Abel (5th Street 4)

Firing up her laptop on her dining room table, she pulled up a browser and typed in “Abel Ayala’s opponent.” Immediately, Nathanial “Hammerhead” McKinley came up. She scrolled through the photos first. There was something very familiar about him. Maybe she had been paying more attention than she originally thought because she’d definitely seen this guy before. She read the short bio under one of his photos. He was born and raised in Highland, Michigan, where he and his brothers stayed out of trouble by joining the local boxing gym instead.

That made her smile. As much as the guys spoke so sourly about McKinley and his brothers last night, they had something huge in common with them. They couldn’t be too bad, right? And they all agreed that the kind of trash talking that he and his brothers did was all part of the hype. Abel just didn’t want any part of that. So he refused to do any.

She skimmed through all the need-to-know stuff about McKinley: how long he’d been the champ, who he beat to win the title, what his weaknesses were, etc. Just a few minutes later, she’d had enough. She figured she didn’t have to know everything about the guy, just the key things, and she’d covered them all.

With a smirk, she deleted the word opponent, hit enter, and then walked away to pour herself some coffee. She’d rather drool over photos of Abel than read boring boxing stats of someone else any day. Her phone rang, and she frowned when she saw that it was Roni. She had a feeling why she’d be calling this early, but she answered anyway.

“Good morning,” she chirped, sounding a little too cheery.

Roni was quiet for a moment before speaking. “Someone’s in a good mood. Is it because you’re busy getting ready to go on your brunch date?”

Nellie did the Roni thing and crinkled her nose. “Um, I haven’t talked to Sam, actually.” She picked up her mug, still feeling the little skip in her step as she walked back toward her laptop. “We didn’t make for sure arrangements, so I figured since I haven’t heard from him he changed his mind.”

Okay, that was a little white lie, but it was necessary. Roni knew her too well, and if Nellie told her she’d changed her mind, Roni would know exactly why. Already last night she’d cornered her in the kitchen and teased her about her and Abel not being able to keep their eyes off each other. Nellie had assured her they were just flirting, reminding her once again that they were f**k buddies after all. Of course, they’d be flirting. But as always, she’d seen the worry in Roni’s eyes. Though to her credit, Roni kept her promise about keeping her nose out of it and let it go.

“Did you and Abel . . . you know . . . last night?”

“Maybe,” Nellie said, her smile going flat the moment she sat down in front of her laptop. She didn’t even hear what Roni said next as her eyes were glued to the latest headline about Abel and the photos just beneath it.

Things Heating Up Between Aweless Ayala and Aspiring Fitness Model, Rachel Delgadillo.

Never had her mood done such a wild and abrupt about face. She literally felt the air sucked out of her. The wheezing in her breathing was already feeling heavier with every breath she took, and she reached for the inhaler in her purse. Taking a big hit from it, holding it in until she felt the pressure in her lungs ease, she exhaled slowly.

The time on the headline said it was uploaded less than an hour ago. Among the new photos of Abel and the f**king juice girl, there was one of her running out to meet him as he pulled into the 5th Street parking lot. He wore the very tank and basketball shorts he’d pulled out of his trunk just that morning and changed into. She appeared to be very excited to see him. Nellie’s heart sank at the sight of Abel, who’d had to practically pry his arms off Nellie just before he’d left, pulling this girl to him with that same sweet smile she’d seen on him so often lately.

Nellie hadn’t even realized she gasped at the photo of them embracing until she heard Roni’s worried words. “What’s wrong?”

Knowing there’d be no way she’d be able to hold a conversation with Roni now without her best friend picking up on her mood change, she said the only thing that might excite Roni more than worry her. “That’s Sam on the other line. Let me call you back.”

“It is?” Roni asked, not sounding nearly as excited as Nellie thought she’d be. “Oh, okay, well, call me back.”

The strangeness in Roni’s reaction made Nellie wonder what all she’d missed of Roni’s remarks after she’d confirmed that maybe she and Abel had . . . you know. But her mind was still completely wrapped around something else to give it too much thought.

With a deep breath, she clicked the photos, her chest tightening with every different one of Abel’s sweet encounter with Rachel. “Don’t do this,” she whispered to herself as her eyes remained glued to the photos. “This is just how the paparazzi work.”

Her head argued with her heart that she needed to give him the benefit of the doubt. After the night and morning they’d had, she owed him that much. Each photo she clicked on with him smiling so sweetly at Rachel as he took her in his arms wounded Nellie’s fragile heart a little further. Still she held out hope that it was just an innocent exchange—that even though Abel had reached out for her first, the girl was just a touchy-feely bitch who couldn’t keep her hands off him, and what was Abel supposed to do? Then she froze at the sight of the photo of them kissing, the ache in her pounding heart unbearable.