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, ass**les.

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.