Page 14 of Unwritten Rules
Within seconds, all eyes are on him. I shrink behind his tall frame, unable to withstand such pressure of having everyone look at me. In school, I was never the loudest in the room. Having every ounce of attention on me makes my skin crawl, much like it is now as a room full of men stare at me.
“I made mention of this last week, but we have a new physio joining the club today.” Dad steps to the side, and I’m blinded by the gazes of what feels like a thousand eyes roaming my face. “This is my daughter, Tatum. From now on, she will be focusing on recovery and any injuries that may come up this season. If you need her advice or want to have a one-on-one session, please don’t hesitate to ask.” A large hand claps my shoulder, and I nearly jump out of my skin. “Please make her feel welcomed!”
The team clap and cheer, but I hardly hear it over the blood rushing in my ears.This is mortifying. It feels like I’m in kindergarten being introduced to my new class. Maybe I should’ve told Dad not to mention our relationship, but I guess it’s too late now.
“And another thing,” Dad says. I inwardly groan.What is it now?“I’m going to make something very clear to every one of you young lads. My daughter is off-limits, okay? I don’t want any of you pursuing something with her. She is here to work, not mess around with you lot. You know my stance on eliminating distractions, especially during training sessions and work hours. I don’t care what you lot do at home with your missus or in your free time, but when you’re in the training facility and sitting on these benches, your focus should be on the game. Nothing else.”
If I could crawl into a ball and allow the ground to swallow me hole, I’d dive head-first without a seconds hesitation.
“Dad,” I hiss, throwing my elbow into his side. “Seriously, you need to stop.”
He frowns, as if unable to comprehend how incredibly embarrassing it is for my father to warn men away from me. “I’m just trying to protect you and my team. I don’t want you getting hurt, and I need these guys to keep their heads in the game. No distractions for either of you.”
“I’m not looking to date right now, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, I understand this is your career, your life, so the last thing I want to do is mess it up.”
Dad thins his lips. “Well, good. I would hate for you to go behind my back because then I’d have to fire you. Or worse, discipline one of my players. I want the two most important parts of my life to succeed. That includes you furthering your career, and getting my team to the grand final.”
Oh, God.Would he really fire me if I hooked up with one of the players? Not that I want to, but still.
I forgot how intense he can be when it comes to this sport and the people he loves.
“I understand, Dad.”
He straightens his spine and turns his attention back to the room of people staring at us. “With that said, I need you guys to form two groups and start warming up.”
The team nods in agreement and set about pulling on shirts, slightly different in style to their jerseys. Two older men in caps take each of the two groups into the adjoining room and begin warm-up drills. The rest of the staff watch from the edges of the room, but I stay put.
“What do you want me to do?” I turn to Dad, folding my arms over my chest. Out the corner of my eye, I see the team lunging the length of the room before side skipping back to where they started. “It doesn’t look like anyone is injured.”
“I have one guy out with a quad injury but he’s not here yet,” Dad says, his focus on his team as they warm up. “For your first shift, I want you to get to know the team and familiarise yourself with the rest of the staff and how we do things.”
“I can do that,” I say with a nod. “Should be easy enough.”
Dad glances down at his watch. “Okay, we have less than an hour until kick off, so why don’t you take a seat and observe.”
I pull up the closet white plastic chair and set my handbag at my feet. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
For the next forty minutes, I watch the Wolves warm up at the direction of the two assistant coaches. Dad is off somewhere talking to this person and that. Seeing this side of a sports team is interesting. Not only do I get to observe how physically fit these guys are, but it allows me to get to know them from afar, too. How they perform during warm up is a good indicator of where they’re at physically, and will let me know what to watch out for when the game starts.
Despite my father’s warning for his team to stay away from me, some of them have approached throughout the warm-up to introduce themselves. Each of them was kind and respectful—whether it was due to Dad’s warning, I’m not sure. The guy withlight brown hair, longer on top and short on the sides and the palest green eyes I have ever seen—if it weren’t for the specks of emerald, I would’ve thought they were grey—made me laugh effortlessly with his bad dad jokes. I think he said his name was Khai.
I have no doubt I’m going to struggle to remember all seventeen of these guys’ names. Not to mentioned the other thirteen guys on the extended squad I am yet to meet.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I tear my gaze from the team forming a huddle in the middle of the room with my dad at the centre. I’m sure he’s hyping them up the best he can before the game kicks off.
Glancing down at the lock screen, multiple new messages from my group chat with Noah and Nathan appear. I smile as I flick through the messages. It’s been hard not living only a few streets away from my two best friends and being able to see them whenever I want. I know they’re only a phone call away but it’s not the same.
NATHAN: How goes the big city, Tate? We miss you.
NOAH: We really do. It isn’t the same without you. And not to mention I have to deal with this guy on my own now, so thanks a lot.
NATHAN: Hey! Take that back, mister. You were just saying this arvo how much you enjoy spending time with me.
NOAH: Yeah, in small doses.
I chuckle. Even if I’m not around, Nathan will find a way to annoy the shit out of us.
TATE: Don’t worry, I miss you both, too. And Noah, would it kill you to send a photo of my niece?
