NoahNoah actually heard Roni gulp and felt his own gut tighten. Fuck! Too soon! Maybe it was too soon, but there was no way he could hold it in anymore. He had to tell her."Noah," she placed her open palm against his chest, and for the first time since they'd begun kissing, he felt her pull away. "I think maybe you're confusing things."Now it was Noah who pulled away. "What?""I'm feeling things too," she said, sitting up slightly. "But we have to be realistic, and I don't want you confusing the feelings you have for me as your good friend for anything more. I'm sorry," she said, adding insult to injury as she began to move off the bed."Hold on." He reached out and held her arm, feeling the pounding in his head start up again. "First of all, don't be sorry about anything, and whatever you do, do not take back what just happened here between us.""I'm not taking it back. I'm just saying maybe you're confusing this—""I'm not confusing a damn thing." Noah straightened out too
NoahBecause it was New Year's Day, one of the few holidays Jack ever closed down the gym, Noah hadn't made any plans to leave the house today—that was until Gio called to ask how he was feeling and mentioned he was going over to his uncle's house to help him pile up more sandbags. He said his uncle's yard always flooded and was already a mess from the recent storms.Since Gio was always ready to jump when it came to helping Noah with anything, Noah volunteered immediately to help. At first, Gio balked at the idea, saying Noah should stay home and rest since he was injured, but Noah reminded him he was a boxer and knew how to take a punch. The guy hadn't even hit him that hard; he just hit the perfect spot. The fucking pussy obviously knew how to land a sucker punch.Noah ran into Roni in the hallway as she made her way back to her room from the bathroom in her robe. He knew he'd promised to control himself, but Roni had to know that was going to be damn near impossible now.Preten
VeronicaThe night Noah returned from helping out Gio and his uncle, they came to one compromise. Their friendship would remain just that, a friendship, except Noah negotiated a kiss goodnight—every night.Veronica hadn't argued much, and though she stipulated it would be strictly a friendly kiss, she knew it would be anything but. What started as a quick peck goodnight had escalated into a kiss that nearly had her panting and in a quick need of a change of panties. The following nights it got even longer.Her first few days back at work she'd barely managed to stay awake. Between her sleepless nights after Noah's amazing use of his tongue and the two years' worth of painfully boring work compliance trainings and videos she had to sit through, it was hard to keep her eyes open.Her boss, Leslie, had yet to tell her where she'd end up once she was done training but seemed pretty optimistic that she still had plenty of time to figure it out since it would probably be weeks before Ver
Veronica shook her head quickly. "No, I had my chance. The morning we went out for waffles I meant to tell you. I found out about it the night before, but I decided not to because I felt stupid. He was just my roommate and—""You spent a wonderful holiday with him, just the two of you. You said you had moments. It obviously meant a lot to you, and I can totally understand why that would be heartbreaking. If I were you, I would've been hurt too. You weren't being stupid; you were being human." She squeezed her hand. "Look, the one thing Rick and I have been hearing about for weeks in all these retreats and counseling sessions is that trust is the absolute foundation of a relationship. Without it, you have nothing. What did Noah have to say about sleeping with the girl?"Veronica shook her head. "I never asked him about it, and, of course, he never offered an explanation. But the girl came back for Christmas, and from what his friend said, she's basically his go-to whore during the hol
NoahA test is what this felt like, and Noah always sucked at tests. She'd let him kiss her, and then she dropped this on him. His mind raced to try to figure this out. He searched for the perfect answer, but there were no two ways around it. Rita was exactly as Roni had once put it—his drive-by one-night stand. But in Rita's case, it'd been far more than one time.He stood his ground, trying to stay cool as Roni's eyes sought something in his. "She's just someone I hang with—well, hung with," he amended quickly, "not anymore, in the past." He shrugged, trying to make as little of it as possible. "We were both single, and neither of us was looking for anything deep.""Why not anymore?"The fact that she'd even ask that pissed him off a little. "Because it doesn't feel right anymore.""But it did the day after Thanksgiving?"God, he could kill Hector. "That wasn't planned, Roni. Actually nothing with her ever was. For the last few years, me and her—""Years?"Shit! She nudged aw
A week after their Rita conversation, Veronica was feeling as indecisive as ever about moving things forward with Noah. His admission about how and why things had happened the day after Thanksgiving and the fact that he gave her the go-ahead to question him—that she was entitled to explanations about his personal life—should've have been a deciding factor. But ironically, something else about that conversation had made her more aware of how frightening it was to put herself out there like that.The only times in her life that she could remember her heart feeling this incredibly vulnerable and ready to fall apart over a guy had unbelievably both been because of him: first, the night after his fight when she was forced to see him with a groupie and then later that same night when she found out about Rita. But hearing that he'd seen Rita the day after she'd finally given into her desire for him—the very day after he'd admitted to being in love with her—had such an instant crushing effect
