Page 30 of The Killer Card

“I like more alternative stuff—”

“I am the one who introduced you to music!” Elias protests. “If it wasn’t for me you’d be listening to… Soft Jazz?”

I can’t help laughing. “What do you have against Jazz, Eli? Are you not a lover of all music?”

“I have nothing against Jazz but…” He turns on his son. “How can my music not be your thing?!”

“Aye Dios mío, let it go,” Cristian rolls his eyes. “You’re still on my locker room playlist. You’re just on there with like Paramore and Imagine Dragons and shit.”

“How many songs?”

Cristian blinked. “Qué?”

“How many of my songs are on your playlist?”

Rowan and I exchange a look, turning away to hide out laugher when Cristian begrudgingly admits, “Trés.”

“TRÉS?! I am your father! I brought you into this world! I taught you how to play fútbol—”

“Make more hype music and we’ll revisit!”

“Oh, I’ll make more fucking hype music,” he points at his son, starting back toward his cabin. “You just fucking wait, mijo! I’m making collab calls tomorrow!”

“You’re being dramatic, Eli!” Rowan calls after him. Elias just gives him the finger over his shoulder, sneakers crunching up the gravelly hill. His cousin chuckles, looking at Cristian with a smirk. “You couldn’t just lie?”

The kid glares, then starts back down the hill. “I’m going for another lap.”

I watch him with wide eyes. “Is he a cyborg?”

“Battery powered legs,” Rowan confirms, shaking out his knee. He turns back to me. “So, your sister is good?”

“Sí,” I nod. “She’s doing great.”

It was pretty touch and go there for a while, but with Elias’ help I finally managed to get her moved down here. She had some money stashed away and her older kids had their own decent inheritance from her first husband, so together we found her a place. Not anything nearly as nice as she was used to, but the company is certainly better.

With her closer I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to get to know my nephew who is annoyingly obsessed with one Cristian Santos. I took him down to a few practices and Cris took him out on the field for a few drills. I think it quite literally made his entire life. The kid’s been through enough and deserves some magical moments.

I’ve also been trying to get to know my sister again. We were estranged for decades, lost complete touch until recently, and have both been making more of an effort to get to know each other again. Sonya and I were never close as kids but being able to be there for her- her letting me back into her life- now while she’s struggling to put her life back together means more to me than I’ll likely ever admit.

Rowan pats me on the back. “I’m glad to hear it, amigo.” He points a thumb at the cabin behind him. “I’m going to go get showered. Want to go to the market with me? The plan for tomorrow was to grill up some steaks, get a bonfire going and maybe do—”

“S’mores?” I ask, knowing the girls talked my friends into those sugar bombs.

Rowan sighs, nodding. “Yeah. The bride insists.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, let’s do it. I’ll meet you back down here in an hour.”

He nods and I start heading back to Eli’s cabin on the hill, trying to push thoughts of Naomi out of my head. I almost wish the pain in my chest was a mild heart attack at this point. At least that could be monitored by a doctor. Or kill me, which might actually be preferable to having to see her again when she comes back in a few hours.

Every time I look at her feels like the first time followed by the agony of the last. Of walking out of her room that morning knowing it could be forever. That it had to be forever. If anyone knows how hard habits die, it’s me and if there was a rehab for getting over a girl I would have paid anything to check in.

Maybe that should be my business plan. Help poor pathetic souls like me by locking them in padded cells until they stop thinking about the toxic women haunting their every thought. Horrible business model really considering whatever I did only worked so long as she wasn’t in my direct line of sight. And now that I’ve seen her I am the definition of fucked.

Again.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I slide open the door and head straight to the bathroom, keeping the tap pointing toward cold.

Chapter Nine