What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 19

When Casey and I approached the front door of the house, we let go of each other's hands and went to our room.  The boys were still playing FIFA. "Don't you guys ever do anything else?" I asked as I sat down on James' lap grabbing the controller from his hand and taking over. "Hey! I was kicking their asses!" He complained. "Good for you." I looked over and stuck my tongue out at him. "Oh yeah? Alright, that's it." He grabbed the controller from my hands and tossed it to the floor before tickling me. "Ah! James stop!" I half screamed half laughed. "Not a chance. Boys, a little help here?" He looked over at the seven other boys who were smiling at our stupidity. "DON'T YOU DARE!!" I threatened, but I was still fucking laughing so naturally, they all joined in. I had hands all over me. Not like that. James was tickling my armpits, Jake, my sides, Charlie, my feet, Casey, my neck, Tom, my stomach, and the rest of the boys were just touching random body parts like my arms and legs. I was crying I was laughing so hard. "Guys!! Stop! I'm gonna pee my pants!!" I yelled, but they didn't stop. "Please! I'm sorry! You can play FIFA all you want!" I yelled through my laughter. The boys started laughing and slowly but surely, the only person left with their hands on me was James. "You promise to never interrupt us during a game again?" He looked down at me and raised his eyebrows. "I promise." I said, still trying to catch my breath. He grinned and removed his hands from under my armpits. I stayed on his lap and grabbed his controller for him. "Here." I handed it to him and he just set it back down. "Nah. You were right. We should do something." He looked from me to the boys. "Any ideas?" He asked us. "Trut—" "I swear to god Charlie, if you say truth or dare I will suffocate you with your pillow." I interrupted. He held his hands up defensively, "ok, ok. Never mind then." He said. "What's wrong Aria? Scared you'll have to get another lap dance?" Barclay smirked and the rest of the boys chuckled. James looked down at me and gave me a smug smile. I just rolled my eyes. "Why can't we do something that won't turn sexual?" I suggested with my most innocent smile. "Because it's so much fun making you feel uncomfortable." Tom said. "Rude." I glared at them and they all laughed. "Fine. Nothing sexual. Did you have anything specific in mind?" Casey asked me. "Have you guys ever played football?" I asked. "Uh, that's what we were just playing..." Jake said with a confused look. I sighed. "No, I mean American football. You know, a brown, eye shaped leather ball?" I said. "I've heard of it, but I don't know how to play. And we don't have a ball." Chris said. "Come on." I stood up and helped James to his feet. "Where are we going?" Reece asked me. "I'm gonna teach you guys how to play real football." I said as I pulled out a football from my bag. "I brought it just in case." I smiled and led the boys to Louis's backyard. It was big enough for a little pick-up game and there were lights so we could see. Once we got to the backyard, I explained how to play and the boys looked slightly confused, so I went over it again. "So pretty much, one person throws the ball to someone on his team that's open and then that person tries to get it to the end of the field to score. But the other team tries to stop them from scoring?" Casey asked. "Yes. Exactly. Its just like your football, but instead of using your feet, you're using your hands. And you're allowed to tackle." I told them, and they all seemed to understand now. "Alright. So I'll be first captain. Who wants to be second?" I asked, looking at all of them. "I'll do it." James said. "Ok. So I'll pick who I want first, then you, and we'll alternate until nobody is left." I said. James shook his head and I looked around to see who I wanted. "Jake." I chose first. "Casey." James picked next.

"Barclay."

"Tom."

"Charlie."

"Chris."

It was my pick and all that was left was Reece, so he came over to join us. "You ready to get your butts kicked?" I smirked. "In your dreams." James smiled and we split up in our teams and got in a huddle to devise a play. We decided that I would be the quarterback, and everyone else would be receivers. Turns out James was the quarterback for the other team too. I tossed him the ball. "Here, You're gonna need the advantage." I said. "Damn Aria. I had no clue you were so competitive." Jake looked at me with a surprised look. "Oh this is nothing. Wait until we actually start playing." I said, getting into position. 

The boys and I had been playing for roughly thirty minutes and they were a lot better than I thought they would be. We were tied 12-12 in the second half. "Ok. You guys wanna take a break for halftime, or keep going?" I asked. "Let's take a drink break." Charlie said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. I nodded my head and smiled. We all walked inside and grabbed a bottle of water. "This is actually really fun. Good idea Aria." Reece said before taking another drink. "Thanks." I smiled and put my water back in the fridge to keep it cold. After we were all hydrated, we went back outside to continue the game. "Aria, can I be the...whatever it's called. The guy who throws the ball?" Jake asked walking up to me. "It's called the quarterback. And yeah." I tossed him the ball and took his spot in front of Casey. When I looked up Casey was smirking at me. "You're about to get taken down." He winked. "That would require you being able to catch me first." I winked back. "I think we've established that I can catch you." He chuckled. I shrugged my shoulders. "We'll see." I said smugly. "And...HIKE!" Jake yelled and Casey lunged forward trying to tackle me, but I spun out of his grasp and ran to the end zone. Jake noticed that I was open and threw the ball to me. It was a perfect throw right into my arms. "TOUCHDOWN!!" Jake and I yelled at the same time. I did a little end-zone dance before I gave the ball back to James and went to my spot. "You're sneaky." Casey said. "I said it wouldn't be that easy." I smiled. "HIKE!" James yelled and I jumped forward wrapping my arms around Casey's waist. We started falling and Casey wrapped his hands around my waist, pulled me to his chest and rotated his body that way he hit the ground and I landed in top of him instead of vice versa. "You okay?" He looked up at me. "I'm fine. Your body broke the fall." I said. He chuckled and tightened his grip on my hips. I didn't even realize he was still holding me. I giggled before pushing myself up and off of him. We finished the game twenty minutes later, the score ended up being 18-12, my team won. We all went inside and took turns taking showers. I let all the boys go before me because I assumed they would be fast. I was so wrong. By the time I could get in the shower it was already after midnight and the only other people who were awake were Casey and Tom. Tom was somewhere in the house and Casey was laying in our bed playing on his phone. "Do you need to use the bathroom before I take a shower? I shouldn't be too long." I whispered so I wouldn't wake anyone. "No. But do you want some company? I'd be glad to shower again." Casey winked and I felt little butterflies form in my stomach. "Mmm, I think I'll be fine on my own." I smiled and turned towards the bathroom. 

When I came out of the bathroom, the bedroom light was off and everyone was sleeping. Except Casey, who was scrolling through Twitter. "How the hell are you still awake?" I whispered once I climbed into bed next to him. "I was waiting for you." He said as he clicked his phone off and set it next to him. "You didn't have to do that." I whispered shyly. "I know, but I wanted to say goodnight, so...goodnight." He whispered before leaning over and placing a soft kiss on my cheek. I felt my face get warm and the butterflies from earlier took flight in my stomach. "Goodnight." I whispered, and we both fell asleep.