Noah (17 page)

Her excitement about photography finally got her interested in his phone. He showed her some of the many apps available for photo enhancement. The equipment she
had in
her dark room looked pretty expensive to him but she admitted there was a lot she could do on his phone. He had her email him some pictures she’d taken and she regularly sat on the sofa now playing with his phone amazed at the things she could do to some of her photographs. He loved how into it she got because half the time she didn’t notice how he’d sit there and just stare at her the whole time. And the times she had caught him he’d easily play it off as if he were trying to check out what she was doing. Little did he know
when he bought  his
phone
that he could use it as a means of getting closer to her. It was a little alarming now how much he looked forward to their moments alone.
 

The scariest part was that he
also
loved that she was now the last person he saw and spoke with before going to bed each night and the first one he saw e
very
morning. That wouldn’t be forever and he didn’t even like to think about it but as the weeks pas
sed
the reality of it grew heavier on his mind.    

Everyone at the gym including Abe
l
, Hector and Gio had picked up on Noah’s territorial
behavior when it came to Roni—everyone except her. He didn’t even have to say anything
but i
t was understood. The guys who had once gawked at her openly then stopped when their eyes met Noah’s murderous glare got it now.
It was unsaid but Noah was happy with the outcome of
his
efforts. No one was getting any funny ideas about trying to get friendly with Roni. Not while he was around. And he made sure he was
always
around. Now if he could only figure out how to get past the just friends thing Roni was so set on
..
. 

Aside from her saying she needed to get her life back first h
e knew
his age would be another obstacle to overcome.
So he was determined to prove to her that he wasn’t your average
twenty
-
year
-
old. She already knew enough to understand that some of the things he’d gone through growing up alone should set him apart from other
twenty
-year-olds
who were
still living at home mooching off mom and pop. But if she needed
more
he’d give it to her. Whatever it took. 

*

The night of the fight came faster than Noah
expected
. It would take place right there in the gym, against another nobody like himself. They weren’t even charging so the
y had a good sized
crowd. Abel said it wouldn’t be much of a competition
. His opponent was
really new to the boxing scene and this was one of his first fights
.
However, Abel
said it was good conditioning for bigger stuff and Noah had bigger stuff coming.

Gio did a last minute check of Noah’s gloves while Abel applied more Vaseline to Noah’s face.
Jack stood on the side of the ring giving him last minute advice
. “Don’t get over confident out there. This guy is new but that might work to his advantage. He probably knows way more about you than you
do
about him. If he’s smart he did his homework. As soon as you catch your groove get on him and end it as fast as possible.”
Noah listened all the while watching as Roni
turned around in her seat
,
striking up a conversation with the guy sitting behind her.
She
now
sat facing backwards from the front row. “Are you listening to me?”

Noah forced his eyes away from
the guy talking to
Roni and brought his attention back to
Jack nodding. “Don’t take this fight lightly, Noah. The last thing you want is take it for granted that you got this and get hurt again.”

“I won’t.” Noah promised.

Gio tapped his gloves. “You’re good,” he said then jumped out of the ring as the ref gave them a one minute warning.

Abel finished up with the Vaseline then looked at him very seriously. “Keep your head in the fight. You hear me? I’ve never seen you fight with this kind of distraction out there.” His head gestured in Roni’s direction but he never took his eyes off Noah.
“You need to focus or it’s gonna cost you. Just use that left jab of yours and you should be good. Only thing this guy has is speed.”

The warning bell rang and Abel jumped out of the ring. Noah stood up, glancing in Roni’s direction. She was facing the ring now but the guy was still leaning forward talking to her from behind.
Focus
, damn it.

The ref rattled off the last second reminders
about the rules and
what not to do. They touched gloves, the bell rung and they were off. Abel was right
,
the guy
was
fast. Getting in that left jab wasn’t going to be too easy but it certainly wasn’t impossible. The added adrenaline from knowing there was
a
dude a little too interested in Roni in the audience might actually work to his advantage. Another glance in that direction made him want to punch someone out and he
landed a hard
one on his opponent
’
s jaw, making him stumble
back but he stayed on his feet
.

“There you go!” Abel yelled from his ringside seat.

“You got this, Noah.” Gio yelled.

Noah
jumped around the ring
tr
ying
hard to focus on the fight. He landed a few
more body
shot
s
before the bell rang ending the first round.
Gio and Abel were immediately in the ring. Abel counted down from ten before letting him sit down
then
toweled him down
and
applied more Vaseline while Gio gave him water. “Why you slowing it down?” Abel asked. “You could
’ve
ended t
his in the
first round. He almost went down with that first jab.”

