Page 55 of Accidentally Falling For My Best Friend
“You’re thinking pretty loudly back there, Parker,” Oak says, surprising me and drawing me out ofmy thoughts.
“Ha, yeah I guess I was. I hadn’t realized you woke up,” I admit, squeezing him tighter to me. I really don’t want to get out of bed.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“Nah, I was just thinking about today,” I answer vaguely.
He makes a noncommittal grunting sound and turns toward me in the bed so our faces are right in front of each other. “Are you ready?” he asks, wearing a very somber expression and my gut drops in response.What could possibly have him looking so serious?“All of your energy and focus needs to be on beating Beck and Cody today in our football game,” he deadpans.
“What the fuck man?” I say laughing as I shove his shoulder jokingly “I thought something was seriously wrong!”
“Not yet, but we need to set the tone! I’m the defending champion and this is Cody’s first Thanksgiving with us. They’re engaged now, so we need to properly welcome him to the family by beating his ass in flag football.”
“I’d rather you stay away from his ass, thanks,” I tease, and he finally ditches the serious expression to laugh with me.
Oak rolls his bottom lip into his mouth, and the mischievous glint in his eyes has me bracing for what I know will be a bratty comment.
“He does have a nice ass though,” he comments in a serious tone, slowly blinking at me with false innocence.
Okay, even I wasn’t prepared forthat.
“Oak, he’s practically your brother!” I shout. But I can’t stop myself from laughing as I scold him. “You can’t say things like that about your brother’s fiancé.”
“My family’s treated you like a brother for years, and I’m constantly thinking about your ass,” he says casually.
He did not just call me his brother.I roll on top of him so that I have him pinned to the bed, staring at him seriously as he grins up at me with wide eyes. “I am not, nor have I ever been ‘like abrother’ to you. Shut the fuck up with that shit. You’ve always been my best friend and it is perfectly normal for people to have sex with their best friend,not with their brother,”I insist, grinding my hardening cock down into his.
“Calm down, Ranger. Obviously, I’m joking,” he says rolling his eyes, but the smug look he can’t quite hide makes it clear his comment was meant to get a rise out of me.
“Brat,” I mutter, moving off of him. “We should get ready. We need to leave soon.”
We makea lap when we arrive at Oakley’s grandparent’s house, saying hello and making sure we see everyone before we focus on our game. The Turkey Bowl has been happening since I met Oakley. Even before I was included in the festivities, I remember him talking about how excited he was for it, and him bragging about winning to his brothers who were on the losing team. There’s an actual gold trophy they engrave every year with the team captain’s name and the brothers all fight for the prime spot. His grandfather no longer plays, but his dad takes it just as seriously as Oak.
“Okay, everybody listen up!” Gregory yells, immediately getting the attention of the crowd that’s gathered in the giant backyard. “We have some fresh blood here today, so we need to make sure our teams are evened out and everyone knows the rules. Anyone who wants to play, please line up over by the treehouse there, spectators please move onto the back deck for your own safety. From this moment on, if you’re in the grass, we’ll assume you’re playing. This isflagfootball people, but we all know how rough things can get! You’ve been warned.”
A few people move to the back deck whereour moms are already set up with mimosas petting Spot, and Beck’s new rescue, Duke. All of Oak’s brothers—plus Cody, Jordan and Adrian—are gathered by the tree ready to play. The crowd also includes a few cousins, some of Oak's brothers’ friends, and even Jordan’s dad, the only other person who’s Greg’s age and is still willing to participate instead of drinking on the deck.
“Last year’s winning team captain, Oakley, please step forward with your selection of which family member will be the second captain,” his dad dramatically announces.
Oak wears a cocky as fuck smirk as he walks forward to face the crowd. “Cody, as an official welcome to our family, and as a congratulations on your recent engagement, I would like to nominate you as our second team captain. Beckett, don’t think that means I’ll go easy on you,” he warns.
“Who says I’m picking Beck?” Cody teases as he bounces to Oakley’s side and everyone laughs. Cody tends to have that effect on people, leaving everyone around him laughing and smiling no matter the situation. When we were kids, I used to wish I could be more like that, the way that Oakley was, but I’m glad I’ve let go of those thoughts and can appreciate that it’s okay to not be the person everyone is drawn to. Especially on a day like today where I don’t want anyone looking at my relationship with Oakley too closely.
Cody chooses first anddoespick Beckett, surprising no one. Oak chooses me like he always does and then it's a mix of the three other Caldwell brothers and their friends and family. The dads act offended when they’re chosen toward the end, but Cody picks them both for his team and they’re happy to be together.
The game starts out with Oak acting as our quarterback, throwing an easy pass to me. I'm able to quickly dart around Lincoln’s attempts to pull off the flags clipped around my waist, he’s probably way too short to be covering me, and we score the first points. Cody congratulates us, but Beck and Lincoln lookpissed. Their frustration only grows as Jordan’s dad fumbles an easy pass, and we regain possession without them scoring.
“Wow, I thought we might have to try this year with Cody joining your team, but it looks like you’ll be the one’s singing yet again, Beck,” Oak taunts as we get ready for the next play.
The losing Caldwells have to perform a holiday carol on the ice before the national anthem during a home game in December. The bet’s been going on since Oak’s grandpa was playing with his own siblings and it’s become a fan favorite, blasted all over social media. The stakes are definitely high since none of them can sing, and Beck hates cheesy public displays. I know the players love it when he loses, though.
“Fuck off, Oakley,” Beck fires back, and as competitive as I am, I can’t help but laugh to myself at how into the sibling rivalry they both get. And not just them, Lincoln looks equally pissed as he gets ready to cover me, and Harrison and Dominic on our team are throwing their own taunts at the opposition. As the two eldest, Beckett and Oakley always seem to be the ring leaders though.
Oak gets the football, and turns toward his younger brothers looking for an opening. They’re both being covered, so I raise my hands, not needing to do any more to draw his attention. His throw is a little long and I rush to get under it just in time. As soon as I have possession, I’m knocked to the ground by a heavy weight colliding into my side. The fall is more disorienting than painful, and I do a quick check to make sure my pump and monitor are still in place, but I’m good. Before I can even get my bearings to figure out what happened, Oakley is dragging Lincoln off of me and shoving him away with both hands.
“What the fuck are you doing? This is flag football, you fucking asshole!” Oakley’s yelling right in Lincoln’s face, shoving him back again.
Lincoln looks just as surprised as I feel at Oakley’s outrage, muttering, “I tripped. It was an accident,” as hebacks away.
