As excited as this made him, he finally had to stop kissing her when his phone buzzed in his hand again. “Gotta go,” he whispered against her lips.

She licked her lips and crinkled her nose. “Is it okay to admit I’m even more nervous this time than the last?”

He smiled hoping that was because she cared more about him now than before. Things definitely had changed a lot since then. “Yeah, it’s okay. But don’t worry I’ll be fine.”

He kissed her one last time before reluctantly having to let go and get his things in the car.

~*~

Quintanilla VS Machado

The banner alone was enough to unnerve her as the reached 5th Street. Roni felt it the moment she walked into the gym with Noah. He took her hand as they walked through the already gathering crowd. A herd of would-be groupies eyeballed her as they walked by them and they all happily wished Noah luck. Roni looked right back at all of them and smiled sweetly. Noah was making a statement and now so was she. The decision about moving forward and giving a relationship with Noah a fair try was becoming clearer.

Nothing made her happier than being with him and who cared if she didn’t have a million friends or other things going on. Who said she had to have that all set up before she moved things along with Noah? She could do both at the same time. There were just a few things she wanted to get straight with him.

She’d been tempted to return Derek’s texts all day but hadn’t. He apologized again for having dropped such a load on her about Noah. Since she hadn’t responded to any of his texts he seemed convinced that she was upset with him and had even called and left a long voicemail about how he still cared about her and he was only looking out for her.

His sincere concern was what made her nervous. As much as she knew about Noah there was still a lot she didn’t. Like that he’d dropped out of school. Had he ever gone back to get his diploma? But most importantly did he really have a child out there and why wouldn’t he want to be a part of his or her life? And what about the drug trafficking? It was so unlike him, but it was also unlike Derek to make something like that up. What else did she not know about him?

Abel, Gio and Jack prepped Noah in the locker room. It felt weird to be in the men’s locker room but since it was fight night it was closed off to anyone else but the two fighters. There were two separate areas for the fighters so no one but Noah’s group was in his area.

Veronica tried to stay out of the way. She got the distinct feeling no one else was comfortable with her there but Noah. But he made it clear he wanted her close by. She sat on a stool near the table where Noah sat while Abel wrapped his hands. The moment Hector walked in an undeniable tension filled the room. A tension only Noah and maybe Jack were oblivious to.

Hector gave Veronica a nod but it was so unlike the usual playful way he greeted her lately. The warning look Abel gave him wasn’t missed either. Right then she knew it. They all knew about Hector seeing her with Derek at the park. Just like her, they were most likely waiting until after the fight to tell Noah because he obviously didn’t know yet.

She’d thought about telling him the night she got home from the park. She wanted so badly to ask him about the things Derek had told her, but telling him about the park would mean having to come clean about seeing him the two other times that week as well. She knew Noah now well enough to know that wouldn’t go over well and she’d really hoped she could hold off until after the fight to tell him. Now she was thankful the guys had the same thought, but after their Rita conversation earlier she was even more worried about it now.

Admitting she’d made a week long decision to distance herself from Noah only to come home every night to get even closer to him than she’d ever been before was going to make no sense at all. It did sound ridiculous even to her. She’d explain it the only way she could. That no matter how hard her head tried to dictate what she should do—get a life that didn’t revolve around Noah—her heart and her body’s reaction when she was around him always won out.

Rationale didn’t stand a chance anymore. Her body just gave into what she really wanted every time now. He’d worn her down and at this point even he had to know it. She only hoped he could understand why she’d tried to fight it in the first place.

Noah finished warming up and the radio broadcaster outside announced it was almost fight time. The crowd started cheering as he riled them up. Veronica stood up, ready to go find her seat ringside where Noah had made sure they’d reserved it for her.

“Wait, Roni.”

Noah was back on the table where Abel had been prepping his face with Vaseline. He held out a glove to her and motioned for her to come to him. She did and when she was close enough she saw the Vaseline accentuated the small lump still left from the hit he took New Year’s eve. She touched the lump with her fingers. The one Noah stubbornly refused to have checked out by a doctor, saying it was normal for the swelling to take time to go away completely in the face.

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be fighting with this thing still here?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” He smiled bringing his arm around her waist and pulling her to him. Her heart sped up, because except for the other day when he openly hugged her in the gym, he’d never done this in front of the guys. “Wish me luck?”

“Of course.” She smiled back and then did what she said she was going to do from here on—stop holding back—she leaned in and kissed him deep.