Page 74 of Unwritten Rules
The scary thing is, I believe her. Every emotion she makes me feel and how my body reacts to her… It’s overwhelming at the best of times, but when it’s just us with nothing but the open road ahead and the music seeping into our veins, I have never felt safer with a woman—someone I can be myself with. And it’s fucking terrifying.
“Then let’s stop wasting time, strawberry. The backseat of my car is calling our names.”
Tatum giggles when I attach my lips to the base of her throat, teasing the skin as I blindly reach for the handle of the door.
I’m going to savour every moment I get with her because deep in my soul, I know this isn’t going to last. The forces determined to keep us apart will overpower us soon enough, and I’ll have no choice but to let her go. And until then, I’m going to commit every inch of Tatum to memory so I never forget her.
Chapter Nineteen
TATUM
“Tate! How is my favourite girl doing?”
I lean back on the desk chair and smile, pressing the phone to my ear. My gaze flicks over the stack of files spread out on the desk in front of me, the light wood blending with the cream manilla files. “Nate, the last time I checked, I’m the only girl in your life.”
Nathan scoffs, feigning hurt by my words. “I’ll have you know I’m quite the ladies man.”
“Does that mean you have a girlfriend?”
I bite my bottom lip as silence trickles down the line. Checkmate.
“That doesn’t matter,” Nathan finally says, and I burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. God, I miss this man. “I didn’t call you to talk about my love life or lack thereof.”
“Then why did you call me?” I twirl a piece of hair around my finger, the thick ponytail I threw my hair in this morning lying over my left shoulder.
“Well, mostly to check in on you since you have forgotten how to use your fingers and don’t respond to my texts,” he murmurs. “And secondly, a little birdie told me something about you that I wanted to ask about.”
I playfully roll my eyes. “I always text you back, Nate. It might not be as promptly as you like, but this job keeps me busy, remember?”
“I know,” he mumbles, followed by a huff. “But still, I just want to know you’re okay and get all the hot gossip about Sydney.”
I snort a laugh. “Don’t worry, if there is hot gossip to share, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Which brings me to what the little birdie told me,” Nathan drawls, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on edge. “And please don’t lie to me, okay?”
“I would never lie to you.” I mean that. Nathan is one of my best friends, and not once have I ever kept a secret from him, which is why the anticipation of his question has my heart rate spiking.
“That’s good to know,” he says, voice confident. “And before you ask, no, I can’t tell you who my source is.”
I groan and rub at my temple, a low thump forming behind my eyes. “You’re a menace.”
“And yet you still love me,” my best friend sing-songs.
“Please get to the point,” I squeeze out, my chest aching with anxiety.
“Okay, so I was down at the pub last night, having a drink by myself as one does since our other best friend is a father and pre-occupied with his new babysitter, and I got to talking with the bartender.”
“You just told me who your source is,” I point out, voice tight.
“Shit,” he mutters. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”
I stay silent, hoping it’ll make Nathan get to his point sooner. If he doesn’t, I might start screaming.
“Anyway, when I mentioned you, she told me she saw you talking with a guy at the bar the night before you left town. She remembered you because she watched Noah and I leave withJade, and once you sat at the bar, you started talking with a guy who was sitting by himself.”
My eyes widen as dread floods my veins.
Oh,shit.
