pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ JAMIE TARTT „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗ 

True to her promise to Jamie, Tate kept her arm linked through Higgins' from the moment they entered the West Ham clubhouse. 

Though Higgins wasn't sure why he wasn't allowed to let Tate leave his sight, he followed his job dutifully, even going so far as offering to walk her down to the locker room at halftime. She shook her head, wanting to stay in her seat, because she didn't believe that Rupert wouldn't not approach her, even with Higgins as her bodyguard. 

And with the way Rupert kept glancing to where she sat, a row in front of Keeley's boss Jack Danvers—a woman, to her initial surprise—Tate knew that he would most certainly try and approach her. 

New Message from Roy Kent:

Accidentally showed the boys the video of you and Nate. Beard and I tried to show them the footage of him ripping the sign in half and forgot Trent attached your video. I'm sorry, Tate. I know you probably didn't want them to know.

His text came in just as halftime was coming to an end, so she wasn't confused when the boys came back onto the pitch, shooting Nate looks so lethal she cringed even from her seat. 

It was downhill from there, with Bumbercatch getting a red card for a bad tackle instantly. And then Zoreaux got a red card, and Richard, and it seemed like everyone had lost their god-damned mind on the pitch. 

The final score was four-nil, and Tate decided to risk it by retreating into the locker room. 

"Do I even want to know?" She tried to play dumb as she entered, the whole team scowling as they readied to go into the showers. Jamie turned at the sound of her voice, his frown melting into more of a pout, and she could see the physical toll the match had on him. 

"Why didn't you tell us?" He asked, and Tate couldn't stop the way her aching heart cracked in half at just how dejected he sounded. He called her bluff, so quickly, and she cursed herself for thinking that he wouldn't be able to tell she was lying instantly. 

"I promise, it had nothing to do with you guys," She spoke quietly, her voice loud in the otherwise silent locker room. The contrast to their raging anger only fifteen minutes earlier was stark, and she knew it was because their anger wasn't directed at her, but rather what had been said to her. "I just... I couldn't tell you. And anyways, he's gone now, so it doesn't matter." 

"He was a fucking dickhead to you, Tate, it does matter." Colin argued, and even Dani looked pissed. She was starting to wonder if the boys were more upset with Nate tearing the sign apart or what he said about her. 

"When someone's an arse to you, we wanna know, bruv, 'cause you're part of this team." Isaac added, causing her heart to ache with just how much they cared for her. 

She nodded but stayed silent, because anything she could have said would have only made the situation much, much worse. 

She didn't want to know how they would react if they learned that she had actually believed Nate. 

「☺ ☺ ☺ 」

"If I say you look ridiculous, are you going to get offended?"

"Probably, yeah."

"Okay," Tate stayed silent, grin toying with her lips as Jamie scoffed and continued to run through his stretches. According to him, Roy was on his way over so they could go running together, and since it was dark out, he needed to have his own headlamp on. "Just checking."