Chapter Oakley
Oakley
“Can you please at least try to smile?” I ask Travis, who’s definitely not smiling when I answer the front door at Jameson and Dixon’s place. Because I got here first, of course, and I’m trying to get their asses moving so we aren’t late.
“No,” Travis answers, but I see his lips moving a little like they want to smile. He eyes what I’m wearing and cocks his head to the side. “Really?”
“What? There’s no reason not to show Kensley pride,” I say, proudly showing off my black Kensley Panthers shirt with red lettering.
“At least you’re not wearing your old jersey,” he says, pushing past me.
“You wanna wear my jersey, Trav?” I waggle my eyebrows at him, and he closes his eyes. “I’ll go grab it now.”
“Good lord, you really would, wouldn’t you?” He shakes his head at me, just as Dixon and Bates join us in their living room, both wearing Kensley shirts too.
“We ready for this?” Dixon says, his eyes bright and happy because he may have left Kensley, but his spirit will always be there. We lived and breathed football, and that hasn’t changed.
“Hell yeah!” I say, pumped up and ready, though, part of me wishes I was suiting up to go out on the field instead of sitting in the stands. “Just let me go get my jersey for Trav, real quick.”
“Fuck no,” Travis says, and I can’t hold back the laugh that escapes me. It’s just so fun messing with him.
“Leave my friend alone,” Jameson says, punching my arm.
“Please. He’s over you.” I wrap my arm around Travis’s shoulder. “He’s my best friend now.”
“Hey, fuck you too,” Dixon says, and I laugh.
“Oh Dixon, you know you’ll always be my number one, but you left me for this one.” I nod in Jameson’s direction.
Dixon wraps his arms around Jameson and raises his middle finger in my direction. “I made the right choice.”
Laughing, we head out the front door. As I start walking toward my truck, I notice they aren’t following. “What are you guys doing? Come on.”
“There’s no way we’re riding all the way to Kensley in that rust bucket,” Travis says, offending the shit out of me again as I clutch my heart.
“Don’t talk about her like that. She’s beautiful,” I say, looking at the farm truck I’ve had since my dad passed it on to me when I got my license during my sophomore year.
“I’m not riding in that thing. We’ll end up on the side of the road, for sure,” Travis says, completely serious.
“We can take my truck,” Dixon says proudly, nodding to his shiny new truck in his driveway.
“It has no personality whatsoever, man,” I say, sulking as I walk toward Dixon’s truck when they all climb in.
“Yeah well, at least it has airbags and power steering,” my former best friend says as I climb into the back seat next to Travis.
“Boring as fuck,” I grumble, and Travis seems amused.
We make it to Kensley an hour later in the shiny new, boring truck. I’m not surprised to see the stands are already packed, despite the game not starting for another thirty minutes or so. Everyone is talking and happy, pumped up for the first game of the season.
We, of course, are recognized by many people in the stands—some way older than us, some younger, and some our age. It doesn’t really matter. The entire town knows each other, and it feels like home.
When the game starts, Travis is still as tense as he always is. I don’t know how he can watch them down there in their black and red uniforms, playing this game with all that damn heart and determination, and feel nothing.
Me? I still smell the grass. I feel that football in my hands. I hear the crowd chanting my last name, even though right now, they’re actually cheering “Bates” because Little Bates is kicking ass tonight.
Jameson’s younger brother may pretend he doesn’t love it, but I’ve seen the kid play. He’s got a natural talent that’s nearly unmatched out there.
Especially now that I’m not out on the field.
I notice the new guy out on the field, next to Coach, but he’s wearing Kensley colors, instead of the blue and yellow I’m used to seeing him in. I can’t believe they hired a fucking Big Bend Bear.
When it’s all said and done, the Panthers kicked serious ass on the field. Winning 30–7. I had no doubt they would. We’re headed out to the parking lot when Brianna, a girl I used to hang out with, comes running up.
“Hey, I thought that was you.” She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a big hug before releasing me and saying hi to everyone else. “You guys heading out to your place?”
I assume she means my parents’ property. And yeah, I know the high schoolers around here likely still go there. It’s a quiet piece of land, out in the middle of nowhere and far enough from my parents’ house that they won’t be bothered.
