Noah (6 page)

Al
though her feelings for Derek had died almost the moment he admitted to meeting someone else, she’d never loved him like Nellie loved Derek. In fact, she questioned now whether she’d ever loved
Derek
at all.

Nellie took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. “I can’t stay married to him now. I don’t even know that he’d want to. I know Rick. He would’ve never done something like this unless he was in love with her. I just wish I had confronted him the mo
ment
I noticed the change in him. Maybe
he wasn’t in love yet.
”
She lifted a shoulder. “I’ll live. You’ve been through worse and look at you.”

“Please don’t look at me as inspiration on how to handle depression. God, I’ve been a mess.”

“But you’re doing something about it now. Remember?”

Veronica
stared at her not sure if now was a good time to tell her she wasn’t going back to the gym but she didn’t have to. Her friend knew her too well. Immediately she lifted an eyebrow. “You’re going back tomorrow,
Veronica
.”

“I can’t,” she whispered
,
knowing she sounded like such a wi
mp
.

“You have to,” Nellie said then dropped the guilt bomb. “I
t
would be one less thing I’d have to worry about, honey. You have no idea how worried I’ve been about you. I promise you as soon as I can
,
I’ll join you
again
.”

Suddenly
Veronica
felt like the most pathetic crybaby in the world. Nellie had to deal with her marriage falling apart. Had been dealing with it all on her own and all
Veronica
had to do and for her own good was workout.
Nothing bad could come of it except maybe some achy muscles but she’d get started on shedding those forty plus pounds she’d packed on and maybe start feeling like a human being again. 

“You don’t have to join me, Nellie. I know how much you hate working out and we both know you do not need to lose weight.”
Veronica
wouldn’t say it because she didn’t want to make her feel
worse
, but Nellie had always dropped weight when she was stressing
. Nellie had already been surprised tonight to find out she’d lost weight. Veronica knew why now
and something told
her Nellie’s
weight would surely plummet
further after this
. “I’ll go back and promise I’ll try my hardest to lose weight as fast as I can. I need to snap out of this already, because now it’s my turn to be there for you.”

They talked some more before
Veronica
went hom
e
and took a much needed shower and had a glass of wine that despite her eventful evening, helped her sleep like a baby.         
       
 
  
               
                     
 

~
*
~

Admittedly,
Noah
had been surprised to see that not only
had
Veronica
returned
alone
the next day, but that two weeks later she was still as committed to her
workouts
.

She even got on the scale at the end of the first week and confessed she’d weighed herself that first day
and
t
old
him what her real weight
had been
.
She also explained why Nellie hadn’t come back, but most importantly
,
he saw
a renewed energy in her
now
. She asked him to work her out as hard as he could
.
Then
she’d turned blood red when he smirked
while
tell
ing
her
he’d never had a female put so much pressure on him
.
That had
finally gotten a smile out of her—a real
ly
sweet
smile at that.

At the e
nd of week
two when it came time to
weigh in
, she was nervous
. She’d lost five pounds the first week and she’d been ecstatic. “Ready?”
h
e asked. H
e
already saw
the difference in her face. Her cheekbones
were becoming
more defined and her sweatpants were looking even looser than when he’d first laid eyes on her.

She took a deep breath before stepping up on the scale. Her head fell back,
and
stayed in that position, obviously not wanting to see what her weight was.
Noah
moved the weights on the scale
,
adjusting them until the bar was balanced.

Veronica
still didn’t look down. “How much?”
s
he asked.

Even after two weeks, he still hadn’t gotten used to her husky voice. He’d only heard voices like that in the movies and on television. It was all kinds of sexy and at times, he struggled
to
stay focused when she spoke to him.
T
hey’d started talking a little more
now—
becoming more comfortable around each other.

When he saw how much she’d lost he smiled. “How much do you think?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m gonna be so mad if it’s zero. I’ve heard that could happen.”

“Six pound
s, baby!
”

Her face jerked back down and her jaw dropped
then turned to him, her eyes wide open
.
She threw her arms around his neck, catching him completely off guard. Before he could react or even get a chance to get an arm around her she pulled her arms back. “I’m sorry.” Her hands
flew to
her mouth, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

“Don’t be.” He
smiled
,
a little irked with himself that
he didn’t think fast enough. He would’ve loved to
have felt
what was under all those loose sweatshirts she always wore.

“I can’t believe it!  Eleven pounds in two weeks. I thought for sure I’d lose less this week than the first.”

“Why? You worked just as hard if not harder.”

“I know. I know. But I was still scared I wouldn’t.”

