Gio
Jack, Abel, and Hector arrived first. Gio and Felix walked out to meet them. Felix had offered to send a car for them, but Abel insisted on driving his newly purchased Gran Torino. Gio and Felix laughed when Abel revved the heavy engine as they pulled in.
“Hey,” Gio said, tapping the hood as he walked around the car. “You should paint it red and white. Then we could call you and Hector Starsky and Hutch.”
Abel laughed, getting out of the car, grabbing Gio’s outstretched hand for a quick handshake and a pat on the back. “This shit is badass,” Abel said, turning back to the car. “I hardly had to do anything to it.”
“And it’s fast,” Hector added from across the car.
It hit Gio suddenly. Both Abel and Jack were sticklers about Hector missing school for any reason. “You actually let this guy miss school today to come up here?”
Before Abel responded, Hector announced almost proudly. “I got suspended yesterday.”
Gio brought his fist to his mouth with a smirk but was surprised neither Abel nor Jack seemed too pissed about this. Usually Abel had a fit if Hector, who lately had been getting into a lot of trouble, even got written up for anything. He turned back to Abel. “And you still brought his ass up here?”
Felix walked over to hug Jack then teased. “Yeah, what’s this world coming to? If that had been me back in the day, I’d be spending the weekend scrubbing floors at the gym, not snowboarding.” He pulled back, smiling at Jack. “You gettin’ soft, old man?”
“Nah,” Jack waved his hand in the air. “He got in a fight, but he had good reason. I’ve always told all of you. Fighting is not the answer to everything, but sometimes it can’t be helped. In this case, I probably would have been more pissed if he hadn’t fought the asshole.”
“I’d say kicked his ass is more accurate,” Hector smirked, leaning against the car. “But I guess you could call it a fight.”
Gio laughed, going from Hector’s amused face to Abel who shook his head. “Why? What happened?”
Hector shrugged. “I’ve been listening to the drama go on all week from this chick whose locker is right next to mine. She wasn’t telling me, but she and her friends stand there talking so much it’s hard not to overhear things. Her ex-boyfriend posted some crap on his Facebook about her. Stupid shit, and,” he put his hand up, looking at Abel, “I couldn’t care less. I don’t get involved. But his stupid ass came up to her yesterday and started talking shit to her in front of everyone, making her cry. Even then, I kept my cool, trying to stay out of it. But he took it too far, getting in her face like she was a dude, all big man and shit, calling her a skank.”
“Oh, hell no,” Gio said.
“Yeah,” Hector nodded. “So I slammed his face into the lockers.”
“Luckily, the narcs stepped in quickly,” Abel added. “But he still broke the guy’s nose. We’re waiting to hear if we’re gonna have to pay for any medical bills.”
“I hate fucking pussies like that.” Felix reached out and shook Hector’s hand. “Good for you, man. I would’ve cracked him too.” He turned and pointed at Abel. “Let me know if you need help with that. I’ll donate to the cause. We’ll call it ‘Cracking Down on Future Fucking Douchebag Wife Beaters of the World.’ Can’t think of a better charity.”
Laughing and catching up about everything, they made their way into the cabin after Jack announced he was freezing his ass off. As expected, they were all blown away by the cabin and the rest of the compound.
Lunch went well. Noah and Roni arrived an hour after Abel and the others had. Bianca got there right around the same time. With the distraction of everyone there, Gio and Bianca managed to keep their stares and stolen private smiles to a minimum. It helped that Nellie came along with Noah and Roni. Gio knew those two women were on to him and Bianca. He worked extra hard to not be so obvious. He had yet to ask Noah if he’d confirmed to them that they’d been right. But he had a feeling that more than likely Noah had.
They all went back to the cabin after lunch to get geared up for boarding. Since Roni wouldn’t be participating, Bianca said she would stay back with Roni and Nellie at the outdoor bar in the resort. Then later Toni would be joining them. They could all watch the guys show off from there and chat while having a few drinks, all except Roni, but she didn’t seem to mind. She practically glowed any time her pregnancy was brought up.
