Contrary || l.p.

28. Game Plan

The whistle blew and the crowd began cheering as the boys clashed into each other in attempt to grab hold of the football. I watched as my little brother dashed past all of the others, hanging on to the ball for dear life.

"YES!" I screamed as I stood up with our side of the bleachers. "GO TRISTAN, GO!"

It wasn't long until he reached the final line, resulting in another touchdown for his team.

"Atta boy, Tristan! Way to represent," Liam shouted as he clapped loudly and cheered. He turned to my parents, who had their faces painted the colors of the school. "You have yourself quite a son, Bricketts. I'd like to formally congratulate you on having amazing children."

My parents laughed.

"Yeah, I'm known for having pretty amazing genes," Dad joked as he braggingly brushed off his shoulder.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. We both know it was all me," she crossed her arms and winked at me, causing me to shyly laugh.

Dad shrugged and sucked in a sharp breath. "So you think, woman. So you think."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Calm down. It was obviously both of you," I told them and they both looked at each other with smiles.

Liam turned to me with a huge grin. "Damn. I knew Tristan was good, but I didn't know he was that good," he said excitedly.

I scoffed jokingly. "What's that supposed to mean?" I leaned in close and muttered, "Are you doubting his potential?"

He rolled his eyes and playfully nudged me. "Shut up. You know what I meant," he said and we both laughed. "I cannot wait for him to be on the team. We need more players like him. He has quite the fucking talent!"

"If you love him so much, then why don't you adopt him?" I joked.

He scoffed. "Trust me, I would if I could."

"You can have him," Dad shrugged. "I never really liked him anyway," he said, earning a smack on the arm from mom. "What? I was kidding! He's my son!"

We all laughed and continued watching the game.

"Ah, crap," Dad muttered aloud and swirled the ice around his soda cup. "I'm outta soda. I'm gonna get a drink."

"Oh! I need one too. Can I come with you?" Liam asked him.

Dad nodded happily. "Sure! Why not?"

Liam stood up and turned to me. "Jess, do you want anything?"

"Oh! Yeah, get me a Pepsi®. Hold on," I said as I pulled out my wallet.

He caught me off guard as he place his hand on mine, with a tiny smile on his face. "No," he said softly. "It's okay. It's on me."

Even a simple gesture sets butterflies darting around my stomach, and I was so much in a trance, that I hadn't noticed that I had nodded and he had already left. I shyly put away my wallet and let my eyes wander to the game once again.

"You two are so cute," Mom said to me and crunched down the popcorn that she had with her. "I like him. He's really sweet."

I cracked a smile. "He can be...at times," I said with a nervous smile.

She waved a hand at me. "Oh trust me, I had the smae issue with your dad. Liam reminds me a lot of him when we were in high school. Bad boy attitude, piercings, and high ego, but secretly a sensitive sweetheart," she chuckled and shook her head. "But don't worry. They get better when they're older. I would know; I married him."