Sticks and Stones

Twenty-Five: Hypothetically!

Warning here: brief mention of a father suffering with a gambling addiction and the impacts on the family during this chapter.

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Tatum never moved so quickly in her life.

She threw on her actual clothes and ran to the bathroom, panicked thoughts going through her mind. How could she be so careless? How could that be the way Kinsley found out? That was the last thing Tatum wanted. She wanted her friend to understand. She wanted to go about it in a way that would make Kinsley okay with it. She didn't know how she was going to do that, but she thought she would have some time to think through it more.

Kinsley was her best friend. How could she do this to her best friend? This was the only person who had stuck by her for years and accepted her for who she was. She didn't mean for this to happen with Brady. He was the last person she ever expected to fall for. She needed to talk to Kinsley.

Tatum didn't bother to knock on the bathroom door— what could she see that she hadn't already? Brady jumped as she swung open the door, dropping his toothbrush in the sink as he stared at her in question. "Tatum, what the hell?"

"I may have made a very, very bad mistake," Tatum panted, which was an insane understatement.

He tilted his head at her, gravely asking, "What did you do?"

"Hypothetically, what would you say if I accidentally answered your phone when Kinsley called because I thought it was my phone and I told her that I just hooked up with someone and she instantly realized it was you because I had your phone," Tatum rushed out all at once, not taking even a second to breathe. She held her breath as she waited for his response. Wincing, she added, "And then I hung up on her without saying a word."

His eyes bulged from his head and he keeled over as if in physical pain. "You what—"

"Hypothetically!" Tatum all but screeched, flailing her arms around.

"You hypothetically what?" Brady shouted the correction without missing a beat.

She cried out, throwing her hands up. "God, it's not hypothetical, I really did it!"

"You don't say?" he quipped sarcastically, gripping the bathroom sink like a lifeline. "Oh fuck, she's gonna kill me. She's gonna kill us."

"Which one of us do you think she's gonna kill first?" Tatum asked feebly, shifting her weight back and forth on her feet.

"I don't think she'll be picky, Tatum."

"Oh my god," Tatum groaned, feeling incredibly nauseous. She turned around and walked out of the bathroom. "We need to go. We need to go talk to her right now."

"That's a bad idea. That's a very bad idea," Brady stressed, following her instantly and stepping in front of her. "She needs time to cool off."

"Come on, give her more credit than that," Tatum argued firmly as she shook her head. "It's Kinsley— she's more hurt than anything else. I knew this was off-limits. I knew this would hurt her. I need to make this right."

Tatum went to move past Brady but he gripped her forearm. She paused in question, tilting her head at him. His voice was quiet as he asked, "Don't... you don't regret this, do you?"

She sulked slightly, feeling incredibly guilty. Tatum cupped his cheek and leaned up, pressing a chaste kiss against his lips. She kept her hand on his face as she told him, "This is the one thing I'm not questioning right now."