Noah wasn’t himself for months after that. He began getting in trouble for ditching and it was the only time in his life he’d tried drugs. Smoking pot and getting drunk was the only thing that helped numb the pain. Between Abel, and Gio trying to talk sense into him and then Jack threatening to cut him off and not allow him in the gym anymore—the only other thing that helped get his mind off her—he stopped smoking pot and concentrated on training. Even with all the low moments his life had been riddled with, because this one came at an age when the magnitude of emotion with anything that went wrong was tenfold, it stuck with him and Gio for a long time.

But this was different. He’d yet to even touch Roni—at this point it was looking like he never would. And though much like with Tessa, Roni was all he thought about lately there was so much more to his feelings for her. Tessa had been every sixteen-year-old boy’s fantasy come to life. But other than the sex there was nothing remotely profound about their relationship. Besides the unforgettable conversation he had with her when she admitted that being his first would be a turn on he couldn’t remember even one other conversation with her.

With Roni their relationship was all he had. A relationship that was growing even still—stronger and deeper than any he’d ever shared with anyone. As much as he wanted more with her he had to admit that the thought of ruining what they had now scared the shit out of him.

Noah shrugged bringing his attention back to the hand wrapping. “She was fine with it. She’ll be here tonight for her workout as usual. You’ll see.”

Gio stood up. “All right. Whatever you say. But if I were you I wouldn’t let Hector in on how fine she was with it. Because you know the moment his ass gets a chance, he’ll be opening his mouth again. Let what Abel told him stand even if things aren’t like we’re thinking because that was some uncomfortable shit last night.”

Noah nodded but refused to comment any further. He knew Gio wouldn’t be mentioning it if he didn’t really believe what he had seen. That Roni had been upset about Rita. It just didn’t make sense. Then there was that cheery note this morning.

Gio walked out of the locker room and Noah finished wrapping his hands. He’d just have to wait and see if she ever brought it up again. Or maybe he would.

He’d decided the extra hour he had that morning he’d spend on the speed bag, but there was no way he was going to be able to concentrate until he spoke with Roni. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t still upset with him for any reason. He had to know they were good.

He called her before walking out of the locker room but it went to her voicemail. He almost didn’t leave a message but decided last second to leave one.

“Hey, Roni. It’s me Noah. Listen I wanted to talk to you about last night. I hope you’re not still mad at me. Can you call me when you get a chance? I’d feel better if we talked.”

Pressing the end button, he stared at the phone for a moment before dropping it in his gym bag. He pushed the whole thing into his locker and locked it up.

The relaxed training Noah had planned on doing with the speed bag turned out to be more grueling than expected after running into Abel out there. Abel said there were some things he saw Noah doing during the fight that he wanted to work on with him. He held the heavy bag for Noah while Noah worked the hell out of his lower jab. Abel thought Noah should’ve been able to take the guy down even sooner if he’d landed better jabs. Noah knew exactly why his head hadn’t been completely in the fight but he wouldn’t mention it, instead he went along and worked on his body jams.

The workout had served to get Roni off his mind because he hadn’t thought about her until he walked into the locker room again. Anxious to check his phone he pulled the gloves off as fast as he could.

“Hey man.” Noah turned just as he’d begun to work the combination lock on his locker to see Hector walking up to him. “I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t know things were like that with you and Veronica. I hope I didn’t mess things up for you.”

Remembering what Gio said, Noah decided to neither confirm nor deny anything. He sure as hell didn’t want Hector opening his big mouth again burning up any last shred of hope he might have of convincing Roni he was mature enough to handle her. “Nah, it’s cool. Don’t worry about it.”

“You sure? ‘Cause I could talk to her. You know tell her—”

“No! Don’t say anything to her. Just don’t bring up Rita again.”

Noah got the locker open and dug in his bag for his phone. He frowned. The disappointment of not having any missed calls was a little too much. He had to fight the urge to call her again. He’d see her soon enough.

“All right,” Hector said. “But if you ever need me to say anything I will.”

Noah threw the phone back in his bag and closed the door. “Just keep your mouth shut around her and we should be good.”

They walked back out to the gym. Noah was determined to make it through the rest of the day without obsessing over Roni.

CHAPTER 13

Since Veronica had started working out at 5th Street the gym seemed to have picked up more members. The place was a lot busier these days. She often had to park out on the street like she did tonight because the small parking lot that once had plenty of parking was always full now. Noah said it had everything to do their boxer friend who once trained here. He’d been doing a lot of plugging for the gym lately in television and radio interviews.