Noah’s eyes were on Roni again as she turned around to talk to that same guy. Abel patted Noah on the chin twice. The second time harder than the first. “Focus!” He pointed his two fingers at his eyes. “I need you right here right now. Don’t blow this, Noah. This should be a piece of cake for you. This guy should’ve gone down already.”

Noah nodded as the bell rang again and Abel and Gio jumped out of the ring. Abel banged his fist on the ring floor. “
Let’s d
o this
now
!”

Roni was facing the ring again but the idiot behind her still leaned forward and whispered something in her ear.
The
jab
to his temple
came out of nowhere. Noah stumbled to the side
, seeing stars
. “
God d
amn it, Noah!” Abel yelled.

After shaking it off and f
eeling a sudden adrenaline rush
,
Noah
moved in fast
land
ing
a left hook
to
his opponent
’s
nose
and then another
one to his jaw.
J
ust like
that,
the guy went down. The ref rushed in between them
and
start
ed
the countdown. Everyone was on their feet now including Roni. She’d worn her hair down, the curls he now loved fell softly down past her shoulders. She looked beautiful.

Their eyes met and he smiled at her.
She smiled back but still
w
rung her hands nervously. She’d admitted to being
rea
l
l
y
nervous about seeing him fight on their way there.
His eyes then traveled to behind Roni where the guy stood clapping and also smiling, only now Noah wasn’t smiling.
H
is eyes locked
on the
guy
.
H
e gave him that look reserved exclusively for the ring when he stared his opponent down just before his fights letting them know they were going down.
Noah could only hope that the sudden
disappearance
of the guy
’
s smile meant he got the message loud and clear. He glanced at Roni again, softening his expression back to a smile before the ref lifted his arm declaring him winner by knockout.   
          
              
 

~*~

Relief didn’t even begin to describe what Veronica was feeling. She’d finally broken down and admitted to Noah on there way to the gym that she was very nervous about seeing him fight. But she didn’t tell
him
just how much of a wreck she
really
was. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she didn’t have faith in him. She’d heard he was good from his friends and others
at
the
gym
. But she still couldn’t help worrying.

Veronica had only watched fights on television but she’d never been a fan so even when she had
,
she never really paid attention. Nellie’s husband was a fan and they often had big pay-per-view fight parties at their place, inviting her over. Those were the only times she’d ever sat through an entire fight. She never thought she’d be watching one in person and certainly never thought one of her now dear friends would be the one in the ring, possibly getting hurt.   

When she overheard the guy
behind her
talking about having seen Noah fight several times
in the past
she couldn’t help asking
him about it. There were a few things she’d started to wonder about as she sat there waiting for the fight to start. 
Like had he ever been knocked out—something she hadn’t thought to ask Noah. It helped that the guy was a talker and an obvious fan of Noah’s
,
filling her in
on
Noah’s
str
engths
. Like his left hook, reminding her
after the fight
that he’d told her so when Noah used it to knock out the other fighter.

Veronica had just been glad it was over so fast and he hadn’t been hurt. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to watching him fight but now that they were friends she told herself she better get used to
it
. She’d never seen him more excited than when he spoke of his fights. This was only the beginning.
As dear a friend as he was slowly becoming, she intended on being at
as many of
his fights
as possible
.
That reminded her that she hadn’t talked to Nellie in almost a week. They’d exchanged a few texts in the last few days but hadn’t actually spoken. She’d have to give her a call soon.

She stood by the gym exit trying not to think about what Noah had said about groupies. There were four scant
i
ly dressed young girls just outside the door Noah and the other fighter would be
coming out of
once they
finished
chang
ing
.

When the other fighter came out
,
two of them were immediately at his side. Which meant only one thing—the other two were waiting on Noah. They were so damn obvious, it was ridiculous. Veronica wanted to feel sorry for them. They were young and
clearly
their
self-esteem
was in the gutter if this is how little they thought of themselves. But instead she felt… irritated? 
   
          
 

Veronica
swallow
ed hard, wondering if Noah would even need a ride home now. They’d
c
o
m
e here together in her car but now these two
lovelies
would probably be more than happy to take him home—or back to their place. 

Abel and Gio walked out first
,
t
he girls immediately hugging them. Then Noah came out and one of the girls wrapped her arms around him. Veronica turned away when she saw his big arm wrap around the girl
’
s waist.

Surprised that the irritation she’d felt earlier had now turned into full blown rage she stalked out the door.
Don’t do this
. Hurrying to her car madder at herself
now more
than anything,
V
eronica reprimanded herself
under her breath
. She knew perfectly well
what she was feeling was not just rage. It was
utterly
irrational,
seething
—jealousy. She had absolutely no right to be angry with him but she was and that only made her more furious.