She really should slow down with the fantasies. Charlee should be happy that they were not so farfetched anymore. Even now, she could still easily close her eyes and vividly remember, not just imagine anymore what it felt like to be kissed by him, feel his tongue on her neck, making the most private of places tingle in reaction. But as much as she promised Drew she’d take it all in stride, things had already changed. Even after last night under her blankets, her fantasies had also gone now from the most sexual in nature to replaying his words and the look in his eyes when he’d said them to her over and over in her mind.

“Trust me, Charlotte. I know you’re different. So different. So sweet.”

Hearing the sound of her own name had never left her so breathless. But the most breathtaking of all, and she closed her eyes once again to relive it, was his telling her she was beautiful. Only one other guy had ever said that to her before, and she’d thought for sure he’d ruined that compliment forever. But she’d been so wrong. Hearing Hector say it had been completely different. She’d seen the sincerity in his eyes—felt it in his kisses.

“Charlee?”

“Um hmm?” She didn’t open her eyes in response to Drew, simply continued to picture Hector’s intense eyes looking deep into hers when he’d spoken to her.

“Please tell me you’re just resting your eyes because you’re tired and that lovesick smile on your face isn’t what it looks like.”

Charlee opened one eye and glanced at Drew who was driving. “It’s not.”

She closed her eye again, hating that she was cursed with a best friend who was so damn discerning. The girl never missed a thing. It was a wonder Drew hadn’t foreseen last year’s debacle before it happened.

The rest of the day, Charlee managed to keep her mind on her volunteer duties for the most part. It wasn’t too hard. They kept her busy. But inevitably, she’d find herself daydreaming and even feeling her body quiver at times with thoughts of Hector’s kisses and the mesmerizing way he gazed at her all night—that amazing smile.

Of course, each time she’d fall too deeply into it, Drew had caught her, and each time she seemed a little more concerned about Charlee getting her hopes up too high. Drew’s subtle reminders that Hector hadn’t asked for Charlee’s number and that he’d shown up with two girls, began to get annoying.

Charlee didn’t even bother trying to explain what he’d said about how the girls had just so happened to show up at the same time he’d been ready to walk in. She knew it would only further Drew’s worrying because it would sound as if Charlee were making excuses for him already. The fact remained, whether he’d showed up with them or not, that it didn’t take from what they’d seen him do with those same two girls last week: the very thing he’d done with Charlee last night at the gym, except he’d clearly done much more with them since those girls had gone home with him.

The whole day had been a roller coaster of emotions. Charlee would begin to scold herself for getting so carried away when it could very well have been just a onetime thing for him, something he probably did all the time. She was sure he wasn’t obsessing about it today like she was. More than likely, he had plenty of plans with other girls this weekend already.

With that thought in mind, she’d move on to convincing herself that if that was the case she’d be fine and would not freak out. She’d be stupid to fall apart again when she should be thankful like Drew said to have gotten her first onetime make out with a guy out of the away. And of all guys to have gotten it out of the way with, it had been Hector. She’d be happy that she got to at least experience what it felt like to be kissed by him, especially after fantasizing about it for so long.

Remembering his kisses would only take her full circle again, replaying the way he’d stared at her all night, the possessive way he’d held her on the dance floor, how he’d held her face in his hands, and those kisses. How in the world could she just shrug away such an amazing experience? The most amazing experience she’d had with a guy ever. And she’d be back to square one, worrying that there’d be no way she’d get over this as easily as Drew thought she could or should.

As much as she tried to convince herself it was just an infatuation with him, that she didn’t know him well enough or even remotely enough to be so hung up on him this soon, she knew better. She’d been in tears after what happened on Thursday at their chess meeting, and he hadn’t even touched her.

By the end of the day, she was spent. She’d gone full circle with this whole thing more times than she cared to think about anymore. All she could do now is wait and hope that, worst case scenario, she’d be strong enough to deal with it and get over it faster than the last time she’d been crushed.

~*~

Friday night, Hector stayed out in front of the gym for as long as he could with Walter and the guys. He kept hoping he’d see Leticia and Miriam walk out and leave, preferably with guys so they might not be too pissed at him. Not that he cared one way or another if they were, he just didn’t want to deal with any drama in case they’d gone in and kept drinking, which he knew was probably the case.

His new chess buddies busted his balls about being quite the ladies’ man. Hector laughed mostly because he thought only people over fifty used that term anymore. They were all under the impression that Hector would be leaving with two girls that night, and for some reason, this delighted them. Apparently, Walter had filled them in on last weekend when he’d seen Hector actually leave with them.