Gio (5th Street)

by Elizabeth Reyes

  It was quick. Almost like a flinch and if Gio could stop gazing at her for even a second he might have missed it. But now Bianca hid the initial effect the question had on her. She spoke as casually as ever. “He’s stuck down the hill. The highway is closed off and the airport isn’t cleared for any landings.” She turned back to face Gio with a small smile. “He’s keeping me company in the meantime.”

  Her grandmother peered at him over her glasses. “And how is she doing Gio? She showing you the sights of our little town?”

  Gio nodded and was sure his smile came across much bigger than he first intended it to be. “Actually, I thought she was the one keeping me company. But yes, she’s showing me around and even though I’ve been up here a few times before I never realized how beautiful this little town is.”

  Her grandmother smiled proudly, taking the glasses off and letting them hang from her neck. “It’s pretty all year round up here but this is when it’s almost magical. Something about the purity of freshly fallen snow does things to the soul and boy, did we get some last night.”

  Bianca’s mom’s hands moved quickly signing something at her. Bianca spoke the words almost as if by habit, “The snow even has a healing power.”

  “Yeah, that too,” her grandmother agreed. “It’s a very powerful thing.” She turned back to Bianca. “How long will Felix be? I’m not kidding about the allure fresh snow has on people. That boy is nuts leaving you to entertain such a good looking friend in this kind of weather.”

  “Nana!” Both her grandmother and mother burst out laughing at the sight of Bianca’s immediately flushed face.

  Gio had to smirk but only until he was caught in her grandmother’s twinkling but knowing eyes. What was it about grandmothers? He’d been in her sights under five minutes and already she knew what he’d been trying to suppress all day? Maybe he was that obvious or maybe she just knew how adorably irresistible her granddaughter was. Whatever it was, what she didn’t know was that even if Gio ever stood a chance with Bianca and God help him, as tempting as that would be, moving in on a friend’s girl was a line he knew he’d never cross.

  He turned to look at Bianca’s still horrified expression. And here he thought there was nothing that wouldn’t make her crack up. Her grandmother’s laugh was down to a chuckle. “Oh, come on. You know I’m only playing.”

  Gio glanced back in time to catch her grandmother wink at Bianca. He wasn’t sure what or if that meant anything and he certainly wasn’t asking. As curious as it made him, one thing he’d just realized was that he didn’t like seeing Bianca upset or even uncomfortable. She was born to be happy and carefree and at the moment she looked anything but. “So this is it, uh?” He looked around in an attempt to change the subject and to his relief that beautiful smile was back on Bianca’s face.

  “Yeah, this is it. Our little shop. C’mon I’ll show you around.”

  It was a cute little place. Exactly what he pictured with the exception of the corner of the shop she called the library. They had shelves full of books, a table with a couple of carafes of coffee and cups and a cheery sign that read ‘Help yourself!’ Then there were comfortable chairs and a sofa strategically placed to face the picturesque window. “We’re all insatiable readers.” Bianca explained. “My grandma thought it’d be nice to have a reading area for the customers to sit and read by the window. We actually have regulars that do just that. They come in, grab a cup of coffee and read for a couple of hours. And I’ve spent many an hour on that sofa myself reading away.”

  That made her smile as if she’d just told him she had her own carousel. She was something else and he was probably thinking about it too hard. Because he was suddenly imagining himself with her on that reading sofa only what he was imagining doing to her wasn’t reading. Crossing the line.

  Her laughter brought him out of indecent thoughts and he actually shook his head to snap out of it.

  “You zone out a lot, you know that?” This obviously amused her.

  Playing it off, he smiled back. “I got a lot on my mind I guess.”

  “Well, you better not do that on the slopes. You’ll end up with broken bones.

  “Ugh.” The slopes. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”

  “You’re not getting out of it.” And with that giggle of hers, that he now couldn’t get enough of, she pulled him by the arm. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 8

  For as much apprehension as Gio had about getting up on the slopes, he actually caught on much quicker than Bianca had imagined—even faster than Felix had when he first tried snowboarding. After just a few hours, he was getting fancy and speeding up so much at one point she had to warn him not to get too overconfident.

  She watched as he flew by her while she’d stopped to take a breather. Shaking her head her eyes followed him. After spending the entire day with him, she could very easily understand how anyone could develop a major crush on this guy. Not only was he incredible to look at, he was turning out to be one of the sweetest guys she’d ever met. She felt terrible that he seemed so agonized about the tragedy in the ring.

  He made his way back to where she still stood. His big satisfied smile gave her silly butterflies reminding her of the days back in high school. Then she remembered how she’d felt earlier when he held her hand. Oh, yeah. She was definitely developing a crush—a harmless one. It wasn’t unheard of for girls to develop crushes on their boyfriend or even spouse’s friends, especially ones that looked like Giovanni Bravo, right?

