Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Gio

The last thing Gio wanted to do was talk or even think about Trinidad. He was also beginning to have a hard time not staring at those big innocent eyes. Even under all the glamorous makeup Bianca wore now, they still reminded him of the feelings he’d begun to develop for her way back in high school, so he turned away. Taking in the rest of the workout room, he responded without looking at her. “I’m training now, so Felix asked me to join him for the next couple of months.”

“Oh, so you’ll be here for the whole two months?”

“Off and on,” Gio said, still taking in the rest of the room. “I’m only two hours away, so if I ever need to make a trip down, I may leave for a day or two. But yeah, I’ll be around for the whole two months.”

She showed him the rest of the compound, and then they headed back to the main house to thaw out. The fire was already roaring when they got there, and it was a good thing because Gio had never been out in such cold weather for that long. The temperature had dropped dramatically from the time they stepped out to the time they stepped back in.

Felix’s hired help was fast at work, preparing the dinner they’d have a little later. One of the women set up the dinner table, and Gio noticed she only put out two place settings. Bianca must’ve noticed too because she walked over to the table. “We have two others joining us tonight, Amparo.”

Amparo glanced up and smiled but shook her head. “Ray came in already and put something together. He was hungry and didn’t want to wait, and Ignacio said he’d take his food to his room later—something about wanting to video chat with his wife and kids while he ate.”

Bianca turned back to Gio. “I guess it’s just you and me for dinner.”

Gio shrugged. After introducing him to Amparo, Felix’s housekeeper, and peeling off all the snow gear, Bianca showed Gio into the TV room with the fireplace.

She clicked the huge plasma TV on and flipped it over to the weather channel. “Oh, big storm coming our way,” she said this with a big satisfied smile then turned to Gio. “Big storms are good for business. More snow means the ski lifts will be busy, and that’s always good for us.”

“Ah,” Gio nodded, taking a seat on the brick fireplace. The heat against his back was heavenly. “So a rental shop, huh?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Well, half souvenir shop, half rental shop.” She sat on the other side of the fireplace, with an expression that could only be described as orgasmic.

Gio felt like a dick for even thinking it, but he couldn’t help it. Her eyes had actually rolled back; the smile was so big and content. “God, the fireplace feels good, doesn’t it?”

Gio straightened out a bit, clearing his throat. “Yeah, it does.”

She took a deep breath, and then those big eyes of hers opened wide. “I didn’t even ask you if you wanted something to drink: hot chocolate, coffee—a beer? The bar is fully stocked.”

“Hot chocolate would hit the spot actually.” Bianca stood up and Gio stood with her. “I can get it myself, Bianca, if you’ll just show me where it is.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, but Gio followed her anyway. “I know this isn’t exactly my place, but in Felix’s absence, I feel obligated to play host and you’re my guest.”

Not exactly her place? She obviously was taking this relationship with Felix a lot more seriously than he was. Gio hadn’t missed the tears earlier when she first got the news that Felix wouldn’t be making it tonight. There was no doubt she really cared about Felix. He actually hoped now that she was the one Felix had been talking about making him consider settling down. He’d hate to think sweet Bianca was just another one of his many.

They walked through the kitchen where two guys in white jackets were preparing the dinner. Bianca bent over and pulled out a fancy looking machine from one of the cabinets.

“You don’t just throw a cup of hot water in the microwave then drop one of them hot chocolate packets in it and stir?” Gio asked, checking out the gadget she was plugging in.

“Oh, no way. We don’t even use water for it up here, Gio.” She smiled teasingly. “You’re not in East LA anymore. You’re in Big Bear. Here we use our milk frothers to make it, and I keep forgetting, but up here it’s referred to as hot cocoa, not chocolate.”

“Milk frother?” Standing this close to her in the kitchen, looking at that playful smile, and God if those eyes didn’t still do something to him, Gio had to remind himself this was Felix’s girl—well, one of them—but still. She was completely off limits. Not even flirting would be acceptable.

“Yeah, it’s what makes the chocolate milk all foamy and, oh, so delicious.” She pulled the milk out of the fridge as her expression went all doe-eyed, bringing back memories of her in high school. Her smile disappeared as she glanced back at him. “You’re not lactose intolerant, are you?”

Gio couldn’t help laughing. “No, I’m cool with milk.”

Relief washed over her face and the smile was back. “Oh good. For a moment there it hit me that maybe that’s why you used water.”

“Nah,” he smiled, leaning against the counter. “We just don’t use these fancy machines down in my part of East LA, is all.”

