“Honestly, I don’t know if he has or hasn’t, I was just saying. Based on your looks, that was my first thought.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” Now her face tinged with color but just barely. Apparently, she was too caught up with the mention of Felix and a supermodel the first time he’d said it to notice the compliment. He made note of that and would make sure to be extra careful about his Felix comments from here on.
“How the hell did you and Felix hook up anyway? Did you two stay in touch since high school?”
She walked over to the bar area and Gio followed her. “No, it’s just a small world that’s all. I need water; you want anything to drink?”
“I’ll take a water.”
She walked behind the giant wooden hand carved bar and opened another door that was also covered in carved wood, but was actually steel—a giant refrigerator. She pulled out two waters, handed him one then opened hers but began talking before taking a drink.
“My grandmother owns a rental shop up here, downtown. I work there and he happened to come in one day, with a girl mind you. They were just shopping for souvenirs and just like you, I told him I remembered him from high school. It took him a moment but he actually remembered—said my name before I even told him what it was.” She paused to take a drink.
Gio drank some of his, fascinated by how much she’d changed physically. Yet she still seemed as down to earth as he remembered her.
“We talked for a little bit,” she continued. “About school and the old neighborhood and stuff. Then he left. A week later, he comes back and asks if I’d like to grab a coffee with him. We went out for coffee and the rest is well… what it is. This was last summer, so it’s been a few months now.”
Of course Felix would go back. He’d be nuts not to. Gio wondered if this was who he’d meant when he said he’d met someone that actually made him consider settling down.
“That’s crazy. Did you two know each other in high school?”
“No,” she smiled. “But I remember having a crush on him even back then. I knew him like I knew you. We had a few of the same classes every year but that was the extent of it.” She pointed at his jacket. “Were you going out?”
Gio looked down at himself. He’d forgotten he’d piled on the snow gear. “Just outside. I wanted to check out the rest of the compound.”
“You’ve never been here?” she asked surprised.
“No. This is my first time.” Gio glanced around the lavish cabin. “This place is awesome.”
Bianca hurried back around the bar toward the sofa. “Oh, well, then I’ll give you a tour. It really is amazing.”
She put her jacket, gloves and beanie back on. They stepped out onto the porch together. It was freezing but beautiful outside. Living in Los Angeles his whole life and having only seen the snow a handful of times Gio still felt awestruck by it.
“So, you moved up here?” he asked as they carefully walked down the front stairs of the cabin.
“Temporarily, and before you ask, I have no idea how long I’ll be here. My grandparents bought a place up here when they retired. Odd, I know. Why would an older couple want to move to such a cold climate? Long story short, until my grandfather met my grandmother, he traveled all over. He actually lived in Alaska for a while. He’d hoped to move back when he retired but my grandmother wasn’t having it. So they compromised and moved up here instead. He died early last summer. Me and my mom decided to stay with my grandmother for a few weeks after he died and now months later I’m still here.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather.”
Bianca nodded looking up at him. “Heart disease—it ran in his family. His father passed of the same thing. So did his brother.”
Gio couldn’t help being distracted by her eyes. They were so big, so perfect like something out of magazine. Then it hit him. That’s why she’d seemed so familiar. He remembered now. Even back in high school he’d been taken by her eyes. He never even considered asking her out because of those eyes. They were so big and innocent looking. He steered clear of the innocent ones. With three younger sisters, he knew what kind of innocence there was behind those often doe-eyed expressions of hers.
Too young and too scared to commit to anything serious back in those days, Gio stuck with more experienced, wilder girls that he knew could deal with his noncommittal tendency. He wasn’t about to break any fragile hearts. Bianca’s eyes had fragile written all over them.
“Okay,” she said as they walked up the stairs of the gym. “Prepare yourself to be amazed.”
They walked in. Amazing wasn’t grand enough a word to describe the place. It had everything 5th Street had only a hundred times better. Giant black and white stills of some of boxing’s greats adorned the wall—Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray, Mohammad Ali, Tyson and, very notably, two of East LA’s finest, Cesar Chavez and the Golden Boy himself, De La Hoya. It was a gym fit for a king, no doubt. Felix’s picture would soon fit right up there. Gio was suddenly overwhelmed with pride.
“And this is just a gym. Isn’t this crazy?”
“Crazy.” Gio chuckled. “Yeah, maybe that’s the word I’m looking for.”
Her phone buzzed and she excused herself saying it was Felix before walking away. Gio barely glanced at her; he was still taking in everything. The guys were going to f**king flip when they saw this.