Bianca brought her hand to her chest. “Oh, my God that’s so sad.” She actually felt choked up and her eyes began to tear up.

Gio smiled. “Don’t cry. That was a long time ago. He’s over it now. I promise.”

Bianca wiped a tear away feeling silly and smiled. Then she laughed softly. “I get so blubbery when I hear anything so sweet and in this case also sad.” Then she laughed a little more. “You don’t wanna watch a sad or even touching movie with me. Trust me.”

He’d been smiling as he assured her Jack was fine but now his expression got a little serious. “So on top of your good looks, you’re also a sweetheart.” Bianca stared at his intense green eyes, not sure if that was a question or statement. “I hope Felix knows how lucky he is.”

The odd tone to his statement confused her but she took the compliment with a smile. “Thank you and yes, Felix always makes it a point to make me feel special.”

He took a drink of his beer but didn’t comment further. When they finished their beer, Gio announced he was feeling a little tired after all; and that he wanted to be well rested for the next day when he and Felix would most likely start training. Excitement sputtered in Bianca’s belly suddenly. Tomorrow she and Felix would be together again and she could hear him say he loved her in person.

She called her grandma before getting ready for bed as she promised she would do every night while staying with Felix. Felix had asked her to just move in with him while he was here and she literally hadn’t gotten any sleep that night thinking about it. This was so new for her. She’d had boyfriends in the past but never anything this serious and certainly none that were famous.

Felix wasn’t the first guy she’d slept with but he may as well be. Her first time was so stupid it didn’t even count. She was just about the only girl on her high school softball team who hadn’t done it yet. When she started dating Gary, a boy she’d known all through school, and he told her he was a virgin too they sort of just rushed to get it out of the way. There was absolutely nothing spectacular about it. It was more of a disappointment than anything.

They did it a few more times after the initial first time and the excitement about what they were doing was just about all the excitement she got out of it, because she’d never even climaxed with him. It was always over so fast.

After a pregnancy scare, she decided it wasn’t worth it. Even though she’d always been close to her mom and she could tell her anything, one thing she’d promised her was that the first time she did it, it would be with someone she loved and she’d have protection.

Not wanting to disappoint her mom because she wasn’t even close to being in love with Gary she decided not to risk it anymore. She told Gary she wanted to hold off on sex for a while and not surprisingly he found reason to break up with her soon after. The only tears she shed were for the fact that she’d given up something so precious to someone who obviously didn’t give a rat’s ass about her.

Bianca vowed she’d never sleep with anyone again unless she was in love. And while she didn’t even know she was in love with Felix until earlier that evening she did know what she felt for him was different than what she’d ever felt for any other guy. When they did make love for the first time it felt right. That’s all that mattered to her at the time. And now… now it would be truly different because now she knew he loved her. She could hardly wait to tell her mom and nana.

CHAPTER 5

With Bianca being such a distraction today Gio had forgotten to call his mom earlier to let her know he’d gotten there okay. He had a couple of texts he hadn’t read; one from her asking if he’d made there in one piece and another from Noah asking him to call him when he had time.

He clicked the television in his room on and tossed the remote on the bed. While stepping out of his shoes he dialed his mom. She was a little pissed that he hadn’t called earlier—said she was beginning to worry but she got over it once he assured her he was fine.

The next call he was going to make was to Noah but a commercial on the TV caught his eye. He was fairly certain that being around Felix for two whole months, he might run into a few celebs. He figured he should start brushing up on some pop culture so he wouldn’t feel so clueless if he met anyone he should have at least heard of.

The tabloid show on now had just flashed a teaser clip of what was coming up. In the clip candid photos of Felix walking in the snowy streets of Chicago with an unidentified girl—taken earlier that day. The broadcaster asked if this could be Felix’s mystery girl that he’d been rumored to be seeing.

With Felix’s upcoming fight getting so much hype Gio was sure the gossip shows were trying to cash in on it by airing even the most insignificant thing they could find on Felix.

Gio closed his door all the way and locked it. Bianca was staying in the master bedroom on the other side of the massive cabin but he still didn’t want her walking by and accidentally overhearing the broadcast. He waited out the couple of minutes of commercials while he stripped down and threw on a pair of loose basketball shorts minus a shirt. Maybe it was freezing outside but the cabin was well heated. It was almost hot.

They came back from commercial and Gio sat down on the bed raising the volume just slightly.

“Boxing’s current welterweight champ of the world, Felix Sanchez has been linked to many of Hollywood’s A-listers including some of biggest athletes in the world. But most recently he’s rumored to be in a relationship with an unidentified woman in Big Bear, California. Insiders have suggested maybe that’s why he trains at his over twenty acre secluded compound located in Big Bear—to be near her. There have been sightings of Sanchez and this mysterious girl but as of today, there have been no pictures. Just today he was seen strolling through the downtown Chicago area where he was in town to make an appearance on the Stephan Walker show.