pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ NOT A WORD, KEELEY JONES „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

"I don't know what to do anymore,"

"We're making spaghetti, Jamie, you know how to do that." Tate's brows knitted in confusion as Jamie groaned, dropping his head back. She had made plans to invite the boys over for dinner, had offered Jamie's house to host at since half the team still refused to go to her shitty flat, and enlisted him as help to make the spaghetti dinner.

"No, not that." He waved her off, pulling a pot from the cabinet—the pot she had picked out for him when she realized that he didn't actually have the tools to make a good dinner with on his own. "With Roy."

"Some would say this is karma," She teased, pushing herself up onto the kitchen counter so she could watch Jamie fill the pot with water and place it on the stove. The boys that had voiced their desire to attend would be arriving in twenty minutes, and she had already been cooking the sauce for the previous hour.

"You're not being helpful," He pouted, crossing his arms and leaning backwards against the kitchen island across from where she sat. Despite his annoyance, she couldn't help her grin.

"Sorry," She didn't exactly sound repentant, though. "What's he doing that's got you so bothered? The pundits won't stop talking about the Roy Kent effect."

"He won't coach me. It's bullshit."

"'M sorry, Jamie," She settled on answering, deciding to keep the fact that his previous actions probably warranted him getting shit from his new coach. Not everyone could be like Ted Lasso. "Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"Yeah, but," He couldn't keep the disdain from his voice. "He's being a big dumb selfish baby."

"No, that was you." She grinned, recalling the childish title she had taunted him with the previous season. "Roy is something else. Get your own nickname."

"You really aren't going to offer to talk to him for me?" Jamie sounded offended, and though Tate felt bad for not helping, she shook her head. "I thought we were friends?"

"Best friends," She countered, but the words felt a little awkward on her tongue, tasted like a lie. She was best friends with Sam and Colin, she was dating Callum, but she was something else entirely with Jamie.

"You'd talk to Nate, though, for Colin," He huffed, sounding like a child that was denied desert.

"What's going on with Colin?" Tate's brows knitted in confusion once more, her concern rising. She knew Colin was seeing Dr. Sharon regularly, had been repeating his new mantra recently, but she hadn't known there was anything worth commenting on otherwise.

"I don't know," Jamie shrugged, stepping forward to dump in the box of noodles into the boiling water. "Nate called him a dolt during trainin' today. Caught me off guard a bit."

"Was it a one-off thing?"

"Nate's always been kinda snappy with Colin, hasn't he?" At his words, Tate thought back through the previous seasons. He had a point; Nate did have a tendency to drill Colin more than the other boys. Jamie must have noticed the expression on her face, the slight guilt at not noticing what was happening sooner, because he set his hands on her knees and gave them a gentle squeeze in attempt to draw her from her spiraling thoughts. "Hey, I'll keep an eye on Colin, alright? Y'know I've got his back."

She didn't answer, and instead held his face between her hands, drawing him down to her height so that she could press a kiss to the center of his forehead.

"Love you, Jamie Tartt."

"Enough to talk to Roy for me?" He asked, pulling out of her touch just enough to look her in the eye, his hands moved to the counter on either side of her body, only inches of space between his touch and the outside of her thighs. She rolled her eyes, trying not to focus too heavily on the fact that he was boxing her in, and how little she cared to move away.