As she sat there, still trying to calm herself, taking long slow breaths, she realized something. She hadn’t imagined herself falling so dangerously hard for Abel. This was further proof that she was too far gone to continue with this arrangement.

Chapter 14

Something had definitely changed. Last night Abel hadn’t wanted to stick around for even another minute. He’d been beyond pissed. One date with this Sam guy, and suddenly Abel was yesterday’s news? But once he calmed, he realized there was more to it. Aside from the news that Nellie had just gotten about her sister and nephew, it was blatantly obvious she wasn’t in the greatest mood even before the call. He held on to the hope that the goddamn photos of him and Rachel that were still going viral were the reason behind her “twenty questions” retort, because it was so out of character for her. But then again, he wasn’t used to asking personal questions, so he wouldn’t know exactly how she’d normally respond. Was this just her way of finally saying he’d crossed the line, or could he actually be right and the photos were the cause of her bad mood?

The morning she arrived at 5th Street for her meeting with the winery rep had been weird again. He ran into her in the parking lot of 5th Street. She’d worn one of her business skirt suits, but more than sexy, beautiful was the only way he’d describe her now. As much as he yearned to kiss her, he’d refrained—too afraid she’d reject him. It might confirm what had kept him up most of the night: that maybe she’d changed her mind about this whole thing. Maybe Sam had something to do with her decision. There was definitely something different about her demeanor toward him—colder—distant.

They made small talk about her nephew and then about her parents arriving safely in Seattle. She’d avoided eye contact for the most part then excused herself when she got the text from the rep she was meeting, letting her know she was right outside. And that was it. Abel had been quickly caught up in training again. The fight was only two weeks away now. He’d be going into virtual training lockdown and conditioning soon and for sure would have little to no time for a social life.

At first, he thought it was a good thing. With things definitely going in a new direction, he gave into Noah’s pleas to concentrate on this fight and nothing else. He’d had every intention of doing just that before becoming involved with Nellie. Of all five of the now owners of 5th Street including their silent partner, Felix, Abel had always been by far the most dedicated. A shot at the title was his lifelong dream, and now he’d put it on the back burner for something that had always irritated him about his friends—a girl. So this awkwardness and sudden distance couldn’t have happened at a better time.

But even through the last week of intense training that started in the wee hours of the morning and continued until late in the afternoon, leaving him completely exhausted, thoughts of Nellie still lingered. Mid-week he’d given into temptation and texted her to simply say that he missed her. Her response? She missed him too, but nothing more. He’d followed up to mention that his grueling training schedule was endless and would continue to be, up until he left for Vegas. He hoped it answered the unasked question of why he’d suddenly disappeared.

To his relief, her response to that seemed to convey understanding to the answer of her unasked question. She said that she could only imagine then mentioned that Roni had told her that Noah had hardly been home lately either. But the even bigger relief was that she never once mentioned canceling driving out to Vegas with him. As far as he knew, that was still on, but he was worried. Clearly, the day those photos of him and Rachel went viral, something changed. He only hoped the newer grainy photos that had been leaked of him and Rachel in the gym and her turning on the flirtation again by touching his hair and face weren’t going to be the cause of more changes. The only reason he even knew of the photos was because Andy and Noah were pissed that obviously someone in the gym was taking photos with his phone and leaking them to the press.

Dread of giving Nellie the opportunity to cancel driving out to Vegas with him, in case she’d seen the new photos, kept him from giving in to the temptation of calling her all week. It’d been over a week since he’d last spoken with her. It was really beginning to feel like torture. What had she been up to? He hadn’t dared to ask Noah about it, and he knew Noah wasn’t about to bring it up on his own. If anyone knew better what a distraction this could be, it was Noah. Good or bad, his good friend and trainer was not about to let him in on anything that might wreak havoc on his training. As it was, Abel was trying his damnedest to concentrate, and he still felt off. No doubt Gio and Noah had picked up on it too.

Now he lay there, losing the battle against the temptation to call her and just talk to her for a few minutes—hear her voice one time before he went to bed so he could sleep better. But would he? Or would it keep him up longer?

He sat up and grabbed his phone. Hesitating for just a moment, he hit the dial button and waited as her phone rang. Lying back down on his bed, he held his breath. What if she wasn’t alone? Now he squeezed his eyes shut, his insides fully engulfed in flames in an instant.

“Hello?”

Just hearing her voice calmed him enough that he actually smiled. “Hey,” he said, sitting up slowly. “You busy?”

“Not really,” she said, exhaling heavily. “I was just about to call it a night. The mixer’s been a little more work than I expected.”

Hearing the hint of stress in her voice, he frowned. “Everything okay?”