Page 138 of Pucking Strong

Caleb raises both hands, leaning away.

“This one’s for you, Aarre,” Mars says at him, sliding him a shot glass.

Caleb takes it.

“Just club soda,” Ilmari adds, kissing his cheek. Then he reachesforward and takes a shot offered by Henrik with a soft word of thanks in Swedish.

Now, everyone’s eyes go wide.

“Okay, what the fuck?” says Jake. “What is going on? Mars, you don’t drink.”

“I do tonight,” he replies.

Novy sniffs his shot. “Why? What are we celebrating? Wait, is this sake?”

“Yeah, they didn’t have schnapps,” says Henrik. “But this will work the same.”

He finally hands me a shot. Then he surprises me by cupping my cheek. The touch is so gentle, almost loving. He smiles at me, and my heart does a freaking backflip. Then he turns to the group. “As you all know, shortly before the season started, I had the honor and privilege of making Teddy my husband.”

“Here, here,” says Morrow, raising his shot.

“Poor bastard,” adds Novy, and the others laugh.

Henrik drops his hand to my shoulder. “Teddy was there for me in a profound moment of grief. I lost my sister, my best friend. Everyone here knows what it feels like to lose, or think you’re about to lose, someone precious to you.”

The mood at the table sobers in an instant. I watch as Novy places a hand on Morrow’s knee. Across the table, Jake wraps an arm around Caleb’s shoulder.

“But in that darkness,” Henrik goes on, “Teddy was the light. He guided me back to life, back to living. The rings we wear became a tether. So long as I have him, I can keep fighting.”

“I picked those rings,” Novy fake whispers, making the other guys smile.

Tears burn my eyes as Henrik looks to me again. Then he clears his throat, turning back to the table. “In all the chaos of the last several weeks, there’s been no time to pause and celebrate our marriage. Typically, in Sweden, a wedding reception would begin with a toast.”

“Yes!” Jake is smiling from ear to ear. “Ohmygod, this is gonna be so fun. Do we get to give the toasts? As team captain, I get to go first, right? Can we use props?”

We all laugh.

“Ilmari had a good idea,” Henrik says. “He thought it might be fun to bring a little of my Swedish culture to this moment, as a nod to where our story began.”

“It’s perfect,” I say through my tears.

Novy pounds his fist on the table. “Teddy loves it! What do we need to do? Is there a Swedish toast we can learn? Isn’t it just ‘Skål’ or something?”

Henrik lifts up his own shot. “I’m going to teach you all a snapsvisa.”

“I heard the word ‘schnapps,’” says Jake.

The guys all laugh again.

Henrik smiles. “I’m going to teach you a Swedish drinking song.”

Fifteen minutes later, we’ve drawn the attention of most of the patrons in this restaurant as we collectively lose our shit, laughing and trying to sing this damn drinking song in Swedish.

Jake slaps his hand on the table. “Wait, wait, wait. One more time—”

“Comeon,” Caleb groans.

“Boo!” Novy shouts.

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