Chapter 6
Chapter Six
ATLAS
The rest of the day was spent in a distracted blur. I’d gotten a couple of orders wrong, which I felt terrible about, but the customers were all understanding.
Hector kept glancing at me between his orders. I knew his frowns were only out of concern, and I hated it. I hated feeling like I was letting him down, because despite my hopefulness, the stalker problem hadn’t gone away by itself.
I knew it was time to come clean to Hector and admit that this wasn’t something I could handle on my own.
I was an idiot to have hidden it the first time the stalker broke into Hector’s home, and it would only be reckless if I continued to keep it from him.
Not when the stalker had been so close without me even noticing.
Becca had clocked out hours ago, and there was only one table left, who seemed content with their own company. Without anything to distract me, I racked my brain trying to figure out who this stalker could be.
I grabbed a rag and started wiping down the nearest table. By the time every free surface in the dining area was sparkling, all I had was a dirty bucket of water and sore hands.
“Let’s close up and head upstairs,” Hector said and took the rag from me.
“I still need to ring out the last customer—”
I looked toward where my last table should have been to find it empty and cleaned.
“I already took care of it.”
I frowned, but Hector was already turning away. He clicked off the sign and locked the front door. I headed to the back to grab the broom, but Hector stopped me.
“Leave it for tomorrow.”
My frown deepened. Hector was very particular about doing a full cleanup of the diner before calling it a night. It was probably why, despite the place looking a little old and worn out, everything was still in pretty good condition. The place was well taken care of.
And now here he was, compromising his routine for me.
My hands clenched at my sides. “We’ll clean up first,” I insisted. I practically sprinted to grab the broom from the back.
Hector was still standing in the same place when I returned. I ignored his very potent gaze and focused on sweeping a corner of the diner. Whenever I was in the same vicinity as him, I was always aware of his presence. Which meant it was extra hard to ignore him now when he was so focused on me.
Hector moved quietly to my side. “Atlas,” he murmured my name like a whisper. It took everything in me not to look at him and focus on my cleaning task. “I can do this tomorrow morning. Right now, I’d really like to talk.”
My bottom lip wobbled, and I let my gaze slip between my feet to try to regain my emotions. “I can do it. I’ll be quick.”
“Atlas…I can do it tomorrow. Let’s head upstairs.”
Hector tried to take the broom from me, but I had it in a death grip. Honestly, the wooden broom was probably the only thing keeping me upright at that moment.
It was another reminder of the things he’d given up for me. Another reminder that instead of adding to his life, I was only making things more difficult for him.
Hector tried to take the broom again, and this time, I couldn’t control myself.
“I said I would do it!” I snapped. I didn’t mean for the words to come out so harshly, but I was already drained and spread thin. I was dreading the upcoming conversation, and maybe that was another reason I was so insistent on cleaning up first.
“Is everything okay?” Hector asked. His hands still covered mine over the stupid broom, but he didn’t try to take it from me anymore. “I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”
“I know. I know you do,” I said with a sigh. “You’re kind. You’re kinder than anyone I’ve ever met, and it’s a shame more people can’t see how freaking amazing you are.”
“I’m not that great,” Hector rumbled. A hint of pink peeked from under his day-long scruff.
“You are. You really are,” I said earnestly. “It’s one of the reasons I like you so much.”
“Atlas…”
“No, Hector. I know you think I’m young and still figuring out my life. You think I’m going to change my mind about you or that this place is a pit stop until I figure out my next plan.”
Hector furrowed his dark brow. I knew my words troubled him, but I wasn’t going to stop. I couldn’t.
“I wanted to figure this out myself because I hate feeling like a burden to you.”
“You’re not,” he added quickly.
“I knew you’d say that. You’re too kind for your own good, Hector Flores,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t want to be the one who always needs help. I want to stand proudly beside you and help you too.”
“You do help me, more than you probably realize,” he said softly.
I shook my head again and twisted my hand around so that I could grab his. The broom fell from our grasp and loudly clattered on the floor, but neither of us paid attention to it. Hector was focused on our entwined hands, and I was focused on the loud drum of my heart.
I’d never been this forward before. I had been okay with keeping the status quo as it was, but now the floodgates had opened, and I didn’t know how to keep my feelings inside.
“I want a chance, Hector,” I said firmly. “A chance to stand beside you as someone you can count on. As someone you can make a life with, because no matter what you think, my feelings for you aren’t fleeting, and Kither Springs isn’t a pit stop for me. I’m here to stay.”
We were both quiet for a couple beats, with nothing but our breathing and the loud drum of the AC blasting through the diner. Hector glanced at our hands again. I didn’t miss the longing in those brown eyes.
“I’m so much older than you,” was what he ended up saying.
“I don’t care. Your age is the last thing I care about.”
“I’m your boss.”
“I can quit if that means you’ll date me.”
He grumbled at my answer. I’d basically forced him into giving me the job, but I liked to think he needed me at the diner more than he wanted to admit. I had an inkling he liked working together as much as I did.
“I have nothing but this run-down diner.” He was changing tactics now, but no matter. I could sit here all night until I eased every single one of his worries.
