Bam . . . Bam . . . Bam!
The private training room at 5th Street was obviously not private enough. Already there’d been several people with camera phones at the door windows, trying to take pictures of Abel training. As usual, he’d tried to not let it distract him, even when the would-be amateur photographers were asked to leave. What he had a harder time not being distracted by were thoughts of Nellie and her date tomorrow night with Logan.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
“That a boy,” Gio said, holding the bag. “But remember you’re not wearing gloves. You don’t wanna hurt your knuckles. This is about endurance, not strength, so take it easy.”
Abel nodded and slowed a little taking in a breath.
Bam . . . Bam . . . Bam! Bam!
“There you go,” Noah said, taking a seat on the stool nearby.
Abel wasn’t so sure what was more troubling: the fact that she was going out with this guy she worked with—someone she actually had a relationship not just someone she was planning on just having fun with—or the fact that he cared so much. He’d already made up his mind earlier that day that he had no time for a real relationship. Now was the worst time in his life for that. He had too much going on to be able to give any girl the attention she needed, which was exactly why he thought what he had with Nellie was perfect in the first place. So what if she saw others when he wasn’t around?
Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Easy, Abel!” Gio reminded him again about his knuckles.
So what if she might end up sleeping with Logan tomorrow night?
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Dude!” Noah stood up off the stool. “What’re you doin’?”
Abel slammed his fist into the bag one last time before backing away and wiping the sweat off his face with the front of his shoulder. “I’m done,” he said simply. “I gotta get outta here.”
He started to walk away, but Noah stopped him. “What’s wrong with you? Everything okay? You’ve been on edge all week.”
Both Gio and Noah stared at him now. “Nah, I’m good,” he said, afraid to look Noah in the eyes, so he started undoing the wrap on his hands.
“Give me that,” Gio said, reaching out for his hand. Abel reached out and let Gio help him take off the wrap. “Maybe you should take a few days off.” Gio offered.
“Nope,” Abel said, immediately shaking his head. “I just took time off for New York. I can’t take any more off. We’re too close now.”
“Well you need to relax, man.” Gio insisted. “You can’t keep having these kinds of workouts where you’re either beating the shit outta one of the trainers you’re sparring with or your own knuckles. Someone’s gonna get hurt.”
“I’ll relax,” Abel said then smirked. “I know exactly what I need, and I’ll take care of it tonight.”
Noah’s expression soured, but surprisingly he didn’t say anything. Abel had thought about it all damn week. Ever since Noah had told him about Nellie’s date, he’d thought that was it. He’d take a break from his visits to Nellie for a while if not for good. The trip to New York had helped. Hanging out with Felix, whom he hadn’t hung with in a while, was a much needed distraction. The guy knew how to party, and if Abel wasn’t in the middle of such in intense training, he might’ve partied with him. The time he spent with him still served its purpose. Felix was also a pro at handling the media, telling Abel that if he just stopped and posed for a few photos the paparazzi would be more relenting. The only problem with that was that Felix didn’t mind posing with every girl who was all over them. Abel hadn’t bothered to check, but he was certain there were plenty of shots with each of them looking as if they’d for sure gotten laid that night. Felix most likely did. Abel had gone back to his room alone and thought about the same damn thing he’d thought about all week—Nellie’s date.
He’d been so desperate to just get over it that he’d even gone as far as agreeing to have lunch with Rachel, one of the girls who worked the juice bar at the gym. Knowing from experience that she was good for few rounds of fun and wasn’t the clingy type either, he figured that she might do the trick. She was forever dropping hints that she was ready to go at it again whenever he was. Stupidly, or maybe he’d just been naïve, he thought maybe she’d make a nice little stress reliever, just as he’d claimed Nellie was. .
But after spending a whole half hour listening to Rachel’s endless drivel and cheap attempts to be sexy with her fluttering lashes and sucking of her own fingers as she ate, he had to pass. There was zero substance, something Nellie had in buckets and something he hadn’t realized until now that he wanted. He’d decided that he was being an idiot, and not only could he handle the understanding he had with Nellie but doing so was absolutely worth the reward. He wasn’t so sure now. Worse yet, he wasn’t sure if maybe he’d blown it today by making his aversion to her date tomorrow so obvious. He could only hope now she wouldn’t send him packing tonight when he showed up at her place.