The guys came over on Sunday and were there all day. It'd been a while since they'd had a virtual boxing fest like the old days. Noah checked with Roni first before okaying Hector to bring over his PlayStation 4. They worked on changing the oil on Roni's car all morning and then moved indoors for the boxing.Noah told her she didn't have to, but Roni insisted on making them snacks and then lunch. She made sandwiches which she cut in half and piled high on a tray. Though the guys all said they weren't hungry, the pile of sandwiches were inhaled within minutes.Her fussing over them had actually helped to distract her and get her mind off what she'd been moping about for days. She and Nellie were still on the outs, and Roni was beside herself with guilt over having hurt Nellie's feelings.Noah tried to tell her she'd been right to speak up and tell Nellie how she felt, especially given the fact that Roni said Nellie would have done the same thing had the tables been turned. Still, as
"Wow," Derek said as they walked down her porch steps. "I haven't seen that kid in years. I'm surprised he's not in jail."Veronica turned to him, her arms crossed in front of her. "What makes you say that?"Derek chuckled. "That kid sat outside my office more than my damn receptionist when he went to Garfield."She wasn't sure, but it made sense that Derek might have reason to try to discredit Noah. She'd seen his expression when she told him Noah was her roommate. Just the fact that she'd previously mentioned her new roommate was a guy she was sure had already gotten him speculating. His showing up here unannounced today was not on impulse as he'd said it was. Derek did nothing on impulse.But she decided to bite anyway. "Why was he at your office so often?""Typical troublemaker. Did you run a background check on this guy before letting him move in?"The thought had never even occurred to Veronica. "No, because he's a friend. What do you mean troublemaker? What kind of trouble
GioCalling Felix had been the best decision of Gio's life. Not only was Bianca back in his life for good, they'd start with the demolition of what was left of the old gym as soon as the investigation was over and rebuild from the ground up.The guys couldn't have been happier but none more so than Gio. Gio told them he'd get all their names on the title as soon as possible. Felix was going to do everything he could to get this thing going fast and have them back in business in no time. Felix might be relationship-challenged, but he truly was loyal to 5th Street and always had been.As promised, he figured something out, and while their new set up wasn't nearly as glamorous as something Felix could offer Bianca, they were happy. That's all that mattered. He was already working on bigger and better, but for now, this worked out for everyone and would have to do."What do you think?" Gio clicked the remote, turning off the TV in their bedroom as Bianca walked in wearing a bathrobe and
Gently patting the warm soapy sponge over Gio's big strong shoulders and then down his chest, Bianca examined all the bruises and scrapes that were still very visible. As the water from the shower rinsed away the soap, she kissed the bruises gently. She worked the sponge down to his hips as Gio brought his hand around her behind and squeezed a handful of her wet behind. He'd been hard from the moment she'd begun to undress him in the small hotel bathroom. Now he pressed against her, taking her mouth in his and kissing her with that need she loved feeling from him. As the warm water splashed down against their faces, she kissed him back with just as much need, moaning into his mouth.Gio brought his hand around the front, spreading her legs. If she let him and gave into her own yearning, she'd spin around and bend over, letting him take her right there, but she was determine: determined to not allow him to over exert himself—take care of him as she hadn't been able to this whole past w
Nearly hyperventilating for the third time this week, Bianca pulled over and got out of her car. She leaned her arm against the hood as the dry heaves kicked in. If her mother and Nana knew she was driving in that condition, they'd be furious.The anger, but mostly the immense hurt, nearly suffocated her. Gio's beautiful eyes had never looked at her the way they had tonight. They were so cold and full of revulsion she was convinced whatever love he'd felt for her was completely gone now.As the dry heaves slowly calmed, Bianca's breathing began to go back to normal. Her lip began to quiver as it had so much this week. She was out of options now. All week, she'd tried one thing after another. Trying hard to do as Noah said and respect Gio's wishes, she'd held out this long, and for what?Her efforts to reach him had been in vain. Even after she stopped getting the "not in service" message, now when she tried calling, the new message was even worse. This number has restrictions which
