“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. I’ve just had my hands full. That’s all.” She paused for a moment before her next question. “And you? Training hard? I hear they’ve been riding you mercilessly.”

“Yeah, well, it’s getting down to the wire now. I’m in the gym all day every day.” He wanted to make that clear. The gym and this fight had kept him from her, nothing or no one else had as the tabloids might be implying. “Tomorrow, I have a few phone interviews in the morning, but after that, it’s back to the grind. How are things with your sister and your nephew?”

“They’re going. He’s here now with my parents, and my sister should be out soon. She wasn’t happy that Rick gave Gus up so easily, but what can she do?” He heard her sigh. “It’s just so hard to believe that I could have been so wrong about someone, you know? To think . . .”

She didn’t finish, and Abel waited for a few seconds, lying back down on his bed before asking. “To think, what?”

“Never mind. He’s not something I want to put any energy into thinking about right now . . . or ever again.”

After going quiet for a moment, he heard her typing. “You sure I’m not interrupting your work?”

“No,” she said even as the typing continued. “I was also chatting online as I worked, but I’m closing it up now.”

Abel glanced at the clock. It was already past eleven. With the question begging to be asked—who the hell was she chatting with this late—she started to make another comment. “Listen, about Vegas—”

“Please don’t cancel.” Abel was already sitting up again. His suddenly pounding heart and desperate tone surprised him but not more than what flew out of his mouth next. “I need you there with me, Nellie.”

The line went completely quiet. The typing ceased, and he didn’t even hear her breathing anymore until she spoke again. “I . . . I wasn’t gonna cancel.” Her tone had changed. She sounded a little surprised, stunned maybe. Abel waited, praying he hadn’t blown it. “I was just gonna ask for the exact itinerary. What day and time were you planning on driving out?”

Pulling the phone away from him a little so she wouldn’t hear the enormous breath of relief he took then exhaled, Abel smiled. He told her what day he wanted to leave, and they went through the motions of deciding what time was best for both of them. Neither mentioned his unexpected declaration, but it was out there, and even though he immediately regretted letting it out that way, he was now glad that he had. Maybe she’d remember that the next time she saw another one of those stupid tabloid photos of him and Rachel.

Nellie had already yawned a couple of times, and she had mentioned she’d be up early the next day, so Abel was getting ready to let her go, but not before he made sure he told her what he’d really called to say. “I miss you, Nell.”

Like earlier, she was quiet for moment then cleared her throat. “I miss you too,” she whispered.

Neither said anything for a few silent moments, and even as exhausted as he was, if she’d only uttered the words that she wished she could see him, he’d be in his car before she finished her sentence. But she didn’t. Instead she said goodnight, and just like that the call was over.

Abel lay there in his bed, staring at the dark ceiling, thinking. He wanted so badly to believe that she was feeling what he was. But there was no denying her words. It wasn’t just a mistaken assumption or even her lying. She’d told him herself that serious relationships were not on her agenda. She wanted to be free. Then he saw it with his own eyes.

Punching his mattress, he shook his head in an effort to shake the visual of her kissing her date away. One thing was for damn sure: he’d never admit it out loud, but Noah was right. He was either going to have to suck it up or end this thing because there was no way he was going to be able to deal with that. The very idea that he could get used to it with time as he’d tried to insinuate was insane. He’d never get used to that. His reaction to seeing her kiss Sam would be exactly the same if he ever saw it again. It made no sense to even try to pretend he’d hold back, because just lying there thinking about it made him feel like kicking someone’s ass.

That meant he had an even bigger problem now. Even if he did end things as Noah suggested, it still wouldn’t change the way he felt. His reaction to seeing her with someone else, as inevitable as that was, would still be ugly. What Noah and Roni had been so worried about would happen. It hit him just then. It had already happened. If Noah ever had a gathering where Abel was warned upfront that Nellie would be there with someone else, he wouldn’t show up. There had to be another alternative than the only two Noah thought would work. Ending things with Nellie would effectively mean ending any social gatherings with one of his best friends. He didn’t even want to consider that, but there’d be no way—no way—his being around Nellie and another man would ever work.

~*~

The long day at the zoo with her nephew, her parents, Roni, and little Jack had worn Nellie out. She hadn’t even realized how long it’d been since she spent that much quality time with her parents or her best friend. Most notably, she hadn’t realized how much she needed to take a break from her busy life and tormented heart. It’d been nice to just relax and think of nothing more than having some good family fun.

She’d been closer to Roni than she’d ever been to her own sister, so she and Jack were just as much family to her as her parents. Nellie wasn’t even ashamed to admit she loved Roni more than she did her sister. It was natural. Roni’s love for Nellie had always been so selfless—the girl would do anything for Nellie, and betray her? Never. Nellie could tell that Roni still felt terrible about making her feel bad the night she’d told her she’d meant to rub it in to Abel’s brother that she’d been on a date. Ever since then, Roni had hardly asked about Abel.