Gio (5th Street) (3 page)

With it being the middle of winter and more heavy storms expected, business would be booming from now through the end of ski season. Just last night they’d gotten eight inches of fresh powder. “No. I’ll put in my regular hours as usual. I’ll have plenty of time to spend with him before and after my shifts.”

Bianca could hardly wait. Felix had just called her to tell her he’d be up next week. He was in Los Angeles today but wouldn’t be able to make it up because he had to fly back to Vegas, then Chicago to take care of some final business before he
moved
to Big Bear for the next couple of months. She loved the way that sounded. She hadn’t seen him in weeks and now she’d have him all to herself for two whole months.

This was by far the hardest part of their relationship. The amount of time they had to be apart from one another. Sure he’d set her up with a webcam so they could have live chats via the internet but it just wasn’t the same. When he was gone, she missed him so much. Even though he offered to bring her along many times, she could never leave her mother for too long.

He’d taken her to Miami, New York and even Puerto Rico but she’d always go for just a few days. The longest she’d vacationed with him was the trip to New York for a week around the holidays. She’d mentioned that she’d always wanted to see New York during the holidays and he made the arrangements immediately but she came home to be with her grandmother for Christmas. New York had been great but nothing beat Big Bear, especially during the winter. There was something so homey and quaint about the small town.

Her mother quickly signed to her that she should be careful driving. The roads were still very slippery from the snow earlier. Bianca had to smile, even via sign language and without ever voicing her words like some deaf people did, her mother’s worried anxiousness came across loud and clear. She signed back that she would and that she loved her and was off to Toni’s.

Her hairdresser, Toni had quickly become one of Bianca’s closest friends since she’d moved up here. At first, Bianca thought Toni was just good at making her feel comfortable because it was part of her job. Making conversation as she worked on her client’s hair came with the job description but it turned out Toni was just cool—more than cool, she was
awesome
. When she found out Bianca was a newbie in town she took it upon herself to show her all the hot spots to shop, the best places to meet men and even taught her how to snowboard the more advanced slopes. Not that Bianca was a total beginner. She’d gone snowboarding plenty of times when she visited her grandparents in the past but she’d never attempted the more advanced slopes she now snowboarded, thanks to Toni.

When she walked into the small hair salon, Toni sat reading a magazine. The first thing Bianca noticed was that her hair color was different—again. Toni was a few years older than Bianca and a bit eccentric. The hair that was curly and blonde the last time Bianca had seen her just last week was now straight and dark brown with a couple of blue streaks. Her eyes lit up when she saw Bianca.

“Your hair?”

“You like it? Toni asked, flipping a strand of hair with her hand.

“It’s different,” Bianca said examining it as she got closer. “But yes I like it. How is it that every color and style looks good on you?”

Bianca nodded, feeling keyed up again. She’d known about him coming up to train for months now but he hadn’t given her an exact date until today. “Yes. He called today; he’ll be here this weekend.”

“Girl, you’re already stunning and you know it. There’s a reason why that boy, who can have any girl he wants, keeps coming back here. He ain’t blind.”

Bianca winced taking in Toni’s words.
Any girl he wants
. She stared at herself in the mirror. Never in her life had she been insecure about her looks. In fact, she’d been blessed with the Rubio family’s beauty gene. Her father’s sisters had actually won a few beauty pageants back in their day and everyone said Bianca was a Rubio through and through. From her long legs to her big expressive eyes, to her full lush lips, she’d always been a head turner. Yet, she hadn’t really blossomed until after high school. Which is why she was surprised Felix remembered her.

But she couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated knowing Felix was constantly around some of the most glamorous women in the world. She’d told herself from the very beginning when she decided to allow herself to become involved with Felix that she’d never been insecure before and she certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“Just work your magic, Toni. I wanna look perfect for him when he gets here.”

“I know exactly what to do.” Toni smiled at her reflection in the mirror. “If this boy thought you were hot before, wait ‘til he gets a load of what Magic Hands Toni has in store for him.”

Bianca took a deep breath and smiled. It was almost scary how excited she felt about this.

~*~

Abel had offered to give Gio a ride to Big Bear since Felix told him driving his bike in the snow would be a sure death sentence. But Felix insisted on sending a car for him. Some of his other trainers and a driver were already at his
compound
getting things set up for his arrival. Gio wasn’t sure what he meant by compound but he sure as hell was surprised when he got there. The property was secluded, and tucked away deep in the mountains. And there were several structures on the property. Everything was constructed of logs but it was luxury beyond anything Gio had ever witnessed.

He stood there for a good ten minutes; his still stunned eyes taking everything in. The spiral staircase that went up to the second floor was all made of logs as well. All the furnishings: the tables, lamps, even the full bar was either made of wood or boasted some kind of wooden accent. The chandeliers throughout were made of antlers. Deer or moose or maybe even elk since they were so huge.

Gio walked slowly through the cabin, glad no one was there with him yet because he was completely speechless. He stopped and looked into what appeared to be a theater room complete with a huge screen, theater seats and an old fashioned but shiny new popcorn maker.

Continuing with his tour, he walked into what was obviously the game room. A pool table was the centerpiece of the room with a party sized Jacuzzi in a corner. Then he saw it: a giant, wall-sized, salt water aquarium. “Whoa.”

Gio had an idea of what something like that must cost from a reality show. It was about a family whose business was building these elaborate things for customers like Felix who could afford to have one custom made. As he approached it he noticed the underwater village of some sort. When he got close enough he knew this was definitely custom made to Felix’s specifications. “What?” he laughed.