Her bright smile made him smile even bigger, too. “You’re doing it,
Veronica
. I’m gonna go ahead and admit
something
. That first night you were here I was a little nervous you weren’t coming back.”

She bit her bottom lip and he hated how something that small could distract him. “I almost didn’t,” she admitted sheepishly. “In fact
,
”
h
er smile suddenly dissolved
,
“
i
f Nellie hadn’t had that asthma attack I m
ight
not have. She’s the one that pushed me to and I couldn’t say no.”

Noah
felt guilty about being thankful for Nellie’s attack. Not only was he a full time trainer
now,
training a few other boxers besides
Veronica
,
who paid real well for his services
, he was really beginning to enjoy his training sessions with her. She actually listened when he t
alked
about the work he’d done on his bike and his plans to try to make it as a light-heavyweight boxer
, once he recovered from his shoulder injury
. Most girls
’
eyes glazed over
after a few minutes of
either subject, but
Veronica
listened intently
—
even asked a lot of questions.

“How is Nellie doing?”

“Oh, much better.” That smile was back. “But she’s always hated working out. I knew the day we started she was really only doing this for me.”

“And you?” He smirked. “You didn’t hate working out? That first day you sure looked like you did.”

She laughed. “Well, I hadn’t worked out in years. You almost killed me.” She picked up her gym bag and smiled at him. “But I’m glad you did. I needed that.”

“I’m just glad you came back. Even though I’m sorry Nellie had to have an asthma attack to get you back
in here
.”

She flung the gym bag over her shoulder. “Well, like they sa
y
:
God works in mysterious ways. It took her attack to get me to do what I absolutely had to do. You don’t even know the half of it.”

“So tell me about it.” The smile dissolved again and he gr
ound
his teeth in regret.  “O
nly if you want
. I
know it’s
none of my business.”

She shook her head.
“It’s just a bunch of depressing crap. You wouldn’t want to hear about it. Trust me.”

“I trust you. If it’s personal and you’d rather not, I understand but if you ever do, I don’t mind hearing about it.”

She tilted her head. “I’d rather not
now
, but I wouldn’t mind going out for a celebratory drink if you’re up for it.”

“I
don’t
—”

“
Okay
,
stop
the lecture
.
” She held her hand up
,
smiling
. “
Alcohol is
not
a part of my diet, but
I’ve been really good
about
keeping it to only one or two glasses of wine a week since I started working out. And
tonight
would be the night
.
I haven’t had any all week.”

Had she really asked him to go for a drink with her? She’d grown on him in two weeks, and he’d never seen her out of her sweats, ponytail and no makeup. He knew so little about her except she was more determined than most girls he
r size
to try and whip back into shape. And she was smart. That he definitely picked up on. “I’m not twenty-one.”

For the second time that night, her jaw fell open, only this time it didn’t feel good. “You’re not?”

“It’s not like I’ve never drank.” Hell him and the guys had been d
rinking
for years. “I just can’t go into a bar and drink…yet.”

Her eyes were still big and overly concerned.
“How old
are
you?”

He knew she couldn’t be more than twenty-one or twenty-two. He towered over her and at times she seemed so small
and delicate
next to his six-foot two stature. “I’ll be
twenty
soon,” he said with confidence.

“Oh my God.”
Her
absolutely horrified
reaction was not what he was expecting
. “I’m so sorry. I had no—”

He had to laugh. “What? I’m legal
!
”

“I know,” she said,
hurrying
her step toward the exit of the gym. “I had no idea. I apologize.”

“
Again, f
or what?”

“I just didn’t know.”

“So I’m not twenty-one. How old are you? Twenty-one, twenty-two?”

She glanced at him, her eyes still lit with bewilderment. S
ince she wasn’t slowing down,
he took a step in front of her to make her stop. “How old are you?”

She
turned away and
hesitated for moment before answering
.
F
inally
she
looked ba
c
k at him lifting an eyebrow
. “I’m twenty-
eight
,
Noah
.”

It came as a surprise. She didn’t look
it
but the way she was acting you’d think she was forty. “Alright so you’re twenty-
eight
. You don’t look it.”
She didn’t. Not at all, especially now that she’d lost a few pounds.
She tried to walk around him but he
moved with her
. “Don’t get all weird on me,
Veronica
.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned
my whole life,
time and a
ge
are but
a
n
illusion
.
”
The
crease that suddenly made an appearance between her eyes
again made him smile
. “
I’ll be
twenty
in a week, by the way.
You lost eleven pounds in two weeks because
of
me—
your
nineteen
year-old trainer
.
”