Once inside the packed backyard, Drew wasted no time filling both their cups with beer. She said it would save them the time having to stand back in line to get Charlee’s next cupful. She also reminded Charlee to not sip so slowly because the beer in the cup Drew would be holding for her would get warm.
“I don’t care what you say, Charlee. You don’t like beer, and there is nothing worse than warm beer. So drink fast.”
“I’ll give you that warm beer is bad, but I’m telling you I don’t have a problem with beer,” Charlee sipped from her cup, wiping the foam from her top lip. “See?” She smiled.
It really wasn’t bad at all. She actually liked the taste. She sipped an even bigger drink for good measure then placed her hand over her mouth and burped. Now she remembered what she didn’t like about beer. Drew laughed, making Charlee laugh too.
They began their stroll around the backyard. Charlee couldn’t get over how blatant the guys were about checking her and Drew out as they walked past them. Their leering smiles as their elevator eyes took them in before stopping at their faces were almost comical. Almost. As ridiculous as they looked doing it, Charlee couldn’t help feeling a bit unnerved by it all. She was so not used to any of this.
Drew leaned into Charlee after one good-looking and well-built guy in particular stopped talking to the group he was in and stared at them. “He’s not bad,” Drew whispered. “Not bad at all. Even looks a little like someone we’re not talking about tonight.”
Charlee finished the last of her beer as she glanced in the guy’s direction. He smiled as soon as their eyes met. No, he wasn’t bad at all. The vest over a t-shirt with jeans look was sexy and he wore it well. And, yes, he did look a little like Hector because he was tall with dark hair and somewhat of a buff guy, but that’s where the resemblance ended. Still, Charlee wasn’t here looking for someone just like Hector. In fact, she should be looking for someone totally different. She reminded herself the whole point of being here tonight was to get over the guy already.
One thing was for sure. Charlee would need more beer if she was going to get the nerve to hang loose like she’d come here to do. Already she felt like spinning around, bolting through the crowd, and running back to the safety of Drew’s car.
Absentmindedly, because she needed any reason to look away from the guy staring at her, she glanced around for a trash can and found one. She started toward it, but she felt Drew’s hand her arm. “Where you going?”
“Trash can,” Charlee responded.
“No! We paid for these cups, remember? It’s what we’re going to use to refill all night.” Drew traded cups with Charlee. “Here you go. Drink up, buttercup. We’ll go refill when you’re done.”
The second cup went down a little smoother than the first, but then Charlee remembered the other reason why she didn’t like beer. “Maybe I should’ve thought this out a little better.”
Drew looked at her a bit exasperated. “What? Don’t tell my you’re changing your mind already.”
“Sort of,” Charlee admitted, but seeing the beginning of a reprimanding glare from Drew, she added quickly. “Not the having fun part, but I forgot beer makes me pee like crazy.”
Ironically, the only other time Charlee had drank enough beer to have her running to and from the ladies’ room was last summer at a party similar to this one where Danny first approached her. She hoped this wasn’t an omen.
“Not a problem,” Drew said, taking her by the hand. “The guy we paid to get the cups said only girls get to go inside to use the restroom.”
Charlee followed her through the crowd to the backdoor of the house. Not surprising, there was a line for the restroom, but it wasn’t as long as she expected. After getting her turn to use it but before she left the small room, she reflected on tonight’s turn of events: the smile Hector had given her and how the stupid lump in her throat hadn’t allowed her to so much as lift a corner of her lips in response. This was the first time she’d had a moment alone since seeing him with that girl.
She hated to even think about it, but she couldn’t help wondering exactly what he was doing at that very moment. Was he kissing that girl the way he’d kissed her? Were they somewhere very possibly doing more? Was he telling that girl that she was different too? She shook her head roughly, willing the tears that were beginning to well in her eyes away.
