Hector

Drew suddenly stood up, and for a moment, he thought she might leave. So he sat up ready to go after her in case she misunderstood and thought he wasn’t willing to agree to not breaking Charlee’s heart. Instead, she began to pace, tapping her finger against her mouth. He watched for a moment then had to ask. “What are you doing?”

“I’m thinking. Give me a sec.”

Okay?

She stopped pacing then sat down. “So Walter thinks he’s in love with Charlee, but the guy can hardly talk to her. I’m thinking this is more of an infatuation thing with him. She told me about how awkward it was when she went over to see his science project. The only time he’d been comfortable was when he’d been demonstrating it to her. The rest of the time he was his usual nervous self and barely talked.” Drew rolled her eyes. “The guy had time to prepare for her coming over, and the only thing he prepared for was his demonstrations.”

Hector shook his head, feeling a little annoyed. “Nah, he did prepare. I helped him actually. He just choked like he always does. But that’s just who he is. That doesn’t mean he’s not really into her.”

“Well, I thought so too,” Drew quickly countered, “until I went with him and Charlee to his grandpa’s assisted living facility.” She smiled big. “You’ve been there with him too, right?” She gave him a knowing look.

Hector stared at her blankly. “Yeah?”

“He’s not so awkwardly shy around everyone, now, is he?”

Still drawing a blank, he thought about it harder, feeling a little stupid because he had no clue what she was talking about.

She frowned now and sat up. “How many times have you been down to the old folk’s home with him?”

“A few.” So Walter wasn’t shy around his grandpa or the other oldies he played. Big deal. Hector didn’t see how that was going to help.

“And did you meet Natalie?”

Hector had to think about it for a moment. “His gramps’ nurse? Yeah, I met her. She’s been there every time.”

“And?”Drew pressed.

When he thought about it a bit too long for Drew’s liking, she plopped her hands down on the table, and her eyes flew wide open. “Oh my God, I’ve only been there once with Charlee, and we were there for all of five minutes before we picked up on it. Charlee even thought it was cute, but at the time, I was too annoyed to give it much thought because I didn’t like how rude Natalie was to Charlee.”

Hector lifted an eyebrow unbelievably. “Natalie was rude to Charlee?” Natalie was a sweetheart. He had to wonder if Drew was exaggerating or if this was a chick thing.

“Yes, she was rude to her. She obviously has a thing for Walter and wasn’t thrilled about him bringing Charlee with him. The girl wasn’t exactly sweet to me, but she must’ve picked up on Walter crushing on Charlee because she really laid on the rude with her.” Drew dug into her chip bag and shook her head. “Though, the big lug is as oblivious about it as you are. Charlee and I actually considered getting involved and maybe giving him a clue, but after the way she treated Charlee, we both said, ‘screw her.’”

This was total news to Hector. He’d been there a handful of times with Walter now, and while he noticed Walter seemed comfortable enough with Natalie, Hector hadn’t caught any interest she might have in him. Still, he liked where Drew was going with this. It wasn’t as simple as he’d been thinking. “So what’s your plan?”

“We get Walter and Natalie together! Charlee even says they’re perfect for each other. His grandpa’s in love with the girl. This will be a piece of cake.” Drew smiled wickedly. “Once they’re together, trust me, he’ll need to get over Charlee real fast because that cute little nurse with the big attitude won’t be having it.”

Hector thought about it. Funny, he hadn’t picked up on any discourteous behavior from Natalie. But then he wasn’t another girl vying for Natalie’s love interest.

“And here’s the beauty of it.” Drew had Hector hanging on her every word now. “Walter’s going to be traveling with Charlee a lot, right? Spending time on the road, staying in the same hotels. Natalie already doesn’t like Charlee.”

Hector didn’t even realize he was frowning until Drew laughed. “Relax. This is where you come in. I can guarantee you she’ll have issues with it that may lead to arguments and fights and ultimately her not being able to deal with it. I know I’d have a hard time dealing with my man going on the road with someone I knew he had a thing for, especially someone as adorable as Charlee. So you’ll actually be helping him out. If she knows Charlee will have her hot boyfriend with her along on said trips, she won’t be so freaked out about it.” Drew reached for her straw and took a sip of her soda. “You’ll be Walter’s hero, not someone who betrayed him.”

“Did you just call me hot?” Hector smirked.

With a laugh, she rolled her eyes. “Get over yourself.” She reached for her purse. “But I will need your number. We gotta collaborate here. Charlee cannot know about this. She’ll kill me. As a matter of fact, I have to get going, or she might get suspicious. I’m never gone this long without her knowing where I am, and she sort of already caught on this morning that I might be up to something. Only today, I knew she’d be out of it for most of the day, so I figured I could pull this off. Let’s have it.” She held her phone up, ready to enter his number in her phone. He gave it to her, and when she was done, she stood up.