  She brought her hand to her forehead and nearly blushed recalling her grandmother’s comment. That woman said whatever was on her mind without a second thought. Something Bianca had been known to do a lot herself, resulting in some very awkward moments. But she was doing her best to make sure it didn’t happen with Gio. Several times today when she kept having to help him stay up and their faces were only inches away she nearly blurted out what she was thinking—that his eyes were just spectacular. But she’d managed to hold it together though there’d been several moments when she’d been lost in them for a little too long and she was sure he’d noticed.

  “Ready to race?” he asked as he stopped right next to her.

  “Get out of here!” She laughed. “I’m telling you. You need to pace yourself. You don’t wanna get hurt.”

  “I think I got this,” he said, straightening out in a proud stance.

  She elbowed him playfully. “Actually I think we should call it a day. You’re going to be so sore tomorrow.”

  Gio made an exaggerated face of shock and utter disbelief. She suspected he meant for it to be funny, instead it was as breathtaking as all his other expressions were. “Are you even capable of making any unflattering facial expressions?”

  His expression dissolved and those eyes now stared at her making her breath catch. “Are you?”

  For the first time that day, her laugh was a nervous one and the schoolgirl butterflies were back en masse. She proceeded to scrunch her face up. “See?” Then she stuck her tongue out at him, closing her eyes.

  When she opened her eyes, she expected to see him smiling but he was staring at her mouth and he seemed stunned for a moment. Then he smirked, his heavy lashes lowering over the tops of his now smoldering green eyes. With her insides lit, Bianca was totally mesmerized. “I’d say to you what I say to most girls when they show me their tongues but I shouldn’t.”

  Swallowing hard and trying not to let on what his eyes and words were doing to her, she managed to stammer out, “Why not?”

  “Because Felix might not like it.” His eyes left her mouth and met hers with a smile. “Let me rephrase that. I know he wouldn’t like it.” His eyes locked on hers for an instant making Bianca’s heart pound, before having mercy on her and glancing away. “Let’s go.”

  He started off down the small hill leaving her breathless and confused. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment making a mental note. Never show him your tongue again.

  With a deep breath, she wen
t after him but only because he turned to see if she was following. Otherwise, she might still be glued to that same spot. She cleared her throat as she caught up to him and tried to sound as casual as possible. “I was serious you know.”

  He glanced at her, his eyebrows pulled together. “About what?”

  “You’re gonna be sore tomorrow.”

  He chuckled now really reminding her of Felix and how cocky he’d been about it his first time out. “Did you forget I work out everyday?”

  “I knew you’d say that because it’s exactly what Felix said. This is a different work out, Gio. You’re gonna feel it tomorrow—everywhere. I promise.” He smiled, obviously not worried about it. “I mean it. You might even consider soaking in the hot tub tonight. Felix was so sore the next day and he didn’t even go as long or as hard as you did.”

  A sudden evil smile spread across his face and his eyes just about sparkled with humor. “Is that right? So you’re saying I went longer and harder than your boyfriend?”

  Bianca felt the flush clear down her neck but she couldn’t help laughing and went along with her own smirk. “Yes, you did.”

  She sped up and away from him no longer able to be that close to him knowing that her apparent crush on him was obviously coming through loud and clear and he was now having fun with it.

  “Bianca, wait up.”

  At first, she didn’t wait up. She needed to give her heart time to settle. After a few minutes, she slowed a little reminding herself that even though he’d been a fast learner he was nowhere near her level of skill. He came up alongside her. “You know I’m just teasing, right?”

  “Of course.” She glanced up at him and his perfect smile.

  “I mean I’d say something like that even in front of Felix.” He laughed. “Just to piss him off, but I hope I didn’t offend you or anything.”

  “No, not at all.” She realized she was blurting out her auto-responses but she wanted to be perfectly clear on this. This was nothing more than innocent flirting. He was just being playful after having spent the entire day with her. Secretly she was surprised, not only by how thrilling it was but how she in no way wanted to discourage it.

  The main lodge to the resort was just up ahead, she’d been so distracted by his teasing that the time it took them to get there just flew. “Felix says things like that all the time, too. Nothing shocks me anymore,” she lied through her teeth.

  “Yeah, but he’s your boyfriend.”

  She shook her head. “But I get it. You two are funny. There’s nothing you can say that will weird me out. I promise.”

  The teasing smile was back and she braced herself.

  “You’re making a lot of promises today.”

  That confused her and she searched his eyes then he laughed. “God, those eyes of yours, Bianca.” This time he shook his head. “Back there, you promised I’d be sore tomorrow.” She started to smile remembering but then stopped when she was caught in those molten eyes of his again. “I’ve made that same promise a few times.” He stared at her a bit longer and harder before his lip lifted into a sexy crooked smile. He finally turned away with a soft chuckle leaving Bianca no choice but to laugh along nervously.

  By the time they were in the car, she managed to appear cool and collected on the outside but her insides were out of control.

  Gio rolled his neck and massaged his shoulder with his hand. “You know soaking in the hot tub is starting to sound real nice now.”

  “You should. It’d do you good.” She smiled innocently, pushing away the visual of Gio near naked in the hot tub.

  “Will you join me?”