Bianca's mouth fell open, and she stared at him for a moment, her big stunned eyes searching his face for something. With her chest still heaving, she shook her head, blinking a couple of times. More tears leaked out of her eyes and down her cheeks before she turned around and walked away without saying another word.Drawing a blank about what to do or say to her now, he watched her walk away. As much as his heart begged him to go after her, he knew there was nothing more to say. He stood there immobile as the minutes passed. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been standing there, but it was long enough to rewind everything he'd been through with Bianca since the day he'd first gone up to Felix's cabin.Relentless hope flew out from the grave, suddenly pounding questions in his head. Why would she come down here just to lie to him? Why would she be so hysterical about it? He'd let his clobbered ego strangle those two questions down when she'd stood there before him and unleashed what
GioGlad that Noah hadn't walked in ten minutes earlier and seen him break down like he had, Gio looked up at him. Noah had news for him and from the looks of it, like when he'd walked in there hours ago to tell him about Jack not making it, this wasn't good."Abel said Hector's fine. He is, right?""Hector's fine," Noah nodded. "Just a broken arm and lots of bruises and scrapes.""Then what is it?""Felix and Bianca were here." Gio turned away with a gulp, glad now that it was past tense, meaning they were gone or he might be tempted to tell Noah to forget his earlier request. Even with everything he'd heard on the stupid TV, his heart yearned to see her now. "You told her I didn't wanna see her?""I did."Gio glanced back when Noah didn't say more. "What did she say?""Nothing. She bolted to the restroom. She was upset, but she didn't say anything, even when she came back to wait for Felix.""Wait for him?" Gio squeezed the sheet and clenched his teeth, the jealousy eating h
GioGio stared at the news reports numbly, switching from one channel to another as they went to commercial, ashamed to admit the stories and images of Felix and Bianca hurt just as much as the coverage of the fire.His second home, 5th Street, had been destroyed. Jack was gone, and Gio still had room to mourn for Bianca. He watched the latest reports that showed her getting into Felix's car with her luggage and flipping off the photographers. They were now said to be on their way here—together.Gio had never felt so stupid in his life. He'd hardly said two words since he came to over an hour ago, and the doctors advised him that the pain he was feeling was from his body being slammed against the wall. He'd been bruised and scraped up pretty bad from all the flying debris, but otherwise the worst injury he'd suffered was a concussion. They didn't think it was too bad, but they did warn the pain would probably worsen in the coming days when the whiplash and soreness really set in.E
BiancaIt'd been over an hour since the line between Bianca and Gio went dead. She tried to convince herself that he hadn't hung up on her. There had to be a reasonable explanation for why they'd been cut off and he was now not answering any of her calls or returning her texts. Even with the pictures, he couldn't possibly believe the stories about her and Felix being back together.Toni had called her about a half hour after her call with Gio to warn her about the new stories. The new photos of her and Felix coupled with the stories the media was circulating were pretty damning. She suggested Bianca give Gio a head's up. The media sure had a way of making even the most innocent of photos seem like some kind of deep moment between them.The more time that passed without her hearing from Gio, the more anxious she felt that he might actually be buying into the hype. He couldn't possibly, could he? But it was late already. They usually talked in the evening until bedtime.The televisio
The sincerity mixed with alarm made Bianca nervous but she waited as Felix let out a breath and frowned. "Andy wanted me to threaten her—threaten to go after her with everything I had—dig up any skeletons she might have and threaten to go public with them, all for the sake of intimidating her into having the abortion." He looked away, and Bianca sensed he couldn't look at her anymore. She was almost afraid to hear more. "I might've done it if this had happened before I met you. I actually considered it, but then I thought what if it was you? What if this had happened when I first ran into you again, before I really got to know you, and I'd done this to you. I didn't know much about her either, but I kept thinking she could be just another sweet and special girl like you, who I'd be screwing with just to cover my own ass—I couldn't do it. That's when I realized I'm not the same guy I used to be and it's because of you. I'm giving her whatever she needs, and I plan on being there for my
BiancaIt'd been days since the scandal broke—days since Bianca had last seen Gio and an eternity since she'd last kissed his lips. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye properly. What was worse was that this could go on for much longer.Both Bianca and Gio had assumed that the story would die down soon enough. Not only had it not calmed down but they were turning it into a full-blown soap opera. The paparazzi were relentless in their pursuit of a statement from any of the three parties involved in the, now internationally talked about, love triangle. Because they were all Hispanic, even the Spanish tabloids had gotten in on it.Bianca dropped the only class she'd taken on campus that spring because the once respectful photographers and sleazy journalists were on her now, as Nana so nicely put it, "like flies on shit."Gio had since been fined for flinging one photographer's camera across the 5th Street gym parking lot. They were forced to lay low for now. The media wanted nothi