“Hey,” Gio said tapping the hood as he walked around the car. “You should paint it red and white. Then we could call you and Hector Starsky and Hutch.”

Abel laughed getting out of the car grabbing Gio’s outstretched hand for a quick handshake and a pat on the back. “This shit is badass,” Abel said turning back to the car. “I hardly had to do anything to it.”

“And it’s fast,” Hector added from across the car.

It hit Gio suddenly. Both Abel and Jack were sticklers about Hector missing school for any reason. “You actually let this guy miss school today to come up here?”

Before Abel responded, Hector announced almost proudly. “I got suspended yesterday.”

Gio brought his fist to his mouth with a smirk but was surprised neither Abel nor Jack seemed too pissed about this. Usually Abel had a fit if Hector, who lately had been getting into a lot of trouble, even got written up for anything. He turned back to Abel. “And you still brought his ass up here?”

Felix walked over to hug Jack then teased. “Yeah, what’s this world coming to? If that had been me back in the days I’d be spending the weekend scrubbing floors at the gym not snowboarding.” He pulled back smiling at Jack. “You gettin’ soft old man?”

“Nah,” Jack waved his hand in the air. “He got in a fight. But he had good reason. I’ve always told all of you. Fighting is not the answer to everything but sometimes it can’t be helped. In this case I probably would have been more pissed if he hadn’t fought the ass**le.”

“I’d say kicked his ass is more accurate,” Hector smirked, leaning against the car. “But I guess you could call it a fight.”

Gio laughed going from Hector’s amused face to Abel who shook his head. “Why? What happened?”

Hector shrugged. “I’ve been listening to the drama go on all week from this chick whose locker is right next to mine. She wasn’t telling me but she and her friends stand there talking so much it’s hard not to overhear things. Her ex-boyfriend posted some crap on his Facebook about her. Stupid shit. And,” he put his hand up looking at Abel, “I couldn’t care less. I don’t get involved. But his stupid ass came up to her yesterday and started talking shit to her in front of everyone making her cry. Even then, I kept my cool. Trying to stay out of it. But he took it too far getting in her face like she was a dude, all big man and shit, calling her a skank.”

“Oh, hell no,” Gio said.

“Yeah,” Hector nodded. “So I slammed his face into the lockers.”

“Luckily, the narcs stepped in quickly,” Abel added. “But he still broke the guy’s nose. We’re waiting to hear if we’re gonna have to pay for any medical bills.”

“I hate f**king pussies like that.” Felix reached out and shook Hector’s hand. “Good for you, man. I would’ve cracked him too.” He turned and pointed at Abel. “Let me know if you need help with that. I’ll donate to the cause. We’ll call it ‘Cracking Down on Future Fucking Douchebag Wife Beaters of the World.’ Can’t think of a better charity.”

Laughing and catching up about everything, they made their way into the cabin after Jack announced he was freezing his ass off. As expected they were all blown away by the cabin and the rest of the compound.

Lunch went well. Noah and Roni arrived an hour after Abel and the others had. Bianca got there right around the same time. With the distraction of everyone there, Gio and Bianca managed to keep their stares and stolen private smiles to a minimum. It helped that Nellie came along with Noah and Roni. Gio knew those two women were on to him and Bianca. He worked extra hard to not be so obvious. He had yet to ask Noah if he’d confirmed to them that they’d been right. But he had a feeling that more than likely Noah had.

They all went back to the cabin after lunch to get geared up for boarding. Since Roni wouldn’t be participating, Bianca said she would stay back with Roni and Nellie at the outdoor bar in the resort. Then later Toni would be joining them. They could all watch the guys show off from there and chat while having a few drinks. All except Roni but she didn’t seem to mind. She practically glowed any time her pregnancy was brought up.

What he hadn’t prepared for is that since Bianca wasn’t going snowboarding and they were going out to a bar she dressed up for the occasion. It was bad enough that she’d done her hair differently today in a sort of loose wispy braid across the top that pulled the front of hair away from her face bringing even more attention to her big beautiful eyes. The rest of her hair was still down with more tiny little braids here and there accentuating the sexy new style. He’d already been breathless when she first returned from the salon.

Roni was the first to notice what she called an adorable outfit. “That is so cute,” she said, bringing everyone’s attention to Bianca when she walked in the room.

Her long brown wool coat doubled as a dress because it went snug at her waist then skirted down to just above her knees. The black boots she wore came up to her knees and Gio could only assume she wore a dress or a skirt underneath because save for black leggings her knees were bare.

Gio gulped as Bianca thanked Roni then turned back to him casually. If she was looking for his approval she would’ve had it if it weren’t for the fact that she’d just changed into that adorable outfit in the same bedroom with Felix. There’s no way Gio could’ve watched her change into that and not attack her and he doubted that Felix hadn’t either. He took a deep breath trying not to think about that. She said she wouldn’t be sleeping with him anymore. He’d never wanted to believe something so much in his life.