Standing in line before she’d gotten into the restroom, she’d overheard some of the other girls in line talking about their ex-boyfriends, guys they’d gone on vacations with even. One of them even talked about her baby’s father who apparently was seeing someone new now. They all spoke so casually of these guys whom they’d clearly had much longer and deeper connections with than Charlee had with Hector. There was no hurt in their words, no mention of not being able to move on, no stupid tears. Here Charlee had shared a few kisses with this guy who had said few nice things to her, and she’d already been a mess over the guy more than once.
These girls would not only think her a wimp but a total joke that here she was at a party, trying to get over something that never even was. So what if he looked deep in her eyes and made her heart stand still. Hector obviously knew what and how to say things to girls. And, of course, she’d fallen for every bit of it instantly because that sort of interaction with guys, especially a guy like Hector, was so foreign to her.
Even more determined now to snap the hell out of it, she made sure when they got back to the party to not look away from any guy she found attractive; in fact, she would smile. Within minutes of smiling at that same tall guy Drew had mentioned resembled Hector earlier, he and a friend began walking toward them.
“Here we go,” Drew said through her smile as she glanced at the guys coming toward them.
Charlee took an extra-long drink of her beer. She needed liquid courage right now if she was going to do this. She wasn’t sure if it was maybe too big of a drink or her nerves, but for a quick moment there, she felt completely nauseous. Thankfully, it was fleeting, and by the time the guys made it to them, she was just absolutely nervous but no longer nauseous.
“Hello,” the tall guy said as soon as he reached them. “I’m Raul.” He motioned to his friend who was just a few inches shorter than he was with wavy hair and a small piercing on his lip. “This is Joseph.” Raul smiled at Drew but then turned to Charlee and smiled even bigger. “I apologize for staring, but it’s not often someone catches my eye the way you did tonight. You’re breathtaking, and that’s not a line, I promise.”
Joseph laughed. “Yeah, Raul doesn’t do lines.” He assured Charlee.
Charlee felt her face warm instantly but smiled despite the discomfort she felt about being the center of attention even in this small group. “Thank you,” she smiled but for the life of her couldn’t think of a single thing else to say.
“So let me guess,” he said. “I’ve been trying to figure out what your name could be.” He put his fist against his lips and stared at her for a moment, and, of course, Charlee made a note of how it felt nothing like when Hector stared at her. “Scarlet?”
Drew laughed and Charlee knew exactly why. Charlee had lost count of all the times people had told Charlee she looked like any name that remotely suggested the color red.
“Am I right?” Raul asked, bright-eyed.
“Nope,” Charlee said, taking another big swig of her beer. “Not even close.”
“Cherry?” Joseph offered.
“Ooh, close.” Charlee said, lifting her cup at him and sipping again, glad that she was starting to feel a little more relaxed.
“Sherry,” Raul said quickly.
“No, you’re getting cold now,” Charlee smiled, glancing at Drew, who winked at her. She knew that meant she was doing well, and for the first time that evening, she felt somewhat at ease. Maybe coming here had been a good idea after all.
Both Raul and Joseph looked stumped. “I’ll give you a hint,” Charlee said, feeling silly. “It starts with C H and it rhymes with Bob Marley.”
Of course, the line about her name rhyming with Bob Marley was compliments of her pot smoking stepdad.
“Charlie?” Joseph asked, looking at her weirdly.
She knew he was thinking what everyone always thought. That’s a boy’s name. So she clarified. “Actually, it’s Charlotte, but everyone calls me Charlee, and I spell it with a double e not an ie at the end like the male version.”
Annoyingly, thoughts of Hector were instantly in her head again. The thought of him calling her Charlotte and the look in those intense eyes of his when he said it were enough to make her down the rest of her beer.
A few beers later and a couple of more trips to the restroom where the line seemed to get longer every time, Charlee decided she’d had enough beer. She was already feeling very tipsy though she assured Drew she was still fine enough to hang out as long as she stopped drinking.