Once done taking off the wrap, Abel made his way back to the private showers. Noah followed. Somehow Abel had a feeling he would. “So is it true?”
Abel walked into one of the open shower stalls and turned on the water. He turned back to Noah who sat down on one of the benches on the other side of the stall’s pony wall. It came up past Abel’s waist, so he could still see Noah’s curious expression. “Is what true?” Abel asked, pulling off his trunks and briefs, and stood under the shower.
“That you and Rachel are real serious?”
“What?”
Noah laughed. “Roni saw it first and asked me about it, but just last night, I was flipping through the channels, and it was on like two different tabloid shows. They have pictures of you and her earlier this week having sushi and then getting back in your car, so apparently it’s real serious.”
“It’s bullshit. We had lunch. That’s all. Andy said they’d do this once we got closer to the fight.” Not wanting to look at him now, he stood under the shower for a few seconds, lathering up before asking. “What did you tell Roni?”
“I figured as much. So I told her you’d just bagged the girl a few times in the past and that’s probably all this time was too.”
Abel squeezed his eyes shut. Fucking great. As if he needed to give Nellie more reason to feel free to jump from bed to bed. If he was doing it, why shouldn’t she?
Noah stood up now. “Is she who you’re seeing tonight?”
This wasn’t like Noah. He never asked Abel details of his conquests, and he knew better than anyone that Abel wasn’t one to be talking about his personal life. The only reason Noah even knew about Rachel was because she was the one who told everyone. There could only be one reason Noah was asking now—the same reason he’d ever asked before—so Abel had to ask, but he still wouldn’t look at him.” Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“No, you’re not.” He turned to him now. The irritation that had mounted all week and that he’d had to fight to keep under control in Nellie’s office today had just peaked. “You don’t wonder about my personal life, and you know I don’t talk about it. Ever. So what gives? The little wifey put you up to this?”
“First of all,” Noah pointed at him with a murderous glare, “you watch that fucking tone when you talk about Roni. You hear me?”
Abel turned back to the shower, leaning his head under it. He seriously needed to get a grip. He might as well just tell Noah he had no idea how to deal with knowing that Nellie would be on a date tomorrow and that it was making him insane since he was being so damn transparent about it.
“Second,” Noah continued, sounding a little calmer. “Roni mentioned Nellie hadn’t heard from you since last week, the day I told you about her date this Friday. I was just hoping that the tiny little flame I thought I saw in your eye that day had finally set something off upstairs and you’d come to your senses. Then after seeing you enjoy your time with Felix and all those girls and watching the Rachel gossip on TV, I thought you’d really moved on. But seeing you walk around here all week with that look on your face, the one you usually reserve for the ring just before you’re getting ready to tear someone a new one, it got me thinking.” Noah stopped talking and Abel assumed he was waiting for him to look at him, so he took a deep breath and did. Noah lifted a brow. “Please tell me what Roni thought might happen and you assured me wouldn’t, isn’t already happening.” Abel stared at him and Noah shook his head. “Aside from us, Nellie is the only family Roni has. Tell me no matter what happens that we’ll be able to sit around the table or be in the same room without the tension becoming so thick it changes everything.”
“Nothing’s changing,” Abel said, turning off the water. He grabbed a towel from the shelf on the wall. “This fight is getting real now. You know I have no patience for the paparazzi, and they’ve been all over my ass. I’ve just been wound a little tight.” Finished drying up, he tied the towel around his waist then looked up at Noah and hoped he could pull this next part off. “But Nellie and I are cool. Like I said before, her personal life and what she does when I’m not around is none of my business.”
Noah let out a heavy breath, looking somewhat relieved. “Good.”
Abel started walking away toward his locker then turned and looked back at Noah “And sorry about my tone there. You know I love Roni.”
“You better be sorry,” Noah chuckled. “’Cause I don’t care how big you are. Mess with her and I’ll come after you.”
