Gio (5th Street) (5 page)

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, uh?”

“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 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?”

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 5
^th
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 embarrassedly, 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 closed, 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 how back in middle school, this group of cool girls wore the 5
^th
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 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 of hers. 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.” Ampara 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.

~*~

Felix had thought of everything. The dinner he’d instructed his cooks to make for their first night back together was excellent. Steamed shrimp, oysters, stuffed mushrooms; crusty bread with some kind of gourmet spread the cook called bruschetta. They even prepared a chocolate fondue with strawberries and pineapple slices to dip. It was so perfect and she’d shared the dinner with Gio.

Not that any girl in their right mind would be complaining about having such a romantic dinner with a gorgeous guy like Gio. He was sweetly attentive and as polite as she remembered him but she couldn’t help wishing Felix had been there instead. Still she made the best of it and enjoyed their delicious dinner. When they were done, Gio sat back in his seat looking very stuffed but Bianca reached for another strawberry. “I’m stuffed too but these are so delicious I just have to have one more.”

Gio leaned his head back on his chair and closed his eyes. Bianca took advantage of the moment to better examine him. She wondered if he was still single. In high school he’d never had a girlfriend. Not one that she remembered anyway. Sure, she’d seen him with plenty and witnessed those perfect lips of his kissing girls on more than one occasion but she’d never heard of him being exclusive with anyone. For a moment, the very naughty thought of what his lips would feel like on hers, crossed her mind and without thinking, she cleared her throat.

His eyes opened suddenly and caught her gazing at him as she sucked on her strawberry. She looked away dipping what was left of her strawberry in the chocolate one last time as she felt her cheeks warm. “Are you tired?” she asked staring at the chocolate.

“Not really. I just get a little drained after such a big meal.”

She glanced up at him finally after staring excessively long at the chocolate. His expression seemed normal enough. Maybe he hadn’t thought it strange that she’d been literally eating him up with her eyes but she was still curious. “So what’s your story? You still single?”

He nodded, taking a sip of his beer. “Yep.”

“Really? A good looking guy like you?” She sat up, leaning her arms against the table as she picked up her own bottle of beer. “Obviously it’s by choice, right?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I have too many things going on to get involved in any kind of relationship right now. And just before I left Jack let me know me and the guys are pretty much going to be taking over the gym. So I’ll be even busier now.”

Bianca’s eyes shot open and she noticed that for some reason that made Gio smile. “Really? Like take over, take over? He’s
giving
the place to you guys?”

They started toward the bar. “Me and the guys
are
Jack’s family. And since none of us have dads he’s pretty much stepped up and been that father figure we all needed. He’s done a great job, too.” They reached the bar and this time Gio was the one that walked around to look in the fridge. He pulled two beers out and opened them, handing one to Bianca. “I don’t think he’s ever told any of the guys because they seem to be under the impression he never married but he told me his wife died when they’d only been married for a couple of months—some rare kidney disease. He knew it was terminal and that she only had a short time but he still married her. She was his high school sweetheart and first love. He never remarried. Instead, he put all his energy into the gym. He said it was the only thing that kept him going.”