It wasn’t the first time they had an accidental kiss. It happened once back at the turf club as well, so she didn’t have to mind it that much. It’s just like stepping in dog poo. That’s all. She took a deep breath and turned to Toby, who was already waiting for her to take the card. She clenched her fists and told herself to not make any mistakes before leaning over to take the card from him.
Toby’s eyes lit up a little when he felt the warmth coming from her lips, but it was gone after two seconds. It wasn’t even enough for him to savor it. He stared at the sofa, feeling crestfallen.
One minute passed by quickly, and the manager announced the families that would proceed to the next round. They were number one, number three, and number five, the last one being Sonia’s team.
Douglas clapped his hands happily. “We can go to the next round, Mommy.”
“Yeah.” Sonia nodded in disbelief. She thought they lost too much time after that mistake, so they would be eliminated. Instead, they managed to proceed to the next round.
Toby thought Sonia looked cute when she was bewildered, and he smiled. “Number one and number three did a perfect pass, but the other families made more mistakes than we did, so we made third place.”
“How’d you know?” Sonia looked at him curiously.
Toby met her stare. “I kept an eye on them, so I know.”
I see. Sonia gave him a thumbs up. “Good job.” He managed to keep an eye on the competition even though we only had one minute. That’s superb observation skill. No wonder he managed to lead the company to the top in the city.
“It’s nothing. Just a habit.” Toby smiled after getting praised.
However, Sonia thought it was a smug smile, so she pouted and turned away.
Toby arched his eyebrow. What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong? He kept thinking about it, but he couldn’t figure out how he annoyed her.
Before he could say anything, the manager announced, “Congratulations for proceeding to the second round. For this round, we’ll be doing push-ups. Participants, please come here.”
“Let’s go, Mom.” Douglas tossed the poker card away, jumped out of the sofa, and dragged Sonia to the clearing. He ignored Toby, since he knew Toby would go anyway.
Sonia didn’t call him either. She paid all her attention to Douglas, telling him to slow down.
When Toby realized they weren’t calling him, his face fell. That brat did that on purpose. He’s getting back at me for the pinch.
He snorted, but Toby put his hands in his pockets and was about to follow them, but he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.
There was a poker card on Douglas’ seat. It was the one they used earlier. Toby narrowed his eyes and picked the card up to see if Sonia’s lip print was still there. It was, and clearly as well. For some reason, Toby put the card in his suit’s pocket.
Right after he put it in, Douglas called out to him, “Come here, Dad. The game’s starting.”
Toby turned around and snorted happily. So what if he’s trying to get back at me. He still has to call me “Daddy” if he wants to win the games. Cheered up, Toby strolled over to where the boy was. “Coming.”
The game was called push-ups. The father would do twenty push-ups with the mother sitting on his back to act as extra weight, while the child would count the number of push-ups the father did.
Before the game had even started though, the patrons knew which family would get eliminated. Family number three’s mother was a chubby woman, but the father didn’t seem too strong, so there was no way he could finish twenty push-ups with his wife on his back. Thus, the results were obvious.
“This is one heck of a game.” Sonia frowned. She thought the whole family would be doing the push-ups, so she was surprised to find out that only the father would do it.
And she just had an accidental kiss in the first game too. Now I have to sit on his back. Toby’s not gonna play along with this.
Before she could say anything, Toby blurted, “It is, but still acceptable. Right, let’s get on with it.” He then went down to get into the push-up position.
Sonia couldn’t believe what she heard, and she looked at him in disbelief. “What did you say? You want me to sit on your back?”
“Yes,” Toby said.
Sonia opened her mouth. I thought he’d say no! But he’s actually okay with it.
Toby noticed that Sonia was spacing out, so he called her again. “Make it quick. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Sonia looked around her and realized everyone was already in position, so she went up to sit on Toby’s back. It was the first time she was sitting on the back of a proud man like Toby, as if he was a horse. This feels great. She was excited, but she pretended like it was nothing. As she looked at the man below her, she asked, “Am I heavy? If I am—”
Before she could finish, Toby answered, “No.” He thought it wasn’t enough, so he added, “You’re really light.” That wasn’t a lie though, since Sonia felt lighter than Tina was. However, she was significantly taller than Tina, so obviously she was underweight. On top of that, she was pregnant. “You should eat more. Gain more weight.” He looked at her and made that suggestion seriously.
Sonia knew what he was talking about, so she answered coolly, “Thanks, but you should be caring about Miss Gray, not me. I can handle this, so just get on with the game.” Funny. You never cared about me in the past, but now you’re concerned all of a sudden? So fake.
Toby frowned, bummed that Sonia refused to take his advice. Nonetheless, he turned back without saying anything.
The game started immediately. Toby told Sonia to sit tight, and he started doing the push-ups, while Douglas counted at the side.
Toby might be busy with work, but he always spent some time working out and swimming every week, so he was stronger than the men in teams number one and three.
The other men obviously never exercised, especially the father in team number one. He looked like he was six months pregnant. The father of team number three was in better shape, but his wife obviously wasn’t.
Sonia noticed that the guy’s face was flushed, and his arms were trembling. I wonder if his arms will break.
Compared to them, Toby’s push-ups were perfect and beautiful.
The women in the restaurants glued their eyes on him.
However, Toby ignored them. He only had eyes for Sonia, but when he realized she was looking at the other teams, his face darkened. “Hey, focus.”
“Huh?” Sonia was surprised. You’re the one doing the push-ups. I just need to sit on your back. Why should I be focusing? That’s your job.
