Chapter 40
Amir
“You ready?” I asked, looking at Mal in the rearview mirror.
Without a word, she opened the door and stepped onto the curb. I hurried to join her, making sure there were no cars coming.
“I know how to cross,” she said.
“But people don’t always know how to drive.”
She ignored my outstretched hand, which triggered a pang in my chest. In two short months, she’d be ten, and I guess that meant I had to start accepting her growing independence.
Still, there would always be a part of me that saw the quiet but strong-willed little girl who used to run to the door when I got home and hug me around the knees.
I stretched my arm in front of her before she could open the door. Stepping off to the side, I put my phone to my ear and called Remi.
“What happened?” he answered.
“Why’d you start off with that?”
“Why else would you call me if not for some tragedy?”
“It’s your birthday, dumbass.” Before Mal could scold me, I put my finger to my lips.
“Oh. We talked this morning before your game.”
“I want to talk again. And maybe I have a surprise for you.”
“You’re kidding.”
The upward lilt of his voice made my chest swell. “It’s in your office.” I waited a second. “Are you going?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What am I looking for?”
“Use that creative mind of yours, baby.”
He groaned, but I heard him ruffle around. Gesturing at Mal, I opened the door so she could go in. I put the phone on mute, then headed over to the first table that had people at it.
“Twenty bucks for every person who starts singing Happy Birthday when he comes back,” I said. “Double for you if you tell the others.”
The guy shrugged and went group to group. I led Mal to the counter, and she hopped onto a stool beside Tommy without a word. Loki nudged her, and she scratched his ears as if they’d known each other forever. We both set our packages down, and she tapped her fingers steadily on the counter.
“He’ll like it?” she asked.
“He’ll be over the moon. I swear. What about mine?”
Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t get yours.”
“Eh, it’s a Remi thing. I guess we’ll just have to see.”
Tommy looked up from his book and nodded at me. “Should I be kicking you out since you brought a minor into a bar, Amir?”
“Probably.” Going around to the other side of the counter, I connected my phone to the Bluetooth speakers, kicking Remi out.
Setting the phone on the counter, I ended the call.
A moment later, a Norse-style version of Happy Birthday that I’d found started playing.
It only took him a few seconds to come back to the front, looking laughably suspicious.
His eyes landed on me and widened. They opened even further when the entire bar started to sing.
“Oh, I hate you,” he said under his breath.
I smiled as I sang along. Mal bobbed her head back and forth to the rhythm but stayed silent. When it was over, the background music kept going, but everyone returned to their conversations. I raised and lowered my brows, which made Remi burst into laughter before he threw his arms around my neck.
“You’re not supposed to be back until Friday,” he said.
Holding him tightly, I kissed his cheek. “I’m flying back to Cleveland in the morning. Did you think I’d miss your birthday?”
“Yeah.”
I pulled back and held his chin between my fingers. “Raise your damn expectations, baby.”
“It’s a work in progress, okay?” He looked to the side and broke into a grin. “Well, Little Valkyrie, first round’s on me. What are you having?”
“Whiskey like Dad. Rocks.”
“Nice try,” I laughed.
“Hold on,” Remi said. He grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and added it to a shaker.
After throwing some other things in there, he put a few pieces of ice into a glass and poured the mixture over it.
With a flourish, he set it in front of her, complete with a little umbrella.
“On the rocks, because the lady deserves only the best.”
She nodded appreciatively as she took a long drink.
His eyes went to the gifts, then darted to me. “For me?” he mouthed.
“Obviously.”
“Mine,” Mal said, nudging her box forward.
Remi shot me a giddy look as he pulled it closer.
It shifted to a frown when he ran his fingers along each of the sides.
Mal was a master at wrapping packages, and she got a devilish sort of amusement out of taping them beyond what a person could realistically open.
Giving up, he tried to tear at the paper.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Is this military-grade?”
When he finally made a hole, he ripped it off in a matter of seconds.
Carefully, he opened the top of the box and pulled out the container, which had a wooden base and a glass casing.
He set it on the counter, then removed the tissue paper that hid what was inside. With a gasp, he covered his mouth.
