pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ GET A GRIP „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

"Are you still going out with that Michael guy?"

"The banker?"

"No, Michael was the accountant."

"Jonah was the banker, boyo."

"Oh, that's right."

"I'm never telling any of you anything, ever again." Tate scrunched her face up, arms crossed over her chest as she listened to Isaac, Colin, and Sam discuss her not-so consistent love life. "I actually really hate what just happened."

"We just want to be up to date, incase you ever decide to actually introduce us to someone." Sam teased with his hands raised in innocence, and Tate couldn't help the playful roll of her eyes.

"Even if I could find a guy that's willing to stick around longer than a few weeks with my shit work schedule, I'm not stupid enough to bring him around you all."

"Hey," Isaac interjected, frowning. "I'm fucking delightful, bruv."

Tate pinched his cheek, not intimidated in the slightest by his massive build. Colin snorted at the look on his best friend's face as Richard approached, slinging an arm over Tate's shoulders.

"I think the problem is that you are dating bankers and accountants." The Frenchman decided, his smirk not wavering the slightest under Tate's pointed look. "Perhaps you should try dating a footballer, no?"

"Absolutely not." Tate shrugged out from his arm as Ted and Beard entered the room. Grinning, she waved at the head coach, who returned the gesture much more animatedly.

"Sam! Higgins needs you in his office, right now." Ted announced, and Tate squeezed Sam's arm as he passed by her, a silent goodbye. She watched him go, and the moment he was out the door, took his previous spot sitting in his stall. Ted hurried to shut the doors, and Colin shot her a questioning look at the coach's odd behavior. "Alright, listen up! This Saturday is Sam's birthday, and I thought it would be a good idea to all chip in and get him something real nice, y'know? A little something to let him know we appreciate him."

"Good idea, Coach!" Tate called out encouragingly when the rest of the locker room remained quiet. While the boys were giving the new coaches a hard time, she thought they were genuine guys and wanted to help them get accustomed to the club.

"Thank you, Tater Tot. Y'know, I wish we could add you to the roster, 'cause I am just loving the energy you bring." Ted shook his head as if it was a shame she wasn't an official member of the team, earning a grin from Tate. From a few stalls down, she heard Jamie snort at Ted's words in a way that irked her. But, he was Jamie fucking Tartt; everything he did irked her. "Anyways, I asked Nate to make us another box, and—holy crap!" Nate revealed the bright pink donation box with a tongue sticking out the front, where the money goes in. "Wow! That is just amazing, you put the money in her—"

"His," Nate corrected, and Tate couldn't contain her chuckle.

"You put the money in his mouth," Ted amended his statement. "And Tate can go out and get him a birthday gift from all of us, since she knows him so well."

Tate gave Ted a thumbs up as Nate began going around the room, collecting donations in the box. Most of the boys gave amused laughs as they put the money in the box's mouth, and Tate smiled softly at the readiness of everyone to give so that her best friend could get a birthday gift from his team.

But then Nate brought the box to Jamie, who stuffed his gum into the box's mouth instead of cash.

"Spearmint. It'll make the money smell nice." He grinned smugly. Tate felt anger coil in her stomach, and forced herself to meet Ted's gaze to see if he noticed what Jamie what had done. The man was frowning, a sight that was wholly unfamiliar to her despite the short time she had known the coach.

Ted approached Jamie, pulling him aside to talk about his actions. Tate knew she needed to go back up to her office, if only to avoid blowing up on the team's star player, but she wanted to hear what Ted had to say—and how Jamie reacted.

Colin was trying to talk to her, but she was only half-listening as Ted spoke with Jamie nearby. Though it wasn't until Roy shouted at Jamie that she could really hear anything.

"Roy, mate, if you're gonna go into the shower you should probably take your sweater off first pal." Jamie laughed as if the rest of the locker room found him funny as well. Except, it was silent, save for a handful of side conversations.

Eventually, Ted turned and walked away from Jamie. And though the footballer had been feigning being apologetic and claiming that he would change, the second the coach's back was turned, he made the gesture for wanker.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Tate snapped, standing from where she sat in Sam's stall, the locker room falling silent once more. She wasn't quite yelling, but she certainly wasn't being timid, either. Jamie, for his part, looked stunned by her sudden outburst. The entire team did, actually. "What the fuck makes you think it's okay to act like such a dick to your teammates and your coach?"

He stayed silent, as if he finally had become aware that his words had consequences and that whatever he had to say was going to get him into even more trouble with her.

"You think you're God's gift to football, but you can't play on your own. You're awful to your teammates, who you need to succeed, and you're rude to your coach, who is just trying to do something kind." Tate wasn't sure how long she had been holding onto these thoughts, but she couldn't get the words to stop slipping from her. "You're a shit person, on and off the pitch."

Across the locker room, Roy gave her a nod of approval. Jamie remained standing still, too stunned to react to anything she said.

"I'm sorry, Coach," Tate's expression softened as she faced Ted, apologizing for her outburst, but as she looked back to Jamie, her frowned deepened. "But, fuck, man, get a grip."

「☺ ☺ ☺ 」