Gio (5th Street) Read Online Free PDF Page B

promised he’d get to her tomorrow one way or another.
    After hanging up she practically skipped up the steps to the gym. What she felt now was such a contrast to what she felt just minutes earlier when he laid the news on her about not making it up tonight. She’d been devastated. She had arranged to have the entire weekend off just to spend it with him. How could three little words make up for it all?
    Gio was over by the ring talking to one of the other trainers. He turned when she walked in and smiled at her. She smiled back.
    Bianca still couldn’t believe what a small world this really was. She’d recognized Gio almost immediately when she first saw him earlier. He hadn’t changed much since high school. He did look a little taller and she was sure underneath all those layers of snow gear he’d bulked up even more just like Felix had. But his face was still that same almost pretty face with the chiseled features she remembered from school. The girls went crazy for him even back then. She could only imagine what things were like for him now that he’d grown into his own. And his green eyes were just as amazing as she remembered.
    At least three of her friends were in love with him back then. He’d always been nice enough to her in school but except for the times he was hitting her up to borrow paper or a pencil she was invisible to him. Felix at least flirted with her making it obvious that he acknowledged her as a girl he might actually consider. Of course, he flirted with everyone .
    Gio, on the other hand, only ever gave her very polite, sometimes remorseful smiles when he was borrowing something from her—yet again. At times, it seemed he even avoided eye contact. So, no matter how beautiful it was when the boy smiled, even though it was usually at someone else, she never once allowed herself to even harbor a secret crush for him like she had Felix. Gio was completely out of her league and she never even bothered lusting over him.
    “Everything okay?” Gio asked as she reached him. “Is he on his way?”
    A twinge of disappointment crept back in but she pushed it away remembering Felix’s admission. She shook her head. “No, the airport is snowed in. The earliest he’ll make it is tomorrow but he’s not sure what time.”
    “He’ll be here.” Gio gave her an reassuring smile.
    Looking at that face, you’d never believe he was a boxer. Even Felix had a scar over one of his eyebrows and one of his cheekbones was slightly higher than the other from having gotten one too many blows to the cheek. Gio could’ve been a model as perfect as his face was.
    Bianca turned to Ray, the trainer she knew best so far. “Felix arranged for dinner to be made for us tonight so you guys come on into the main dining room around six for dinner.”
    Ray smiled nodding and tipped the brim of his baseball cap at her. She smiled back and turned to the other trainer Ignacio, who she wasn’t as familiar with. “You too, okay?”
    After he agreed, she turned back to Gio. “Did you wanna see the rest of the place?”
    “Sure.” He waved at the other trainers. “I’ll see you guys back inside.”
    They walked out into a third building on the property. This one had a lap pool and cardio equipment. Two treadmills, a few elliptical machines, exercise bike, and televisions all around. “This is probably where you’ll be while he’s out doing his miles on the trails,” Bianca said. “He prefers running the trails to the treadmill so this room gets most of its use from the trainers.”
    “Nah,” Gio shook his head. “I’ll be out there with him, too.”
    “That’s right. I forgot. You don’t just train, you box, too.”
    “Not anymore.” His expression went hard but he turned away from her and stared at the pool.
    It suddenly hit her as she tried to make out his abrupt answer and she winced, feeling like a complete idiot. She remembered now hearing about it on the news and then Felix telling her about it, too. A