Chapter 21: Chapter 21

“That took a while, didn’t it?” Gio said as he took a swig of his beer.

“Yeah, it got a little messy. Court days kept getting rescheduled and what not.” Nellie shook her head. “But finally it’s over and I couldn’t be happier.”

“Time to move on.” Roni smiled. “And girl, as good as you look, you’re gonna enjoy your freedom. You better.”

“Oh, I plan to. I’m already going on that weekend party cruise with the girls from work.”

“I know,” Roni pouted. “If I weren’t pregnant, I would’ve gone with you.”

Noah’s expression immediately soured. “No, you wouldn’t have.”

Roni laughed and leaned into him. “I meant with you, silly. I’ve never been on one. It could’ve been sort of a honeymoon.”

“This was so last minute. Someone canceled and I took their place, but,” Nellie smiled, lifting her eyebrow, “we can plan another time. You can still go if you’re pregnant. There’d still be lots to do, or we could wait until after the baby is here.”

“You know in all my years,” Jack spoke up, “I’ve never been on one of them damn cruises either.”

Nellie turned to Jack her eyes even brighter. “We should plan a group thing.” She turned back to Roni. “If we all go after the baby is born, you can take the baby, and we can all take turns watching the baby so you two can have fun too.”

Roni sat up with a very excited smile. “Oh my God, yes, that would be so fun!”

“I’ll coordinate it.” Nellie shrugged. “It’s what I do for a living after all. Getting this together should be a breeze.” She turned back to the table at no one in particular. “When the time gets closer, I’ll get with everyone to find out who’s in and we can decide what week is good for everyone.”

Gio had glanced at Abel and was already smirking at his way too disinterested expression when he caught the exchanged smiles between Felix and Bianca. It wiped the smirk clean off. Someone would have to stay home and run 5th Street while everyone was on vacation. Gio suddenly got a good notion of who it would be—him and Abel.

They finished dinner and said their goodbyes to everyone, congratulating Noah and Roni once again before they left. They dropped by Gio’s house so he could pick up a few things and say hello to his mom and sisters before heading back up to Big Bear. Felix didn’t want to waste even a day of training, since this week he had a couple of gigs in Hollywood that would cut into his training time.

Gio picked up a couple of jeans and a few more changes of underwear then grabbed what he really wanted—his iPod and earbuds. He told Felix he wanted it for his runs, but really he was counting on it to keep his mind and eyes off Bianca on their drive back. The drive down had been fairly painless for the most part. But he’d had to endure watching Felix run his hands up and down her thighs and even witness a few kisses, not to mention hear Felix whisper things to her that made her giggle softy. He’d listen to his iPod all the way back and pretend to sleep if he had to, but he wasn’t going through two more hours of that crap.

Almost as soon as they were back in the car, the whispering and giggling started. Gio put his earbuds in, blasted it, and sat back in his seat with his eyes closed. The whole way he must’ve opened his eyes no more than three times. The last time he opened them was at the very moment Bianca kissed Felix, and it had him slamming his fist into his seat. He squeezed his eyes shut immediately, not caring what they thought of his slamming fist. Maybe he was jamming to his music, maybe he was having a bad dream, but he wasn’t explaining shit.

Gio’s phone buzzed in his pocket a couple of times on the way up, but he dare not risk opening his eyes to check it. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal to him before, but he wondered now how he’d make it through the next few weeks. What he felt for Bianca was beyond a doubt the most confusing thing he’d ever had to deal with.

They were finally at the cabin.

“Bed time,” Felix said, pointing at his watch. “We’re up bright and early tomorrow.”

Gio agreed, saying goodnight and headed to his room. Once there, he checked his phone. He had a missed call from Noah but no voicemail, and he had a text. The text was from Noah as well.

Text: I didn’t notice shit, but please tell me what Roni and Nellie thought they picked up on tonight is not true. There’s nothing going on between you and you know who. Right?

Gio sat onto his bed, lay down, and texted him back. He should’ve known girls were more apt to pick up on shit like this, and he didn’t even know what this was. So he responded the way he knew he should. If anything ever did happen, Noah would be the only one he’d consider telling, but there was nothing to tell yet, and he could only hope he’d have the willpower to keep it that way.

Text: You’re right. They’re wrong. Nothing’s going on.

Because he knew his best friend wouldn’t leave it at that, Gio lay there thinking about the whole damn situation as he waited for Noah’s response. Was there even a situation? And did he want there to be one?

Just thinking about Bianca made Gio smile. His first impression of her, and he still thought so, was that she was sweet and innocent just as he always had thought even back in high school. There was something so intoxicating about the way those big innocent eyes of hers hung on his every word. She was like a sponge. You could almost see her brain working through her eyes, soaking it all in, but what was even more fascinating was watching her react to the things he knew he had no business saying to her—things Felix would just as soon drop Gio on his ass for if he knew he’d said them to her and rightfully so.

So why couldn’t he stop himself? It was like something came over him when he’d see her get caught in his eyes. It would happen so fast and without warning—like a switch she’d turn on with just one look, and as wrong as he knew it was, he was helpless to fight it.

His phone buzzed again and he read the text:

Text: You sure? These two went on and on about it.

It was tempting to just call Noah and spill his guts, but it was too soon. Truth was, as intense as some of the moments they’d had, it could mean nothing. He kept saying it to himself. Bianca had this innocence about her. It was highly probable that she was completely clueless about what she was doing to his horny ass.

Text: Yes, I’m sure.

Gio was purposely being vague. He could add things like, “I wouldn’t do something like that,” but that statement was no longer one he could say or even text with steadfast conviction.

He closed his eyes, trying to push away what was beginning to feel like obsessive thoughts of her. The most pressing questions of all and what had Gio tied up in knots were these: Did she know she was doing this to him? Could it be possible that sweet little Bianca knew she was driving her boyfriend’s friend fucking nuts? But even more burning, why? Gio had heard her tell Felix she loved him. Saw the tears and hurt in her eyes when he hadn’t made it up on time. She’d run out and greeted him with such excitement the day he finally did get there.

It made no sense. Gio had met plenty of girls who’d been willing to have a go with him even though they had boyfriends. But they weren’t anything like Bianca. They were wild-ass skanks whose boyfriends probably knew exactly what they were dealing with.

After the night they’d all gone out, Gio had begun to think maybe it was better if he left—told Felix he couldn’t stay—made something up. The ride home that night and his conversation with Bianca had been as close to the fire as he could get without touching it.

Now he had proof that he hadn’t imagined what had happened at Noah’s dinner—he wasn’t the only who’d seen it. Would he be more tempted now to play with fire? He couldn’t even be sure what her reaction would be if he did the unthinkable like give into the urge to taste her mouth just once.

Just a few weeks ago, Gio might’ve punched someone in the face who so much as insinuated that he could be the type of friend that would even be thinking something like this. Felix may be flawed and probably unworthy of Bianca, but he was his friend and they went way back.

Another text from Noah popped up on his screen:

Text: That’s what I thought. Sorry I even questioned you, man. Girls are quick to jump to conclusions. I’ll keep that in mind from here on. Goodnight.

Gio brought his fist to his forehead with a groan. Great. No guilt there. He’d be sleeping real soundly tonight.