Page 69 of Challenge Me

“He also said that if you’re giving me mixed signals, I shouldn’t take anything you say at face value.”

My eyes opened, and I stared at the far wall. “Oli thinks he knows what’s best for everyone.”

“Does he?”

I didn’t want to answer that, so I didn’t.

My heart picked up speed abruptly when Amir shifted. He grabbed onto the arm around his waist and used it to flip me onto my back as he rolled over. Immediately, I went on the defensive, ready to go for all of his weak points—I could get my teeth into the inside of his bicep, my knee could easily be driven into his groin, or I could jab his eyes with the fingers of my free hand. I kept the ideas at bay, waiting to see if I would need them.

Amir remained on his knees above me and stared as if he knew exactly what he was looking for. “He said something else.”

“What else could he possibly say?”

“That your eyes don’t lie.”

One of my brows rose. “Eyes are the most deceptive of all.”

“Is that why you look nervous?” He leaned down, his gaze never leaving mine.

“There’s a man restraining me in bed,” I pointed out. “Not gonna lie; it’s not my favorite experience. Top five reasons I spent so much time and money on therapy, actually.”

His grip on my arm loosened enough that I could get out of his hold if I wanted to. “Did it work?”

“I don’t think about testing the infamous vengeance of the gods anymore, so there’s that.”

His lips turned down. It made my own flippant attitude start to fade, and I had to look at the window.

“I love the life I’ve built. All that other stuff was a long time ago, so don’t act weird about it.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lean down. My jaw was tight, but he ended up just kissing my cheek. When my eyes closed, I felt his lips touch my eyelid. Something in my chest felt heavy, weighed down by the gentleness as he moved to lie beside me again. He pulled me close like before, and I felt too weak to resist, so I returned my head to his chest without a word.

The sound of kindness, it seemed, broke me more than anger ever did. It was a language I’d forgotten, but by the Aesir, how I wished I were fluent.

Chapter 18

Amir

I woke to sounds coming from the kitchen. Glancing at my phone, I decided that man was sent from the Devil. There was another hour until I had to wake up, but there was no way I’d fall back asleep.

As I pulled on a pair of sweats, I wondered if he’d slept. For all I knew, he might’ve wandered around the apartment all night. Maybe I would’ve woken up, but maybe not. I had a strange feeling that he could go unnoticed if he felt like it, like Mal when she was trying not to wake anyone. I was pretty sure she liked being in the house while the rest of the world was asleep. She’d once unplugged all the appliances so that she could actually enjoy the quiet, and I had to tell her that all of our food would go bad if she did that.

When I opened the bedroom door, the scent of food got stronger. I expected to see Avery, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, Remi was standing at the stove, wearing a pair of black jean shorts with tears up and down them, along with a sleeveless hoodie that had some anime character on it. I couldn’t decide if I preferred him like this or in my bed, shirtless in a pair of soft pajama pants.

I joined Mal at the island. Instead of her book, she had a math worksheet. From the way she gripped her pen, I knew exactly how she felt right now.

“Inside the parentheses first,” I reminded her.

“Mm.”

“Why are you doing this on a Sunday?”

“Mom said to.”

“You didn’t do it on schedule?”

She shook her head once. I frowned as I watched her struggle through the problem. When she forgot to follow the order of operations again, I was about to mention it, but she let out a growl and tossed her pen on the counter.

“Let’s take it back to the beginning,” I suggested.