Page 104 of Unwritten Rules
This is what was always supposed to happen, but it doesn’t hurt any less now.
I drag my bottom lip between my teeth, focusing on my breathing instead of looking over at Sinnett. He opens his mouth to protest, but snaps it shut before words slip out. When he realises what I’m doing, he grunts and shoves his hand through his hair. I catch a glimpse of the back of his head as he staunches toward the closed door, flinging it open with such force my hair flies over my shoulder.
When he’s out of sight, tears burn my cheeks as they slide down.
Just like that, he’s gone—taking with him a piece of my heart.
I’m doing this for him.
“Tatum,” Dad murmurs, reaching for me. “Please don’t?—”
“Why would you do that?” I cry, bottom lip trembling. “Why, Dad?”
Dad’s lips thin into a straight line. “You know why, Tate. I didn’t put the rule in place to be an asshole. It was for your own good, trust me. Guys like him—” He runs a hand down the side of his face, eyes darting away from me. “They can’t be trusted. And I didn’t want to see you hurt the way you are now.”
“That was your doing,” I snap. “Everything was fine.Wewere fine.”
Dad huffs, eyes meeting mine again. “And you’ll thank me down the line when you realise you were better off without him.” He exhales a sharp breath. “You’re not to see him again, Tate. I know you quit your job, which we’ll talk about at home, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the words die on my tongue, along with the energy I had moments ago. I’m at a loss for what I should do. At this moment, I don’t have the strength to think it through. I just want to be alone.
“I’m going home,” I rasp out, wrapping my arms around my waist. I can still smell him embedded into the leather fabric, the last semblance of him I have now. “I can’t do this.”
“Tatum—”
I rush past my dad, not stopping until the stadium is behind me and I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of my car, staring ahead. The roar of the crowd is ear-splitting as the game gets ready to kick off. I can’t begin to imagine the pressure Sinnett is under right now after what just transpired. It pains me that I can’t help him through this, like I have so many times before when he’s struggling with his emotions.
My bottom lip trembles as I reach for my phone. The air from my lungs dissipates upon seeing the text from him on the screen, time stamped two minutes ago, moments before the team stepped into the tunnel.
SIN: If you want to know how I truly feel about you, listen to the playlist I made. It speaks volumes that I can’t right now.
The playlist.
My hands tremble as I scroll to the playlist saved in my phone, titled ‘Songs for Tate’. Thumb hovering over the screen, I weigh my options. If I listen to the songs, I’ll be breaking my heart further, knowing I can no longer have Sinnett. But if I don’t, I’ll never know how he truly feels about me. Is that something I’m willing to walk away from?
Exhaling a sharp breath, I click on the playlist and close my eyes.
Listening to these songs will only bring with them more heartache, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t. Call it closure, but I need to hear the words Sinnett hasn’t been able to tell me himself.
The opening guitar riff of “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Tears burst from my eyes in waves, and I’m unable to stifle the sob that tears through me.
Sinnett found meaning in the first song I ever played for him. It’sme.
And now, when I listen to this song, all I’m going to think about is that from the very beginning, it was inevitable we would end this way, despite howrightit feels when we’re together.
This must be some sick joke fate is playing on us. And now I’m forced to return to a life before Sinnett with no say in the matter. No matter what way I look at it, he’ll have to give up something that makes him happy. I would rather be in the firing line than the career he’s worked tirelessly to achieve—no matter how much it hurts to step back.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
SINNETT
Ican’t fucking focus. Not on the player in front of me, the ball in my hands, the crowd of fans in the grandstand or the damn ground beneath me when my body slams against it. My mind is stuck on jade eyes. The same eyes that held unshed tears, and so much fucking hurt, that it made it hard to breathe.
Walking away from her was the stupidest thing I had ever done. Up until that moment, it had been sleeping with Zoe. Now it’s letting Tatum quit her job in order to protect me.
Me. She wanted to protect me.
I should’ve been the one protecting her, not the other way around.
