Page 2 of Unwritten Rules
TATUM
“Ican’t believe you’re leaving us, Tate. How am I going to survive without you?”
It hasn’t been two hours since we left Noah’s house, where we had this exact same conversation. I glance at Noah seated across the table, biting back a smile at our friends’ dramatics. “Food and water will keep you alive more than I can, Nathan. Besides, you’ll have Noah.”
“Yeah, but he’s boring because he’s a dad.” Nathan pouts behind the lip of the beer glass nestled in his hand, chin resting on his palm. Ink swirls over very inch of his right arm, getting lost beneath the sleeve of the graphic T-shirt clinging to his broad frame. “He’s no longer fun Daddy Noah from high school.”
“Hey!” Noah protests beside Nathan with a frown. Folding his arms over his broad chest, he glares at our friend through sandy blonde strands of hair falling over his forehead. “I told you not to call me that.”
Nathan shrugs. “With no will left to live, I may as well go out swinging.”
Eyes as green as Granny Smith apples lock with mine from across the table. Noah shakes his head, but I catch theamusement swimming in his irises as he pats Nathan’s back. “You’ll survive, I promise. Tate is only moving to Sydney, not the moon.”
“It may as well be Pluto with how far away that damn city is,” Nathan grumbles.
I reach across the table and lay my hand on his forearm, my black nails barely visible in the dim lighting of the only pub in Barrenridge. “I will come back when I can to visit, okay? Or you can come visit me. We don’t have to go months without seeing each other.”
Nathan lifts his head, messy strands of dark hair falling over his even darker eyes. “Do you mean that?”
I flick my attention to Noah, who is struggling to keep a straight face as he watches our friend spiral. “Of course. And I will text you every day.”
“You better,” he murmurs before sipping on his beer.Like he needs to be drunker than he already is. “I never thought you would actually move.”
I retract my hand and place it in my lap. “Pictures Of You” by The Last Goodnight filters around the room, mixing with the chatter of other patrons enjoying a drink at the table around us. The air smells of BO, cheap perfume and the delectable scent of a chicken parmi. “Me either, but shit happens, I guess. I can’t do much about the only physiotherapist centre in town going out of business.”
“Forget Happy Limbs, you could always be Noah’s babysitter,” Nathan suggests with a hopeful smile.
“And see him more than I have to?” I joke, biting back a smile. “I think I’ll pass.” I bring the glass of vodka and lemonade to my lips and sip on the delicious liquid. Since arriving nearly two hours ago, I’ve lost count of how many of these I’ve consumed. I told myself I would only have two drinks since I’m leaving in the morning, and the drive to Sydney is a bitch, butonce Nathan started buying round after round, all logic went out of the window. Not to mention my ability to drive home. Besides, it’s the last night I will get to spend with my two best friends before distance stretches between us.
My eyes drift to the beautiful little girl asleep in the pram beside the table. Long lashes feather over her pinchable cheeks and blonde curls cover her forehead, nestling against her shoulders. A stuffed toy is clutched close to her chest as her even breathing gets lost amongst the noise in the crowded pub.
It’s amazing how Jade manages to sleep through the chaos, something not many parents have the pleasure of saying. I guess with Nathan as your uncle, you could sleep through the world ending.
“Woah, tell me how you really feel, Tate,” Noah comments, laughter coating the edge of his tone.
“You know I love you,” I say pointedly, “but my passion has always been to help others, and I can no longer do that here.”
“Babysitting Jade is helping out Noah,” Nathan states matter-of-factly with a shrug. “Look, I don’t make the rules here.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “As much as I would love to stay here with you idiots, my dad has offered me a job I simply cannot pass up.”
“Ah yes,” Noah says, twirling his cup of water. “You’re leaving us for the big leagues.”
“And by big leagues you mean the fucking NRL,” Nathan chimes in. He shakes his head in disbelief. “Who would’ve thought our little Tatey would leave us to work for the best team in the league.”
“Are they?” I ask, head tilted to the side. “I don’t keep up with the footy, so I’m not sure which teams are good or not. I stopped watching a long time ago. Hell, I’ve forgotten most of the rules.”
Nathan shoots me a deadpan look and turns to Noah as if to sayis she for real?“Tate, the North Sydney Wolves have won more grand finals since the team was formed than I can count on both of my hands. And your dad is the cause of a fair few of them.”
“Well, you know I wasn’t the closest with my father growing up. He travelled a lot for work and never spoke to me about what he did. Sometimes he would throw on a game and try to explain the rules. I got the gist of what was going on, but I couldn’t explain the rules to you. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I learned he was the head coach for the Wolves.”
My mum would tell me stories of Dad when he played rugby. According to her, he was one of the most impressive fullbacks to play the game during his prime. He was wanted by nearly every club in the league, but ultimately settled on playing for the Wolves. Mum said they met at university and had no idea who he was. He was studying sports science and she had dreams of one day becoming a psychologist. She fell in love with him at first sight, and Dad did as well. From there, they were inseparable.
Dad suffered a back injury when he was twenty-eight and was forced to retire. Because he could no longer pursue rugby, he settled down with Mum in Barrenridge and had me. She had always wanted to live in a small town, never one to enjoy the busy city streets. Without hesitation, Dad made that dream come true. Whether it was to distract himself from the career he left behind or not, Mum never said. After they had me, Mum saw how miserable Dad was living the country lifestyle. She wanted him to be happy, and she knew rugby was that vice for him. So, she pushed him to get a job coaching with the Wolves, despite his best efforts to fight her on it. But his love for the game outweighed the guilt he felt about leaving us.
From there, Mum stayed in Barrenridge to raise me while Dad travelled between home and Sydney.
Then Mum got sick and everything changed.
