She pulled away slowly and Noah finally let her go as the crowd outside got louder. Noah got off the table and they all walked out together.

The fight started well enough. Noah appeared to be far more focused and in control than the last fight. The crowd was so much bigger and louder this time and that seemed to feed Noah’s adrenaline.

Veronica sat at the edge of her seat, her hands going to her face every time Noah’s opponent landed a punch, which to her relief wasn’t often. Noah seemed to be doing most of the landing. Then his opponent slipped in one good one that landed right on the spot Veronica had been worried about. The lump on the side of his face.

Seeing Noah rocked made the crowd go wild. Everyone was on their feet including Veronica whose heart was at her throat as she watched Noah try to shake it off.

“Get back in this, Noah! Now!” Abel yelled.

Noah did just that, landing two good ones back to back. The crowd roared and Noah had his opponent on the ropes. He landed another solid jab to the guy’s gut just before the bell rung and the ref stepped in to separate them.

This was definitely a part of Noah’s life that was going to take some time getting used to because God if she wasn’t close to tears already. Seeing him being knocked out so unexpectedly on New Year’s had been horrifying enough but watching and waiting knowing it could possibly happen again was the worst.

The next round went much better and even after Noah landed a couple that almost took his opponent down, it was beginning to look like the fight might come down to a decision. Then Noah landed a solid one to the guy’s jaw and he finally went down seconds before the bell.

Noah was once again declared the winner by way of knock out. The whole thing was bittersweet and Veronica had a feeling this is how it would always be. She watched and while everyone around him smiled and cheered she focused on his expression. Even though he smiled at her and smiled again when they held his arm up announcing he was the winner she could see he was in pain.

Once in the locker room he admitted to having a bitch of a headache, but told her not to worry it was normal. Jack gave him some pain killers with codeine and their proposed night out to celebrate was officially postponed. Gio immediately announced he was having a barbeque the next day at his place instead.

By the time they got home Noah was already feeling drowsy. Veronica thought they might actually skip out on their goodnight kiss, but when they got to their bedroom doors Noah pulled her into his. “Stay with me tonight please? I’ll promise I’ll be good.” He smiled even through a pained grimace. “Hell, with these pills kicking in now I’ll be lucky to stay awake for even a few more minutes.”

There was no way Veronica was saying no now. If it wasn’t for the pills she probably wouldn’t have said no to anything else either. After changing into her pajama pants and a t-shirt she climbed in bed with him and he immediately wrapped his arms around her spooning her closely. It felt so perfect she wondered if she’d ever go back to sleeping alone again.

CHAPTER 26

Noah skipped his run the next morning. He was feeling better, the headache was gone but the decision of whether to get out of bed early or stay in bed cuddling with Roni was a no brainer. He turned his internal alarm off and fell back asleep with Roni in his arms.

They slept so soundly it was already close to ten by the time he noticed Roni wasn’t in bed anymore. The bathroom door opened as he walked into the hallway to investigate where she’d gone. She walked out and smiled. Just the sight of her alone made him breathe in deeply.

He pulled her to him after meeting her halfway in the hallway.

“How you feeling?” she asked touching the side of his face softly with her fingers.

“Much better. No more headache.” He pecked her tasting the toothpaste on her lips. “You getting up now?”

“Actually I was thinking of getting back in bed.” Her sly smile with the twinkle in her eyes made his heart speed up.

“I’ll meet you there in two minutes.” He practically ran to the bathroom, hearing her giggle behind him. After taking care of business he brushed his teeth and was back in the room in under the two minutes he promised.

She was already in his bed scrolling through her phone when he walked in.

“I can’t wait to upgrade this thing,” she said setting it on the nightstand next to the bed.

He crawled in next to her slipping his hand over her belly. “When’s your contract up?”

“Next week.” She smiled big.

“Next week?” he asked nuzzling up against her ear, making her squirm. “Then you can do it already.” He kissed below her ear bringing his leg over hers. “They usually let you upgrade a few months before your contract’s up.”

His hand roamed freely around her belly area and made its way up her cotton t-shirt, slowing only as he reached the swell of her breast. Feeling his heart pick up a notch and his own breathing accelerate he stopped and looked into her eyes for any objection. One thing was clear, any talk of upgrading phones was the furthest thing from her mind now. She brought her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

He kissed her deeply his hand caressing her breast and she moaned softly against his lips. It was a sound he’d heard several times this past week and he loved it. He was so ready to make love to her it was crazy, but there was one thing he’d been going nuts thinking about in case she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

“I wanna taste you,” he said in her mouth, stopping when he felt her body freeze. Her wide eyes got even wider when he added, “everywhere.”