Page 55 of Challenge Me

She tucked her notebook closer to her chest and kept her head down.

“I’ll show you one if you show me one,” he offered.

Mal looked toward the field. She used her pinky to trace across her lip, one way, then the other. “Okay,” she said after a second.

He patted the chair on the other side of him. “You can sit by me.”

“Thank you,” Avery said quietly.

He smiled at her. As he scrolled through the images on his tablet, Mal waited with one of her drawings ready. It might have been a car, but from my spot, I couldn’t see it clearly.

Since it was rude not to acknowledge her, I looked at Avery. She was watching an unfamiliar Braves pitcher ready himself on the mound, but after a second, she glanced over at me. Realizing there were people behind us, she quickly sat down beside me, which I didn’t think could be a good thing.

I straightened in my seat and drew in a breath. “Hello, I’m Remi.”

Holy hellfire, that sounded ridiculous.

‘Hello, I’m Remi’—Christ, what a flop;

Might as well have led with, ‘I eat ass till I drop.’

I cleared my throat.

She perched her sunglasses on her head, revealing arctic-blue eyes. “Avery,” she said. Politely, she held out her hand. I shook it and made sure not to grip it hard.

She was polished, much like Amir was. He knew how to dress down, though. At first glance, I wasn’t sure that Avery had a ‘casual’ button. There was something decidedly proper about her, and I had to wonder what set her apart in a way that made him once consider her his best friend.

“Amir didn’t tell me you’d be here today,” I admitted.

Her smile was soft. Not underhanded like Clara’s, but not altogether forthcoming. “Mal wanted to surprise Amir. And she wants to see Trav pitch.”

“A big fan, huh?” I looked over at Mal, but she didn’t pay any attention to me. She was locked on to the tablet while Roman sketched some crazy-looking car with flames in the background. As if it was the easiest thing in the world, he added her in the driver’s seat, and her cheek twitched.

Avery reached over to Mal. Her hand hovered, drawing the girl’s attention, but she didn’t touch her. “Dad’s up.”

Mal stood and peered over the heads in front of her. Amir was on base, adjusting his stance with practiced precision. When he swung, she rose on her toes, but he didn’t hit the ball, and she dropped back down. On the second pitch, there was a crack. She stayed on her toes this time as her dad raced for first. He was fast, as always, but the ball landed right in the center fielder’s glove.

She dropped to her heels again but stayed standing. As Amir walked back to the dugout, he looked over at me. Still on the field, he froze and swept his gaze across the four of us. I smiled, though I doubted it did any good. Avery gave him a little wave, whereas Mal just started rising and dropping on her toes.

Amir’s teammate said something to him, snapping him back to the game. As he continued off the field, he waved at his daughter with a bright smile, then made heart hands before he ducked out of sight.

That was adorable. Did my stomach sort of somersault? Possibly. I didn’t know if that was an omen of what was to come, but all I could do was keep on keeping on.

Chapter 15

Remi

O pale fire clothed in mortal guise,

Your gaze unmakes the night’s disguise.

I crawl to drink the ash you leave;

A dog of hunger, taught to grieve.

My jaw ached like I’d been sucking dick for an hour. I was on my third piece of gum, both to occupy myself and ease the tension. Fat lot of good it did me.

We were in the top of the fifth, and I had no clue when Amir would be at bat again. Trav was on the pitcher’s mound, which was a sight to see. He had aura out there. I could feel the ripple that went through the crowd as soon as he stepped out. It was probably a residual effect of the long battle between the Braves and Red Sox last season. It felt like some sort of revival.