Abel (5th Street 4)

“Lemme call you back, Andy.” Abel hung up on Andy before he could even respond. “What friend?” he asked in the most demanding voice he’d used on Nellie to date. This pissed him off.

“Sam,” she said, staring at her tablet in a voice so low that he barely heard her, but he did and he was instantly lit up.

He jerked the car off the exit they were about to pass so fast that Nellie gasped.

“Sam? He’s coming to Vegas to meet with you this weekend? Are you kidding me?” Pulling the car off the road, he turned off the ignition and glared at her now startled eyes. “Are you seeing him the way you see me?”

His demanding question was as enraging as it was terrifying. Did he really want to know? Was this something he wanted to be thinking about just before the fight? But there was no turning back now. She was nuts if she thought he’d stand back idly, knowing she was on a date with Sam. He’d hunt them down and the media could finally have what they wanted out of Aweless Ayala. It’d be the scene of all scenes—the brawl before the main event.

“I’ve seen him twice since I met him, and, no, I’m not sleeping with him if that’s what you’re asking, but would it matter?”

Her question wasn’t an angry one or resentful that he was being demanding like he’d been expecting. It sounded hopeful, but there was a trace of something else.

“Of course it matters,” he said, taking down his lethal tone a notch, and took her hand in his. Only then did he realize how his own hand practically shook with tension. “I can’t do this anymore, Nell. I know you’re not looking for a serious relationship, but I can’t f**king stand the thought of you with someone else.”

Her eyes went wide, and he saw of hint of a smile then it flattened. “But you and Rachel, the girl from—”

“It’s all bullshit. I swear to you.” With the hope of her not telling him off yet, he decided to be completely honest. Thanks to Noah she already knew anyway. “She works at the gym, and, yeah, I’ve gone out with her in the past, but since I’ve been seeing you, there’s been no one else. No one, Nellie. I’m crazy about you, and I don’t want to be with anyone else.” He couldn’t stress it enough. “I want you and only you, but I need this to go both ways. I won’t push for anything too serious if you’re not ready for that, but I do need to know that you’re not seeing anyone else.”

She stared at him, her eyes still unsure. “The photos of you and her the morning you left my house . . . You two kissed.”

He f**king knew it! “She kissed me, and it wasn’t even on the lips. It was close but not quite, only the angle they got made it look as if we did.” Now he spoke as quickly as Andy did in the hopes of her not cutting him off before he could finish. “She was just happy about being one of the 5th Street hopefuls being featured in a big fitness magazine that I’ll be doing a layout for soon. But I swear to you none of what the tabloids are saying is true.” He squeezed the steering wheel, knowing there’d been no mistake about what he’d seen the night Sam dropped her off at Noah’s. Now she was telling him she’d gone out with him again and the guy was flying out to Vegas to see her? “You and Sam? I saw you kiss him.” He cleared his throat, afraid to ask, but he had to know. “You said you haven’t slept with him, but have you done more than that kiss I saw?”

The one was seared in his f**king brain now. He stared at her wide eyes as she shook her head. “No.”

“You’re not still seeing him tonight or this whole weekend, right?” he asked, and once again like when he’d told her he needed her in Vegas with him, the desperation in his own voice surprised him. “Nellie, you’ll kill me. I’ll go nuts, knowing you’re with him.”

To his surprise, her face scrunched up and she began to cry. He had several reactions that he was expecting from her. This was not one of them. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

He leaned in, bringing her to him, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, speaking through her tears against the side of his head. “You have no idea what I’ve been going through these last several weeks, fearing the end was near. Hearing about you and Rachel and then seeing those photos nearly killed me. After the night and morning we’d had, I thought I felt something different. I thought I felt it in San Francisco.” She pulled away and looked at him. Even with her face all red and her makeup smeared, she was still beautiful. “And then those photos . . .” She shook her head again, staring into his eyes. “It’s the only reason why I went to that brunch with Sam in the first place.”

His gut had been right all along. If only he’d had the balls to act on his instincts sooner. “Is he really flying out here just to meet with you?”

The jealousy consumed him. Even though she was telling him she hadn’t slept with Sam, obviously they’d done a lot more kissing than what he’d witnessed. The guy wouldn’t be coming all the way down here just to hold her hand. Although the way Abel felt now he’d go to the ends of the earth just to see her now. Sam was probably as taken by Nellie as Abel was. Who could blame him? It still didn’t help the burning he was feeling now as he waited for her to answer.

“No, he said it’s part work and part pleasure,” she said, wiping the corners of her eyes now.

Part pleasure? Yeah, Abel bet. “But you’ll cancel any plans you had with him, right?”