For what felt like the first time since Abel had first walked into Nellie’s office today, he smiled. “Yeah, I know you would.”
He’d have to keep in mind how closely Noah was watching him now. He thought it earlier this week, and he was beginning to think it again. Maybe Noah was right. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to keep this up. If only he could convince his heart of that, the same heart that was already pounding against his chest from just knowing he’d be seeing her real soon.
After getting dressed, Abel picked up his brother’s tablet, which sat on the desk in the back office. He’d done everything he could to avoid the tabloids stories ever since he heard the stuff they were saying about his dad. He didn’t really care, but it’d pissed him off that his mom had felt it necessary to once again explain his father’s death as if he or Hector were in any way buying the bullshit stories.
His dad had been in a bar with his brother in Mexico where a brawl broke out. There were shots, and his dad and uncle were two of several men shot and killed that day. End of story. It was later reported that the fight had originated between two guys arguing over a drug deal gone wrong, but his dad and uncle had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They weren’t involved in the argument at all. The tabloids however were painting a whole other picture. He could only imagine the shit they were saying about him and Rachel and the girls in New York, especially since a few of them were celebrities. Felix told him not to sweat it. He was a free man. These kinds of photos only became a problem if he was ever involved with someone. Abel could only pray now this wouldn’t become a problem because Felix told him to expect the photos to go viral.
Frowning as the photos came up on the screen, he groaned flipping through them. There were so many. And of course he looked like he was having the time of his life in most of them. So Felix was fun to hang out with, and he was hilarious when he was drinking. But damn it if they didn’t catch every compromising position he’d been in with those girls. Felix had warned him ahead of time that the girls at these clubs were not shy. And they were especially touchy-feely when they knew they were being photographed. There was photo after photo of him with one girl or another either wrapped around him or leaning into him, saying something to him extra close to his face since the music had been so damn loud.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he came across the photo of him and that actress he’d met getting in a car together. He read the bullshit caption under the photo.
LEAVING HIS BUDDY WELTERWEIGHT CHAMP SANCHEZ BEHIND, BOXING’S HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER “AWELESS” AYALA WAS CAUGHT MAKING AN EARLY ESCAPE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL TAMMI FISCHER.
Caught? He walked right out the front door flooded with waiting photographers. Since Felix had made no secret about which hotel they were staying at, Tammi knew they were going the same way. She suggested they share a car so they both could escape the paparazzi faster. What was he supposed to say? Hell no? They’ve already taking enough incriminating photos I don’t want my non-girlfriend to misinterpret? Luckily there were more photos of each of them arriving at their different hotels alone. No story there, assholes.
Then he saw the other headline and bigger story.
HAS SOMEONE FINALLY BROKEN THE TOUGH EXTERIOR OF AWELESS AYALA?
Just under the headline were three photos of him sitting with Rachel at the sushi place. He never once noticed photographers that day. In the first two photos, it appeared that he was completely captivated by her conversation. The third one had her feeding him a piece of her sushi. He remembered being annoyed when she’d done that. It was just another attempt to be sexy, and maybe if it’d been someone who didn’t try so hard—someone like Nellie—it might’ve been amusing.
Seeing the photos now, he had to wonder if maybe Rachel had given the photographers a heads up. That day he’d chalked up her overly playful and flirtatious behavior to maybe her getting caught up in the fight hype as well. Now that his name and the fight were all over the TV, radio, and Internet maybe she wanted some of the spotlight on her. She wouldn’t be the first to try this, and she’d told him all about her dream of making it as a fitness model. She certainly had the body for it. And after getting to know her a little better, he didn’t blame her for trying to make the most of her looks. Like in his first few lustful encounters with Nellie, they’d never done a whole lot of talking, but unlike with Nellie, he’d never been inclined to spend the night at her place or have her stay at his. After only three times, like most of the girls he had fun with, he’d also lost interest. Not once had he felt the undeniable need to be with her again like he was feeling that moment about being with Nellie in just a few minutes.
