Gio (5th Street)

  “What do you mean you didn’t mean to? You aimed right at his head!”

  She laughed even more as he caught up to her, quickly pushing her down on the soft hill of powder she was going to try to climb. She flipped around still laughing and out of breath. “I’m sorry!”

  Gio couldn’t stand it. He loved everything about her. Her laugh—her smile—the way she made him so impossibly happy by doing nothing more than laughing. Nothing else seemed to matter as long as he was around her. Laying there in the snow next to her looking in her eyes was pure heaven. His eyes on hers calmed her laughter but she still smiled big. She lifted her hand and touched his hair.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, staring at her. “I mean that.” He lifted himself to rest his weight on his elbow. “Don’t take this the wrong way but I’ve had my share of beautiful women.” The flicker in her eye told him maybe his dumb ass should be careful with his wording. “I mean I’m not just talking about looks, Bianca. There is something so special, so beautiful about you. I hope you know that.”

  He bit his tongue before telling her that he didn’t think Felix worthy of her. Hell, Gio probably wasn’t either but at least he wouldn’t take her for granted. He knew a good thing when he saw it and Bianca was as good as it got.

  Bianca sat up making him sit up with her. “I don’t think there is anything special about me. And I’m not saying that to fish anymore compliments out of you. What you’ve said is enough. Thank you.” She glanced out into the open meadow. It was as amazing as she had described it. Even as Gio glanced around at the huge snow covered pine trees that surrounded it so perfectly he suspected it wouldn’t be quite as amazing if she wasn’t there with him. “It’s just hard to feel special when I’ve spent one of the most wonderful days of my life kissing my boyfriend’s best friend.” She turned to caress his face. “I should be missing him, you know? I did before you came along. I haven’t thought about him even once today. What I’m feeling for you, Gio…” She shook her head. “It’s scaring me.”

  “Noah’s my best friend,” Gio said, as if that bit of information made the situation any better.

  He should be happy about what she’d just admitted but how could he be? If she were with anybody else, Gio would already be doing—saying anything and whatever it took to convince her to leave the guy. The way he was feeling right now begging would be the obvious and easiest next step. He’d never begged a girl or anyone for anything in his life but if he thought it could make things different he’d gladly be on his knees already.

  The problem was it wouldn’t change things. Her boyfriend was Gio’s longtime friend and, just like all his other friends, loyalty might as well be Felix’s middle name. He just couldn’t do that to him. The only thing Gio could hope for now is when he finally got a moment alone with Felix that he could get the truth out of him about his loyalty to Bianca—the only place where ironically it appeared to be lacking.

  “Felix is still your friend from way back and he speaks very fondly of you.”

  Gio frowned. He didn’t need to hear this right now. He stood up, frowning even more when he realized his ass was soaked. Jeans and snow—not the smartest combination. He held his hand out for Bianca and she took it standing as he pulled her up.

  “Ugh! My butt’s all wet,” she said turning and giving him a glimpse of that perfectly round behind.

  “Yeah, mine too,” he said, trying not to be too obvious about enjoying the view.

  Bianca giggled. “We better get out of here before we literally start freezing our butts off.”

  Halfway back to the car Gio pulled her aside and into his arms. He needed to alleviate the ache he was already feeling from just the thought that their time alone was almost over. This was going to be torture.

  He kissed her so desperately he hoped it didn’t freak her out but he couldn’t help himself. “I wish…” he started to say between kisses but stopped to kiss her again.

  “Me too,” she whispered against his lips, sounding just as desperate. She took his hand and placed it inside her jacket against her chest. Her heart pounded as wildly as his did. “That’s not just excitement, Gio. It’s fear that this feeling is only gonna get worse.” He stared in her eyes suddenly seeing the fear—the very fear he was beginning to feel himself. “What’s happening?” she whispered. “I’ve never felt this way.”

  “Me either,” he said quickly.

  “We can leave again tomorrow, he won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “Yeah, let’s do that.” That did ease the ache a little but Felix would be back tomorrow night and spending the day with Bianca had epically failed in getting her out of his system. In fact, his feelings for her now were at a level he didn’t even know existed in him. What the fuck was he going to do?

  ~*~

  On the ride home, Bianca’s stomach turned when she saw she had several missed calls and texts from Felix. Lying to him was out of the question. All it would take was one call to the driver to get an update on her if he was worried. She felt weird about even reading his texts in front of Gio so she waited until she got back to the cabin in the bedroom to read them. But she did tell Gio that if he talked to Felix before she did not to lie. She was telling him almost exactly what they did today leaving out, of course, all the parts about making out with his friend all day.

  Most of the missed texts were basically the same, asking her how things were except for the last one about a half-hour ago.

  Babe I’m getting worried. Please call me as soon as you can.

  She listened to the voicemail that he left just a few minutes after the text.