What he hadn’t prepared for is that since Bianca wasn’t going snowboarding and they were going out to a bar, she dressed up for the occasion. It was bad enough that she’d done her hair differently today in a sort of loose wispy braid across the top that pulled the front of hair away from her face, bringing even more attention to her big beautiful eyes. The rest of her hair was still down with more tiny little braids here and there, accentuating the sexy new style. He’d already been breathless when she first returned from the salon.
Roni was the first to notice what she called an adorable outfit. “That is so cute,” she said, bringing everyone’s attention to Bianca when she walked in the room.
Her long brown wool coat doubled as a dress because it went snug at her waist then skirted down to just above her knees. The black boots she wore came up to her knees, and Gio could only assume she wore a dress or a skirt underneath, because save for black leggings, her knees were bare.
Gio gulped as Bianca thanked Roni then turned back to him casually. If she was looking for his approval, she would’ve had it if it weren’t for the fact that she’d just changed into that adorable outfit in the same bedroom with Felix. There was no way Gio could’ve watched her change into that and not attack her, and he doubted that Felix hadn’t either. He took a deep breath, trying not to think about that. She said she wouldn’t be sleeping with him anymore. He’d never wanted to believe something so much in his life.
To make things worse, not only did Felix come up to her from behind and wrap his arms around her, they held hands all the way to the resort. They hadn’t done much of either lately. Gio knew because he’d been watching. Just what had happened in that bedroom?
Gio caught the way Noah watched him guardedly. Abel and Hector fumbled around, trying to walk on their boards. Felix took extra time helping Jack who had to be practically dragged out there. The moment Noah realized he was alone with Gio, he started in on him. “Dude, maybe it’s just me because I know, but you’re being pretty fucking obvious.”
“Am I?” Gio turned, his jaw clenching as he glanced in the direction where the girls sat watching them.
“Yeah, you are. Hell, I thought you were gonna say something when he hugged her back at the cabin.”
“It’s just ’cause you know. I’ve been dealing with this shit for weeks now. I doubt anyone else has noticed.”
Noah turned back to where Felix still had his hands full with Jack. “Did you forget Roni and Nellie noticed from day one? And I wasn’t the only one that caught the way you all but froze today when she walked in from wherever she’d gone.” Noah lowered his voice. “You gotta be cool, G. He’s her boyfriend, not you. Did you ever talk to him about that? Is he real serious about her?”
“Nah, I started to, but . . . ” Gio wouldn’t get into how he couldn’t even stomach hearing him call her his girl. “I don’t know. Somehow the subject changed to something else, but . . . ” He stopped, wondering now if he should tell Noah. It sounded so absurd, now that he was thinking of saying it out loud.
“But what?”
Gio peered at Noah for a second. If he could tell anyone, it was Noah. “She told me she’s not sleeping with him anymore.” Noah’s eyebrows flew up. Gio knew he’d be surprised, if not disbelieving, and he was ready for it. “She promised actually.”
“And you’re buying this shit?” He turned back to Felix and lowered his voice again. “She’s been staying at his cabin for two months. He’s her boyfriend. Aren’t they sleeping in the same bed?”
Hearing it put this way made Gio feel like an idiot. But Noah couldn’t possibly understand what he felt when he was with her. She was the most genuine in-your-face person he’d ever met. He would’ve never guessed that Bianca had stopped sleeping with Felix, but he’d seen the change—seen how she acted completely different around Felix now. Everything had changed since their day at the meadow—until today. But even today’s show of affection had been minuscule compared to the way things were between her and Felix before. He just didn’t understand why anything changed today. Had it been his text that morning? Had something changed in that bedroom?
“I’m assuming they do,” he said. “I don’t go in their room.”
Gio glanced back at the girls, suspicion and doubt sinking in fast. He didn’t want to be mad at Bianca. He knew how ridiculously unreasonable that was. But she was the one that voluntarily promised not to sleep with her own damn boyfriend. He would’ve never had the nerve to demand something like that, but since she had, he was holding her to it. He couldn’t help but wonder now if, when she’d said it, it was on a whim. That morning she’d responded immediately like she always did to his texts but stopped responding the moment he mentioned things couldn’t go on like this much longer. Did she really expect him to continue this shit forever? Maybe Noah’s theory was right after all.