“You make it sound like I care for materialistic things,” I said with a pointed look. It had the corners of his lips curling up just a tiny bit. With my free hand, I placed it on his chest. “You have a kind heart, and that’s more valuable than anything else in this world.”
“How do you do that?” he asked in a hushed whisper.
“Do what?”
“Make me want more when I already have more than I deserve.”
“Oh, Hector,” I murmured and moved my hand up his chest to cup his cheek instead.
He nuzzled my palm, but the move was just barely distinguishable, and I wondered if he even realized what he’d done.
“You deserve so much more than the bullshit life throws at you. You’re allowed to wish for more. You’re allowed to be selfish for me.”
His eyes bounced between mine, as if trying to get a read on me. The insecurity in them made me want to pull him into a hug.
“In fact, I wish you would be selfish with me, so that I can get into your good graces.”
A laugh that mostly sounded like a snort rumbled out of Hector. “You’re already in my good graces.”
“Does that mean I have a chance, then? A chance at getting you?”
The light left Hector’s eyes. “You’re going to get bored. One day, you’re going to wake up and this”—he waved around the room, then gestured to himself—“won’t be enough for you anymore, and you’re going to regret wasting your youth.”
I frowned. “I’m not your ex-wife. I would never leave like that and hurt you.”
“No, I didn’t mean…fuck.” He took a step back and wiped a hand over his face. I missed having him close.
“She was a shitty person, but I’m not her,” I said and took a step to bridge the distance again.
Hector shrugged. “She wasn’t too bad. Just unhappy.”
I scoffed but didn’t voice my thoughts. I’d heard gossip from town about the attitude Angelina had on her. My guess was that it was part of the reason the diner had been so slow when I first got here. Nobody wanted to be waited on by someone who acted holier than thou.
The townsfolk had also been more than happy to fill me in on the details of her relationship with Hector.
How they’d gotten together briefly after Hector got out of prison and married not even a year later.
I’d always stopped the conversation there because I wanted to hear the rest directly from Hector.
“You’re never willing to speak badly of people,” I told him.
“She really wasn’t that bad. She was at least willing to give a convict like me a chance.”
“You were wrongly accused,” I said. After Hector told me the story, just thinking about how the system had failed him made me angry. “It was dark, and the man was yelling for help. You were only trying to be a good person. How would you have known they were running from the police for theft?”
From what Hector had told me, he hadn’t even attacked the officer who was chasing after the man.
Not really. He’d been frantic to help, and all he’d done was raise his hand to block the chaser, but it was enough to make the officer fall, and the thief get away.
Hector hadn’t struggled when the officer got back to his feet and arrested him.
Hector shrugged again, like spending a year in prison at eighteen was nothing.
It didn’t matter to him that he was convicted of a crime that he hadn’t really committed.
Or the fact that what little reputation he had in town had been completely ruined, which meant the townsfolk had spent years avoiding him.
“You should have told them the truth. You can still tell everyone here the truth,” I said, not for the first time.
His reply was always the same. “It’s already in the past, and I got this place in return.” He gestured to the diner again.
“It’s still unfair. You shouldn’t have taken the fall,” I grumbled.
The thief who got away had been the son of the previous mayor. The family had been very wealthy, so Hector speculated the kid had been chasing a thrill. Unluckily for him, the person he’d chosen to rob was the daughter of an influential figure who’d been visiting town, and they wanted blood.
The previous mayor had paid Hector a sizable amount of money to keep quiet and take the blame before taking his son and moving far away from here.
Hector had said it was enough money to buy the building that housed the diner—and the apartment—and keep it afloat until business had started picking up, but not enough to retire on.
“You should have seen the kid. He was terrified of ruining his future, and it wasn’t like I had much of one anyway.”
“Didn’t you say he was the same age as you when it happened? Eighteen. Hell, you were both practically kids.”
“Yeah, well, technically still an adult,” Hector said nonchalantly.
I took his hands again, and he let me. “Too kind for your own good,” I said softly.
Hector grumbled something that sounded awfully like a protest, but I just smiled.
“So, if you really think about it, my falling for you is all your fault. I have a thing for nice people, and you’re the nicest man there is.”
I tugged on his fingers and admired the way his ears flamed red. It was easy to see that Hector wasn’t used to compliments, which was why I went out of my way to give them to him. He deserved to hear more good things said about him.
“We can, um, try,” Hector said suddenly. His voice cracked. He cleared it and tried again. “I don’t have much to offer, but we can try giving ‘us’ a chance. If you’re okay with plain ’ol me, I mean.”
“More than okay with you just as you are.” I beamed and threw myself into his arms. He caught me by the waist, and I pressed myself against him. I would’ve kissed him right there, aside from the fact that it’d probably freak him out.
Angelina was the only person Hector had ever been with, which meant I was his second. And the first man for him, at that. I couldn’t afford to scare him off.
My excitement dimmed a little at his next words, even though I knew it was coming.
“You have to tell me what’s been going on with you, though. If we’re going to…um…date, there can’t be any secrets between us.”
I smiled at the way he stumbled over the word, like he was unfamiliar with dating. I guessed that was true. I was going to show him just how awesome dating was.
“I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” I said, and played with the soft hair at the back of his head with my fingers. “But first, we’re going to finish cleaning up.”