Will sat down in one of the chairs at the small round dining table and watched as Hector went through the videos. He didn’t know how many the man had watched before he reached into one of the drawers and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and started making notes, but he seemed very interested in the things he was seeing.
Will drank a little more of his water as he waited for Hector to finish watching videos. The man was just scribbling note after note. A wrinkle spread across his forehead as if he was in deep concentration.
It was a side of Hector Will had never witnessed. Not that he had witnessed that many. Most of what he knew of the man he had heard through the floor.
After a while—Will had no idea how long—he crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on them. His eyelids ached and started to droop. It had been forever since he had slept more than a few hours. He was always too afraid to go fully to sleep in case he had to make a run for it.
He was exhausted.
Chapter Five
Hector set the phone down on the table then stared at the man sleeping across from him. Will had his head resting on his arms. His dark brown hair fell over the edge of his forehead, and dark rings shadowed his eyes. If he was to hazard a guess, he’d say Will was exhausted.
He didn’t know what Will’s story was, but he did know there was one and it was probably epic. He didn’t quite understand why Will was hiding in his basement. That one puzzled him. It was obvious the man was hiding, but from what? Or who?
Maybe that was a question for another day.
Right now, Hector had to try and figure out why in the hell he’d offered to let the kid stay with him. He loved living on his own, with no one underfoot. He didn’t want a roommate. He’d bought a house so he wouldn’t have to live with someone, and here he was inviting someone into his domain.
He must be nuts.
Still, he knew what it was like to be homeless, and everything in him was screaming that he couldn’t let Will go out the door if he didn’t have a roof over his head. There was just something about the kid that made Hector want to provide a safe zone for him.
This just reaffirmed his belief that he was nuts.
Will shuddered and mumbled in his sleep. Hector sighed as he watched the man’s hands curl into fists. He knew what he needed to do. Hector reached out and shook Will’s arm. He wished he could just leave him to sleep where he was, but Will would be hurting when he woke up if he slept at the table. The used couch he’d bought at a garage sale wasn’t much better, but it was better than the table.
“Will,” he said when the man didn’t wake up.
Still nothing.
Will mumbled, but went right back to sleep.
Hector got up and stepped around the table until he could scoop Will up in his arms. He was a bit alarmed at how light Will was. For a full-grown man, he should have weighed a lot more.
Will mumbled a bit before turning his face. The moment it pressed against Hector’s throat, Will let out a little sigh and his entire body relaxed.
Hector carried Will into the living room with the intention of laying him down on the couch, but when he got there, he realized he’d be working with the sander today. There was no way Will would be able to sleep through that noise.
He stared at the couch for a moment, debating, before heading toward the stairs. He’d see about getting a bed for one of the spare bedrooms later today, but for now, Will could sleep on the mattress he’d pulled from storage. Maybe the man would get some real sleep. He certainly needed it. Hector didn’t like the shadows marring Will’s sweet face.
Sweet face?
Hector almost stumbled when that thought floated through his head. He paused at the base of the stairs and stared down at the man wrapped in his arms. This had the potential to turn out very, very bad.
Maybe he needed to consider finding somewhere else for Will to stay? Hector groaned at the protest that instantly built up inside of him when he thought that. His gut clenched, and rather painfully, too.
The mere thought of sending Will somewhere else made Hector want to punch a hole in his newly plastered walls. He didn’t even like the idea of anyone knowing Will was there. He certainly didn’t understand this protective streak that was overwhelming him.
Hector shook his head as he started up the stairs. There was that crazy again.
He carried Will down the hallway to the room he’d claimed as the master suite and laid him down on the mattress he’d set up on the floor. He reached down and removed Will’s shoes and set them on the floor. He thought about removing Will’s clothes for about half a second before he realized that just would not be a good idea.
Hector grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over Will, tucking the edges around him. He couldn’t keep himself from reaching down and brushing the hair back from Will’s forehead. There was something about this man that intrigued him, but damned if he knew what it was.
He knew he was being ridiculous. He had no business being intrigued by anyone. He had a definite plan for how his life was going to go, and getting involved with someone wasn’t part of that, not yet. And especially not with someone like Will, who had problems on top of problems.
Hector forced himself to turn away and leave the room. Will would probably freak if he woke and found Hector standing over the top of him. Hector knew he was freaking.