  “Look, if this is about that story they’ve been airing. I promise I can explain that, too. We talked about this already, remember? I’m supposed to get a chance to explain before you shut me out.” He paused for a moment taking what sounded like a very frustrated deep breath then exhaled. “I’m sorry this keeps happening but I wish you wouldn’t turn on me so quickly. Call me… please?”

  Unlike all the other times something like this happened, Bianca felt oddly relieved. In her rush to read his texts she’d skipped the texts from Toni. Toni was probably already all over whatever story Felix was referring to. Knowing that Toni was under strict warning that she wasn’t supposed to pass on any gossip about Felix unless there was something concrete, Bianca felt like a huge hypocrite afraid to read her texts.

  The first was a safe one saying only that Toni knew Bianca was in class and to give her a call when she could. The second was what she was dreading:

  I’m not sure if you’ve seen what I’ve seen all day today on TV but I hope your not responding has nothing to do with you being too upset. Call me please I’m worried now.

  How was it possible that after spending such an incredible day with Gio she could possibly care about this? Her insides were instantly on fire as she hit speed dial and called Toni back. She needed warning before she turned on her television.

  Bianca was angry—more than angry but it felt different this time. If she was going to be deprived of being with someone as amazing as Gio her only consolation was that she at least had Felix. Someone equally amazing just a few days ago, right? At least she’d thought so until Gio had come along seeping slowly into her every waking—and sleeping—thought.

  Before Gio, Bianca had been excited about her future with Felix. Sure, he wasn’t without his flaws but for the most part the only one she’d found in him was the possibility that he wasn’t being completely honest with her and so far all her suspicions had been all for nothing. He kept proving time after time that he was in fact in love with her and the rumors were all without merit.

  What she’d done today with Gio was inexcusable. But even though she’d kissed his friend—all day, something told her whatever Felix had done was much worse. Not only that if he’d really done anything he’d probably been doing it for quite some time. It made her feel like the biggest fool on the planet because she should?
??ve seen something like this coming sooner. The signs had all been there. She just refused to see them—clung on to the hope that he was really telling her the truth and now she could very possibly be left with nothing.

  More than anything, she knew why she’d lit up so fast. And it was almost humiliating to admit it. Her stomach had been in knots from the moment she and Gio snuck their last kiss in the car tonight. The countdown had just started until their next chance to be together like they had today and Bianca didn’t think she could make it. It had just started! She’d never felt anything like this. She was already tempted to skip this whole business of finding out what Felix did and run out there to be with Gio now. So the idea of ending things with Felix and leaving here never to see either of them, but most dreadfully never seeing Gio again, was what really had her falling apart.

  Toni answered. “I’m sorry Bianca. I didn’t mean to alarm you but when I didn’t hear back from you—”

  “I haven’t seen or heard anything, Toni. But can you please warn me. How bad is it?”

  Bianca held her breath in anticipation. “It’s not too bad. The only reason I brought it up is because you usually respond fairly quickly and I hadn’t heard from you all day so I had visions of you curled up in bed crying or something.”

  She’d begun to exhale slowly but that last comment made her breath hitch. “Curled up crying? I thought you said it wasn’t bad.”

  “No, no, it’s not! But if you see only parts of it I could see why you might think it is. It’s basically the same stuff I uncovered digging on the Internet about him and that Shelley girl. Now that they have photos of you and him they’re making this big thing over who is he really with. They have some really cute ones of the two of you on that horse and carriage ride you two went on, by the way.”

  It was the strangest mixture of relief, excitement and guilt all rolled into one. For one she was incredibly relieved that it wasn’t as bad as she was expecting. However, the guilt all but consumed her. She wasn’t relieved that her boyfriend hadn’t cheated on her. She was excited that she wasn’t going to have to leave him and in doing so leave Gio as well. Felix was the one thing keeping them apart but at the same time, he was the only thing keeping her there with the possibility and hope of a few more stolen moments. This whole thing was crazy and not to mention incredibly selfish. But even now she could hardly wait to meet Gio in the hot tub.

  Bianca had purposely called Amparo ahead to tell her she and Gio had picked up fast food on the way home and were already eating in the car so she could go ahead and close up the kitchen early and call it a night.

  Even though they wouldn’t be engaging in anything incriminating for the security cameras to catch, just knowing that she’d soon be in the same room alone with him again did things to her—had parts of her body already reeling with anticipation. It was unreal.

  Toni finished telling her about the photos and the stories the media were trying to twist into something. None of them had it straight, except they were all insinuating that it appeared Felix had two girls—one in Chicago and one in Big Bear. But none of the stories had any real facts other than some old photos of Felix with Shelley and the more recent ones of the day he’d been stranded in Chicago.

  Bianca thanked Toni for the update then took a deep breath before calling Felix. He answered on the first ring. “Bianca?”

  “Hey.”

  “You had me worried, baby. How come you hadn’t returned my calls or texts?”

  “I had my phone put away most of the day.” She closed her eyes before continuing hoping the rest would sound as innocent as possible. “I went to the show today with Gio and then we went to that meadow I like to go to. I forgot to turn my phone back on after the we left the show.”

