one time. He decided to grace the team with his presence Wednesday afternoon. She and Drew had gone over the game plan. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of letting him see he’d affected her life in any way. Instead, she’d keep up the “I’d already forgotten about that” attitude. Drew had been especially proud of Charlee for making that comment. She’d even high-fived her.

So when he showed up Wednesday, she did just that—smiled sweetly at him, showing absolutely no resentment whatsoever. A few times she couldn’t help feeling annoyed that their eyes would meet and she thought she saw what she had the night he kissed her. That’s when it was hardest to not feel aggravated. He already knew he had the power to make her melt, and he made it clear it wasn’t something he wanted to continue, so why was he torturing her now? It was the sickest kind of cruelty, and she’d walked out of the lab, cursing him under her breath again.

Day two, Thursday, hadn’t been much better. She’d caught him looking at her more than once in that way that did crazy things to her insides. Charlee was trying so hard to remain composed and to act indifferent about the entire thing. It didn’t even hurt as much as it made her angry now. How could anyone be that mean? Did he enjoy stroking his ego again and again each time he managed to get her caught in one of his intense gazes?

Once again, she walked out of the lab, feeling thoroughly nettled. Drew met her by the waterfall in the middle of campus, where she always did Thursday afternoons. “How was it? Was he there today?”

“Yes,” Charlee huffed.

“That bad, huh?”

“I suppose it’s my fault for giving him opportunity after opportunity to get me caught in a trance with him because I can’t stop looking at him. But why does he have to keep doing that?”

“That just seems so weird,” Drew pondered, holding her books to her chest and staring straight ahead as they began walking. “If he’s really that attracted to you that he can’t stop looking, why cut things off? Even players like him have to eventually get bitten by the love bug.”

“Drew,” Charlee warned. She wasn’t about to get pulled into that again.