The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Author:Mia Sosa [Sosa, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Lina

I’m sure I misheard him, so I raise my hand. “Excuse me, James?”

He spins around and gives me a cheerful smile. “Yes, Carolina?”

“I think the heat’s gotten me all”—I cross my eyes—“loopy. Did you say we’re playing ball? Like basketball? Baseball?”

Before he answers, a large transparent inflatable ball with human legs appears from behind the barn and comes charging toward us. Everyone scrambles out of the way.

“It’s the Kool-Aid Man!” someone yells.

“Wanda, quit playing,” James shouts, his eyes crinkling with laughter. “We’re supposed to be the grown-ups here.”

Wanda, James’s wife, bumps him and cackles when he stumbles back. James straightens to his full height and looks at me. “To answer your question, Carolina—”

“Lina’s fine.”

“To answer your question, Lina,” James says, “we’re playing bumper ball, and all that means is, you’re going to be the ball and you’re going to do the bumping.” He directs his attention to the rest of the couples—there are seven of us in all—and rubs his hands like an evil villain. “The goals are to have fun, let out some aggression, and work as a team. The object of the game is to stay within the orange cones. If you get bumped out of bounds, you’re done. The last couple remaining within the cones at any point in the game will be crowned the winner. Simple enough?”

Everyone nods.

“Oh, one more thing,” James says. “Your hands must remain in the ball at all times. If you use your hands in any way other than to hold on to the straps on the inside of the ball, you’re disqualified.”

I turn to Max. “Do you see what you’ve gotten me into?”

Max gives me a self-satisfied grin. “I know. Isn’t it great?”

“All right, folks,” Wanda says. “Let’s suit up.”

This seems like a lot to put us through for the privilege of not sleeping on a barn floor. Especially when I consider that some of these couples aren’t smiling and may have missed James’s “have fun” part of the speech.

“Okay, what’s our strategy?” Max asks.

He’s taken off his button-down, so he’s returned to Hartley the Hottie status, and I want to bump the shit out of him just for that. If I’m subjected to one more that-was-close moment like the one we just had in the room, a cold shower won’t be enough to cool me down.

I see ice baths in my future. Lots and lots of ice baths.

Wanda, who’s a sweetie with a wicked streak, was nice enough to give me early access to the T-shirt each participant is supposed to receive at the end of the program. I’ve paired it with boxers I borrowed from Max. “Let’s just run over everyone.”

Max purses his lips appreciatively. “That works.”

I slip into the shoulder straps, pushing through the momentary bout of claustrophobia that assaults me.

“You okay in there?” Max asks.

I grasp the handles and lean over, so I can see him from the top of the ball. “I’m good. You?”

“Excited. I tried to convince my best friend, Dean, to do this at a local rec center we go to, but he refused.

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