Page 101 of Unwritten Rules
“Listen to it tonight, okay? When you get home.”
Tatum nods, strands of hair whipping around her face. “I will.”
Despite the adrenaline and nerves mixing throughout my body, I grin and press my lips against hers. With the sun setting low in the sky and the beach deserted, all of my self-control flies out of the window.
Tatum responds in kind, pushing onto her toes and deepening the kiss.
If we weren’t in public, I would stay like this until the sun is replaced by the moon and the air grows too cold for us to stay out here. Instead, I break the kiss and lift her in the air, spinning until I grow dizzy. Her hair flies through the air, followed by her sweet laughter.
It’s at this moment I realise that what we’re doing is far deeper than casually hooking up. The thought of having to give her up when the time comes physically pains me, my chest squeezing uncomfortably.
At the end of the day, can I have both my career and the one girl forced to stay out of reach?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
TATUM
The Illawarra Sharks’ home ground in Wollongong is stunning. Not only are the facilities nicer than some of the stadiums I’ve visited, but it’s located one hundred metres from the beach, bringing with it salty sea air and a cool breeze. I can only imagine what the sunsets are like when watching an afternoon game.
Standing on the sidelines, watching as some of the Wolves players run onto the field, including Sinnett, I gaze at the blue sky, mirroring the ones watching me from the goal post. I wrap my arms around my waist, fighting off the cool breeze whipping around me. Sinnett’s leather jacket is now my go-to source for warmth. It still smells like his woodsy cologne, and I refuse to wash it, not wanting to be rid of the last remnants of him.
My gaze shifts to Sinnett as he practices goal kicks, followed by some warm-up drills. Around me, the grandstand is starting to fill as we close in on the kickoff time, and the large hill is packed with not a spare patch of grass in sight. The colours are a good mix of red and black, and blue and white. With this being an away game for the Wolves, I’m pleased so many fans chose to make the trip down the coast to support them.
I was beyond relieved when Sinnett’s mechanic called me yesterday to say my car was ready to be picked up. It has been in the shop for weeks now, and I was convinced it was a lost cause with too many things wrong with it. So imagine my surprise when I drove it down here without a single hiccup and an engine that purred. Well, I could only just hear it over Noah and Nathan’s voice through the dodgy Bluetooth connector I had installed in the car before I left Barrenridge. I was gobsmacked, and still don’t know how I should thank Sinnett for taking care of it for me. I was ready to get a new car, but now I won’t need to, thanks to him.
A smile turns up my mouth as I lock eyes with Sinnett, who flashes me an award-winning smile before returning to his training. I don’t know how I got so lucky with this man. Not only is he kind, sweet, and a freak between the sheets, but he brings me that sense of comfort I’ve been craving. He made a goddamnplaylistfor me of songs that remind him of me, for God sake. I’m convinced he’s not real but someone I conjured up from a dream.
When he dropped me home last night, he sent me the playlist and told me to listen to it when I got inside. I was ready to do so, but I got caught up with talking to Dad in the kitchen about our day, and by the time I had a shower and crawled into bed, I passed out without responding to Sinnett’s ‘goodnight’ text. Then, following a catch up call with my best friends once I left the mechanics, I haven’t been left with much time to listen to it. When I get home after the game, the first thing I’m going to do is put the playlist on and get lost in whatever songs he put in there for hours.
I still can’t believe he mademea playlist.
Sinnett follows his teammates off the field after wrapping the warm-up. He changes course and runs up to me, a smilelingering on his lips. My eyes widen as my heart slams into my ribcage.
What is he doing?
“Hi, Tate.”
“Hi, Sin,” I greet quietly, looking around at the endless bodies lingering on the sideline. They’re mostly staff members or punters for sports news stations. “Is everything okay?”
I force my eyes to stay on his face and not roam over the tight training jersey clinging to his biceps and toned abdomen, or the black shorts shaping his thick, muscular thighs.
“I just wanted to see you before the game,” Sinnett says, tossing the football between his hands with ease. “You’re my good luck charm, strawberry.”
Heat shoots across my cheeks. “I am?”
He nods. “I’d like to think so. You did get me back on the field, after all.”
“That was all you,” I remind him with a smile.
“Either way, I like having you on the sideline. You keep me going, Tate.”
My heart squeezes, making it difficult for air to travel from my lungs to my nose. How can those simple words be my undoing? Hearing him say I’m the reason he pushes through each day has my head spinning and my heart threatening to burst from my chest.
“I do?” I squeeze out.
Sinnett nods, tilting his head to the side with a smile. “You have since you walked into my life.”
I open my mouth to respond, but the sharp voice of my father has me slamming my mouth close. His shoulders are tense and his face thunderous as he storms down the tunnel in our direction. I didn’t get a chance to see him this morning because he left early to catch the team bus with the players and I had to pick up my car. Why he’s this angry has me confused.
