Noah
Having Roni around his friends felt good—damn good. The guys hadn't even thought it weird when they saw them walk in together. At least they didn't say anything. The pizzas and pitchers of beer were already there as they took a seat at the table.
Roni seemed uncomfortable at first, but as an hour passed, she'd relaxed. Noah took note of how incredibly slowly she sipped her beer. He remembered her drinking her champagne a little faster on Thanksgiving. Maybe beer wasn't her thing.
Jack had just finished telling them about how back in his day boxing wasn't the only sport he was good at. Noah had heard the story before, but it was a good one, so he didn't mind hearing it again. Jack's high school basketball team made and won the state championship. Jack always used these kinds of stories and spun them around to include an inspirational twist that would help them in the ring.
"I spun a basketball on my finger for over fifteen minutes just a few weeks ago." Hector said, biting into a slice of pizza as if that even came close to winning a state championship.
"When was this?" Noah laughed. Hector was always embellishing his accomplishments.
"What do you mean? You were there!" Hector said. "The day after Thanksgiving." Then he stopped and smirked. "Oh, wait I forgot. That's when Rita took you for a ride. Or I should say you gave her a good hard ride."
He laughed just as two napkins hit his head on either side. One from Abel and the other from Gio. "That's my cousin, ass!" Gio threw another balled-up napkin at him. "Don't be making up shit like that."
"Yeah," Abel gave him a hard look. "That's how rumors get started, stupid."
"Rumors?" He turned back to Gio. "Your sister is the one that told me." Hector shook his head, incredibly not taking the hint. "Besides, everybody knows Noah takes care of business whenever Rita's in town. That's no secret, huh, Noah?" He bounced his eyebrows. "Christmas is just a week away. Ho, ho, ho!" He laughed but stopped laughing when no one else did. "What?"
Roni reached for another slice of pizza, and Abel made the most of her momentary distraction to slap Hector on the back of the head and mouth the words, "Shut the fuck up!"
He did and not a moment too soon, because if he'd said even one more word about him and Rita, Noah was getting ready to jump across the table and strangle him.
None of them knew the extent of his relationship with Roni, but they all got that something was up between them. Noah liked it that way. He knew it didn't matter if they were just roommates with benefits or in an actual relationship. All that mattered was they knew the most important thing—Roni was his. Unfortunately, everyone but dickhead Hector got that it also meant any talk of Noah with other girls around Roni was unacceptable.
Abel changed the subject and went back to talking about the next fight he had lined up for Noah in February. Noah glanced at Roni. She nodded her head, listening to Abel with interest. It almost bothered him that she seemed so unfazed by Hector's comments. Of course, he hadn't dared look at her when Hector was still talking about it. So he couldn't know for sure what her initial reaction was to it, but if she'd been bothered at all, the way he knew he would've been had the tables been turned, she'd gotten over it damned quick.
She knew now—knew that just a few weeks ago, the very day after they'd spent their special Thanksgiving together, he'd gone out and gotten laid. What was worse is that Rita would be back in a week and now Roni knew that too. Did she even care? He tried not to be too obvious as he watched her listening to Abel and Jack talk strategy on how Noah should best handle this next fighter.
She sipped her beer without a care in the world. For a moment, the girl that sat down next to Gio distracted her. Roni looked her up and down, unaware that Noah observed her every move. Her eyebrow arched ever so slightly, and her lips pursed. Now she seemed troubled?
Noah took his eyes off her just long enough to see the girl—one of the ones who'd been waiting outside the shower doors at the gym—stroke Gio's leg. Gio had always been the pretty boy of their bunch. Even with all the fights he'd been in, his face still remained intact. In high school, he'd been quite the heartthrob. Noah's looks were rugged compared to Gio's naturally arched brows, girlie lashes, and green eyes.
Abel had made fun of Gio plenty of times, accusing him of not trying hard enough when they were sparring because Gio was counting on a career in modeling if boxing didn't work out for him.
Not once in all the years he'd known Gio had Noah ever felt any sort of resentment for him being so damn good-looking, but right now, he thought he could hate his best friend. Could that really be it? Was Roni into Gio? She'd only been around him a few times, and Noah wracked his brain, trying to remember if she'd ever acted strangely around him before. If this was true, then his theory about her wanting to remain strictly friends because of the age difference just flew out the door. She'd stared long enough at them, and Noah couldn't take it anymore.
"What's wrong?"
She flinched, startled by his voice, and her brows pinched. "Nothing. Why?"
He glanced at Gio then back at her. "You looked upset there for a minute. Something bothering you?"
"No!" Her eyes widened as if her own tone surprised her.
She was upset. "Relax, I was just asking."
"Well, I'm not." There was something else in her eyes now. Something even more alarming—she was more than upset. She turned away, her eyes going right back to Gio and the girl. "Can we leave?"
Really? That bad? "Are you sure you're okay?"
She wouldn't even tear her eyes away from Gio now, and it drove Noah nuts.
"I'm fine. I'm just tired."
Noah stood, wanting nothing more than to get the fuck out of there—get Roni away from Gio. "Let's go."
Her expression now softened a bit. "Or if you think you can get a ride from one of your friends, I can go alone. You don't have to leave on account of me."
It wasn't so easy for Noah to hide what he was feeling. "Nah, I'm tired too." He turned to Abel, who was already looking at him questioningly. "We're out."
"Already?"
"Yeah, it's been a long day, but I'll be in early tomorrow. Thanks for the pizza and beer."
They said their goodbyes and walked out. Noah thought he could wait until the drive home, but it was killing him. Friend or not—there was no way, no fucking way, he'd be able to deal with anything happening between her and Gio. "You wanna tell me what upset you in there just now?"
She'd been digging in her purse, and her face jerked up at his question. He stood in front of her, making her stop. Her eyes said it all. She was still upset, and she was stunned that he hadn't let it go. To his surprise, she didn't immediately deny it. Just stared at him—for too long. Finally, she lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Just say it, Roni." He wasn't even sure why he wanted her to. Did he really want to hear her say she had feelings for Gio? Hell no! But he needed to know if he should run now—run the hell out of her life and never look back before it was too late.
"Tell you what? What is it you think I'm upset about, Noah?"
Now he stared at her, completely startled by her sudden change in demeanor. She wasn't just upset; she was pissed. "I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out."
She pulled her keys out of her purse and walked around him toward her car. Noah followed. "I told you. I'm tired."
Noah fought the incredible urge to spin her around by her arm and pull her to him. Instead, he walked around her car and waited for her to unlock the door.