Would You ↪ Bradley Simpson

thirty-one ↪ that time my dad got a little crazy

"So we have snacks, board games, video games, blankets, warm hoodies, a couple of films.. what else do we need?" Luce excitedly listed.

What else did we need? A very good escape plan, that's what we needed. My dad stood by the kitchen island, his elbows resting on the counter, not one bit impressed by whatever Nat was telling him. She was most likely warning him, asking him to behave, not to do any stupid thing like our previous game night. Long story. The doorbell chimed, followed by a soft unsure knock on the door, a sign that the boys were there. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. In a quick not-so-smooth Lara Croft's look-a-like jog — followed by a clumsy jump on the sofa — I was at the door before my dad. The four boys simultaneously shot their heads up and stared at me. I smiled slightly and unsurely let them in. Bradley, however, didn't move. He was wearing a button-up navy blue shirt tucked into his dark tight jeans, his curls had been styled a little so they weren't too messy, and he was wearing a pair of big grey thin round glasses. I took in his appearance and smiled.

"What" Bradley shyly stared like a lost puppy, his cheeks tinted a faded shade of pink.

I cracked a stifled laugh. "You look so English"

He half-frowned. "But I am English"

My smile intensified at that, how was he so cute? His eyes lingered into my own a moment longer before I spoke again. "It's a good thing, you look good"

"Oh" the corner of Brad's lips curved up into a small beaming smile. "You look absolutely gorgeous yourself"

I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling too much. I didn't want our friends to tease us the whole night, especially not when my dad and Nat were also there. I took a small step aside as to make room for B to walk in, so he did. Before he walked past me, though, he whispered a few words into my ear. "I would totally kiss you right now"

I was glad at the lack of comments from my dad when the boys walked in but, when he spotted Bradley, he stared at the boy in an odd way. Please don't say dumb stuff, please. My dad, surprisingly enough, eyed me with a funny look instead. I could tell he was conflicted about whether to call me aside or just blurt out what he was thinking right there to everyone's faces. "Hey pumpkin, what was that movie you made me watch at least three hundred times?" Dad went for it. "That one with the English dude that owned a bookshop and stuff"

 All my friends' eyes were on him as he spoke, a puzzled look on each of their faces. I rolled my eyes and set the first board game on the coffee table. "Notting Hill"

"Yes! That one! You had the biggest crush on that boy and it's just so funny that-"

"Cut it, Dad" I stopped him with my most innocent smile. I knew where this was going, and he knew I knew.

James and Connor were the first to shrug and reach me in the living room. Being my sofa not as big to fit everyone, we decided it would be cool to just sit on the floor on some pillows — which is what I used to do all the time anyway. Tristan was the next to walk in, his phone tight in his hands and a huge grin on his face. He burst out laughing a few moments later, showing something to the two boys who soon joined him in a collective laugh.

"William Thacker?" James asked in between laughs.

"Oh boy, drop it already" I tried to shut them before the girls and Bradley eventually joined us.

.

The seven of us — plus two — sat around the tiny round coffee table in the middle of the living room, with a pillow and a blanket each. Dad was right, I did own a handful of blankets. The first board game was chosen by a very excited Tristan, the Cluedo box held tight over his chest with both his arms. I had to tell the girls off truth or dare because.. you know, reasons. But of course they had some secret masterplan all ready to go.

"First of all, we're too many" Tristan pointed at us and counted like we literally weren't the same people every time we hung out.

"Let's just do teams" James blurted out distractedly, placed the game board on the coffee table and, very slowly, shuffled the cards.

Luce and Kirstie shared a look, I knew what that meant. I eyed Bradley, who was sitting cross-legged in front of me and, judging by the look on his face, he knew what that meant too. Were they ever subtle? My dad, Nat, and Connor, argued about who was going to make up the teams.

"I'll do that, you're taking too long" James distractedly interrupted. "Kirstie and I, Luce and Connor, Tris with Brad and Paigey, Mark and Natasha"

The room fell silent but we were all pleased with the choice as each of us made their way to their teammates. I slid down between B and Tristan with a winsome smile and picked up our team's cards. James started the game, proclaiming himself the leader of the board, which we were all fine with. Surprisingly enough, there were a couple of shared laughs and lame jokes throughout the night. We played two more board games after that, keeping the same teams, and lost each of those. James and Kirstie were the most enthusiastic among the nine of us, they probably had game night often. Which also explained why they were so good at each and every game.

The night went on with pizza, some more jokes, and a few matches in Mario Kart — which caused a heated fight between Connor and his chosen character, Toad. My dad had been dragged to bed by Nat around two in the morning after he was trying so hard to stay awake. They said goodnight and left for the guestroom, giving the chance to the girls to go for the worst games.

"Let's play truth or dare!" Kirstie excitedly blurted out.

Everyone shot their heads up and stared at her. I sent a disapproving glance in the girl's direction before speaking. "Really? What are we, in middle school?"

"Pff, live a little, Paigey" Luce clumsily winked.

After the longest three minutes of our lives, everyone agreed to play. Mostly so the girls would finally shut up about it and just be over it. It's safe to say I was freaking out. If I chose truth they could ask me inconvenient questions, but I chose dare...who knew what they would've come up with. The first round went by super chill, mostly because no one was invested in their answers as much as they were in mine and Bradley's. It was the poor boy's turn. I could slightly see fear in his eyes as well, his body language screamed help. Kirstie rubbed her hands together wickedly and shot the answer. "Truth or dare?"

B thought about it for a moment. "Truth"

And, again, the girls shared a look. Kirstie faked thinking about the question they all knew was coming. "Let's spice it up a little, shall we? If we don't want to answer the question, we take a shot. James, go grab the beers?"

I gulped terrified. That was even worse! If I didn't want to answer and took that bloody shot they would know the answer anyway! That was stupid. "What if we don't want to do a dare?"

 "Mmh" the girl gave more thought to that. "We'll see when that happens"

Bradley shifted in his seat, his glasses were long gone in the past few hours, and his locks of curls were back to a cute mess. The boy was visibly uncomfortable. "Just ask the question"

"Would you kiss Paige?"

The room fell silent one more time. I froze in my seat, not expecting such a revealing question all of a sudden. I was kind of hoping she would've gone nice and slow but, boy, was I just so wrong? All eyes were now on Bradley, all eyes except my own. My gaze was glued to the floor, heat warming up my cheeks as I must've been blushing like a complete idiot.

"That's enough" James tried to save his friend from drowning further into his seat. "It's getting late anyway"

"Boo, shut it" Kirstie cut his fiancée off, her hand waving in the air as to motion him to stop talking. Yet another silence. I kind of felt like I knew why he didn't want to answer that. If he said yes, our friends wouldn't stop teasing and trying so badly to set us up. But if he said no...I wasn't sure I could handle the aftermath.

Bradley searched for my eyes. "Yes"