venture • lrh

twenty-eight

PARTNER IN CRIME

*

Luke turned out to be just fine, but he was a little dizzy from all the punches he got to the head. Alexis was lucky Calum stayed there for the help he could give. Luke needed a few stitches.

"Wait, what?" Alexis exclaims. "You can't quit right now! You know next week's the last game, and there will be scouts everywhere. You are number one on each list. You can't quit now. That would be stupid." Alexis tries to talk some sense into the blonde.

"She's right, Luke," Ashton agrees with the girl. Luke's deeply annoyed at the statement, but he knows they're right. One more game with this team, and he'll be gone. They might play nationals, but with the right scouts, he can go anywhere.

"You guys are lucky that I care for you," they chuckle about his words. Alexis drops the conversation and grabs her phone to scroll through Instagram; to see Calum's newest post. She jumps up, and the brightest smile appears on her face. Happy tears come into her eyes as she takes in what she's just read. "Finley, what's going on?"

"Calum is engaged!" She says happily. "She said yes!" Luke smiles and lifts her. "Fuck he was so nervous, but I didn't point it out. He was nearly sweating his balls off." Luke chuckles. "My best friend is getting married."

Luke presses his lips onto hers for a second. "You're adorable when you're excited. You know that?" Her smile gets brighter. As much as Ashton wants to give a snarky remark, he loves seeing them happy. "Just so you know, I said some things I don't mean back there. The guys wanted to know whether we had sex and shit and-" Alexis presses her lips to his.

"If you did it for a good reason, I'm fine with it."

"So are you guys gonna fuck on the couch or..?" Luke rolls his eyes but chuckles at his best friend.

"Do you mind?" Alexis asks, causing both the guys to look at her confused. They expected it from Luke, definitely not from her.

"Oh, I definitely do not," Luke says, feeling himself grow by the idea of fucking her on the couch. "I would if you said the word." He whispers in her ear right before he puts her down on the ground again. "So, can we game now?" Luke asks his best friend. Ashton nods as he sits on the couch.

"I'll go watch a movie," Alexis shares with the two guys. They both frown at her. "What's up with that face?" She asks them. "You guys are looking at me the very same way. I am just going to watch a movie. What's wrong with that?" She chuckles. She hasn't said anything wrong, and she knows that, but somehow she's second-guessing her plan now. 

"You know you can stay here, right?" Ashton tells her. She nods.

"I do, but the two of you need a little bromance moment since I've been interrupting those." She admits. "I'll be fine," she chuckles right after. She walks towards her room and lies on her bed, searching through Netflix to find a suitable movie.

Ashton and Luke start their game and curse out loud when something happens. Watching the two of them is basically a comedy show. Ashton pauses the game right before they even have a chance to lose. Luke exhales loudly and silently agrees with Ashton to start a new round so they don't have to lose.

"You know I'll go with you, right?" Ashton speaks. "I don't want to become your rival." He chuckles, knowing he'd lose all the time. Ashton wants to be on the same soccer team as Luke. They need to be together. Ashton would admit to that. Luke also would, but not out loud. He's already made his plans. If the scouts want Luke, they must take Ashton with them—either both or none.

"But you and she still haven't..?" Ashton starts carefully. Luke shakes his head.

"She's not ready," he answers. "I am not going to force her. Enough people have forced her... Including me." Ashton sighs. They both know he should tell her about that one time, but things feel so incredibly right that he doesn't want to make them feel wrong.