“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.”
They came to a stop light, and he turned to look at her confused. “You do?”
She nodded, hoping he wouldn’t think her too weird. “I came across something called ‘The 5th Street Journey’ online.” Immediately she saw the discernment come over him, and thankfully he didn’t seem bothered by it at all. “It’s really interesting,” she added as he slipped his big hand in hers. “But there is a lot about you, and, well, I couldn’t help reading most of it.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. It amazed her how comfortable she felt with him now that she knew she didn’t have to fear the inevitable heartache. He initiated this. She would’ve never even considered suggesting it. There was no way what he was saying could be insincere like with Danny. He wouldn’t have done all this for nothing. In fact, he’d been thoroughly disgusted when she told him about Danny.
“So it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do then,” he said, turning onto a street with huge homes on it. “Let’s start off with the most important.” He glanced at her lifting his brow. “You’re out here, but your home is on the other side of the country. You’re not planning on moving back there anytime soon, are you?”
“No,” Charlee said, looking out the window at the massive homes they were passing. “But I was actually contemplating it a few weeks ago.”
Hector turned to look at her but didn’t say anything for a moment. “Really? A few weeks ago?”
She nodded, a little embarrassed to admit it, but Hector had such an easy going demeanor—when he was in a good mood as he was now—telling him the truth felt like the most natural thing to do. “The day after that keg party, I had myself a little pity party. I thought I needed to get away for a few days, maybe weeks, but I happened to mention it to Drew, and she begged me not to.”
They were stopped at a stop sign, and there were no other cars around, but Hector didn’t move. Instead, he stared at her before finally letting out a strange, “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” he turned his attention back on the road and started through the intersection. “Good to know what it takes to get your mind off moving back.” He smiled playfully, glancing back at her. “If I have to beg, I will—totally worth it.”
This time she squeezed his hand. Pushing her pessimistic this-is-too-good-to-be-true thoughts away, she allowed herself to accept that this was really happening.
Hector drove into the driveway of one of the huge homes in the next block, but instead of backing out and turning around, which is what she thought he might do, he drove all the way up until the truck was parked on the side of the house.