Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Gio

The next morning, Gio woke to sounds of trucks outside. He peeked out the window, and sure enough, the plows were going. Gio had seen Felix’s private plows on the property last night. Now he knew why he had three. The entire long driveway had been snowed in overnight. Gio expected the winter to be white up here. He knew that’s what Big Bear was known for, but this seemed a bit much.

He showered and dressed in his favorite pair of jeans and a dark thermal. Once fully dressed, he walked into the living room where Bianca stood in front of the television, holding a mug in her hand. She was still in a bathrobe and her hair looked damp. When she heard his footsteps, she turned, giving him a weak smile.

Gio sucked in a breath for two reasons. For starters, she’d washed off all of yesterday’s makeup, giving her that innocent fresh look like back in school. This was the Bianca he remembered, and the look brought with it even more memories: memories of staring at her when she was reading in class, though he’d made sure she never caught him.

But she looked troubled now. From his angle, he couldn’t see what she was watching, but he could guess. If they were airing the same thing he’d watched last night about Felix, that would do it. “Morning,” she said as he got closer. “Did you sleep well?”

“Like a baby.”

She smiled again just as weakly as the first time. He hated to ask, but he may as well get it over with. He’d find out soon enough. “Something wrong?”

She nodded and glanced back at the TV. “The storm last night. It’s good for the local businesses but only when the tourists down below can get up here. Looks like the main highway up here is completely closed down.” The corner of her lip lifted. “Felix is finally on his way, but now the airport up here is closed. He’ll have to land at the airport in Ontario then wait it out down there. It may be another day before he gets up here.” She shrugged. “The only good thing is I took the whole weekend off. I would’ve never made it out of here in time to get to the shop. Even with three plows, they’re just now finishing up plowing the driveway. The shop opened a few hours ago. This is the most snow we’ve had in years. It’s a mess out there.”

Gio came around to get a better look at the television screen. The news coverage went from pictures of power lines down, car after car stuck in the snow, and then to people struggling to shovel pathways from their front door to their cars. They listened to the rest of the broadcast without saying a word as the newscaster concluded that the main highway would most likely be closed until the following day. Bianca groaned.

“She didn’t say anything about the airport.” Gio offered. “That might open up sooner.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket and Gio pulled it out. It was a text from Felix.

Text: Just landed in Ontario. I’m sorry, man. I’m trying to get up there. I really am.

Gio smiled and started to text back.

“Is that Felix?” Bianca asked.

Gio nodded, glancing up at her. “Yeah, he said he just landed in Ontario.”

He sent off his response to Felix.

Text: Don’t worry about it. You’ll get here when you get here. The accommodations in the meantime aren’t too shabby, so I’m good.

“Is he telling you about today?” Bianca walked past him and into the kitchen where Amparo was preparing breakfast.

Gio looked up at her curiously. “No, what about today?”

“He said once they clear up the driveway I should take you snowboarding.” She turned and smiled at him as she poured herself more coffee. “He feels bad that he has us both hanging around waiting for him.”

Gio’s phone buzzed again, and he checked the text again.

Text: So you and Bianca snowboard today. I already talked to her. Enjoy … the snowboarding. NOTHING else, ass! Don’t worry. I’ll hook you up once I’m up there. We’ll all go out if this fucking weather ever lets up!

Gio smirked, glancing up at Bianca again. “He just told me. Sounds good, but I’ve never snowboarded.” He lifted a hand to give him a second while he responded to Felix again.

Text: Got it. And relax, you’ll be up here soon enough.

Gio knew Felix was only kidding about the nothing else part of his message. Normally he wouldn’t have a problem busting any of his friends’ balls, even on something like this, but this felt different. He didn’t want to start any of that kind of talk, not even in a playful way. So he wasn’t even touching on the comment.

He stuck his phone in his pocket and glanced up at Bianca again, who was pulling another mug out of the cabinet. “You want some coffee?”

“No thanks. I’m not much for coffee. But I’ll take some orange juice if you have any.”

Amparo opened the refrigerator and pulled out a glass pitcher. “Freshly made,” she said with a smile. “Breakfast is also ready, so whenever you two are ready, I can serve it.”

