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Her smile brightens as the song comes to an end. She stands up on the seat whistling and cheering for Zoe before hopping out of the booth. As she leans close to me, I tense.
“Don’t fuck this up, Christian. Zoe is the best thing to ever happen to you.”
Ava straightens up and walks away, disappearing into the crowd.
I wait until she’s left the bar before turning to look at Zoe.
She smiles and hops off the stage, stopping to talk to people on her way over to me.
Zoe slides into the booth beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder for a moment.
I kiss her forehead before she sits up and reaches for my glass of water.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you talk to Ava without me there,” she says.
Zoe takes another sip of water before setting the glass to the side. “Did you have a good conversation?”
I chuckle and shrug. “Your sister is a terrifying person, but I like her.”
And it’s true.
While I don’t appreciate the fact that she is comfortable enough to threaten me, I like that Zoe has someone like Ava in her corner. Zoe needs someone fierce like that in her life, and it’s entertaining to have someone not give a shit about the power I have in this state.
Zoe smiles and gets up from the seat, taking my hand. “I’m glad you got along. Now come on, I could use a nap.”
“I was thinking of taking you for dessert and a drink to celebrate.” I loop an arm around her waist and walk with her to the door. “If you want to.”
“Please tell me that we’re going to find the biggest piece of peach cobbler that we can.” Zoe is almost bouncing on the balls of her feet as we step into the cool night air.
“There’s a place around the corner from here that has the best peach cobbler ever.”
Zoe hums a melody to herself as we walk, lost in whatever song she’s trying to work through.
I’ve gotten used to her wandering through the house and singing. It’s not unusual to hear a random line or two of a song before she moves onto something else.
If I’m being honest, I love the life that she’s brought into my home. There used to be so much silence, but since she moved in, it feels like I’m not as alone.
As we approach the peach cobbler place, I pull out my phone and look up a recipe for it.
If this is the way she wants to celebrate a good show, then I’m going to need to figure out how to get her a good peach cobbler when we’re out on the road together.
Making it seems like the easiest option.
The thought of making cobbler for her is enough to freeze me in my tracks while she walks into the dessert bar.
I could spend the rest of our lives together following her around the world and listening to her sing. I would get to listen to her perform and after every show, we would have our own little tradition.
It scares the hell out of me to think that way. To crave that. To feel happy at the thought of it happening someday.
A future with Zoe is terrifying. It makes me think that there could be more to life than the cartel.
Camila isn’t ready to take over the cartel yet, but she will be one day.
When that day comes, I could be free to travel the world with Zoe. I could spend the rest of my life wrapped up in her.
And then I could lose her and watch it destroy the rest of my life. I could watch loving her set my world on fire and burn it to a crisp when she’s gone.
If she could ever bring herself to fully love me as I am.