Unable to get past even the first ridiculous paragraph about how it appeared that without warning his heart had been stolen, he shut the tablet down and thought about the irony of the headline and story. Inadvertently, they were on to something about his heart being stolen. Only just like the stories about his dad, they had their facts all wrong.
***
Abel was going to use all the restraint he could muster to hold back from giving free rein to his body’s needs when he saw Nellie. There was something bigger looming, something too important now he needed to communicate to her. Since he was still too damn scared to ruin things by doing so verbally, he’d be showing her as he thought he had in San Francisco.
He’d only been at her place for a few minutes when he stopped her in the kitchen where he’d followed her. Holding out that long had been a feat in itself. The moment he got the chance, he leaned her against the counter and his lips were on hers. As weak as he felt to have failed so miserably at restraining himself, he did kiss her tenderly. It took great effort, but he didn’t kiss nearly as hungrily as he really wanted to. Okay, maybe he was going to have to try a little harder. Just like earlier that day in her office, it felt like it had been forever since he last kissed her. As much as he enjoyed kissing her this sweetly and softly, his insides were ready to unleash what they’d missed so intensely this past week. Somehow her mouth tasted even better than he remembered, and she felt so much more perfect in his arms now.
Forcing himself, Abel pulled away then held her face in his hands, smiling. He really should feel a little alarmed about what a struggle it was to not just eat her up, maybe even a little worried he’d start freaking her out. Instead, even as worked up as he’d been all day, all he could do was smile like an idiot as he stared into her beautiful eyes.
“You’re all I’ve thought of since I left your office today.”
It was mostly true. She and her fucking date tomorrow had consumed the majority of his agonized thoughts even before he’d gone to her office, but more so after gaining a little more insight about the date. She’d be going with Logan, the same guy she’d jumped out of bed with Abel to be with once already.
The playful way she grinned at him cooled the heat he’d begun to feel just thinking about the nature of her relationship with Logan.
“I have to admit I’ve had a hard time keeping my mind clear of thoughts of you today too.” She licked her lips. “Your visit today was a very pleasant surprise. So the disappointment of our interruption is one I knew I wouldn’t get over until I saw you again.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him more ravenously than he’d expected, heightening what his already frenzied insides were trying to restrain. Unable to hold back any more, he moaned against her lips, kissing her even deeper. He brought his hands down and stroked them over her behind a little harder than he’d planned on doing this soon. She rubbed her body up against his, smothering her breasts against his chest.
Abel was done holding back. She was as shamelessly frantic for more as he felt, and it made him insane. He could only hope that meant that, like him, she’d gone without any satisfaction this entire week. She reacted to him squeezing her ass with both hands by bringing her hand down and rubbing him over his jeans. He was so hard now it hurt, and he lifted her onto the counter with a growl.
Tonight was supposed to have been about conveying something deeper to her. Now the only deep thing on his mind was how deeply he wanted to be buried in her.
“You missed me?” he asked roughly against her mouth then bit her bottom lip.
“God, yes!”
He smiled before diving into her mouth again. All right, time for Plan B. It was something that may not be as effective in getting her to feel the very real emotions he felt for her now, but it might work for him in a different way. He’d make love to her so hard and so often tonight and maybe even well into the morning that she couldn’t possibly dream of letting or wanting another man do this to her so soon and hopefully ever.
~*~
The concert was so awesome that Nellie actually felt guilty that her first time seeing Slightly Stoopid live hadn’t been with Roni. It was Roni who’d actually introduced her to the band in the first place. Her best friend knew she’d always loved Reggae music, and this band was just that, only they added a mixture of blues and folksy funk that made their sound even sexier. It’d been exactly what she needed to listen to and just relax with a glass of wine when she was going through her nightmare divorce. She’d been surprised how much their folksy laid-back rhythms could take the edge off the stress she was feeling, and now she’d heard them live, and they were just as good—and Roni had missed it.
