Chapter 411
"I'm done playing. You play by yourself." She struggled to get up, but he forcefully pressed her back into the seat.
Adrian Sinclair placed a game token into her palm, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't play today, you won't get another chance later."
The surrounding crowd erupted in cheers, speaking languages she couldn't understand.
She didn't see what was so fascinating about this game that it warranted such a large crowd stopping to watch.
Anna Ross stared at the cold coin in her palm, and bad memories flooded back. She had once been obsessed with claw machines but never succeeded.
She remembered being mercilessly mocked by a friend once. Since then, she had refused to ever try again.
"I'd rather—"
Before she could finish her refusal, Adrian suddenly grasped her hand and inserted the token into the machine. He guided her hand to the joystick, his warm palm covering the back of her hand.
"Relax. It's just a game." His deep voice came from behind her.
Anna saw in the machine's reflection that he was leaning over behind her, his tall frame completely enveloping her. His hand tightly wrapped around hers, warmth spreading from her hand to her heart.
She instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but he held it even tighter. He guided her to move the joystick, accurately stopping it above a brown bear plush toy.
"Press it." His voice was much gentler than usual.
As if bewitched, Anna pressed the button. The claw descended steadily, hooking the bear plush. Adrian gave her hand a slight shake, and the toy smoothly dropped into the chute.
"!"
Anna's eyes widened in disbelief at the successfully grabbed plush toy. This was the first time in her life she had ever won a stuffed animal from a claw machine.
She happily withdrew her hand, bent down, picked up the bear, and hugged it tightly. She finally managed to grab a toy!
In her excitement, she didn't notice how radiant her smile was. Adrian watched her smile, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
He hadn't seen such a genuine smile on her face in a long time.
"Adr—" Anna smiled, looking at the pile of plush toys on the table, but stopped abruptly.
Had she almost used such an intimate name for him?
"Hmm?" Adrian raised an eyebrow. A gust of wind had just blown past, and he only saw her lips move.
Anna's cheeks flushed. She quickly corrected herself. "I meant, let's give these toys to everyone."
There were too many plushies. She couldn't possibly take them all.
Adrian nodded and announced in a foreign language that the toys were free for the taking. The crowd cheered and surged forward, frantically grabbing the plush toys.
Anna didn't have time to dodge and was nearly knocked over by the crowd. Adrian swiftly pulled her into his arms, shielding her as he pushed through the crowd.