“
Oh, I see how it is.” Matt reached both his arms into the air. “Hang on, let me just do a few stretches.” Then he rolled his head from front to back. “Loosen up a bit.”
His little spectacle made me laugh, a genuine These are my friends; why not enjoy myself? kind of laugh, and my body finally relaxed.
“Hey, laugh all you want, but just remember half of my team is completely sober. We have a fifty-percent advantage.” He slung his arm around Taylor.
“Or disadvantage—have you never seen me play beer pong? I kind of suck,” she admitted.
“Shh, babe, this is the mental game. We’re just psyching them out. I know you can’t play for shit.”
I lifted my hair into a ponytail and pulled a hair tie from my wrist. “You do realize we can hear you, right?”
“You do realize I can hear you too?” Taylor added. “I mean, way to boost my confidence right before the big game,” she teased.
“I know, babe, and I’m sorry, but look—it’s working. Isla’s getting ready for a throwdown. She’s pulling her hair up and she’s all ‘Hold my purse.’ ”
“Purse?” Taylor mouthed.
I shrugged and forced back another smile. Game face, right?
Landon chuckled. “Okay, okay, let’s go. Someone needs to get their ass kicked before they just pass out altogether. I’m winning this game by merit, not default.”
As the game started, I found myself letting go. Colby drifted from the forefront of my thoughts. Forgotten were Landon’s supposed feelings for me. And I had fun. I laughed at how incredibly off our aims were. And when one of us succeeded by chance, we’d turn to one another and high-five without even a second thought. We were in sync. We were having fun. And we were winning. The perfect team.
Landon tossed the final ball. It bounced effortlessly into a cup, and I squealed as he covered his mouth with his hand. “Ohh, is that what I think it is?” he mocked the losing team. “Isla, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe we just kicked some serious ass.”
I stared at the table and nodded, my expression one of mock-seriousness. “Why Landon, I believe you are correct.”
He then busted out some sort of celebratory end zone dance.
Laughing, I nudged him and shook my head. “Okay, okay.” But when he wouldn’t stop, I finally grabbed both his hands. “Oh my god, we won. Now don’t spoil that with whatever this is!”
He flipped his hands so that he was now holding my wrist and tugged me into his arms. Then he pumped one hand into the air and shouted, “Victory!
”
”