Gio met Bianca back at the dining table after she’d changed. Seeing her now no longer glammed up but in jeans, a soft sweater, and her sneakers sent Gio right back to senior year World History class. She’d even pulled her hair back in a simple ponytail as she used to wear it back then. Gio gulped, irritated with himself, and forced himself to look away. This time Ray and Ignacio joined them for breakfast, so he turned his attention to them, smiling as he took his seat.

“So really? You’ve never been snowboarding?” Bianca asked, forcing him to look back at her eyes, as big and as inquisitive as ever.

Gio smiled. “Nope. The most I’ve ever done in the snow is tubing.” Incredibly, her eyes opened even wider, and he was suddenly feeling nervous about snowboarding. Visions of him falling flat on his ass came to him, and he was not looking forward to that, not in front of Bianca. “Maybe snowboarding is not such a good idea.”

“Don’t be silly. I can teach you.” Her eyes were full of all kinds of excitement, and as nervous as Gio was, he still couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off his face.

Amparo set Gio’s waffles down in front of him. Gio grabbed a banana from the fruit basket Amparo had set on the table earlier and sliced it over his waffles. He glanced up to see Bianca watching him. Their eyes met and she smiled. How could something as simple as a smile be so breathtaking?

“Yeah,” Ray said, setting his coffee cup down. “It’s a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you should be good. It’s addictive, actually.”

“You guys coming too?” Gio asked, glancing from Ray to Ignacio.

They both shook their heads immediately. “Not today,” Ray said. “We still have a lot of shoveling to do in the back. That part of the complex piles up the fastest and takes the longest to thaw out. With this storm not letting up, we can’t let that go. The gym entrance will be buried shut before we know it.”

Gio frowned. “Then maybe I should stay and help too.”

“Stop trying to get out of it, Gio,” Bianca’s smirk teased. “You’re going.”

Ignacio didn’t even try to hide his amused expression as if he agreed with Bianca’s assumption of why Gio was offering to help. “We got it, man. We use the plows too. Piece of cake.”

After breakfast, Bianca instructed him on what he’d need to wear. Everything he needed was hanging in his closet for him. He even found a season pass to the ski lift they’d be going to in the pocket of his snow pants with a sticky note stuck to it.

Note: Get ready for the snow bunnies. =)

Gio smiled, remembering the conversation he’d had with Felix when Gio called him to tell him he’d decided to take him up on his offer. Felix told him he was looking forward to reconnecting with his old bud.

This was an easy one to figure out. While Felix had always said he’d done some of his best sparring with Gio, Felix didn’t really need him to train. He’d won a world championship without him. Why would he need him now? And he most certainly didn’t need to be paying him. Felix acted as if Gio were doing him a favor. Clearly, it was the other way around. Gio should be paying Felix for this two-month vacation. Here he was on day two of his job, and he’d be spending the day on the slopes with a full season pass. He knew this was just the beginning too. Judging from his living arrangements and last night’s lavish dinner, not to mention this morning’s breakfast, the next two months he’d be living high on the hog. And all because his buddy was worried about him.

He thought of the annoyance he’d felt last night with Felix as he walked out of his room and Bianca’s bright smile greeted him. Noah’s words rang loudly in his conscience. Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet.

Noah was right. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Felix had a good heart and he wasn’t stupid. There’s no way he could be taking someone like Bianca for granted.

As Bianca approached him, still sporting her beautifully fresh no-makeup look, he breathed in a little easier. She had to be the girl Felix had referred to as the one he could be falling for.

“The driveway is plowed, and the driver is waiting for us outside,” she announced cheerfully. “You ready?”

Gio looked down at himself in his snowboarding gear and then back up at her. “I guess so.”

“You look good,” she smiled, looking him over.

Their eyes met, and her cheery smile lost some of its brightness for just an instant, and then she was back. “Don’t worry. I promise to get you back here in one piece.”

“Who’s worried?” He laughed nervously which only made her giggle.

Great, the giggling was already starting, and he hadn’t even stepped onto the snowboard.