Till Summer Do Us Part(57)

“We know,” Wilder says as he finishes zipping up.

Sanders steps aside and says, “On your marks, get set, go!”

Wilder pushes me to the side and takes off like a bat out of hell, making me chuckle as I follow behind him.

“Hurry up, wench.”

“Don’t call me that!” I yell.

“Put those short legs to good use.”

I chuckle again and hate him for it, because he’s not supposed to be getting me out of character.

When we reach the first obstacle, Wilder waits for me. It’s a small zigzag with palm trees at every turn. The inflatables are incredibly unsteady as they float on the water, and there’s a solid chance we’ll fall into the water just like every other couple that has started this race.

Pulling me in close, Wilder whispers, “You go first. I’ll rock it too much with my weight, causing you to be off-balance. Remember, the palm trees are just air. You can’t hang on them.”

“Got it,” I say and then shout, “Stop freaking mansplaining everything,” and pretend to whack his hand away.

The first two zigs are easy, but then the float starts to become pretty rocky, so I stay light on my feet and tackle the next two. When I feel myself start to go off-balance, I leap to the end of the zigzags and land on all fours on the inflatable, causing it to rock. I look over my shoulder just in time to see Wilder tiptoe his way across with ease, the rockiness of it not bothering him once.

“What are you doing? Get up,” he yells.

When I make it up, we go to our first staff member who’s holding a card.

Looking between us, they ask, “Do you feel you two spend enough quality time together?”

Without blinking an eye, Wilder says, “No. I’m too absorbed in my phone, and I miss a lot of things she says to me.”

Wow, okay, that feels all too real.

I answer, “No. I stopped planning fun activities because he always ruined them when something didn’t go his way.”

The staff member steps aside and says, “You may proceed.”

Next is an archway of swinging balls.

“You have to run fast. If you see one headed for you, dive and stick yourself to the floor. They will knock you off. We saw that with Duncan.”

“Got it,” I say.

I wait for the first one to move by, and then with all the speed I can muster, I fly down the center of the archway, missing all the balls but one. The last one hits me and throws me off-balance, and I’m about to fly off. Luckily, Wilder is right behind me and grabs me by the waist, pulling me to the ground.

Together, we stand in front of the next staff member, and they ask, “How do you really feel about your sex life?”

This time, I answer first. “Used to be thriving and adventurous, but now I’m too tired and come up with excuses why I don’t want to have sex with him. I have a lot of built-up animosity toward him and don’t have any need to please a man who can’t understand me for the woman I am.”

Wilder looks me in the eyes, seeing the truth right then and there, but thankfully, he doesn’t say anything. “She’s right. We used to be hot and heavy, and now I don’t think she even knows how to undo my zipper.”

“Oh my God,” I yell. “I know how to undo your zipper. Maybe if you looked up from your video games for a moment, I wouldn’t feel so irritated by you, and I would want to please you.”

“Maybe if you didn’t nag me over and over and over again, I wouldn’t want to get lost in my video games.”

“I don’t nag you.”

“Yes, you do,” he yells. “I can never do anything right. Ever. It’s always your way or no way. You would think that there’s compromise in a marriage. Well, not in this one.”

“Because you don’t help around the house!”

“Because I don’t want to help a dictator,” he yells back, only for the staff member to step aside and allow us to enter the next obstacle.

Bingo.

“You okay?” Wilder whispers as he moves in behind me.

“I am.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I whisper back.

“Good. You’re doing great, Pips.” He gives me a gentle squeeze on my hip, and pride surges through me. “Okay, this is the one that I’m going to go first on. I’m going to jump, and then I want you jumping after me. I’ll steady the square, and then we can jump to the next one.”

“Got it.”

A single floating square is about three feet away, and this is the one that everyone has been tripping up on. I appreciated Wilder’s insight, if I’m honest. He’s determined to do well and was watching carefully, but he was gentle when he explained his game plan. He must know how much I loathe a mansplainer.

Wilder leaps easily onto the square and then holds his hand out to me with a nod. I get a running start, leap, and then land right in Wilder’s arms as he steadies the square with his legs. Once it stops shaking, he says, “Squat down while I jump off it.”

I squat down on the square. He takes off, sending the square rattling, but I hold on, and then he reaches his arms out, waiting for me on the other side. I get as close to the edge as I can and then jump, my foot nearly missing the target, but because Wilder’s waiting, he’s able to grab hold of me. Then he leans back, sending us both to the ground but staying out of the water.