“Mal,” he breathed. “Did you make this?”
Her feet kicked back and forth, but she didn’t respond. There was a slight tint to her cheeks as she kept her eyes on the counter.
Remi turned the case to get a better view of the model car.
It was her favorite, the red Mustang like the one she carried around.
The paint had more of a shimmer to it, and there was quite a bit of detail.
On the side, ‘Little Valkyrie’ was written in white cursive letters, and a wing was drawn from the door to above the back tire.
“This is the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” he said excitedly. He swung himself over the counter and landed next to Mal. “I’m going to hug you.”
He barely waited a second before he pulled her into his arms. She made a disgruntled sound and didn’t return it, but she didn’t push him away. After he pulled back, he wiped beneath his eye.
Her brow tightened as she took him in him. “Sad?”
He laughed. “No, not sad. Happy.”
“Okay.”
“God, I love you, kid.”
She looked away from him, which seemed to amuse him more.
“Alright, let’s see if your dad can live up to you.” When he pulled my gift closer, I felt a wave of nerves wash over me.
This one was easier for him to open, but he still went right to shredding the paper.
It revealed a box made of teakwood with a hinged lid and a brass latch closure.
He ran his fingers across the top of it, which had a hand-engraved depiction of Yggdrasil on it—the world tree.
Its roots and branches sprawled across the lid in fine detail, and hidden among the branches were Huginn and Muninn, one with wings half-spread and the other perched, simply watching.
There were more carvings around the sides, mostly runic script and faint knotwork.
He studied every inch of it reverently, lingering on the script.
“Can you read it?” I asked.
“I know ‘thought’, ‘memory’, and ‘fire’. For all I know, it could be about that shit I took after doing the One Chip challenge.”
I snorted a laugh. Touching the front, I felt the letters there. “‘For Thought and Memory, and the fire that binds them.’ At least, that’s what the guy told me. He looked legit.”
“What does ‘looked legit’ mean here?”
“He was blond, he had braids, and his beard was impressive.”
Remi smiled as he unlatched the box. A puff of air escaped him when he saw what was inside.
Picking up the bottle of whiskey, he turned it carefully one way, then the other.
Two cigars were wrapped together on the other side, tied with a thin black string that was burned at the ends.
There was a matchbox in the middle, which bore the words, ‘May what burns cleanse, not consume’.
The matches inside were tipped in black phosphorous instead of red.
Across the top, I’d had the guy engrave, ‘Fire for the gods, whiskey for their trouble’. As Remi’s fingers brushed over it, his face pinched.
“This . . .”
Leaning closer to Mal, I dropped my voice conspiratorially. “Do you think he likes it?”
“No.”
I scoffed, then turned back to Remi, who looked away from me.
“I don’t know what to say,” he whispered.
“Mal got a hug. We could start there.” He nearly jumped into my arms, and I caught him around the waist with a laugh. “Happy birthday, Remi.”
“Thank you. I . . .” He pulled back and cleared his throat. Without another word, he turned around as if he was going to return to his office.
“What is it?”
“I love you,” he said, so quietly I thought I could have misheard him.
When he started walking, I rushed forward and pivoted to stand in front of him. I took his cheeks in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “Do you want to say that to my face, baby?”
“No.”
“Reconsider.”
His jaw clenched a few times. When his eyes finally met mine, they were a sea of vulnerability. “I love you.”
“I need someone to pull out their phone,” I called loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Amir,” Remi scolded. “What are—”
“Somebody had better record this moment, because this is the day when Remi Keane first admitted that he loves me.”
A few people whooped, but he was frowning. “We shouldn’t be making a scene.”
“Oh, we absolutely should be. This is our story, Remi. The world can see us happy and real for today.”
He smiled, letting go of his tension. “Look at that. Somewhere deep down, you’re a crazy bastard.”
“I’m covering a round for everyone,” I announced before I kissed him hard.
“You guys owe me a lot of money,” Mal said.
Pulling back, Remi raised a brow at her. “A little late on that one.”
“Not the swears.”
“Then why?”
She stuck her finger in her mouth to mime a gag. Both of us laughed, and even Tommy cracked a smile.