Hector stared at him for a moment, thinking about that, then looked away. He did think before reacting. The night of the keg party he’d gone for that ass**le’s throat instead of using his fists. When he’d knocked the guy out for Walter, his only thoughts were to get him off Walter. He’d been in save mode—not attack mode. The night at the party, his thinking was different. He wanted nothing more than to hurt the guy—bad. If Hector had used his fists, he would’ve done some serious damage, and yet he had the presence of mind not to.

Standing when he saw Noah, Gio, and the gang arrive through the side gate, Hector was relieved he could end this conversation.

“Hey,” Abel said before the guys got too close. Hector looked at him but didn’t say anything. “Promise me.”

He nodded, knowing full well that would be one tough promise to keep. “Yeah, all right.”

Glad for the interruption, he walked over to meet the guys. He was glad they both brought their girls. Roni even brought her best friend, Nellie. “I thought you were bringing the baby.” Hector asked Noah and Roni.

“My mom begged them to leave him with her,” Gio explained. “She has my little cousins for the day, and they love helping her watch him.”

Roni didn’t seem thrilled. She even pouted. “I miss him already, but Noah said I could use the break.”

“You could,” Nellie said, taking a seat next to her around the patio table. “It’s only for a few hours. You haven’t had a drink with me in ages.” She squeezed Roni’s arm, teasing playfully. “Cut the cord every now and again.”

“That’s why Gio’s mom is keeping him when we take that cruise,” Noah said, taking the seat on the other side of Roni.

“Oh my God,” Roni gasped, “don’t remind me: a whole four days away from him. I don’t know how I’ll survive.”

Noah rubbed her leg. “You’ll be fine, babe. It’ll be fun, and we’ll be back before you know it.”

“So is everyone in?” Gio turned to Nellie, who was the coordinator of all things 5th Street now, including trips.

“Everyone but Abel,” she said, mouthing the words thank you to Hector when he handed her a cold beer then continued to pass the rest around.

Abel glanced back at her for a second before going back to his grilling. “I’m waiting on a call from my publicist to make sure I don’t have anything lined up that week. I’ll let you know.”

“Just make it fast,” Nellie said, taking a sip of her beer, “because the tickets are selling out.”

Hector finished passing out the beers and started back to the house to get Charlee.

“Speaking of the cruise,” Gio’s fiancée, Bianca asked, “did you decide to invite that guy to the cruise after all?”

Slowing down, Hector glanced back at Abel for a reaction, his brother continued to grill, not even flinching.

“No,” Nellie shook her head. “I’m still on the fence about him. I’m not sure I wanna be stuck on a date with him for four days. He might get the idea that I’m getting serious, and the only reason I even considered inviting him was so I won’t be the third wheel to you guys all weekend.”

Other than Abel reaching for his phone there was still no reaction from his brother. Interesting. Hector thought about it as he walked toward the back door. Like Hector, Abel had never been one for serious relationships, but Hector could’ve sworn he picked up on something from his brother ever since Nellie had been signed on as the gym’s event coordinator. Maybe he’d been wrong.

His thoughts were switched over to Charlee the instant he heard her voice. Already, he could hardly wait to be near her again.

Chapter 25

The time Charlee got to spend alone with Carolina, Hector’s mom, who insisted Charlee call her Caro, wasn’t nearly as nerve-racking as Charlee had expected. She did ask a lot of questions about Charlee’s family, her plans for the future, and, most awkwardly, her feelings for Hector. But all in all, things had gone well. Charlee had decided yesterday, when she agreed to no holding back or guessing games, she would be completely honest about her feelings. And since this would likely get back to him, she kept her response as true and uncomplicated as she could without sounding too sappy.

Trying to keep herself from blushing, she chewed the corner of her lip and smiled at Caro. “Your son is very sweet, and I’m very glad I met him. I like him a lot.”

Apparently that wasn’t enough for Caro. She stared at Charlee with a smirk so mischievous it made Charlee nervous. “What about love? Have you ever been in love, Charlee?”

“All right, Mom,” Hector said, walking in the back door, once again saving Charlee when she’d needed him most. “I should’ve known better than to leave her with you so long.”

“What?” Caro spun around to face him, her hand quickly on her hips. “I’m just making conversation.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He walked up to Charlee, immediately taking her hand in his, and kissed his mom on the forehead, almost as if to mollify her as he whisked Charlee away with him toward the back door. “That’s enough alone time for you two. I have some more friends who want to meet her.”

Charlee smiled at his mom with a look of regret that their conversation had been cut short, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. She’d never been so relieved in her life. If she was really going to stick to the being honest and upfront thing and Hector hadn’t walked in at that moment, she may’ve had to admit the truth. With every kiss, every touch, every deep breath she was forced to take from just being near him, she was falling harder and more profoundly than she ever imagined was possible for Hector already.