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Jimmy kicked at a patch of grass as their father took his turn, his beanbag also landing outside of the hole on the board. On Sam’s next turn, she flickered her eyes to Mike before tossing her bag. It hit the board with a resounding smack, and she smiled up at him as she met Jimmy’s high five.
The round finished with a cornhole from Jimmy, pulling their scores up to be tied. And as per Jimmy’s rules, the teams switched sides, Mike’s and Sam’s fingers brushing briefly as they passed each other.
“Tease,” she mouthed when she got to her spot. If she only knew. When he won, he’d be teasing her with much more than a simple drag of his index finger over her hand.
The next round progressed much like the first, with a lot of trash-talking and very little movement to tip the scales to a winning team. After switching sides yet again, Sam hit another cornhole, raising their scores to 14-12.
“When we win, you’re going to post a thirst trap in a pair of my shorts,” she said, loud enough that everyone in a half-mile radius could hear, earning a few snickers from the lingering crowd, although most had lost interest, going back to their food or sparklers.
“You placed a bet on this?” Jimmy asked, his head swiveling between Mike and Sam. “Well, damn,” Jimmy said. “That’s why you’ve suddenly got an arm,” he said to Sam. “Is that all I’ve needed to do this whole time? Put a wager on Mike for you to start trying?”
Her head popped up from where she’d been screwing the cap back on her water bottle. “You know…” Her eyes darted to Mike and back to Jimmy, and even though Mike couldn’t fully hear it, he watched her lips form the words. “You know about him and me?”
Jimmy angled his body to face Sam as they spoke, and Mike took the opportunity to score another three points. He didn’t know what his brother and Sam were saying, but he didn’t care. He had a game to win and a woman to get naked.
“Hey, James, let’s go!”
Mike chuckled at his dad’s use of his brother’s given name since no one ever did.
“We’re burning daylight here!”
Jimmy nodded and pivoted away from Sam, acknowledging that they had to finish this game before the sun set completely, extinguishing their light. Although, Mike couldn’t wait. The closer it got to dark, the sooner he could sneak away and collect his prize. Hopefully.
On their next tosses, Mike sank his shot, while Sam’s landed on the wood. At this point, he wasn’t even paying attention to his brother or father anymore because he couldn’t take his eyes off Sam, playing with one of her earrings and toying with the end of her ponytail. Her head seemed completely out of the game, so as they switched places the next time, he held on to her wrist, leaning down to her ear. “When I win, I’m going to tie you up and smack your ass. How’s that for a tease?”
She turned her honey eyes on him, alight with flirtation. “Oh yeah?”
He nodded, letting her go so she could continue to the board, walking backward.
“I don’t know. Sounds like a win to me,” she said with a cheeky little shoulder raise.
Mike swiped his palm over his mouth and beard, hiding a growing grin as he took his place opposite her.
“Okay,” Jimmy said, bouncing on his toes. “Let’s finish this, Sammy.”
With her gaze on the ground, the corner of her mouth threatened to tick up into a smile, and she bit into her bottom lip to keep it from blossoming. Mike didn’t hide his grin as he watched her mentally make her decision. It was so obvious. At least to him.
“Yeah, sure,” she said and lined up to take her shot, her arm jutted out behind her on an angle, so that when she followed through to release, the toss went wild, the beanbag landing a yard from the platform. “Oops.”
“Oops!” Jimmy threw his arms out. “Oops. We had a tie game, and we have to win by two, Sam. What are you doing?”
“All right, all right,” their dad said, and Mike nodded, holding his hand up to his brother. He wasn’t above knocking him around.
“Yeah, it’s cool.”
Sam twisted her face away, evidently no longer able to hide her smile.
Jimmy growled as Mike took his turn, hitting the board this time, but it didn’t matter.
Mike was going to win. Because Sam was going to throw the game.
19
Mike didn’t wait for the fireworks to start before he made his way to Sam’s table, drawing his knuckles across the back of her shoulder for her attention. She startled, wielding her red, white, and blue popsicle like a weapon when she whirled around to him.
“Come on,” he whispered, trying not to draw attention from Maggie, who sat next to her, juice from her own popsicle dripping down her skinny arm.
“Now?”
