Abel (8 page)

For now
, he’d go along with what everyone else was assuming: that she was just his assistant and event coordinator and nothing more, but deep inside he felt she was so much more now.

As soon as they were in the comfort of the car
waiting for them just outside the terminal and behind the safety of the tinted windows, Abel kissed Nellie as hard as her take charge manner made him. He held her face in his hands and spoke inches away from her lips now. “Do you know what a fucking turn on it is to see you deal with those reporters as effortlessly as you just did?”

She laughed as her bright eyes stared at him.
“I actually should’ve just ignored them, right? Not tell them you weren’t available for comments?”

Abel shook his head.
“No,” he said, kissing her softly this time. “You handled it perfectly.” He sat back now but held her hand, playing with her fingers. “In San Francisco, you said you’d handled your share of reporters before. I’m curious now. When and why?”

Her smile went a little flat
, and she glanced out the window. “I told you my ex used to be a sportscaster on one of the bigger networks.” She shrugged. “He didn’t get there overnight. He had to do his share of sleazy reporting before he made it, and being sleazy was something that, in retrospect, came very easy to him. So I already had a taste and knew what reporters were like. Then when we divorced and news began to leak that he’d been unfaithful, the reporters came in droves.” She let out a humorless chuckle before continuing. “Even after I gave them a full account of why we’d separated, they were still relentless. They hounded me for weeks—months—wanting more details. I still get requests for interviews wanting to do where-are-they-now type pieces, but I’ve moved on from that part of my life. I know that, as much as they insist the story would be more about my life now, they’d still ask questions and want me to retell and in essence revive the story and the old me. That’s something I have no desire to ever do again. That person is dead and buried. The new me has moved on and is never looking back.”

Abel kissed her hand
, staring at her somewhat strained expression. “I like the new you,” he offered, biting back the urge to use the stronger L word. Unbelievably, after the last few days with her, it was what he really felt like saying now.

C
hapter 7

Two days. It
’d been two days since Abel had seen Nellie. The very next day after getting back from San Francisco, he’d been at her place again. She told him about having pushed a few things aside on her schedule to make time for the unexpected trip and that she had her hands full now, making up for it. With the fight less than two weeks away now, Abel had heavy nonstop training that he had to make up as well. Between that and a few radio interviews he had to tape in the evenings, the last two days had been crazy, leaving no time for visits. He was doing his damnedest to keep his mind off her. Not wanting to blow it with her now that his feelings had changed so dramatically, he had to admit that what Noah had warned him about might happen. It was killing his concentration, and he knew more than anything how something like this could so easily throw his training out of whack.

The last
-minute hustle with the major promotional appearances was all lined up as well. He’d do the late show in a few days, and then later that week, he’d be off to New York for the shows Andy had lined up for him and Felix to do together. Felix had just recently announced his next bout. It’d take place next year, but Andy said it was never too early to start promoting.

Of course
, Abel’s first thoughts were to run it past Nellie. These next couple of weeks he’d be so damn busy training and promoting he knew his time with her would be very limited. Even after the fight, Andy had all kinds of shit lined up for him to do. This was exactly why, before he’d gotten involved with Nellie, he insisted he didn’t have time for a relationship—because he
didn’t
. But he was determined to make time for Nellie if she asked for it. He’d already asked her to come with him to New York. Unfortunately, she was busy meeting with some of the sponsors of the mixer she was coordinating on the same days he’d be in New York.

Both Gio and Noah had warned him in not so many words that he should shut down his social life from here on until the fight. It
was what they all did when a fight was just around the corner, something Abel had always advised as well. Their concentration should be one-hundred percent on training, and they didn’t need anything distracting them from it. Noah had even told him to stop reading or even watching any of the tabloid shit. He didn’t have to ask Abel twice. He’d stopped reading the bullshit a long time ago. But cut Nellie out for that long? He couldn’t even bring himself to stop thinking about her now.

Even on his way to pick up Noah for their run
, she was all he could think of. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hide his feelings for her, but until he was sure she was feeling the same way and he was certain he wouldn’t be shooting himself in the foot by making her run in the opposite direction, he had to. When Abel had mentioned to Noah as casually as he could that Nellie would be joining him in San Francisco in place of Andy, he hadn’t missed the skeptical expression on his nervous friend’s face. He didn’t entirely buy that Abel had chosen her for her coordinating skills alone.