“No, I have to get back,” Travis unsurprisingly answers for us all.
“Oh, come on, Travis. It’s Friday night. Let’s go have some fun.” I say, wrapping an arm around him in a move I can’t stop doing.
“No,” he dismisses me easily, but then Jameson steps in.
“Come on, Trav. Just for a bit. For old time’s sake.”
“I want to forget about old times,” he grumbles, but I know he’s giving in. Apparently, he can’t say no to Jameson. I’m only mildly annoyed by that fact because I’m finding I really like the fight.
We tell Brianna we’ll see her out there, and Dixon drives us out to my place. I should probably say hi to my parents, but they just came to Hayes this week and took me to dinner, so they’ll be fine.
My dad would probably kick my ass for coming to the house when he’s ready for bed after the game anyway. I’ll catch them another time.
When we get there, a bonfire is already set up, with logs and chairs around it. A truck with its door open has loud music playing, and I look around and smile. So many memories flood my mind of spending Friday nights like this.
Not about just getting drunk or laid. Instead, my memories are of good times, sitting around and talking about the games. Not surprisingly, Travis doesn’t take the beer I offer him, but Dixon and Jameson have no problem doing just that and settling in around the fire.
I wait for anyone to say one goddamn thing when Dixon snuggles up to his man, but not one word is said.
Thank fuck, because I really want to just kick back tonight and not have to beat anyone up for being a dickhead.
But I fucking will if they say one word or look at my best friend and his boyfriend the wrong way.
“I have to work tomorrow, Oakley,” Travis says as I gesture for him to sit next to Jameson and me by the fire.
“What? It’s Saturday,” I say, appalled.
He turns to look at the fire. “Yeah, they pay double on Saturdays.”
I know he’s working toward his goal of college, so I guess I can’t blame him. But who the fuck wants to work on the weekend when they don’t have to? “Fine. One beer.”
He shakes his head as I take a bigass gulp of mine and then watches as Dixon and Jameson make quick work of their first beers. “Yeah, I think one of us should probably stay sober so we can get home.”
“Such a stickler for the rules. We could just camp out here, you know.”
He’s already shaking his head. “I have to work.”
Damn him and his convictions. “Fine, Trav. We’ll get you home at a decent hour. Just relax, will ya?”
“Travis doesn’t relax,” Jameson says but it’s in a teasing, familiar way. For some reason, my hackles rise, like he knows Travis better than me or something. Which of course, he does, but it still bugs the shit out of me.
We all talk and hang out. I finish off two more beers, and Dixon and Jameson keep up with me. But when Travis is ready to go, we decide not to argue with him. Just as we’re climbing into the truck, Brianna catches up with me.
“Hey, you leaving?”
I nod. Travis and the other two are already in the truck as I hang back for a minute. “Yeah, we’re heading out. It was good to see you though.”
I mean that. She was fun and not just when we were naked. She’s a cool girl and knows her damn football. “Well, why don’t you hang back? I’ll give you a ride home.”
She’s doing that cute thing with her bottom lip, poking it out slightly and trying to entice me. But I don’t even think about it before I answer, “Nah, thanks. But I’m living in Hayes now.”
“Yeah. I know. I don’t care,” she says, her voice full of flirtation.
Travis is behind the wheel of the truck, clearly ready to go and seemingly annoyed when I look back at him. I should probably say yes to Brianna. She’s familiar and fun, but I really don’t want to miss the chatter in the truck on the way home.
Even if Travis will probably lecture us about drinking so much, despite that I’m barely even buzzed.
I’m a big guy—three beers doesn’t do much to me.
“Thanks, but I gotta get home. Maybe next time,” I say before jumping into the front seat, while Dixon and Bates make out in the back like we aren’t here.
Brianna looks disappointed but waves goodbye, and Travis doesn’t even wait for me to fasten my seatbelt before he pulls out and onto the gravel road leading to the highway.
“You could have gone with her, you know?” He seems agitated, gripping the steering wheel.
“Didn’t want to.”
He shakes his head but doesn’t say anything else. I’m not sure what his problem is or what to do to get the guy to loosen up.
But for whatever reason, I can’t wait to finally figure it out.