Page 13 of Challenge Me

“I can’t.”

“Then I’ll be waiting for that phone to ring.” Pinching his chin, I tilted his face. He let me kiss him, but I didn’t draw it out, knowing that there was a healthy chance he wouldn’t take me up on the offer. “I think I’m on Google.”

“You think?”

I shrugged. “If not, you’ll just have to make the drive.”

He scoffed, but the amusement lingered on his face as he put distance between us. “It was nice to meet you, Remi.”

“You too, Amir.”

I watched him until he reached his car, which was parallel parked across the street. It was nicer than anything I’d ever driven—sleek, cherry-red, rims that would definitely catch the sunlight and blind unsuspecting drivers. As I’d suspected, he had money. Loads of it.

I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Amir wouldn’t call. Even if he did, it wouldn’t go anywhere. We were worlds apart, brief blips in each other’s paths.

At least the blip had been fun while it lasted.

Chapter 5

Amir

“Mal,” I called from the kitchen. “Did you finish that worksheet?”

No answer.

I finished slicing the cucumbers, then arranged them on a plate shaped like a racecar. Maybe they’d balance out the dinosaur chicken nuggets. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t convince her she should eat something else for lunch on Saturdays. Some battles were doomed to be lost, I guess.

I picked up the plate and headed into the dining room. It was empty, and when I checked the worksheet on the table, only one of the questions had been answered.

If there was a sign that the day was going to be a struggle, this was it.

“Mal,” I repeated as I made my way down the hall. She wasn’t in the living room or her bedroom. Probably because she knew it’d be easy for me to find her there.

As I started for the back door, I heard my phone ring from the kitchen. There were a few people it was likely to be, and I didn’t want to talk to any of them. Spring training was coming up in a week, which inevitably meant Shawn, would have more announcements than any of us needed. I had the schedule, and my apartment was booked for the time we’d be in Florida. Anything they needed to say could be sent out in a text, for God’s sake.

Aside from their overbearing asses, I was trying to avoid my phone as much as possible. Multiple times, I’d found myself pulling up Google. I’d type the letter ‘R’, then I’d add an ‘E’, but I always erased it at that point. There was no reason to see if that bar was listed. No reason for me to call.

Yet for the past two days, ever since I got in my car and looked over at Remi standing shirtless in that doorway, I’d been hard-pressed to get him out of my head. There were a couple reasons for that, none of which I was in a place to deal with. I’d be gone for a month and a half anyway, so it wasn’t the time for all that.

Once I slid open the back door, I saw Mal tucked away near the oak at the far edge of the yard. She was doing something in the dirt, looking laser-focused. Slipping my hands into my pockets, I made my way over to her while I thought about how to approach the situation.

“Hey,” I said.

She looked up at me only briefly before she went back to her cars. They were lined up from the shed to the base of the tree, and she was carefully maneuvering one as if it was turning around to go the other way.

I crouched, careful not to bump the perfectly constructed line. “You listening?” She offered me a single nod. “You didn’t finish your worksheet. Why?” When she shrugged, I held my hand above hers without touching her until she looked up at me. Her eyes stayed on my cheek as she waited. “Words, please.”

“It’s Saturday,” she said.

“Yeah, but you didn’t do it yesterday when it was scheduled. That’s why we made the new plan today, remember? It’s on your calendar.”

“We don’t do school on Saturday.”

“I like it better when we don’t, but when we avoid something we don’t want to do, plans change, like today.”

She looked down at the car. Knowing she was listening, I let her continue pushing it.

“Sucks being nine, huh?” I teased.