Chapter 31: Chapter 31

{{They lay in a meadow. It looked very different than the one Bianca had taken him to because there was no snow, only grass and flowers in every color. Gio was certain it was still the same one. He lay there next to her, his weight on his elbow while his other hand stroked her hair as he stared into her eyes. “I wanna kiss you,” he whispered.

Bianca smiled, making the day suddenly brighter, the intoxicating scent of the flowers that much stronger. “I want you to.”

Gio leaned in with anxious anticipation of tasting her mouth and kissed her—for a very long time. He didn’t need to breathe. He didn’t need anything anymore. This was all he needed—forever. To be lost in Bianca’s world, in her mouth, her kisses. He’d never felt happier in his life. Finally, he pulled his lips away from her, and instantly he was lost in her eyes. She smiled again. A smile so blissful—so content. “I love you, Bianca.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back.

The strong smell of coffee suddenly trounced the smell of the flowers.}}

Gio opened his eyes for a moment, annoyed that he’d been awakened from such a perfect dream. In the next second, he was smiling. The smell of coffee in his nose and the noise coming from the kitchen meant only one thing. It was morning, and in a few hours, he’d be holding and kissing Bianca again.

Springing from the bed, he’d never felt this eager to jump in the shower in his life. He took what was probably the fastest shower in the history of the world and even did a little dancing as he dried off and got dressed. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes between the time he got out of bed to the time he took one last look in the mirror before heading to the kitchen.

It was worse than the screeching sound of nails scraping across a chalkboard, because it wasn’t a sound. It’s what Gio’s insides felt like when he came around the corner. Bianca’s eyes met his before Felix’s. Her eyes said it all. She hadn’t been expecting this either. Gio’s eyes were immediately on Felix’s hands. One was holding hers, the other caressed her belly as he leaned in to kiss her.

“Gio,” Bianca said before Felix’s lips touched hers.

Felix turned, realizing they weren’t alone in the dining room and smirked. “Hey, dude. I’m back.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The disappointment Gio felt, knowing he wouldn’t get to spend the day with Bianca after all, didn’t even come close to what he was feeling that very moment as he watched Felix pull Bianca in front of him, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed Bianca’s temple, and she stared at Gio, her usual beautifully intense eyes now as lifeless as he felt. “You ready to train? I lost enough time already. So when they canceled this morning’s gig, I shot straight up here.”

Gio concentrated on Felix’s face, unable to look at Bianca anymore. “Sounds good.” He spun around, grateful for not having to stand there anymore and see Felix wrapped around Bianca for even another second.

“Nah, dude. Have breakfast with us first.”

“No.” It was abrupt and a bit too loud, but Gio didn’t care. He kept walking to his room, refusing to look back. His heart pounded erratically now. He turned his torso halfway back, lifting his hand but made sure he didn’t actually look at them. “That’s cool. If I’m gonna train, I’ll just grab some orange juice, maybe a protein shake. I forgot I gotta make a phone call too. You two have breakfast. I’ll meet you in the gym.”

Without waiting for a response from Felix, Gio rushed into his room and closed the door behind him. With his heart at his throat, he paced the room back and forth breathing harshly. “I can’t do this shit,” he muttered under his breath. “I can’t.”

Feeling like a madman, he stalked into the bathroom and stared at his red-rimmed eyes in the mirror. “Either you man the fuck up and do this or get the hell out now and never see her again.”

Before seeing her with Felix again today, he’d thought the latter would be worse, but after what he’d just experienced, he didn’t think anything could feel worse than that.

It was time to call Noah. Gio needed to be talked down before he slammed his fist through the mirror. Noah would be pissed. Gio knew he would. Last time he’d checked the number one unspoken rule between them all was you didn’t sleep with any of your friends exes. This wasn’t even Felix’s ex. This was his girl. But Gio hadn’t slept with her—yet. He knew now with every fiber of his being that if he ever got the chance to, he would in a heartbeat.

But what he’d thought yesterday when he rationalized that he shouldn’t still stood. If he ever did, that could really be trouble, because if he felt like a madman now, and all he’d done was kiss her, he couldn’t even imagine what his reaction to seeing her with Felix after he’d made her his would be. Because, damn it, if he ever did sleep with her she’d be his. As perverse as that sounded—there’d be no rationalizing with his heart at that point.

It occurred to him he should maybe go outside to make the call. He didn’t want Felix accidentally overhearing him. But the risk of running into them again and in a compromising position was one he was not willing to take. So he locked the bedroom door then went into the bathroom and locked that one too.

He ran his fingers through his hair after hitting speed dial, still trying to calm himself. It rang several times before Noah picked it up sounding a little breathless. “I’m in the middle of something. Can this shit wait?”

“No.” Gio and his friends rarely called each other. He knew Noah had to be wondering about his early morning call.

He heard Noah curse and the phone muffle while he said something. Then he heard Roni and Gio knew what he’d interrupted. “This better be important,” Noah barked, and if Gio wasn’t still reeling from seeing Bianca with Felix he might’ve laughed.

“It is.”

Gio heard doors open and close, and he knew Noah was walking through his house. “So what is it?”

Leaning back against the wall, Gio slid down until he was sitting on the cold floor. He rested his elbow on his knee and leaned his forehead against his fist. “You know that text you sent me that night after we had dinner at your house?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s true. What Roni and Nellie were talking about—it wasn’t then, but it is now.”