Th
e very next day after Abel’s trip, Noah had annoyingly questioned where he was going. Once again, Abel hadn’t slipped into basketball shorts as he normally did when he was headed straight home. Abel knew it was partially concern about his needing to get as much rest as possible now that the fight was so close. But he also knew his questioning had to do with Noah’s continual concern over Abel’s involvement with Nellie. Abel wasn’t about to tell Noah that, after spending the last three nights with Nellie, he was off to her place again, so he referred to a
date
again leaving out who it was with. Noah hadn’t asked with whom, but the relief on his face was telling enough that he assumed it was with someone else.

Just as he reached Noah
’s, he got a call from Andy. As the fight approached rapidly, he hardly went a day without hearing from Andy anymore. But the last couple of days Andy had been so busy in New York that he’d only gotten the few texts from him confirming the dates of his appearances. It was refreshing. Too much of Andy was tiring.

Abel took the call before getting out of his car.
“What’s up, Andy?”

“
I finally got a chance to watch the coverage of Frisco. You looked good, but what the hell’s with this Nellie chick?” The humor in his voice made Abel uncomfortable. “They’re making her out to be some kind of bad ass. I sort of got that, you know, when I talked to her on the phone. But I thought maybe it was just me. She’s the same one I’ve met before, right? Noah’s wife’s friend?”

“
Yeah, same one,” Abel said, offering nothing more.

“
I heard what she did at the press conference. Laid the law down for them reporters,” he laughed again, making Abel roll his eyes, wondering if there’d be any point to this anytime soon. “Then I saw the photos they got of the two of you at the airport. She looks a lot different than I remember—hot. So are you banging her or what? They’re already speculating.”

“
That’s none of your business,” Abel said, getting out of the car, feeling even more defensive about this than usual. “Why are you even asking me? You know I don’t talk about that kind of shit.”

“
Because I got the feeling she didn’t like me very much. That alone was kind of a turn on, and when I heard what she did at the press conference, I was even more intrigued. So seeing the photos just now,” he laughed even louder this time, “I nearly got a hard-on. If you ain’t doing her, I’m seriously thinking of giving her a call.”

Abel stopped walking and struggled to keep from telling Andy wh
at he really wanted to tell him: that if his scrawny ass even thought about it, Andy would get to feel firsthand what all his opponents who’d hit the canvas face first had felt. But he held back. He had a feeling there was more to this. Andy knew just as well as anyone else that Abel wouldn’t be sharing any details of his personal life with anyone. So he knew his sneaky publicist had gone about it a different way.

“
She’s a friend of mine and for personal reasons not looking to get involved with anyone right now. So as her friend, I’m telling you right now that, other than for business reasons, you stay away from her.”

Andy was quiet for a moment.
“But you’re not involved with her in any other way than just business, and she’s a friend.”

“
Isn’t that what I just said?”

“
I’m just trying to get it straight in case, you know, she and I hit it off or something—”

“
Stay the hell away from her.”

Abel
’s tone was far more lethal this time. He was done with indirect warnings. In case there was any doubt, Andy should know now that if he didn’t take the unmistakable warning for it was worth he’d be in a world of pain.

“
Got it,” Andy said, sounding a little too smug. “As your publicist, you know, we’re gonna have to talk about this, though.”

“
No, we’re not.” Abel assured him. “I’ve already told you all you need to know.”

Andy exhaled loudly but then chuckled.
“Okay, I’ll call you later to give you more details about New York. I’ve got lots to tell you.”

As soon as Abel was off the phone with him
, he tried to shake off the weird mood Andy had left him in. He also needed to get his mind on something else. Thoughts of Nellie had momentarily ceased when he and Noah began talking strategy and pushing Abel’s endurance even harder now. Then Noah brought up the cocktail mixer and what an awesome job Nellie had done getting all the participants together. Irritatingly, she was immediately at the forefront of his thoughts again.

Little Jack, Noah
’s toddler, scurried into the front room in his pull-up diapers. Roni wasn’t far behind, holding his pants. “Get over here, you little stinker,” Roni laughed. “I swear,” she said, looking at Abel and Noah, “this kid would live in his underpants if I let him.”

“
So let him,” Noah said, grabbing Jack and spinning him upside down. Jack laughed so hard that he squealed. “It’s supposed to be a hot one today.”

“
No, I have to get him fed and ready,” Roni insisted. “We’re meeting Nellie at the mall again in a few hours.”

