“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, Iplaced 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.”