Shaking it off, she felt another kind of guilt seep in, a guilt she knew had no business flustering her. So she was on a date less than twenty-four hours after another mind-blowing night with Abel. It’d been more than mind-blowing, it was different. He drove into her like a man on a mission—hungrier than she’d ever felt him—and it made her wild. Then he’d tone it way down, kissing her deeply the entire time they did what felt like making love again, not just having insanely hot sex. More than once he’d stared into her eyes while sliding in and out of her and telling her she was so damn beautiful. Just like all the times he’d told her before, he said it so convincingly and so full of passion that she almost believed it, almost believed that he was there for more than just their lovemaking. In fact, he’d even spent the night again, and they’d had breakfast together. She got the distinct feeling he didn’t want to leave either. And now, here she was on a date with someone else.
So what? Yesterday, after Logan had finally left her office, she got a chance to finish looking up what she’d started to look up when Abel had walked in her office. She only meant to do a little homework about his opponent but was quickly distracted with the photos of him and Felix in New York. Nellie knew well enough that stories of him suddenly being involved with the actress he’d been seen leaving with were very likely untrue. She knew how the media worked, and even though he appeared to be having a good time, she’d gotten to know Abel well now. Well enough to observe that while he appeared to be enjoying himself and smiling in many of the photos, they’d also captured a few of his expressions that she recognized all too well: his almost annoyed expressions, some at the most telling moments—like when one of the eager girls draped herself all over him.
The fact that he’d left early without Felix was also telling. Even though the media said he’d been caught ducking out with that celebrity, there was no evidence in any of the many photos of the two leaving together that either was trying to be sneaky. The fact that they had zero photos of them arriving at their hotels together was further confirmation that the tabloids were reaching with this rumor. But even if it were all true, he’d gone out and had a fabulous time partying up like the hot celebrity he was now and even left with another hot celebrity. As hard as it was to take, this was his life now. It was only going to get worse. Still somehow, something deep inside held on to the hope that while Felix might enjoy this life Abel had made it clear that he wasn’t like Felix.
Seeing the images and reading about him with that young juice girl, however, did worry if not confuse her. Roni had already confirmed that this was someone Abel had, as Noah so eloquently put it, bagged in the past. She was someone more low key than a celebrity and one he’d obviously actually shown some interest in. And why wouldn’t he? She was young and a knockout. Worse yet, they had a ton in common because she worked at the gym and from what the stories suggested was an inspiring fitness model. Of course Abel would be attracted to her.
It was far more likely that there was some truth to this story—that he’d prefer a relationship with someone low key versus a high profile relationship with a celebrity—hence the confusion about his blatant reaction to Logan yesterday. Did he really have the nerve to be acting all territorial when he’d very possibly bagged this girl just earlier that week?
Feeling the same irritation she’d first felt when she read the story of him and juice girl all over again, Nellie glanced around looking for Logan, who’d brought her to the VIP lounge—the same lounge where band members would later be having drinks. Roni was going to die when she heard about this. Logan had walked out after buying her a drink to take a call. He said they’d be meeting a friend of his there but didn’t elaborate. Having the opportunity to sit and watch the band as they relaxed and possibly even jammed in the lounge this close and the fact that Logan had a friend coming were the only reasons she didn’t insist on him taking her home right after the concert. She hadn’t wanted to spend too much time alone with him, but she couldn’t pass this up, and his friend being there would take a little from the intimate feel this might have had otherwise.
Staring at her drink now as she stirred it, her thoughts were back on Abel and her body actually quivered. Their incredible time last night and this morning was the only hope she had that maybe he hadn’t been with that girl all week. She kept reminding herself that if she wanted to keep experiencing incredible nights like last night with Abel, what he did when she wasn’t around needed to remain a non-issue. After going nearly a week without him, her body had welcomed him back as if she were famished. There was nothing she could think of that would be worth ruining things and having his visits end.
After the incident in her office yesterday, there was no doubt he knew about her date tonight, but last night he’d made no mention of it at all. That and his trysts with Rachel that week were a clear reconfirmation of what she’d thought for a moment might be changing but hadn’t. Even knowing she’d be out with another guy tonight, he was as content with things as they were as he had been from the beginning, and so she would be too.
