Charlee nudged her and glanced around, feeling a little alarmed. “Will you stop? O.M.G., someone’s gonna hear you.”
“So what?” Drew looked around at the people sitting near them with that feisty little glare of hers. “Who cares?” She turned her attention back to Mr. Muy Caliente and clucked her tongue. “You think he’s here to compete?”
“Looks like it,” Charlee said, glad that she had reason to gaze at him again. “That’s where you register to get your badge and number.”
They’d already established earlier that Hector was the same delicious guy that had knocked Ross out, but Charlee hadn’t told Drew much else about him, not even what little Walter had told her about him, and especially not that he was a boxer. She hadn’t even shared his name with Drew. It was silly, but she and Drew had always sort of shared and lusted over the same unattainable guys together. For that very reason—because they seemed so unattainable—it didn’t matter if they both fantasized about the same guy. But this time she didn’t want to share. No other guy had ever invoked such fantasies in her. And she just didn’t think she’d be as giggly and enjoy hearing Drew’s fantasies about Hector like she usually did about other guys. Just listening to Drew referring to him as Mr. Muy Caliente had her pressing her lips together tightly already.
Thankfully her BFF had the attention span of a tick. She was already checking her phone for texts or any Facebook updates, no doubt.
“You better respond to anything you need to, using that phone now, because once the tournament starts, all phones are to be shut off completely.” Her dramatic friend looked up at her with the horrified expression. “Drew, you act like this is the first tournament you’ve been to.”
“Yeah, but watching you is different I don’t get so bored. And I almost always make sure I get there when I know it’s nearly over. This is different. I don’t even know these people.” Drew looked at her with a suddenly content expression as if she just remembered something. “But you said this was a fast one right?”
Charlee shook her head, exhaling softly. “No, I said these are speed games. They are shorter. Thirty minutes versus four to six hours. But there will be lots of them until everyone is knocked out and there is only one player left standing: the winner.”
Drew was nothing if not dramatic. Her shoulders slumped, but she didn’t say what Charlee knew she was thinking. She knew she should’ve just come alone. Her car was working now, but Drew had insisted on accompanying her. “You don’t have to stay, you know? You can take off if you want. Go get those boots you wanted at the mall, and just come back for me later.”
“Or I can give you a ride home.”
Both Charlee and Drew turned around to look at Walter. Charlee glanced at Drew, who was already beginning to smirk, but her smirk morphed instantly into a bigger smile. Charlee had seen her do that many times, and she knew what it meant. She was up to something. “So who’s your friend, Walter?”
Charlee closed her eyes for a second, praying this wasn’t Drew’s way of calling dibs on Hector, not that Charlee thought either of them had a chance with him. Drew was cute enough, and her socializing skills were light-years ahead of Charlee’s, but even Drew had never been with someone like Hector. The guy was way out of both their leagues. Well, at least Charlee thought so, but judging by Drew’s comments and the way some of the other girls in the auditorium were ogling him as well, she wasn’t the only one that couldn’t keep her eyes off him.
Glancing around casually, Charlee did her best to appear uninterested in knowing any more about Hector than she already did, but it was almost impossible. She was already bracing herself for what else Walter might let her in on.
“Oh, that’s Hector.” He glanced back in Hector’s direction then back at Drew before finally looking at Charlee. “You didn’t tell her about him?”
Drew glanced back at Charlee then shrugged and responded before Charlee could. “Well, I know he’s the guy that knocked Ross on his ass, but what’s he doing here?”
“He’s in the tournament.” Walter informed them as if it weren’t a big deal.
It was a huge deal. If he won and took Vladimir’s place on the team, it meant Charlee would get to see him on a daily basis. She stopped mid thought to swallow hard. She might actually get to talk to him—maybe even become a friend or at the very least an acquaintance.
A little worried that Drew seemed too interested but incredibly grateful that she was the one doing all the asking, Charlee hung on Walter’s every word now. Unfortunately, he didn’t offer much else except that he didn’t know how good Hector was, so he wasn’t sure what his chances were. Drew got a text, so the interrogation about all things Hector was momentarily dropped.
Charlee took advantage of Drew’s distraction to gaze at Hector again. She’d never felt so drawn to someone in her life. What was it about him? Obviously his looks had a lot to do with it, if not everything, since she didn’t know much else about him, and she’d never even spoken to him other than to say thank you. But there had to be more. She couldn’t be that shallow, could she?
“So what’s his deal?”
Charlee brought her attention back to her best friend, who was now putting her phone away. Drew’s eyebrows lifted as her gaze went from Hector to Walter. Apparently, she wasn’t done with her inquiring about Hector. As much as Charlee wanted to know more about him, she almost wished Drew would stop. She didn’t like that she was so damn interested in her fantasy guy.
“What do you mean?” Walter was doing that weird thing with his head again, moving it slowly up and down, and he was biting his lower lip.
Drew rolled her eyes. “Does he have a girlfriend?”
Great, Drew was interested in him. But Charlee had to admit she was glad Drew asked. A guy like Hector had to be spoken for. She could tell already, based on the looks he was getting here, he could easily walk out with any girl he wanted tonight. Sure it was a chess tournament, not a social event, but this guy could probably walk into a funeral and pick up. Maybe this would put to rest her insane fantasies once and for all.
