Page 199 of Challenge Me

“Could be,” Amir replied.

“And to Mrs. Kessler’s husband,” Trav went on. “My brother in Christ, what are you doing? Let me help you out too. Come out into the light. I promise the grass is greener over here. Get in contact with me and I’ll happily pay for all your legal fees so that you can be a free man.” He tapped his fist against his chest more lightly this time. “We stand with you too.”

The door flew open and banged against the wall. I was about to run for the counter to grab my gun, but then I saw who came in.

Holding onto Amir, I laughed. “What the hell is this?”

“You think we were about to miss the festivities?” Oli called from behind West’s giant head. He moved around him, swinging the hand connected to Dean’s.

“My sweet, elder emo child,” West drawled. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into his chest. “Tell me you said yes.”

Oli scrutinized me. “Did you? Don’t make me kick your ass, Rem.”

I snorted. “As if you could.”

“I spent more time in the system.”

“I did a stint in jail.”

Tilian looked me up and down. “Hardcore.”

“A short stint,” I added. “You really brought the whole gang?”

“It was guys’ weekend, but it turned into guys’ week,” Oli said. “They were all invested, so they drove up. You can come to the next one since you won’t be third-wheeling.”

“Since Amir’s going to have a lot of free time once the season ends, maybe I will.”

Sitting up, Trav let out a sigh. “Well, it’s the end of an era. I’m going to have at least three drinks to support Amir’s new life as a regular lad. You know where to find us if you’re in the area. Drinks are on me.”

He winked, then panned the camera around. Amir tried to duck out of the way, but I grabbed him around the waist. For this moment, I didn’t care if we were broadcast to the world. Like he’d said, we would fade into obscurity together soon enough.

Chapter 56

Amir

After setting the song to Unchained Melody, I approached Remi. He smiled and shook his head, but I knew that he would be a sucker for this one. Sure enough, he immediately held out his hand, so I took it and spun him around. Pulling him in close, I settled my other palm on his lower back.

I looked around at the others, who were all dancing. Like me, they were pretty tipsy. The only ones in the place who stayed sober were Tommy and Oli, who had taken over manning the bar for Remi.

“Do you want to take it back yet?” I asked.

He cocked his head as if considering it. “So far, so good. Maybe I need to ask some leading questions.”

“Mm. Go right ahead.”

“Give me your wildest conspiracy theory.”

I laughed. “Oh, you’re really looking for a reason to run.”

“Better to get all the concerning things out of the way from the get-go.”

“Fine . . . My wildest theory?” I blew out a breath while I thought about it. “The Book of Enoch wasn’t describing angels at all. At least, not the kind people think. Some of those parts—the shining beings, the wheels of fire, the way he ‘ascends’ into the heavens? Tell me that doesn’t sound like a spaceship.”

Remi let out a sudden laugh, which I’d expected. “A spaceship? Is this one of your Anunnaki things?”

“Could be. I’m just saying, if some ancient guy got yoinked into a glowing aircraft by nine-foot-tall beings who showed him crazy shit, he’d call them angels.”

“No wonder they try to claim it isn’t canon.” He paused with a little smirk. “You think Enoch got probed, don’t you?”