Page 59 of Victorious: Part 2
“Is that what this is? What we are?”
I turn her hand over in mine, tracing patterns on her palm. “Maybe. Or maybe we’re just getting started.”
She smiles widely, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “I like that better.”
Inhaling deeply, I nod. “Yeah, me too. This is just the beginning for us, Clo. Are there some hurdles in our way? Yeah, sure. But every great romance had obstacles to overcome. Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Rose, Bonnie and Clyde, Noah and Allie, Anakin and Padmé, Buffy and Angel…”
She blinks, staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Phoenix… they all died, or had their hearts ripped out.Emotionally or literally.”
I wince. “Okay, yeah, maybe not the best motivational speech.”
She laughs, that bright sound lighting me up from the inside. “It’s the thought that counts.”
Dipping my head, I grin at her. “Damn right it is.”
Her smile softens, and across the table, her thumb brushes against my wrist. “Still, I like where your head’s at. As long as we’re writing our own ending.”
“Deal,” I say, lifting her hand to my lips and kissing her knuckles. “No tragic deaths. No sinking ships.”
“No lightsaber massacres,” she quips.
I smirk. “Only the good kind of fireworks.”
“The kind our cat creates for us.”
Chuckling, I glance out the window, seeing the little shit staring me down from the truck. “Yeah… our cat,” I finally admit, and Clover smiles as though I’ve made her the happiest woman on earth.
We continue to chat about everything and nothing, and when our food arrives, the burgers taste like they’ve been perfected over a century of practice, the fries are crispy excellence, and the beer is so cold that it cuts through the desert heat. We eat, talk, and laugh, and for a while, it’s easy to forget that Vegas is waiting just ahead.
Easy to forget thatreal lifeis about to crash back in.
“What happens when we get to Vegas?” Clover asks suddenly, voicing the question that’s been hanging between us all day.
I set down my beer, considering her question. “Honestly? I don’t know. I know what’s supposed to happen. We check in with Sin. You do your work. I keep you safe.”
“And what do you want to happen?”
“I want to find out what this is,” I say, gesturing between us. “I want to see where it goes when we’re not running from Cartels orsleeping in the desert holding ourselves back from wanting each other.”
“And if it’s complicated?”
“Everything worth having is complicated, Clover.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, playing with her napkin. “I don’t want this to end,” she says finally. “Whatever this is, whatever it becomes… I’m not ready for it to end.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
“Doesn’t it? Vegas isreal life. Vegas is work and obligations, and my brother checking in every five minutes to make sure I’m not…” She gestures vaguely.
“Not what?”
“Not falling for the guy he sent to protect me.”
I lean back in the booth, studying her face. “Too late for that, isn’t it?”
“Waaaytoo late.” She meets my eyes. “The question is, what do we do about it?”
“We figure it out as we go,” I reply honestly. “We don’t have to have all the answers right now.”
