The Kiss Keeper - Krista Sandor Page 0,51
the race need to line up!” announced one of the Woolwich uncles.
She turned to her fake boyfriend. “Just today, we’ve saved a full-bladdered child from peeing his pants in a tree, organized a scheduling nightmare, and thwarted a group of horny nuns. I think we can handle an obstacle course. Plus, you’re built like a…”
His lips curved back into that smirk of a smile. “Built like a what?”
She scoffed. “Give me a break! You saw what you did to those women of God! You’re like that snake in the Garden of Eden—but with better abs.”
“I don’t think snakes have abs, Heels.”
“You know what I mean.” She narrowed her gaze but couldn’t hold back a grin.
“On your marks!” her grandmother called from the starting line.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time,” she said as they weaved their way through the spectators to get to the starting line, edging in next to Leo and Leslie.
Leo glanced at her feet. “It’s nice to see you in something other than high heels.”
“Oh, shut your trap, Leo, and pay attention!” Leslie snapped, pulling the bandana over her husband’s eyes.
“Get set!”
Natalie pushed up onto her tiptoes, and Jake leaned in. “There are four obstacles. You’ve got the Hula hoop hop, the cone maze, a big jump over a seaweed pit, then you have to cross the length of a giant log and finally, ring the bell.”
“Got it,” he answered as she pulled the blindfold over his eyes.
“Listen for my voice,” she directed.
“Don’t worry. I would know your voice anywhere, Heels.”
She stared at her blindfolded fake boyfriend. That was a weird thing for him to say, but she didn’t have time to mull it over.
“Go!” her grandmother called.
With the awkwardness of twenty blindfolded individuals jostling for the lead, the Woolwich men lurched forward in a tangle of limbs and curse words muttered under their breaths. Lucky for her, Jake broke free of the pack.
“Hula hoops, five paces ahead! Hop, hop, hop!” she called as he approached the first obstacle.
Jake sailed through the hoops, dropping his feet inside the prostrate rings with laser precision.
“Cone maze, straight ahead,” she directed. “Two steps right. Four steps left.”
Jake wove his way through the narrow passage as if he were Luke Skywalker, and she was the Force, guiding him seamlessly through the battalion of cones.
“What’s next?” Jake asked.
“You’re going to sprint, and then I’ll tell you when to jump. This is the obstacle that disqualifies most competitors.”
Jake bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Where are the podiatrists?”
“Right here!” Leo cried, limbs flailing as he shot forward.
“Run, Jake! Run!” she ordered.
Like a thoroughbred champing at the bit, Jake took off. In the blink of an eye, he passed Leo and charged toward the mound of slippery seaweed. If he got caught here, it would be over. She’d seen many a Woolwich man thwarted by the slimy substance. She sprinted along the edge of the course with her gaze locked on Jake, timing his steps.
“Jump!” she cried as time seemed to compress and morphed into slow motion.
Jake leaned forward and pushed off just as Leo came up behind him. The two men hung in the air for a split second before Jake’s left foot landed on solid ground while Leo came up short, and the seaweed claimed its first casualty. With a thud, the podiatrist fell to the ground, knocking into Marcus. Both men flopped around in the slick greenish-brown pit like a pair of flounder on dry land.
She jumped up and down. “Run, Jake! Foot patrol is out of commission! All you have to do is cross the log.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the growing seaweed pile-up. Wives called out to their blindfolded husbands, trying to help them navigate the messy commotion when Leo clawed his way out. Strips of salty seaweed clung to his legs as Leslie yelled for him to run.
This wasn’t over yet.
“Where’s the log?” Jake asked, running in a zigzag with Leo gaining on him.
“Three paces to the left, then freeze!”
Jake edged over as his toes scuffed the log.
“I need you to channel your inner gymnast. Step up onto the log,” she directed.
Leo was closing in, but she couldn’t lose her cool. If he fell off, he’d have to start over, and they didn’t have a second to waste.
“Follow my voice and take it nice and slow,” she called as Leslie ran to her side.
“Get him, Leo! Jake’s only a few steps ahead of you. Knock his ass off the trunk and win this thing!”