“
That’s right. I forgot about that,” Noah said, spinning Jack right side up again. “Sorry, little man, looks like you’re going shopping with momma. I’d help you out of it and keep you here with me, but I gotta whip uncle Abe’s ass here into shape.”

Roni immediately shot Noah a look.
With a regretful smirk, Noah winced. “I mean butt, son. Whip his butt into shape.”

Abel tried but failed at being his
“aweless and indifferent” self. Even something as insignificant as this about Nellie had his full attention. He thought of all the times in the past that he’d been around Noah and Roni and heard Roni speak of her friend. He never would’ve imagined feeling like he did now—hopeful that she’d share more about her best friend. His eyes met Roni’s for a moment as she squatted down and helped Jack into his pants. But with a lift of an eyebrow, she brought her attention back to helping Jack, who was struggling to get his leg in the right hole.

“
What do you think would be best to wear to a Slightly Stoopid concert? This is Nellie’s second attempt to find something for it. Last time we walked out with nothing. She’s kind of worried about looking out of place.” Roni looked up at them again, and Abel couldn’t be sure, but it almost felt as if she were asking him, not Noah. “Concerts at the House of Blues are generally not the dressy kind, right?”

“
I’ve only been there a couple of times,” Noah said, standing up. “Both times, I wore jeans and a t-shirt. Most of the guys were dressed just the same. Of course, the ones there to pick up dress a little spiffier. But concert or not, girls typically dress up a little more than guys.”

Roni was still looking at
Abel curiously. Done helping Jack with this pants, she shrugged and stood up too. “I suppose you could dress up anything, even a pair of jeans if you wear the right shoes and top. I’ve never been to the House of Blues,” she said as she walked away into the kitchen, holding Jack’s hand. “Maybe someday
someone
will take me,” she smiled playfully at Noah before picking up Jack and sitting him on his high chair.

“
Next time, for sure,” Noah said. “I’ll look into it, and next concert we’ll go with her.”

It didn
’t even dawn on Abel until he and Noah were headed out the door. Roni wasn’t going to the concert with Nellie. He was anxious to ask Noah about it but knew his interest would spark suspicion. Noah would no doubt start up with one of his perturbing lectures about why getting involved with Nellie in any way right now was a bad idea, so he refrained.

They headed out to Griffith Park
, where they usually ran a good four to five miles. Today they’d be doing twice that since they were working on Abel’s endurance. Noah filled him in on more of the details of the mixer on their way, giving Abel an excellent excuse to get back to Nellie and her concert Friday. “So that meeting we’re having Friday night with the director of PR,” he said, avoiding eye contact with Noah so his question would sound as natural as possible. “I guess Nellie won’t make that meeting like we talked about if she’s gonna be at a concert Friday night.”

“
That’s right,” Noah turned to him, but Abel kept his eyes on the road. “I forgot the meeting was Friday night. Hmm.” Noah was quiet for a moment then went on. “If it were anything else, I could probably get Roni to see if Nellie could skip out on her plans or postpone them, but I know she won’t for this.”

Now
Abel turned to him, the curiosity beating out any attempt to not appear too interested in Nellie’s plans. “Why’s that?”

Noah shrugged.
“I guess it’s because it’s Nellie’s first real date in a while. Roni’s all excited for her.”

Abel gripped the steering wheel
, remembering how nonchalant Nellie had been back, when she’d mentioned the concert to him. Sure they had an understanding, but after the incredible time they’d had in San Francisco, it was hard enough to concentrate on anything else right now much less make arrangements to spend
any
of his free time with someone else. All morning he’d already been mentally making room in his busy schedule for when he could see her again. And she was going on a date—a first
real
date? What the hell did that even mean? Had she not mentioned San Francisco to Roni?

Logically
, he knew he shouldn’t be upset. He’d agreed he’d be “game” to this, and at the time, he had every intention of this being just a fun thing—neither had a right to be upset or ask questions about each other’s personal lives. But he’d been certain this trip had been a game changer. He was more than upset, damn it. He was
pissed
.

He was a
fraid to speak for fear that even one word out of his mouth at that moment would be loaded with indignation so toxic that Noah would be all over it. He parked and got out of his car without saying another word: not about Nellie, not about his training, and not about the meeting Nellie wouldn’t be making because of her fucking date. All he wanted to do was run—run the annoying and unreasonable thoughts right out of his head. Visions of her doing what she had been doing with him for weeks after her date inundated him almost throughout the entire galling run.