“Two points,” Uncle says. Aunt chuckles.
I shake my head, keeping my position on the floor.
“Picking grass?” Wen says.
I flare my nostrils. Dad is laughing behind me.
“Mad Bull eating grass?” Leo chuckles. At this point, I’m sure this Leo bastard is messing with me. Fuck the game, I’m first taking care of this man. I grab my slipper and throw it at him.
He dodges it easily, laughing. But his laughter turns silent to my ears when another laugh echoes in the room. I turn my head and see my handsome man laughing while looking at me. A smile finds its way onto my face despite my frustration.
But then I look at everyone’s shocked faces. Leo’s laughter didn’t go silent to my ears, it went silent literally because he is also shocked. Then I remember, this is the first time our family is watching him laugh.
He also notices everyone’s shocked faces, and his laugh fades into a smile. I feel the urge to jump on him and kiss him until he goes breathless, I mean, until I go breathless. I’ve never seen him breathless, and now I want to see how he will look. Hot as hell, obviously.
I take my eyes away from him before someone catches me ogling. I get up from the floor.
“Stranger.”
Wen’s eyes widen. “Ohhh… that… damn,” she hits her knee.
Dad comes to me and ruffles my hair. “You lose this time.”
I nod with a fake sob, wiping my nonexistent tears.
Wen and I take the empty snack bowls and leave for the kitchen while everyone else also leaves the game room. It’s already 10 p.m., so it’s sleep time.
On our way back to the stairs, we hear two female voices. Of course, our mothers.
We tiptoe and hide in a corner to peek at them. They are not alone, they are interrogating Zoan.
“You don’t feel any kind of discomfort when Avi hugs you, right?” Aunt asks.
Zoan nods.
She and Mama exchange a glance, then look back at Zoan.
Mama asks, “And of course, when I hug you, you don’t feel discomfort either?”
He nods.
“But Avi hugs you differently than Abi,” Aunt chuckles. “She is a very clingy child. Do you never feel like pushing her away?”
I narrow my eyes at the word clingy.
Zoan shakes his head.
Aunt nods, as if it’s good news. “Do you feel uncomfortable when Wen or Iselyn hug you?”
“As long as it’s for a short time, same with Mom.”
“So you don’t like it when women in general touch you, however biologically or emotionally close you are to them,” she pauses, “except for Avi.”
He nods.
Aunt and Mama exchange another knowing look. These women are on a mission today, and their determination is palpable.
Aunt lowers her voice. Wen and I tilt our heads to hear better. “And you had no problem with her marriage?”