He watched as her perfectly manicured hands put everything together into the machine. It was actually pretty cool to watch the machine froth the milk. After only a few minutes, it was done and smelled great. Bianca pulled out a couple of large mugs and poured the cocoa. She pushed the machine back against the back of the counter. “I made enough for everyone,” she addressed the cooks in the kitchen, “so help yourselves.”

They made their way back to the room with the TV. Even though there were some very comfortable sofas they could’ve sat on, they both headed straight to the fireplace. That same orgasmic smile washed over Bianca’s face again after taking her first sip of her chocolate, and Gio had to look away, especially because she got foam on her upper lip and he knew what was coming next. “Mmm, this is so good.”

The erotic sounds weren’t helping either. Just the fact that he was having these thoughts and he’d only been around her for a couple of hours was pissing him off. This shouldn’t be so difficult. Roni was very attractive in his opinion, and not once had these inappropriate thoughts ever crossed his mind about his friend’s girl. It was wrong and it had to stop, damn it.

He took a sip of his own chocolate, and though it didn’t make him orgasmic or give him the urge to moan, he had to admit it was damn good. “Sure beats my East LA watered version.”

They enjoyed their hot cocoa for a few silent moments. Normally boxing would not only be a safe subject but one he happily could go on and on about, but it wasn’t one he wanted to get into now. So he was grateful when she asked him about the rest of the gang. “Do you still hang around with Noah, Abel, and his brother? I forget his name.”

Gio nodded, stirring his cocoa with the fancy chocolate stir stick Bianca had provided. “Yeah, we all work at 5th Street. Hector, Abel’s brother, is still part-time, but the rest of us actually help Jack, the owner, run it now.”

A sudden squeak from Bianca made him glance up, and seeing her turn red then giggle in embarrassment had him smiling like an idiot. It was the cutest damn thing. As much of a struggle as it was, he managed to turn back to his cocoa, chuckling and asked, “What’s that about?”

He glanced up when she didn’t respond. She was holding her hand against her mouth, eyes squeezed shut, trying to muffle her laughing. She put her mug down on the fireplace, shaking her head and proceeded to go into a laughing fit. When she gained a little composure, she explained. “That just reminded me how back in middle school, this group of cool girls wore the 5th Street t-shirts they sell down at the gym.” She shook her head, continuing to wipe the corner of her eyes. “Me and my friend Anna wanted to be cool too, but our moms were not about to shell out the twenty bucks for a t-shirt.” She started laughing again. “So we decided to make our own.” Just seeing how hard it was for her to even speak now had him laughing too. “You should’ve seen the mess we made of our dads’ white t-shirts. We both got in trouble for ruining so many of them, and we never did get to wear them.” Then she squeaked again and it was all over. They were both laughing uncontrollably now. “Stop!” she begged between laughs. “I hate that stupid squeak!”

Gio caught his breath. He hadn’t laughed that hard in a while, so the words came out without thought. “I think it’s cute. I’ve always thought you were cute.”

That doe-eyed expression was abruptly back as what he’d just blurted out sunk in. Her laughing slowly subsided and she stared at him. Thinking fast, he added, “My sister does this hiccup thing when she laughs.”

He had nothing else. The mood had switched so quickly with his stupid admission that he was grasping here.

“You have?”

“Huh?” His thoughts were still scrambling, trying to think of something else to say. He wasn’t even sure what she was asking. Then she smiled a smile so sweet he had to suck in a fleeting breath.

“Even in high school, you thought I was cute?” She tilted her head sideways. “I always felt invisible to you back then.”

No way was he telling her she’d been anything but invisible and that just like now there’d been too many times he’d gotten lost in those eyes. Gio sat up straight, taking a sip of his chocolate. Son of a bitch if he couldn’t think of a proper way to respond to that.

“Well, yeah, I mean you sat right next to me. How could I not notice you?” He glanced at her. Those eyes were still doing that thing. There was no qualm, no questioning that her boyfriend’s friend—best friend back in high school—had just told her he’d always thought she was cute. “Just like I said earlier, you’re runway model material now. Of course, you were at least cute back then.”

“Dinner is ready whenever you two are.” Amparo stood at the archway opening of the large room.

The second Bianca glanced away, Gio let out a huge silent sigh of relief. His body almost slouched in reaction to the amount of tension being released.

“Thank you, Amparo.” Bianca turned to Gio who straightened up quickly. “Shall we?”

Gio nodded, and they stood together and made their way to the dining room.