pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ THING FOR ME „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

"'Cause it's the only way they'll know he's a footballer."

Tate walked into the locker room the exact moment Jamie tried and failed to joke with his teammates. She cringed at the sudden silence, having heard the laughter from the hallway only moments earlier.

Jamie sat at his stall in the corner by himself while the rest of the team crowded around Sam and Keeley in the center of the room, a sight that made her heart ache.

"Morning, everyone," Tate called out, attempting to defuse the tension in the room. Jamie nodded his acknowledgement of her, face still pulled tight in rejection from his teammates. Dani responded, waving emphatically, but the rest of the team remained silent.

So they were still pissed at her, apparently, for not picking a side between them and Jamie. 

"Good morning, Tate." Keeley tried, and Tate was incredibly thankful. She stopped in the doorway, a weight on her chest that she couldn't shake. Never had Sam been mad at her, had gone so long without talking to her. But apparently her decision to not ostracize Jamie was where he drew the line. "Want to see Sam's Dubai Air pictures?"

"Yes, please." Tate finally crossed the threshold into the locker room, ignoring the ache in her chest as she approached the blonde and took the iPad from her. The ad shoot had turned out amazing; her best friend smiling brightly in the photo. "Sam, these are great."

He nodded, not meeting her eye, and turned back to his stall.

Guilt stung in Tate's heart, but she forced a too-wide smile to Keeley, who was looking between her and Sam, trying to decipher what had gone wrong. Tate shook her head, nearly imperceptibly, but Keeley noticed, knew she was asking her not to push.

"Oh, boys," Keeley changed the subject, and something loosened in Tate's chest. "Will you remember to sign up for that new dating app I emailed you all about? It would really help draw some traction if there were some young, hot footballers on there."

The boys all jeered, mumbling their agreement and taunting the others. Tate rolled her eyes, drifting towards the coaches offices.

"Keeley, Keeley," Richard called out. "What was the name again?"

"Bantr. B-A-N-T-R."

"Oh, like Grindr." Colin offered. Tate's brows knitted together in brief confusion, the locker room falling silent.

"Yeah," Keeley dragged the word out, then turned her attention towards Tate. "You're signing up, too, right? You might actually meet someone who doesn't have an AFC Richmond contract."

"Fine," Tate snorted, though she felt another bite of guilt at not confessing that she had met someone outside of the club. And that she currently had plans to meet up with him for lunch. "I'll look at it later."

"Thank you, love!" Keeley backed toward the door, waving to everyone as she left.

"Okay, fellas!" Ted shouted, coming out of the office Tate was just about to enter. "Oh, and Tater Tot. Got a big game this weekend. What are we looking at, Coach?"

"Very physical!" Beard announced, pointing to the whiteboard. Tate drifted towards where Ted stood, her brows knitted together and arms crossed over her chest.

"Okay. All right. Anything else?"

"Borderline violent."

"I'll come back later, Coach," Tate mumbled, squeezing Ted's arm as she left. She knew he was watching her in confusion; usually, she took every chance to stay down in the locker room. But with the way that Sam, and most of the boys, were avoiding her eye in some protest of her friendship with Jamie, she felt her nerves rising.