  Felix was quiet for what seemed too long and Bianca could only imagine what he was thinking. It was so unlike her not to check for his calls or texts and even more unlike her to not respond to them as soon as she got them. “Are you sure this is not about the stories they’ve been airing all day?”

  She almost didn’t but then decided at the last second she would. “Maybe.” And so the lying began.

  “Babe. You have to stop doing this. These stories are gonna continue. You have to let me explain before you go believing the worst. I don’t know how else to assure you that it’s all a bunch of bullshit.” There was noise in the background and she heard him tell someone he’d only be another minute. “I got a live radio interview to do right now. You can tune in to listen if you want. But we need to talk when I get back tomorrow. I hate that this shit keeps happening. More than anything I hate for you to be upset.”

  Bianca squeezed her eyes shut, the guilt nearly blinding her. “I’m okay, really.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, but we still have to talk.” He gave her the information on where she could tune in to listen to the interview and she pretended to write it down saying she would listen. Then just before he hung up he caught her completely off guard. “So what did you see today?”

  “Huh?”

  “At the show—with Gio?”

  She shook her head, drawing a blank and panicked. “Oh, uh.” Bringing her hand to her forehead, she spun around in the room, desperately trying to remember what movie they’d purchased tickets for. Without exaggerating, she could honestly say she hadn’t watched even a minute of it. And at the moment couldn’t even think of any movie. She snapped her fingers annoyed that her mind had completely zoned out. She finally blurted out the last action flick she’d watched.

  “Really? Isn’t that old?”

  Shit! She had no idea. It was just the first thing that came to mind. “Not the first one.” Was there even a second one? Not sure what else to do, she hit end and stared at her phone waiting for it to ring but it didn’t.

  After a few minutes, she figured he’d been hauled off to do his interview and she relaxed. The anxiety of the nearly botched call hadn’t even worn off yet when the anticipation of being with Gio again began swirling inside her and she hurried to change into her bathing suit.

  CHAPTER 17

  Out of habit, Gio had clicked the TV on in his room as he walked in. Halfway through rushing to change into his swim trunks, the words of the reporter on the television hit him like a bolt and he grabbed the remote clicking record like he had back home anytime something about this aired.

  “Felicita Morales, the widow of Trinidad Morales gave birth today to a baby girl, Trini Morales, named after the father she’ll never get to meet. Trinidad, who lost his life just over a month ago in the ring after a blow to the head during a fight that burst an aneurism in his brain, was only twenty-two when the tragedy occurred.”

  Gio went numb. He stared at the screen as they went into detail retelling the story of the fight, Trinidad’s death and the ongoing investigation of the physician who released him to fight. He picked up the remote turning up the volume as the cameras zeroed in on Trinidad’s father who was being interviewed at the hospital. He spoke solemnly about the birth of his granddaughter. “It’s bittersweet day for our family,” the reporter translated from Spanish. “Even though we are very happy that God blessed us today with a part of my son.” The man’s eyebrows pinched and he brought his hand to his mouth unable to hold back the emotion.

  Gio felt the anguish in his own heart as the man tried to continue speaking and suddenly he felt himself struggling to hold back tears as well.

  “My son was so happy when he found out he was going to be a father.” The man went on even as the tears ran down his face.

  Gio immediately thought of Noah and how horrible it would be lose him. To leave Roni behind with a baby that would never know him would be even more devastating.

  The reporter went on to say that mother and daughter were doing well and that they would most likely be released from the hospital tomorrow then moved on to the next story.

  The knock at his open door came just as Gio rewound the story and he gulped h
ard not wanting Bianca to see the emotion he was feeling.

  “Hey,” he said, unable to even look at her so he hit play and watched the TV instead.

  “You okay?” She stood next to him and watched silently as the entire story replayed. As soon as it was over Gio rewound it again. Just like the other stories he watched over and over again back home, he thought maybe he’d grow immune to the fact that Trinidad’s entire family and now his fatherless daughter were still mourning the loss of the family member he had killed.

  He hit play again as he stared at the screen gulping hard because the emotion was not going away.

  “Gio, stop.” Bianca’s voice was cautious. “Why are you gonna watch it again?”

  “Can you give me a minute?” he asked, still staring at the screen.

  “Remember what we talked about? It’s not your fault. It’s sad but—”

  “Bianca, please!” His words were louder than he’d intended and he felt her flinch so he finally turned to her, lowering his voice. “I just need a minute.”

  She nodded and without another word walked out of the room closing the door behind her. Gio watched the whole thing a few more times then finally threw the remote on the bed. The temptation to turn the lights off, sit in a corner and lock everyone out again like he had just after this first happened was overwhelming.

  The knocking on the door again, made Gio frown. He didn’t want Bianca to see him like this. He could feel himself getting pulled back into that same darkness he’d been in for weeks after Trinidad’s death and he didn’t want her to know how fucking weak he could be.