Page 20 of Accidentally Falling For My Best Friend
PARKER
June
“Can I have another glass?” Aspen asks as we all move from the couch to the dining room table to snack on the low-carb charcuterie spread that’s there. We don’t completely avoid carbs, but snacks without them make it easier to keep my blood sugar levels stable, so they tend to be our default. I detour to the kitchen and grab a second bottle of wine from our built-in wine fridge. The Werewolves game was out of town tonight, so the girls are at our place and we all watched them lose from the comfort of our living room.
“We should play a drinking game!” Sage suggests, clapping at her own idea.
“What do you have in mind?” Oakley asks, sitting up straighter at the suggestion.Competitive little shit.I chuckle as I search for the wine opener. Oakley loves any type of game that he can win, but I don’t think drinking games have a clear “winner” and he isn’t usually a big drinker. I don’t think he’s had more than a glass all night.
“Truth or Dare!” Sage aims a conspiratorial grin at Aspen who nods eagerly at the idea.
I open the bottle of wine and bring it back into the room, refilling everyone’s glasses before I sit down and ask, “Who goes first?”
“Me,” Aspen volunteers, smiling sweetly up at me. “Parker, you can ask,” she adds.
“Okay, Aspen, truth or dare?” I ask dramatically, playing along. I haven’t had much to drink, maybe one glass throughout the whole hockey game, but it’s easy for me to relax in our little group.
“Truth!” she answers quickly.
“Okay, um… What’s the best date you’ve ever been on?”
“Hmm, that’s a tough one,” she says, chewing on her lip as she looks to Sage, like she’ll know the answer. “I would have to say when Sage surprised me with a trip to Paris,” she finally answers, grabbing her hand as she continues. “We got to go to shows during Fashion Week and then have dinner in the Eiffel Tower overlooking the city at night with all of the lights twinkling and the most delicious champagne,” she adds with a dreamy tone.
I know she would have loved that experience, but I’m surprised that she’s referring to it as a date in front of Sage.
“Wow, that sounds amazing. Best friend datesarethe best,” Oakley agrees.
Not what I was really going for when I asked. I guess I should have known that wasn’t the best question for her, but I didn’t think it through. With how she feels about Sage, anything they did would be more special than something she did with a boyfriend she didn’t actually care about, so I nod, pretending it was what I meant all along. “That sounds like when Oakley surprised me with tickets to the premiere of one of the huge action, super-hero films that I love. We flew out and got to meet the whole cast andsee the film before everyone else. It was unbelievable,” I tell the girls.
Aspen gives me a big smile. “That sounds perfect for you. Okay, my turn to ask. Oakley, truth, or dare?”
“Definitely dare,” he says, already sitting on the edge of his seat, ready to do whatever she requests.
Her smile grows. “Oakley, I dare you to kiss Parker in front of us,” she says, looking pleased with herself.
I freeze, grateful that I wasn’t taking a sip as she said that because I probably would have spit it back out.Did I just hear what I think I heard?Why would she want Oakley to kiss me? I told her that it’s never been like that between us.
“Is that something you’re into? Watching your boyfriend kiss someone else?” Oakley asks with a teasing tone.
“Maybe,” she answers, sharing another conspiratorial look with Sage.
“It’s not like you’ve never kissed before, we just want to watch,” Sage adds.
Wait.
Did she just say that we’ve already kissed? Why does she think that?
“But, itislike we’ve never kissed before,” I clarify.
“You two really expect us to believe that you’ve never fooled around?” Sage says with complete disbelief.
“Um, yes. Because it’s the truth?” I answer, meaning to sound confident, but it comes out like a question.
“Come on, not you too,” Oakley groans dramatically. “I thought you two, of all people, wouldn’t buy into the whole ‘best friends who are that close and live together must be fucking’ thing that so many people give us shit about,” he says sounding exasperated as he throws his head back, even though he’s still smiling.
The girls exchange another look, almost like theyfeel guilty, probably about the assumption, before Sage turns to Oakley. “It’s not a bad thing, honey,” she assures him. “Aspen and I have kissed plenty of times,” she adds casually.
“Really?” he asks, perking up at that. I look at Aspen who is definitely avoiding my gaze. Those kisses might not mean anything to Sage, but even if I didn’t know how Aspen really feels, the blush on her cheeks and her guilty expression make it clear to me that Aspen does not feel the same way.Probably why she’s never mentioned that to me either.We might be friends now and spend a lot of time together, but we haven’t had any deep discussions. I’m not surprised that she hasn’t been completely open with me about their history.
