Till Summer Do Us Part(58)

Playfully, he pats my hip and then helps me up so we’re now facing another staff member.

“Have you ever felt tempted to cheat on each other?”

Wow. Can’t imagine being confronted with this if we were really married. I can’t help wondering what Matt’s answer would be to that one too.

Wilder turns to me, looks me dead in the eyes, and says, “Never. I might get frustrated with you, but I’d never cheat. Ever.”

The sincerity in his voice, the conviction, hits me harder in the heart than I expected, and I attempt to not apply that answer to reality. “Same. I made vows to you, and I’d never do that.”

“Thank you,” Wilder says, his voice almost…shaky. And it stuns me for a moment, because there’s a part of me that believes that wasn’t part of the act. That his answer had meaning behind it. Personal meaning.

I don’t have time to think about it though, because the staff member moves to the side, allowing us to reach the bridge. It’s a rock-climbing wall that leads up to a thin bridge and down a slide for one more question. Once we pass this obstacle, we jump into the lake and swim for shore, and then our time is stopped.

“Get going,” Wilder yells, startling me. “Shit, sorry,” he whispers. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

I chuckle, turning my face away from everyone as I say, “It’s fine. Great timing.”

I start up the rock wall, and I’m about to step on one of the pegs when one of his hands connects with my foot and he says, “Push off me.”

He’s right behind me, so I push off his hand, and he sends me right to the top. He scours the rest like a freaking spider, then picks me up, draping me over his shoulder, and runs across the bridge. It’s hard for me to keep it together, because this is so ridiculous, and if we’re doing this for another basket of condoms and dildos, then our hard work will go unrewarded.

But to add to the fanfare, I yell, “Put me down! You never let me do anything.”

“Because you have the coordination of a geriatric wildebeest,” he yells back and then tosses me down the slide.

I roll down and almost off into the water but thankfully hang on.

“You almost threw me off.”

“It would be the first time you were wet in years,” he yells back.

“Doesn’t say much about you.”

He joins me, and we stand in front of Ellison. When did she get here?

With pursed lips, she looks us in the eyes and asks, “Do you feel truly happy in your marriage?”

“No,” Wilder says. “But I know we could be.”

“No,” I answer. “And I like to think there’s potential, but I just don’t know. He’s too selfish.”

“She’s too focused on work.”

“He thinks because he’s helping save the environment with his green roofs that my work isn’t important enough.”

“Because you could be writing about something other than putters.” He leans toward Ellison and whispers, “No offense.”

“We don’t see eye to eye, and I’m not sure we ever will.”

Ellison looks between the two of us and then says, “Say something nice about each other.”

I look at Wilder, my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath.

My mind draws a blank, and isn’t that incriminating?

Thankfully, Wilder steps in and says, “Even when she’s mad at me, she kisses me good night. Every night. I think it’s her way of saying that we might have a lot of animosity, but there’s still love there. She…she gives me hope, and that’s why I’m here.”

I wet my lips and look Wilder in the eyes. “He reminds me to not be so serious all the time, that there is more to life than just the day-to-day. That it’s okay to break routine. To let loose. To be the person that maybe I hold back from being.”

And isn’t that the most honest thing I’ve said through this entire obstacle course?

Smiling, Ellison moves to the side, and Wilder shouts, “Let’s go, Pips!”

We both leap into the water and swim to the shore. Wilder’s clearly faster than I am, to the point that he comes back and pulls me up by the waist, dragging me across the finish line, where we both sprawl across the grass, gasping for air.

“Impressive,” Sanders says as he stands over us. “Very impressive.”

“Thank…you,” I say, still trying to catch my breath.

“And for the amount of arguing I heard, incredibly impressive.”

“Fueled the fire,” Wilder says as he stands and offers me a hand. He helps me to my feet and then tugs me into his chest. He smacks me on the ass, surprising me. “Good job, Pips.”

When he pulls away, he undoes his wet suit, letting the sleeves and torso fall to his waist and allowing his chest to be on display once again.

Yum.

Okay, just…yum.

And I know I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t even be looking, but I’m sorry. Mika’s younger brother is hot. There, I said it. It’s out in the open. He’s hot.

Hard not to notice. And if we were married, I would notice, so this is okay, as far as I’m concerned. Just playing the part…

“Are we sure they answered all the questions correctly?” Chad asks as he walks up to us. “It seems like they were granted access to the next obstacle rather quickly.”