Drew worried it was too soon and thought he should wait at least until Walter kissed Natalie. She said as awkwardly shy of a guy as Walter was this would likely be his first kiss so that would certainly seal the deal. After getting his first taste of that and especially if things went any further between him and Natalie, Walter would be saying, “Charlee who?”

Only a week after springing the plan into action, Hector got a call from Drew. This whole time she’d done nothing but text him, so he had a feeling this was bad. Normally he didn’t answer his calls while he was in the middle of training someone, not even Walter. Abel said it was in bad form. You were supposed to give your trainees your undivided attention at all times. But Walter wasn’t exactly a paying customer. Hector had agreed to train him for his own reasons. So he told Walter he had to take the call and rushed out.

“Hello?”

“We need to move this along a little faster.” The urgency in Drew voice only worried him further.

“Why? What happened?”

“She’s talking about going back home again. She says she needs to get away. I’m doing my best to talk her out of it, but she’s saying things like maybe she can finish up the semester via the internet. Because of her status on the chess team, she thinks they might give her special privileges if she lies and says someone is sick at home.”

Hector brought his hand to his head, his stomach dropping instantly. “You mean leave for good?”

“Yes! Either you take your chances that Walter will still be upset with you and just tell her how you feel or you get that boy to first base with Natalie already!”

“How long do you think you can hold her off?”

“I don’t know. She’s in her room now, looking into the online school stuff. I’m not sure if it’s even possible, but if it is, it’ll probably take at least a few weeks for her to get it all together.”

“A few weeks? I think I can pull something off in that amount of time.” He thought he heard Drew groan. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said sounding frustrated. “You just need to think of something fast.”

Hector’s mind raced. Walter had just finished telling him he and Natalie would be going to the aquarium later that day. Maybe he could give him some more tips on how to make the first move. Ever since Drew mentioned that once Walter got that first kiss down Hector should be golden, he’d been laying it on thick that Walter should just go for it. From what Walter had told Hector, he was certain Natalie would be more than willing.

“Okay, in the meantime, I’m setting her up with a friend of mine.”

“What?” he didn’t even realize he’s been pacing until he stopped cold.

“It’s just a double-date thing. This guy I went out with a few times has a friend who thinks Charlee is cute. So I figured—”

“Are you f**king kidding me?” Hector gripped his phone tightly, already regretting that he’d cussed at Charlee’s best friend but feeling like his choice of words just may get worse. “You’re gonna have her go out with someone else? Someone who’s already interested in her?”

“It’s just one date, and—”

“I don’t care if it’s just coffee!” Fuck Walter. “Did you already set this up?”

“I’m waiting for him to return my call, but I’m sure if they don’t have plans tonight, they’ll be up for it.”

“Tonight?” He started pacing again. “You’re gonna do this tonight?”

“I was desperate, Hector.” She lowered her voice. “I needed to distract her so she could stop talking about going back home.”

“Call the guy back.” Hector said almost through his teeth. “Tell him to forget about tonight then text me Charlee’s number. I’ll distract her.” He stalked back toward the front door of the gym. He couldn’t believe this shit. All week long, Drew had been spot on with all her ideas and now she comes up with this? “And do me a favor, will you? The next time there’s an emergency like this, call me before you go setting her up with anyone else. I can guarantee you I’ll come up with something better.”

Drew was quiet for a moment. “Are you sure? What about Walter?”

“I’ll worry about Walter. Just cancel that double date.”

“Hector,” she whispered.

He stopped just before entering the gym. “Yeah?”

“Who are you gonna tell her gave you her number? She can’t know I did this. I promised I’d stay out of it.”

“I’ll think of something. And don’t worry. I won’t mention you,” he said then just before going inside he added, “Drew?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for doing this. I owe you big time.”

She was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “Anything for Charlee.”

There was a noticeable change in her tone, and Hector remembered her I-need-to-do-this-as-much-for-myself-as-I-do-for-Charlee comment. He considered asking her to clarify, but he didn’t have time. He needed to talk to Walter, and then he had a very important phone call to make.

***

Hector was unbelievably thankful that Walter had Natalie to distract him now, because having this discussion with him before would’ve been even harder. This was way sooner than he anticipated having to have this conversation, but Hector’s mind was made up. He wouldn’t deprive himself of Charlee for even another day. He could already feel the blend of excitement and anxiousness building.