It didn’t matter that he’d held her a bit tighter all night and whispered in her ear how beautiful she was in such a sweet yet genuine way more than once during the night when he’d thought her asleep. Swallowing back any and all hope that it meant something, she took a big swig of her martini. He may’ve been doing that since day one, and she’d just missed it because she’d been so soundly asleep. He was just sweet that way, and there was nothing more to it.
“Are you Nellie?” she flinched, looking up into a pair of the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Sam . . . Smith, Logan’s friend.” He reached out and shook her hand before taking the seat across from her on the sofa.
“It’s okay,” she smiled, a bit taken with how uniquely light but very pretty his eyes were. “Yes, I’m Nellie. It’s nice to meet you, Sam.”
“Logan’s outside on the phone,” he explained. “I hope everything’s okay. Do you know who he’s talking to? He seemed worried.”
“No,” she said, glancing back toward the entrance where Logan had stepped out, feeling a little guilty that she’d been so caught up in thoughts of the concert, Roni, and Abel. She’d hardly noticed Logan’s extended absence. “But he did walk away kind of fast when he got the call.”
Sam glanced back at the entrance then stood up again. “I could be wrong, but I thought I heard him say the words “emergency room” as I walked away. Let me go check on him.”
Nellie decided that if neither of them were back within a couple of minutes she’d go check on Logan too. She felt terrible that she’d hardly given any thought to his taking a long time. Looking up again, she saw Sam walking toward her. He smiled as their eyes met, and her eyes traveled down to his impressive built. At this point, she knew nothing would ever compare to Abel’s body, but surprisingly this guy’s came pretty close. “Well, this is kind of awkward, Nellie, but he did say you two are just friends—co-workers. Right?”
She nodded, a bit confused. Yesterday as they worked on the mixer, she’d worked it into the conversation how she’d never get romantically involved with someone she worked with. In a way of reiterating what she’d already told him about her and Abel, she’d made mention that just as with her and Logan, things were strictly platonic. So she could say this with complete certainty. “Yes, we’re just friends.” She nodded with a smile, still not sure why this had anything to do with Logan not being back yet. “Co-workers.” She reaffirmed. “Why?”
“Well,” he said, taking a seat next to her this time. “It seems his ex-girlfriend’s been in an accident. She’s in the hospital and asking to see him.”
“Oh, no.” Nellie straightened out quickly. “Is it bad?”
Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes. “I know his ex. She’s kind of a drama queen, and she’s pulled this kind of stunt before, but he’s gonna go see her anyway.” He waved the waitress down and ordered Nellie another martini and a rum and Coke for himself, immediately bringing thoughts of Abel back to Nellie. “Anyway, I told him he was an idiot for leaving a beautiful woman like yourself hanging, and that’s when he mentioned that you’re just friends.” He smiled, those light eyes once again distracting her. “Since I’m no idiot, I told him there was no sense in wasting the night out and offered to keep you company then give you a ride home, if that’s okay with you?”
Speechless for a moment by the sudden turn of events, Nellie stared at him as their drinks arrived. “Um, yeah, it’s okay with me,” she finally said, taking her drink from the waitress. Just then, she saw two of the band members walk in and take a seat in one of the corner sofa lounging areas. “I wasn’t planning on staying too late, but it’s not often I get to hang out in a VIP lounge like this.”
“Good,” he grinned, those blue eyes sparkling and looking very pleased. “If I’d known tonight was going to turn out this way, I would’ve gotten here earlier.” He held his glass out to her. She reached out and tapped it with hers. “To chance meetings,” he said with a smile that only accentuated the dark lashes draping over those crystal blue eyes dramatically.
“To chance meetings,” she smiled back, shaking off the sliver of guilt she began to feel again.
Coming here tonight she knew there’d be nothing romantic between her and Logan or anything that might make this feel wrong. She had no intention of tonight being more than just an innocent night out with a male friend, but the gleam in Sam’s playful eyes said he had something more in mind.
Taking a sip of her martini, thoughts of Abel bagging Rachel just this past week came to mind. She didn’t know a thing about Sam yet, but if she had to go strictly by his looks, staying out a little later than she’d originally planned didn’t sound so bad after all.