  Was it possible that he knew blinking in that slow motion sort of way had a hypnotic effect on girls? Maybe it was just her weak resolve. She nodded, not looking away and praying her voice wouldn’t crack. “Sure. I’ll be sore tomorrow, too, you know.”

  The second her words left her mouth, she saw that evil twinkle in his eye and she fought the flush already creeping up her nape. “You promise?”

  Damn him. She wouldn’t squirm and he wasn’t winning this one. Throwing out the mental note she made earlier she licked her bottom lip and his eyes were immediately on her tongue. “We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?”

  His startled eyes were back on hers and she smiled, hoping she looked as smug as she felt. Got ‘em.

  ~*~

  Unquestionably, what Gio was doing was technically against the man-code between him and his friends. They’d never actually discussed one but was still firmly in place. Coming on at all to one of his friend’s girls was clearly breaking all kinds of rules. Rules he never would’ve dreamt of breaking before Bianca. Not only had he just come on to her, he came on strong. He meant to rattle her. He loved what it did to her. Her reaction to his teasing had completely thrown him.

  He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried. She’d walked right into all his comments but she’d practically challenged him to try to weird her out. He heard it in her voice—saw it in those eyes. She could go from Bambi to bewitching siren in a second and he was hooked. He never would’ve thought it about sweet little Bianca but she had it in her. She probably didn’t even realize she was even doing it and damn it if that didn’t make it an even bigger turn on.

  Her licking her lip the way she had, had nearly done him in. It took everything in him to laugh with her when she did but Felix better hurry his ass up and get there already. His being there might be the only thing that would keep Gio from considering crossing that forbidden line and if he didn’t know any better he was beginning to think maybe Bianca would actually cross it with him.

  We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?

  She couldn’t be serious. She was just throwing his game right back at him. Right? He closed his eyes as he sat there in the hot tub visualizing her licking her lips—how those eyes that at times were almost too full of innocence could look deep into his with an unmistakable reckless abandon.

  Hearing the game room door open jolted him. Bianca wore a one-piece black bathing suit with a sarong that covered most of her upper legs but the neckline was low and though her breasts weren’t huge they’d do just fine.

  Gio sat up a little, mentally slapping himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Not only was this Bianca and she deserved more respect than that, he was certain what was going on in his shorts would not be cool with Felix. He needed to get a hold of himself before he was stuck in the hot tub all night. This was not something he’d in any way be able to hide.

  He watched Bianca walk toward him slowly with that ever-present smile of hers. His own smile when he was around her was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture on his face. “How’s the water?”

  This time he made the orgasmic expression closing his eyes for a second. “Fantastic.”

  “And the wine?” she asked, placing her own glass in the cup holder on the opposite side of the tub where she now stood and began to climb in.

  Normally Gio would’ve been disappointed and would’ve even complained about her keeping the sarong on but in this case he was grateful she did. He was already having a hard enough time controlling the rousing in his shorts. It was annoying as shit. He’d seen girls climb in hot tubs wearing much less. On a few occasions, some had joined him wearing nothing at all and he’d never felt this out of control.

  One thing was for sure, unless there was another girl there that he could blame it on, he was steering clear of joining Bianca in that tub when Felix was around. He thought it couldn’t get worse so he figured he’d indulge in watching her expression when her body sunk in the deliciously hot water. He knew what was coming. That thing she did when something tasted or felt so good. But instead she went all the way in, her head going under the surface.

  When she resurfaced, Gio literally held his breath. He didn’t think it possible but the effect she’d begun to have on him was intensified a hundred times over now that she was dripping wet. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t keep
his eyes from wandering down to her breasts. One look at her erect nipples pushing through bathing suit and his eyes darted away. He was so damn hard he was now worried she might actually notice through the water.

  Taking advantage of the moment as she tilted her head back and smoothed her hair down, he adjusted himself. He felt like a fucking thirteen-year-old. What the hell was his problem? Any thoughts of doing the flirting thing they’d done earlier flew out the window. He had to think quickly before she got playful on him. If she even thought about bringing out the sexy siren act now he didn’t think he’d be able to hold back and this could not happen.

  “So, was your mom born deaf or did something happen to her?” He was going to ask earlier but he was afraid the subject might be too heavy and he selfishly wanted to enjoy his cheerful day with her. He now welcomed heavy.

  To his surprise, she didn’t seem bothered at all by the subject. “My grandmother swears she wasn’t born deaf but it’s really hard to determine because she was a preemie born way too early. So there were all kinds of complications.”

  She sunk in resting her head back on the headrest of the hot tub making Gio eternally grateful that a certain distracting area of her body was now safely submerged. He only wished a certain part of his body would do some submerging also.

  “My grandmother has always said it was one of the many infections my mom had before she made it out of the hospital that did it. That’s how she and my dad met. At one of the many different conferences my grandparents and my mom attended for the deaf. That’s why my parents only had one child. My dad insisted he wanted a baby and my mom was afraid I’d be deaf. So when I was born perfectly healthy my mom said ‘That’s it.’ She thanked God for the blessing but wasn’t taking anymore chances.”