The Billionaire's Sweet Trouble

43

Sebastian

I stood up and went to the mechanical bull. All eyes were on me, especially the Trebles and the ex. I bet the latter was expecting for me to fall down easily, so he would have a good laugh.

I rode the machine, relaxing my body and swaying along with the bull's motion. Everyone was watching me, waiting for me to fall. I raised my hand in the air for balance and kept on holding the rope as long as I could.

The audience cheered, getting louder every minute, encouraging me to keep going. I pressed my thighs against the machine, and increased my hold on the ropes, until the machine got faster and faster that I couldn't control. I lost my grasp and dismounted from the bull.

Everyone cheered and congratulated me for having the longest time so far, including the Trebles. But the ex learned to zip his mouth and left.

"Congrats for winning. Wow, that was so cool. You surprised me." Sweet gave me a quick hug when I returned to her side.

"Thanks."

I took the bottled water she offered and sat beside her on the bench.

"You did a great job. I'm sure you had some experience in bull riding."

"Yeah, during university days, on weekend frat parties."

"Oh, really?" her eyes lit up. "Interesting."

"I did some crazy stuff in college, especially on weekends. I hang out with my frat buddies in a pub, get drunk, and do mechanical bull riding. Among us, it was always a competition, who would last longer in the bull machine."

"That sounds fun. What else did you guys do for fun?" Her eyes dilated, curious.

"Hmm...car racing, playing poker, fighting and a lot of stuff," I opened the bottled water and drank the water, then said, "after that ride, I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too." She stood up. "Come, let's grab something to eat. Do you like corn dogs?"

"Ah, anything, as long as there are no peanuts. I'm starving."

We grabbed some corn dogs, salad, and fries at one booth. Then we went to Sweet's home, so I could try Erin's potato salad, which was originally her mother's recipe.

We rode Sweet's pickup and arrived at her family's home shortly.

The Trebles have a charming country house made of wood and bricks. A short stair leading to the porch, then at the main door. They painted the house in beige and white and have a slightly low-slope roof covering it entirely.

"Come in," Sweet invited me inside, "sorry about the clutter," she said while picking in haste a romance book, hairbrush, handy mirror and other stuff lying on the couch.

"It's okay. You can leave them there, don't mind me." I noticed a small stuffed toy on the floor. I picked it up and put it on the center table.

"Wait for a sec, I'll just put these in Erin's room," she said and ran upstairs.

Alone, my eyes roamed at every corner of the living room. There was a gray sofa with colorful knitted throw pillows in the corner, a mahogany center table in the front, and an enormous TV screen on a rack. Inside the rack was an old DVD player, vintage 1980s record player, little figurines, wedding souvenirs, academic books and others. Photos in picture frames were hanging on walls and standing on top of a cabinet.

What caught my attention was the wall of fame across the stairs. There were Sweet and the twins, Erin and Colton. I stood there scanning all the awards, merits and achievements, then focused at Sweet's from primary to college. As I expected, she got too many - awesome attitudes, five-star academic awards, homework hero, aspiring author, leadership award, best in English, champion in declamation, perfect attendance, Writing Wizard, Dean's list, Salutatorian, etc.