“I thought you said you’d be at 5th Street all day tomorrow.”

She looked at him a bit strangely; then it seemed she understood. “Oh, I will. I just have to pick up some notes from a friend, but then I’ll go straight to the gym.”

He wanted to ask her about Grayson, but he knew it was too damn personal. Even when Drew had asked her about him today, she seemed a little uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted to do was end the evening on an awkward note. Already tonight there’d been a few moments when she hadn’t seemed completely at ease, and he didn’t like it.

“I’ve taken up enough of your time, Felix. I’ll let you go now.”

“No worries at all,” he said, getting caught up in eyes that after tonight he thought anything but plain. She was anything but plain. “I was happy to do it.”

She held his gaze for a moment before smiling and nodding then saying goodbye as she got in her car.

Felix drove away, unable to fight the feeling that maybe he was in trouble. Trouble because he’d known this girl for all of one day and already all he could think about was getting back to 5th Street tomorrow and seeing her again. He tried to shake it, but what made the feeling worse was that feelings like this brought back memories. The only other time he could remember anything remotely close to what he was suddenly feeling for a girl he hardly knew was years ago when he’d run into Bianca where she was working in Big Bear. She made such a striking first impression on him that he’d gone back to her job to ask her if she wanted to have coffee. Like when he’d seen Ella that first day across the gym, he’d done a double take with Bianca as well. Only with Bianca, he remembered having been instantly struck by her beauty. This time it was completely different. There was far more to his intrigue with Ella.

~~~

The following few days were frustrating as shit. First off, the very next day Drew had brought in a lone camera guy to follow her and Ella around. Felix had been busy in the training room. The rematch wasn’t set yet, but Noah thought it’d be best if he started stepping up the unofficial training before the formal stuff started.

The few times he had spotted Ella she’d been busy laughing it up with camera boy, and Drew was nowhere to be found. The only time he’d gotten to talk to her at all was when all three were on their way out and he stopped to ask how the filming had gone. Even then, Drew had done most of that talking. As usual, he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off Ella the whole time Drew spoke.

The moment Drew was done talking, Felix turned to Ella. “How are the tires?”

“Still look good,” she said, smiling. As usual, his eyes were immediately on her lips.

It was like a damn magnet. No matter how hard he tried to be cool and not stare at her mouth, his eyes inevitably ended up there. “Make sure you check them before you get in again.”

This time it was her pulling a strand of hair behind her ear that distracted him from staring at her lips when she smiled again. But that was it; she was gone.

Friday he hadn’t even made it into 5th Street because Grecco’s people were ready to seriously talk about the rematch. They said they had an offer Felix would like. The talks had gone well. There were still a few things they needed to agree on and would be getting back to Felix, but Rene said it really looked as if it were going to happen.

Then Saturday 5th Street was having a blood drive they had every few months where the local radio station showed up to broadcast from the gym and tried to get as many people in there donating blood. Both Adelina and Rene thought it’d make for some positive press, something they insisted he could use more of, especially since it was looking like this rematch with Grecco was going to happen. He’d be all over the news again soon, but they wanted it to be for a good reason this time—positive stories. His donating blood and then helping out and possibly doing a short live interview on the radio show would be great PR.

Felix couldn’t agree more, and he had no issues with it. Everything was going fine. He even got a chance to chat with Ella alone for a while. She’d stopped by to donate blood and he’d had her all to himself as she sat back, helplessly unable to go anywhere as her blood bag filled. It was as if a strange metamorphosis had occurred from the day he’d first met her until now. Everything about her was sweeter than before: her eyes, the cute way her lips curled to one side when she was listening to him so intently. As ridiculous as he knew it sounded, even her voice sounded sweeter. If he hadn’t been able contain his constant gazing before, it’d gotten even harder to refrain, but worse now, he couldn’t keep himself from smiling like an idiot the whole time he was around her.

He almost felt like a jerk because he knew she couldn’t avoid a direct question at a moment like that, but he had to know. He hadn’t stopped thinking about it since that night.

“So did you answer your phone?”

She looked at him strangely, tilting her head and doing that thing with her lips again. As usual, his eyes were immediately on them. “When?”

“Wednesday night.”

She still looked confused; then it seemed to hit her and her expression went blank. “Grayson?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled nervously. “He sounded so serious when he told you to answer your phone. I was just curious if you had.”

She shook her head, and seeing the annoyance in her eyes was more than he could’ve asked for. He’d hoped the way the guy talked to her, even if it had been on the subtle side, was not something she allowed.