Noah was quiet for a moment then, “Are you kidding me, G?”

“Noah, I tried to fight it. I swear to you, but he left yesterday, and it’d just been building for some time now, and—”

“You slept with her?”

“No!”

“Then what? Wait. I need coffee for this shit.”

Gio waited for what seemed like forever, and then finally Noah spoke again. “All right, what happened?”

Gio gave him a quick rundown of how things just started building, how incredibly sweet she was, her amazing eyes, and what they did to him. He mentioned her licking her lips and then yesterday. Without giving him too much detail, Gio told him about how they’d made out the whole day but made sure to add, “But it’s not just a physical thing. I would’ve never gone for it if that’s all it was. You know me, man. I wouldn’t do something like that to Felix. She’s just different, Noah. I’ve never felt anything like this for any girl. The only connection I’ve ever had with a chick where I can actually talk so openly like this is maybe Roni, but that’s different. With Bianca—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back the fuck up. Roni?”

“No, not like that.”

“You just said it! A connection with Roni? Are you shitting me?”

“About watching our parents die from cancer. It was the only thing I could think of that even came close. Roni’s the only one who’s ever really gotten it when I told her about my dad dying.” Gio shook his head. “Okay, bad example. Maybe I shouldn’t have used Roni. That’s totally different.”

“Yeah, thank you. Can we not bring her into this conversation about you being tempted by your friend’s girl?”

Gio rolled his eyes. “Not tempted. It’s more than that. I wouldn’t be calling you if it was just a temptation. I have feelings for her now, and I didn’t even realize how bad I had it until I saw them together this morning.” He banged his head against the wall just thinking about it. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I feel like I need to get the hell out of here, but I can’t. I can’t just walk away now, but seeing them together . . . " He banged his head again. “It’s gonna drive me crazy. I almost lost it today.”

“Well, don’t do that.”

Gio shook his head. “This is impossible. Even if they did break up, it still wouldn’t be cool.”

“Look,” Gio heard Noah take a deep breath, “I’m gonna tell you what the girls’ theory was that night after you guys left. There are a few things you should consider before getting too caught up with her. First of all, what does she have to say about all this crap they’re saying about him and that other chick in Chicago?”

Gio pinched the bridge of his nose. “Nothing. She’s never talked about it and I’ve never brought it up. I don’t even know if she knows.”

“She’s gotta know,” Noah said quickly. “It’s funny that this chick who seems to be talking so openly and freely with you wouldn’t mention something this big to you. They’ve been talking about it all over. The girls had a theory.”

Gio didn’t say anything, but he didn’t like Noah’s tone when talking about “this chick,” so he waited.

“First thing, I will say they thought the attraction between you two went both ways. According to them, she seemed to have just as hard a time keeping her eyes off you as you did her.”

Gio waited for the big “but” he could feel coming.

“But they also wondered if she could possibly be doing this to get back at Felix for what he might be doing to her. Maybe she’s using you—”

“No.” Gio sprang to his feet. “She wouldn’t do that.”

“What else could it be, G? You really think she thinks this is gonna have a happy ending? Think about it.” He paused to take what sounded like a drink of his coffee.

Gio took the moment to pace in the spacious bathroom. Noah was starting to irritate him. Bianca was just as surprised by yesterday’s turn of events as he was. She’d planned this about as much as he had.

“If what the girls were saying is true,” Noah continued, “she’s the only one in this equation getting exactly what she wants—the famous rich boyfriend and his hot friend on the side.”

“Nope,” Gio said, stopping in front of the mirror as his insides began to ignite all over again. “This wasn’t planned.”

“It’s just something to consider.”

“Not considering it. Because it’s not true.” His irritation with Noah had just reached another level. “So Roni thinks I’m hot, huh?”

“All right!” Noah snapped. “Don’t be an idiot. I’m not trying to piss you off, but you gotta admit it’s a possibility.”

“That’s not Bianca, okay? If you knew her like I do now, you’d know why that’s not even a possibility. I’ve been with girls like that and Bianca isn’t one of them. So let’s just throw this little fucking theory of yours out the window, okay?”

Gio heard Noah let out a low whistle. “I guess you have fallen hard.”

He ran his hand through his hair, completely frustrated. “Yeah, and you of all people know what that feels like, so help me out here. What do I do?”

Noah exhaled. “Damn it. I had a bad feeling the moment you first told me she was even up there. Whatever happens, this isn’t gonna end well. You know that, right?” Gio nodded as if Noah could see him. “Have you talked to Felix?”

“About this?” Gio stared at his own stunned expression in the mirror.

“No. Remember we talked about maybe you telling him not to be such a heartless ass. He may not even be that into her. Maybe he is seeing that other chick in Chicago. Find out. It might not be such a big deal if you wait for him to dump Bianca and then go after her.”

That had been Gio’s only thread of hope since the beginning. But after getting to know Bianca even better, the idea that Felix wouldn’t really be into her seemed even more impossible now.

After talking to Noah for a little longer and not getting much more help, the only conclusion he’d come to was he needed to talk to Felix and find out exactly where things stood. How concrete was the relationship between him and Bianca? And what chance, if any, did Gio have of walking away from this with his heart still intact?