Page 23 of Accidentally Falling for Her
I’ll just ignore the fact that I might be watching the woman I’m in love with fall in love with someone else.
16
SAGE
JUNE
Hockey is way more fun than I’d realized.
I can’t remember ever watching a game before meeting Oakley, but now that my boyfriend’s family owns a team, I’ve quickly become a fan. The playoffs are happening right now, and the fact that the Werewolves are still in them is apparently a huge deal for the team. Oakley has taken us to their fancy box for all the home games. Experiencing the crowd and the game in person is so much fun. Whenever they’re out of town, like tonight, we watch the games live too.
“Can I have another glass?” Aspen asks as we all move from the couch in Oakley and Parker’s penthouse to the dining room table. They have a cute charcuterie spread to go with our wine. It all looks very fancy, but I’ve learned that Parker is a type 1 diabetic, and Oakley tries to support him by maintaining a low carb lifestyle that makes managing hisblood sugar levels a bit easier. Aspen and I are similar, always buying the other’s favorite foods when we grocery shop, getting the little treats for the other that we might not get ourselves. I always make sure to get the champagne we had in Paris whenever I see it, and we love to pick up macaroons for each other when we pass bakeries.
I love how supportive Oakley is of his best friend; it's probably one of my favorite things about him. They remind me a lot of Aspen and me with how close they are and how they prefer to do everything together. This whole double-dating arrangement has worked out so much better than I’d dare to hope. Oak and Parker are both really great guys, and I’m sure if Aspen or I were dating our boyfriend without the other seeing their best friend, we would still be very happy in that relationship. But the four of us always hanging out has been amazing.
I know it's still early in the relationships, we’ve only been seeing them for about a month, but it’s easy to fantasize about what this could eventually become if we continue to date them. Moving away from Aspen doesn’t sound as horrible if it was to live with her boyfriend's best friend. We could all still be neighbors. Still do everything together. It sounds perfect.
Parker grabs a second bottle of wine. Even though we finished the first, the four of us drank it throughout the entire hockey game, so no one has more than a faint buzz. The night is young, though. I’m definitely not tired after the excitement of watching hockey. “We should play a drinkinggame!” I suggest, clapping at the thought of how fun this could be.
“What do you have in mind?” Oakley asks, sitting up straighter at the idea. He and Parker are quite competitive, and I love that he’s so quick to agree.
“Truth or Dare!” I announce, grinning at Aspen who nods indulgently at the idea. It's been years since we’ve played, but it was always fun in college.
Parker opens the bottle and refills our glasses, asking “Who goes first?” before joining where we’re all sitting at the table.
“Me,” Aspen volunteers, smiling at her boyfriend. “Parker, you can ask,” she adds.
“Okay, Aspen, truth or dare?” he teases. Parker was much more reserved than Oakley when we first met them, but he’s quickly opened up as he’s grown more comfortable around us. Aspen seems much happier since they started dating, too. Not that she was unhappy before, but she was always very focused on her career and feeling the stress of owning a business. He’s helped her have fun outside of that while still allowing her time to focus on her passions.
If the four of us are hanging out at one of our places, Parker will often work on his puzzle books next to where she sketches. Oakley and I prefer to be a bit louder, watching TV or joking around while we attempt to cook. Neither of us has much experience but we’ve decided we’d both like to improve. Following a recipe is quite similar to a lab procedure or experiment, so I’ve madesome pretty good meals, even with Oakley attempting to distract me.
“Truth!” Aspen says, drawing my focus back to her. That isn’t the answer I was expecting. Whenever we used to play this back in the day, Aspen would always request a dare.What a funny thing for me to remember.
“Okay, um… what’s the best date you’ve ever been on?” Parker asks.
She doesn’t answer right away, chewing on her lip before looking over at me, like I might be able to answer for her. But Parker is the first boyfriend of Aspen’s I’ve ever met, so I’m curious to hear what she’ll say as well.
“Hmm, that’s a tough one. I would have to say when Sage surprised me with a trip to Paris,” she finally says, grabbing my hand as she continues.What a sweet answer. I’m glad that she chose not to focus on how new she is to dating and instead share such a special memory. It makes me light up, my heart feeling completely full as I listen to her recount our trip.
“Wow, that sounds amazing. Best friend datesarethe best,” Oakley responds.
Parker agrees and even tells us about a special best friend trip Oakley took him on for a movie premiere that sounds right up his alley.
I love that the guys don’t call her out on not choosing a date with a previous boyfriend, or even one of the dates she’s been on with Parker. That was probably what he’dbeen thinking when he’d asked, but they’re both easily supportive in their responses.
Aspen smiles at Parker “Okay, my turn to ask. Oakley, truth or dare?”
“Definitely dare.” He’s already sitting at 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 laugh because I probably would have chosen the same dare.
“Is that something you’re into? Watching your boyfriend kiss someone else?” Oakley asks with a teasing tone.
“Maybe,” she answers, smirking at me, no doubt remembering all the times we were on the other end of that same dare.
“It’s not like you’ve never kissed before, we just want to watch,” I encourage as I recall all the times Aspen and I used to kiss.I miss it.
“But, itislike we’ve never kissed before,” Parker responds, and I must have misheard him, distracted by my daydreaming, because that can’t be right.
