She grinned. “Nope. But Patty made it sound like fun.”
I glanced across to the other board and saw Mac standing next to her own mother, who gave me a wide smile.
I waved woodenly and then sighed again. Random assignments, my ass.
Well, there was one way out of this mess. I’d just throw the game. It wouldn’t be my finest moment, but it would get me away from Mac. That worked for me.
“Can we take a few practice tosses?” Mom asked.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
Then I watched as my mother tossed a one-pound blue beanbag about six feet wide of the board. Her second attempt wasn’t much better. It went well over the target. Mac actually had to dart out of the way to avoid being hit.
God, throwing this game was going to be harder than I thought.
We skipped the coin toss and just picked our lanes. I had no problem with Mac and Patty taking the board opposite me, alternating tosses to try to get them in the hole of the board near my feet.
Patty only managed to get one on the board. Mac landed two in the hole and two on top, giving our team a score of seven right out of the gate.
I went next and missed the board on all four tosses.
Brushing the dust off my hands, I made ayikesface. “Guess I should have taken some practice tosses too.”
Mac’s gaze narrowed on me before watching my mother land two points for Team Mom.
The next turn had our score climbing to sixteen, thanks to Mac, and Mac alone.
When I flubbed another three tosses, Mac held up her hands. “Time-out!”
“There’s no time-out in cornhole,” I argued.
“Well, excuse me if I don’t trust your knowledge of the sport. You clearly have no idea how to play,” she said, striding across the lawn separating us.
“That’s okay!” Patty called happily. “I need another drink.”
“Oh, me too!” Mom declared and hurried off.
“What are you doing?” Mac said when she stood toe to toe with me.
Ignoring her angry eyes and her legs in those shorts, I crossed my arms and looked down my nose at her. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, you are throwing this game on purpose, and it’s really fucking obvious because our moms are terrible.”
I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Funny how our moms got paired up and we got partnered together too. I’m starting to think Maggie didn’t pick these names out of a hat after all.”
Mac blinked, then scowled. “It doesn’t matter. Just stop cheating.”
I leaned down to scowl back. “I am not cheating. Maybe I’m rusty, okay?” My eyes narrowed further, daring her to call me on it. “Maybe something is affecting my performance.”
She tilted her pointed chin and rose onto her tiptoes. “I’ve never known your performance to be affected.”
My mouth dropped open. Was she—? Did she just?—?
“Alright, kids!”
My mom’s voice had us springing apart from where Mac and I had gravitated toward one another.
My teammate shot me one more vicious look before marching back over to her side of the lawn.