It wasn’t a village. It was 5
^th
Street. Not just the gym. The entire
barrio.
5
^th
Street was in the center, but the park where they used to play hoops and the liquor store they’d frequent was there. He didn’t leave any detail out. He got it all, right down to the broken street lamps.

Ray, one of the other trainers and also former 5
^th
Street alumnus, walked in and greeted him. He showed him to his room. Just like all the other rooms it was spectacular. Gio could hardly believe he’d be spending an entire two months here.

Since there was no snow in Los Angeles he’d seen no reason why he should wear his snow gear on the way up but now he was here, it was snowing and colder than shit outside. Gio changed into the snow pants, jacket and boots Felix had promised would be in the closet. He checked the drawers for a beanie and gloves and they were full of them. Just like Felix said. He’d hooked him up good.

He heard a car pull up and a car door close so he walked to the window to see if it was Felix. The driver walked around the car, opened the back door and a girl stepped out. “The hell?”

Gio couldn’t see very well due to the window fogging up already and the snow still coming down pretty densely. From what he could see, she was glammed up just like all the other girls he ever saw around Felix. But why would she be here now? Felix said he wouldn’t be up until later tonight. Then Gio remembered.
I’ll make sure you have company.
“Ah hell.”

He’d planned on checking out the rest of the compound. He’d gone straight in when they got here but he’d gotten a glimpse of the other cabins out there. Most importantly, he was anxious to check out the gym. If this main house was any indication he was sure everything in the gym would be state-of-the-art. If this was what he was thinking he’d now have to deal with the awkwardness of hired
entertainment
instead.

Gio waited in his room for a few minutes trying to think of how best to handle this. Even when Felix had mentioned making sure Gio had company he didn’t think he was serious about hiring anyone for him. He’d heard some of Felix’s crazy stories and he had a feeling they might get a few nights of fun with the
snow bunnies
, but he wasn’t expecting something this soon.

He froze when he walked into the front room and saw one of the most breathtaking girls he’d ever laid eyes on. She’d just taken off her beanie and scarf. She stood by the door, her dark hair a bit undone, looking a bit startled herself.

Gio gulped, now not sure if he wanted this or not. He’d never been with a hired entertainment of
any
type and wasn’t sure exactly how this worked.

“Hello,” she said, speaking up first. “I’m Bianca. Felix’s… um, girlfriend.”

Gio let out a breath. Although he was a tiny bit disappointed she wasn’t here for him he wasn’t ready for the stress of having to figure out how to go about this. Felix had talked about some crazy shit he’d done now that he had access to so many women.

“Hi.” He took a few steps, meeting her halfway and pulled off his beanie before reaching out his hand to shake hers. “I’m Gio. I’ll be training with Felix.”

Now that she was closer, she looked familiar and Gio cursed himself for never watching any of the celebrity gossip shows. He should have anticipated this—done his homework. As stunning as this girl was she had to be a model or celebrity of some kind.

Her eyes brightened suddenly bringing more emphasis to how big and nearly black they were. She
had
to be a celebrity. Only
they
had amazing perfect smiles like hers. Damn, how did Felix keep his cool being around women like this all the time?

“I remember you!” she said smiling.

Gio blinked cluelessly feeling a little panicked. Could it be possible that Felix had already brought her around and he didn’t remember her? There was no way he wouldn’t remember this girl but the name did ring a bell.

“You’re Giovanni Bravo, Felix’s friend from high school, right?”

Gio nodded, still having no idea who this gorgeous thing was and how the hell she knew him but the more he looked at her the more familiar she seemed.

“I’m Bianca Rubio from high school.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t remember me. You were the popular heartthrob and I was the tomboy softball player.”

Suddenly it hit him and his mouth fell open. “Bianca?” Unbelievably, her big eyes got even bigger. “World History, Bianca?”

She laughed. “Oh my God, you actually remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He looked her up and down remembering her hair was always in a tight ponytail. It was down now and went almost to her elbows—as dark and straight as he remembered. He took her in completely from top to bottom. “Wow, you look so different.”

Did she
ever
. He thought she’d looked familiar but he would’ve never put two and two together. She looked
too
damn different now. In high school, she was just one of those girls that, save for those big eyes, went unnoticed for the most part. She was quiet, kept to herself. The one thing he remembered about her most was how hard it was for her to contain her laughter once she got going. It was absolutely contagious and the best part was he could tell it embarrassed her which always made him smile.

She sat next to him in World History class senior year and he often had to borrow her notes or paper or even a pencil. She’d always been so nice about it, too, rolling her eyes playfully but never refusing.

He also remembered feeling a little disappointed when she often had to leave early because she was on the softball team and had a game.

“I was surprised when Felix remembered me but I’m even more surprised
you
do.”

“Why’s that?”

She’d begun to remove the layers of clothes she wore. “Because you were so popular with the girls, how in the world would you remember all of them? Especially one you hardly knew.”

Gio smirked. “Actually, you looked familiar to me I just couldn’t place you. But you look so different now and I’d never seen you like this.” He pointed at her hair and then down the front of her. “All done up. I was thinking Felix had hooked up with a supermodel or something.”

Unlike most girls who might’ve blushed at a comment like that, she just smiled and tilted her head. “I’m sure he’s had his share of supermodels, Gio. Don’t remind me.”