Charlee and Drew had already danced with Joseph and Raul a few times, and Charlee was glad the guys had stuck with them the whole time. She didn’t have to go through the whole introduction thing again with any new guys. All she wanted to do now is dance and have a good time, and Raul would do just fine for that.
The area where everyone was dancing was so crowded Charlee kept losing Drew. She glanced around and spotted her dancing with Joseph a few yards away. Charlee and Raul were supposed to be dancing apart, but because it was so crowded, even though they didn’t have their arms around each other, their bodies kept touching. At some point, Charlee began to notice he purposely rubbed his body up against hers. She tried, but because of the tight space, she couldn’t back up much.
“Where’s your cup?” Raul asked, leaning in against her ear.
“I’m done.” She responded, stretching her neck to speak against his ear.
“Really? Why?” She felt his lips graze her ear, so she took advantage of needing to stretch to speak in his ear to pull away from his lips.
“I’ve had enough. Plus, it makes me have to keep going to the bathroom, and the lines are ginormous now.”
Feeling his hand against her lower back, Raul leaned into her ear again. “Try some of this then.”
She pulled away to see him pointing at his own cup, and she stared at it quizzically. That whole time she’d assumed he was drinking beer like everyone else. He pointed toward the area where the kegs were. “They also have soda over there for the non-drinkers and for those of us who prefer the hard stuff.” He lifted the flap of his vest open to reveal a flask. “Meet Jack.”
Charlee’s drinking experiences were few and far between: the party last year where she drank some beer, but not nearly as much as she drank tonight; wine coolers with Drew every now and then; and a handful of other times Drew had dragged her to parties, but she never actually drank hard stuff.
“Try it,” Raul said, handing her the cup. She took the cup, smelling the contents, and he laughed. “It’s just Jack and Coke.” She took a sip. It wasn’t bad, so she nodded, handing it back. “Drink more than that.” He said, refusing the cup. Charlee took it back and took a longer drink. It tasted mostly like soda, but it did have a slight aftertaste. Otherwise, it wasn’t half bad. “Best thing about it is,” he said, his lip grazing her ear again, but she didn’t pull away this time letting him finish, “you won’t be running to and from the bathroom.”
She handed the cup back, nodding. “Good to know,” she began to say against his ear but froze when she felt his lips on her neck. She jerked her head back when she felt his tongue on her neck.
“I’m sorry,” he smiled. “But after the second or third time of having your neck this close, I couldn’t hold back anymore.” He pulled her closer to him and whispered. “It tastes as sweet as I thought it would.”
Charlee gulped, staring at him. Nothing. It felt nothing like when Hector’s lips had been on her neck. Hector working his mouth down her neck had made her warm and ache in places she never imagined would have any connection with that part of her body. Feeling Raul’s on it had made her shiver, but not in a good way. Stop comparing!
“Thank you,” was once again the only two words she could think of, but she did think of something else that would help her get through this instead of running for her life.
She reached her hand out for his cup, and his satisfied smile made her smile too. Already, she could feel the difference in the buzz this was giving her compared to the beer. It was faster, but it was also numbing, and she liked that. Tonight she needed numb.
Chapter 19
It took a while for Hector to find Nestor when he went back to the training room. Gus and Santos told Hector that Nestor had taken off almost as soon as Hector had. Since he hadn’t been able to find Charlee, Hector thought maybe Nestor had pulled a fast one and found her first.
Luckily for his own sake, Nestor wasn’t that stupid. Hector found him working the girls still lingering around in the crowd again. Once Nestor told him what party he’d told Charlee and Drew to meet him at, Hector rushed out of there. He’d already told Lisa that something had come up tonight and they’d have to grab a burger another time.
As he crawled through the traffic near the house party where Nestor said the keg party was, Hector was already grinding his teeth. He had time to think of what exactly he’d say to her when he got there, but what he wanted to say versus what he could were so far apart that just coming after her almost felt wrong. Then he remembered the real urgency in getting to her, and that pushed any and all hesitation aside. All he could think of was all the other Nestors that would be there, counting on the girls getting too drunk and losing their inhibitions.
