Gio straightened out a bit clearing his throat. “Yeah, it does.”

She took a deep breath then those big eyes of hers opened wide. “I didn’t even ask you if you wanted something to drink. Hot chocolate, coffee—a beer? The bar is fully stocked.”

“Hot chocolate would hit the spot actually.” Bianca stood up and Gio stood with her. “I can get it myself, Bianca. If you’ll just show me where it is.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, but Gio followed her anyway. “I know this isn’t exactly my place but in Felix’s absence I feel obligated to play host and you’re my guest.”

Not exactly her place? She obviously was taking this relationship with Felix a lot more seriously than he was. Gio hadn’t missed the tears earlier when she first got the news that Felix wouldn’t be making it tonight. There was no doubt she really cared about Felix. He actually hoped now that she was the one Felix had been talking about making him consider settling down. He’d hate to think sweet Bianca was just another one of his many.

They walked through the kitchen where two guys in white jackets were preparing the dinner. Bianca bent over and pulled out a fancy looking machine from one of the cabinets.

“You don’t just throw a cup of hot water in the microwave then drop one of them hot chocolate packets in it and stir?” Gio asked, checking out the gadget she was plugging in.

“Oh, no way. We don’t even use water for it up here, Gio.” She smiled teasingly. “You’re not in East LA anymore. You’re in Big Bear. Here we use our milk frothers to make it and I keep forgetting but up here it’s referred to as hot cocoa, not chocolate.”

“Milk frother?” Standing this close to her in the kitchen, looking at that playful smile, and God if those eyes didn’t still do something to him, Gio had to remind himself this was Felix’s girl—well, one of them—but still. She was completely off limits. Not even flirting would be acceptable.

“Yeah, it’s what makes the chocolate milk all foamy and oh, so delicious.” She pulled the milk out of the fridge as her expression went all doe-eyed, bringing back memories of her in high school. Her smile disappeared as she glanced back at him. “You’re not lactose intolerant, are you?”

Gio couldn’t help laughing. “No, I’m cool with milk.”

Relief washed over her face and the smile was back. “Oh good. For a moment there it hit me that maybe that’s why you used water.”

“Nah,” he smiled leaning against the counter. “We just don’t use these fancy machines down in my part of East LA, is all.

He watched as her perfectly manicured hands put everything together into the machine. It was actually pretty cool to watch the machine froth the milk. After only a few minutes, it was done and smelled great. Bianca pulled out a couple of large mugs and poured the cocoa. She pushed the machine back against the back of the counter. “I made enough for everyone,” she addressed the cooks in the kitchen, “so help yourselves.”

They made their way back to the room with the TV. Even though there were some very comfortable sofas they could’ve sat on, they both headed straight to the fireplace. That same orgasmic smile washed over Bianca’s face again after taking her first sip of her chocolate and Gio had to look away, especially because she got foam on her upper lip and he knew what was coming next. “Mmm, this is so good.”

The erotic sounds weren’t helping either. Just the fact that he was having these thoughts and he’d only been around her for a couple of hours was pissing him off. This shouldn’t be so difficult. Roni was very attractive in his opinion and not once had these inappropriate thoughts ever crossed his mind about his friend’s girl. It was wrong and it had to stop, damn it.

He took a sip of his own chocolate and though it didn’t make him orgasmic or give him the urge to moan, he had to admit it was damn good. “Sure beats my East LA watered version.”

They enjoyed their hot cocoa for a few silent moments. Normally boxing would not only be a safe subject but one he happily could go on and on about, but it wasn’t one he wanted to get into now. So he was grateful when she asked him about the rest of the gang. “Do you still hang around with Noah, Abel and his brother? I forget his name.”

Gio nodded, stirring his “cocoa” with the fancy chocolate stir stick Bianca had provided. “Yeah, we all work at 5th Street. Hector, Abel’s brother is still part-time but the rest of us actually help Jack, the owner, run it now.”

A sudden squeak from Bianca made him glance up and seeing her turn red, then giggle embarrassedly, had him smiling like an idiot. It was the cutest damn thing. As much of a struggle as it was, he managed to turn back to his cocoa chuckling and asked, “What’s that about?”

He glanced up when she didn’t respond. She was holding her hand against her mouth, eyes closed, trying to muffle her laughing. She put her mug down on the fireplace shaking her head and proceeded to go into a laughing fit. When she gained a little composure she explained, “That just reminded how back in middle school, this group of cool girls wore the 5th Street t-shirts they sell down at the gym.” She shook her head continuing to wipe the corner of her eyes. “Me and my friend Anna wanted to be cool too but our moms’ were not about to shell out the twenty bucks for a t-shirt.” She started laughing again. “So we decided to make our own.” Just seeing how hard it was for her to even speak now had him laughing, too. “You should’ve seen the mess we made of our dads’ white t-shirts. We both got in trouble for ruining so many of them and we never did get to wear them.” Then she squeaked again and it was all over. They were both laughing uncontrollably now. “Stop!’ she begged between laughs. “I hate that stupid squeak!”