“I dunno,” Walter said, glancing back in Hector’s direction and chuckled. “You might find this hard to believe, but the guy’s always been pretty popular with the ladies.”
Drew rolled her eyes again this time, smiling and exchanging glances with Charlee, who was now feeling completely uncomfortable about the subject. “Oh, yeah, that’s real hard to believe.”
Her best friend turned her still-lifted eyebrow over in Hector’s direction. All three of them watched now as he took his seat at one of the tables set up for the tournament. He smiled at his opponent as he shook his hand. God, there had to be something wrong him; even that smile was incredible. Charlee actually hoped Walter would tell them he was a criminal of sorts or maybe he was a big conceited jerk. He certainly had every right to be conceited.
They all continued to watch the players set up silently, but Charlee made note of the fact that Drew watched only Hector. Although Charlee was shy to a fault and the thought of holding even a conversation with this guy scared the daylights out of her, it secretly excited her that for once when both she and Drew found a guy attractive, she might actually have more in common with him than her much more outgoing best friend. Maybe for once she would have the always unspoken dibs Drew automatically had on any attractive guys.
It wasn’t that Drew would selfishly stake her claim on all guys they met. She wasn’t like that. But it was common knowledge that Charlee was about as socially inept as Walter seemed to be. Drew was a good friend. She often tried to encourage Charlee to be more flirtatious, and Charlee knew that not only would Drew step aside and give her dibs if she asked for it but she’d be utterly excited about it. Aside from Charlee’s mother, Drew was the only other person who knew why it was so hard for Charlee to ever consider something like that. That’s why Drew encouraged but never pushed. So while Charlee did her best to go as unnoticed as possible, Drew with her unreserved personality was just the opposit
e. It was inevitable that if either of the two would grab the attention of any guy it was always Drew.
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.
They announced the last two players standing: Hector Ayala and Morgan Bisbee. Walter seemed to think Hector had this, and for some reason, that appeared to bother him. “I would’ve rather had Kowalewski on the team,” he whispered as the time on the last match began. “Obviously speed play is not his thing, but he’s a force to be reckoned with in regular tournaments. He would’ve been a tremendous asset to the team.”
Charlee shifted her weight from one leg to the other, chewing her pinky nail. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since Hector had started his match with Kowalewski. They’d gotten up with everyone else and went and stood closer to the last table where Hector and Morgan sat battling it out.
From where she stood now, as much as she wanted to pay close attention to the moves being made on the chess board, she could barely keep her eyes from wandering to his face. He was one of those players that checked out once he started playing. As many people that surrounded the table, it was obvious he was deep in his own world. The intensity in his eyes, as he watched his opponents move and then made his quickly, was unrelenting.
Charlee swallowed hard, her eyes traveling from the crease between his eyes, as he studied the pieces on the board, to his heavily lashed eyes. This close she could see a small scar that ran across his left brow, splitting the brow just so. It was the perfect imperfection to an otherwise flawless face. She also noticed how tight his jaw would clench just before he made a move. As big as his hands were, his fingers moved about the board gracefully from one side to the other without dropping any of the pieces.
As the game came down to the last few minutes and they began to move at a much faster speed, the crowd’s whispers became louder with excitement. Speed chess had never been Charlee’s thing. She could barely keep up with their moves, so it was difficult to anticipate what Hector’s next move might be. Yet as they moved at what seemed like a ridiculous speed now, her heart began to pound against her chest. Any minute now, they’d have a winner. Then she saw it. Hector could bring his knight to f6 and his queen could swing over to the H file. He was going to win. He was going to win!
In the next couple of moves, it was over. The crowd clapped, seemingly as impressed as Charlee was. Hector stood surrounded by the officials and team trainers. Cameras, including phone cameras, w
ent off left and right. Many congratulated Hector, while others from the team walked up to shake his hand and introduce themselves.
Charlee wished she had it in her to at least take advantage of the flurry and take a few pictures of her own: photos she could keep on her phone and stare at forever, maybe even while she . . . At the moment, she stood frozen in place barely able to believe that he—the guy she’d been secretly obsessing about all week—was now on her chess team and very likely would soon be attending ESU.
For someone who wasn’t too keen on Hector being the newest member of the team, Walter changed his tune real fast. Hector went from being the unknown last minute contender to the newest member of the team—a team that would soon be going to the Junior National Olympiad. Everyone wanted to know him now. As soon as things finally began to die down and Hector was done with all the unrehearsed interviews for the school paper and meeting with all the trainers, Walter grabbed him.
He stood a few feet away from Charlee and Drew, congratulating Hector, and then he glanced up in Charlee’s direction. Suddenly terrified at the thought of Walter possibly bringing Hector over to introduce him to her, Charlee grabbed Drew’s arm. It was one thing to fantasize about this guy and worship him from afar; it was quite another to actually speak with him. She wasn’t ready for that. She hadn’t given it much thought, but she’d come up with something soon enough—work up the nerve to even talk to him slowly in the coming weeks a little at a time, not all in one night.
“Let’s go,” she said. “You’ve been a good sport all this time. Let’s go check out those boots you wanted to buy. We can grab some Taco Bell on the way. My treat.”
Drew stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
Charlee turned to face her smirking friend. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know when you were planning on telling me, and I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but you got a thing for this guy—a major thing.”