“Please!” she begged, fisting the sheets on either side of her.

Abel couldn’t help smiling. His sweet Nellie was going to beg for forgiveness, not that she had anything to be sorry about, but he was glad she was going along with his game and not pissed about it.

He began to speed up again. “Please what?” he grunted, trying to hold out longer.

“Please!” she said again, lifting her hips even higher.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he went in deeper. “Say it, baby. Please what?”

“Please, f**k me harder!”

He slowed for a moment, stunned, opening his eyes. She was squirming and moving her hips, and her entire body was beginning to quiver. Driving into her a few more times as hard as he could, he felt her begin to throb around him. Hearing her say that and feeling her dripping juices as he slammed into her, he knew that he was a goner.

One last time he thrust into her, burying himself deep inside with a loud groan. Words couldn’t even describe the incredible bliss of knowing he’d never have to worry about anyone else enjoying his Nellie the way only he would from now on.

Just like every time he’d taken her while standing, his legs felt limp as noodles now. He lay down next to her and kissed her still-gasping lips. Working his way down to her ear, he whispered what he’d already made sure she knew several times that day. “Mine.”

She turned her head and smiled at him. “All yours.”

“Hell, yeah,” he smiled big, pulling her against his body.

Nellie was perfect in every way. She even went along with the idea of him owning her. Even though it was a hypothetical, he meant it in so many ways, and he knew some chicks would get all bent about that. Not his Nellie. He didn’t care what anyone thought or said now, not even the one person he’d been a little worried about—his mom. She’d just have to accept the fact that Nellie was older than he was, because Nellie didn’t just belong to him now. She owned him in every way, and nobody and nothing would be changing how he felt about her: not Andy, not his career, and not even his mother.

~*~

“So what does that mean? It’s official?” Roni asked as excited as Nellie knew she’d be.

Nellie walked away from the busy 5th Street booth and put her hand over her mouth as she responded to Roni as hushed as she could. “It means we’re no longer f**k buddies.” The very phrase made her wince now. How could she have ever thought she’d be okay with that? “We’re exclusive.”

She heard Roni squeal and she laughed. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew you two wouldn’t be able to do this without one of you developing feelings. I’m just so glad it was both of you and not just one. I was so scared that that might happen, and to be honest, I saw it in his face the night Sam dropped you off. Saw it in the way he looked at you the night you were both over for the fight. I was so damn worried, Nell! Oh my God!” She laughed.” I need a drink now. I’ve been all tense over this for weeks.”

“You have?” Nellie gasped. “You don’t even know what I’ve been going through these past few weeks.”

“Nellie Gamboa, I am going to kick your butt when I get there today!” Roni scolded. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me all this time.”

“How could I? You would’ve flipped, and you were already so mad about him with that other girl, even though I was insisting I was fine with it.”

“About that,” Roni went from sounding excited and playful to angry. “What’s up with him and that little bitch?”

Nellie couldn’t help laughing. She explained about Rachel and everything Abel had promised her and why she believed him, and then she dropped the big one on her. “He told me he’s in love with me.”

The line went silent momentarily, and then Roni spoke her voice a little high pitched. “He did?”

Instantly, Nellie was choked up, and she wished Roni was there so she could hug her. “And he said not just in love, Roni, but hopelessly this-guy-can’t-be-helped in love with me.”

She’d barely been able to squeal out the last few words, and she heard Roni sniffling. “Okay, I’m really gonna kick your butt now,” Roni said, openly crying but still laughed. “You’re making me cry like a baby here. But I’m so, so happy for you two.”

Nellie chatted for a few more minutes with her best friend, confessing how hopelessly in love she was now too. Of course, Roni was as delighted to hear it as she was to hear about Abel being in love with Nellie. They spoke for a few more minutes before hanging up. She noticed a missed call from Logan, and she had a voicemail. But she refused to listen to it or call him back. Her life was too perfect now, and she didn’t need to muddle it up or get Abel worked up by calling Logan back.

Instead, she called her parents to check on them and Gus. Her sister would be out in a few days and coming to stay with her parents until she cut through all the red tape it was going to take for her to get custody of Gus back. The good thing was that Rick wasn’t fighting or protesting her trying to get custody back. To Nellie’s surprise, her mom told her that since Courtney had lost her job she was considering staying in Los Angeles for good. Rick obviously had no intention of taking part in Gus’s life. Her sister had finally accepted that it was a lost cause to try and stay near him in the hopes of him somehow having a change of heart. Nellie couldn’t decide if this was good or bad news. Being near her sister could go either way. But having her nephew in her life again was the silver lining.