Noah
Last night's kiss had gone on extra-long. Noah could see he was making progress in breaking through Roni's defenses. He understood why she was still hesitant to go any further. He wasn't without worry either. The possibility that something could go wrong was too real. But there was no way he couldn't try. It was a huge risk but one he felt was absolutely worth the reward should it all work out, and he was certain it would.
For now, he'd take what she would give him, knowing they had somewhat of an unspoken agreement. Getting her life back to what it used to be was important to her, and he'd respect that. She did say she wanted to deal with that first before making any major changes in her life. So he'd be content knowing she wasn't considering anyone else either. Most importantly, although she set down the law that she would handle Kratz and there would be no ass kicking should he ever show up again, she did once again mention she had no interest in reconciling with the guy, not even in friendship terms.
The fight Friday night was only four days away. He'd focus on that instead. Last week, Abel's fight had been a huge hit. They had a full house at the gym, and Abel said he'd actually held off a little before knocking his opponent out to give the spectators who'd lined up hours before the fight a longer show. But he warned Noah not to even think of doing the same, since not only was his a rematch but he also needed to send out a message to his much tougher opponent in the following fight.
Noah waited in the ring for Abel, who'd jumped out for second to take a call. He turned to check on Roni. He'd done such a good job impressing her with his phone it might've backfired. All that time she spent snuggling with him on the sofa every night while she played with his phone might be out the door. She was now saying that as soon as she was up for an upgrade on her phone plan, she was getting herself one. In the meantime, she used his during her workouts. This week it had come in handy. With his fight this week, he was training even longer, which meant he had less time to train with her, not that she needed him anymore. Most of her workouts consisted of her doing an hour on the treadmill then some weights for toning. But she said listening to music made that hour on the treadmill go by so much faster.
Most of the day he'd train methodically without ever falling off track. But when Roni got there in the evenings, it was a different story. She'd been a little down still because of the whole Nellie thing.
He watched her now, trying to make out her mood. Abel jabbed him hard in the ribs, making Noah flinch. Noah hadn't even noticed him get back in the ring.
"Can I say something without you getting all stupid on me?" Abel glanced at Roni then back at Noah.
If this was about her, he wasn't promising shit. "What?"
"I hope to hell you don't do what you did at your fight a few weeks ago."
Noah punched his gloves together and frowned. He knew exactly what Abel was getting at, but he rolled his neck as he walked around the ring and asked anyway. "What's that?"
"Get all caught up watching her and lose focus on the fight."
"I won't."
"Dude, the second she walks in here every night, we may as well hang it up. You check out just like that. Yesterday, you could barely concentrate whenever she walked through the room. You can't do that on fight night, Noah. You remember what happened last time?" Abel glanced away and looked out into the gym at nothing in particular. "Maybe it's better if . . ."
Noah peered at him. "If what?"
"If she's not there Friday."
"No!"
Noah held back what he really wanted to say. That he needed her there. As crazy as that sounded and even though he'd been pissed and distracted with the guy carrying on with her during the fight, there'd been something so comforting about her being there. Even the ride there, he'd felt so much more at peace than he ever had before any fight. And now after everything that had happened between them, he knew that feeling would be even stronger.
"Don't worry about it." He jabbed Abel playfully, his words a little calmer now. "I'll focus. I promise."
He could see Abel wasn't impressed or convinced by his promises. "Yeah? Prove it. She's got, what, twenty minutes left? Let's see how long you can go without looking her way. Show me now." He jabbed Noah hard on the shoulder. "C'mon, lover boy. Let's do this."
Noah resented having to force himself to keep his attention away from Roni, but he knew Abel had a point. Still, he decided to use the aggravation to his advantage and jabbed hard at Abel, missing his chin by an inch.
Abel laughed, jumping in place now. "There you go. Focus. Maybe next time you'll land that."
"Asshole," Noah muttered as he swung again, harder this time, but Abel blocked it. He swung again this time, landing one on Abel's side.
Abel laughed again, completely unfazed by the solid jab Noah landed. "Call me crazy, Noah, but I think this focusing shit really works for you."
They went at it for a while before Abel called their sparring session done. First thing Noah did was glance over in Roni's direction. She was standing by the treadmill, drinking from her water bottle. When she finished, she wiped her forehead with a towel. She glanced at him then smiled when she saw him looking.
"Geez, she's as bad as you are," Abel nudged Noah before stepping out of the ring.
Noah laughed but didn't say what he was thinking. He sure as hell hoped so.