It was pathetic really. The only reason Hector went to keg parties was for the booze because they didn’t card you, not to get laid. First of all, Abel had always put the ultimate fear in him that too many things could go wrong if you fucked a drunk girl: One: she could later claim it was date rape, and in a way, it sort of was. Two: typically if you’re partying with someone who’s that drunk, it means you’re pretty hammered yourself, which would then lead to sloppy sex, and sloppy sex could mean forgetting to use protection or putting it on wrong. If that happened, you had STD’s and pregnancies to think about. No fucking thanks.
But aside from all that, Hector completely agreed with Abel that it was a douche thing to do. Besides, sloppy, drunk girls were not his thing.
Hector finally found a parking spot around the corner from the party. He jumped out of his truck in a hurry. As he stalked down the sidewalk and into the driveway of the house, he realized this was insane. He couldn’t possibly protect her from every asshole at every party she ever went to. But he had a feeling she’d showed up at 5th Street for him tonight. He still didn’t know what her intentions could’ve been exactly. But he didn’t think that it was something she’d done on a whim. So now he felt responsible for anything that happened to her tonight, especially in his neighborhood. He knew for a fact she wasn’t from around here.
He spotted Drew first. Her platinum-blond hair was hard to miss in the crowd of all brunettes and a few bottle blondes. She was dancing, but the place was so crowded she and the guy she danced with were off to the side. Walking toward Drew, he still wasn’t sure what he’d say to Charlee, but alarms were going off already because, even as he glanced around, he didn’t see her anywhere.
Drew’s back was to him, so she didn’t see him when he stopped right next to her. The second her dance turn brought her around to face him, she stopped. Glad to see that Drew didn’t appear drunk at all and wasn’t even holding a cup, he felt relief set in. Maybe they’d decided not to drink tonight. It would be the smart thing to do since Charlee said she stayed at Drew’s house and Walter mentioned that was all the way in Burbank. That was another reason why Hector suspected they hadn’t driven all this way just to watch a fight and then party in East L.A.
She put her fist at her waist. “Don’t tell me you’re here looking for Charlee.”
Hector had barely been able to hear, so with that in mind, he took a few steps
to get closer so he wouldn’t have to yell and leaned forward a little. “I came here looking for both of you, actually.”
Her jaw dropped and she backed up. “You have got to be kidding me. What is it with you? Is one girl at a time not good enough for the boxing stud?”
It took a second for the implication to sink in, and when he realized how she would come to that conclusion, he almost laughed. “No. That’s not what I meant at all.” She glared at him still but waited for him to explain further. “I was just checking up to make sure you girls were okay.” He pointed at her empty hands. “But you’re not drinking. You two should be all right then.” He leaned in again because he could tell she was straining to catch everything he was saying. “I said if you two aren’t drinking you should be okay. There are a lot of guys counting on girls overdoing it with the bottomless keg.”
There was a noticeable flicker in her eyes, and she glanced around. “Well, I’m not, but Charlee was.”
Immediately, Hector looked around too, and then he looked back at Drew. “Where is she?”
Drew stood on her tiptoes now, stretching her neck. “She was dancing, but she stopped drinking a while ago. We got rid of our cups.”
Hector stopped stretching his own neck to glance back at Drew. “We? I thought you said you weren’t drinking.”
“I wasn’t. She was drinking both cups.” She stopped talking then turned to Hector again, the alarm in her eyes an obvious sign she was as anxious as Hector now felt. Charlee had been drinking enough for two? “She said she was fine,” Drew said, but even she didn’t sound as if she believed that now.
“So where is she?”
“I don’t know!” She turned to the guy she’d been dancing with who now stood there checking his phone. “Do you see them, Joseph?”
Hector Page 22
