pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ EVERYTHING IS CHANGING „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

Man City had won their match, and Richmond had lost the Premier Title.

But more importantly, Tate found out she made Richmond's women's team thirteen and a half minutes into her last breakfast date with Ted before he left England.

It had been a tradition they kept since halfway through his first season with the team, and Tate had long since given up on not considering them dad and daughter dates. So when Tate's phone rang while she struggled to keep her tears contained, she couldn't help but tell him about the news. 

He had told her that he was so proud of her, that he always knew she was capable of great and amazing things—and then he went directly to the airport as soon as their meal was done. 

Actually, he waited with Tate until Jamie came to pick her up, and though she was crying, she still managed to give Jamie and Ted the space to say their goodbyes. 

The call about the women's team had completely slipped her mind through the haze of her tears, until she and Jamie crossed the threshold of the house they shared and she saw her gym bag sitting on the floor by the front door, exactly where she had left it the previous day when she stumbled tiredly in from an extra training. 

And suddenly, when it all became so real, Tate was flooded with nerves that Jamie was going to be upset that she had made such a massive life decision without consulting him. 

"Love, d'you wanna take a nap? I know you didn't sleep last night, and you look exhausted." Jamie's words were soft, gentle, because one misstep and the tears that had only recently stopped flowing were doomed to start back up again. Tate nodded her head, nothing sounding more appealing than climbing back into bed with Jamie and wrapping herself in his arms.

And that was exactly where she found herself only minutes later, her fingertips toying with the hem of Jamie's shirt while he smoothed his hand over her hair. 

"Jamie?" She asked into the silence they had created, her head resting on his chest and legs entangled with his. He hummed his response, the vibrations from the sound tickling her cheek. "Something happened that's going to change our lives, and I'm worried you might be upset with me."

"There's not much you can do to make me upset with you, love." He assured her, but Tate still bit her bottom lip, hearing the edge of anxiousness in his voice. The hand that had been running through her hair stilled, instead dropping to her face to tug her bottom lip from between her teeth. He kept his thumb on the seam of her lips, brushing tenderly across the chewed up skin. "As long as I've got you in me life, and we get days like this, to just be together, then I'll be alright." 

And though Tate was still nervous that he wouldn't be happy with her, she found the courage to tell him.

"Keeley gave Rebecca the idea to start a Richmond women's team. And I just found out today that I made the roster." She confessed, her stare pointedly trained on the comforter pulled up to her chin, her fingers knotted in the hem of Jamie's shirt. 

She felt his chest stutter with a breath hitched in his throat, and dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. 

"That's fucking amazing, babe," Jamie sounded excited, genuinely excited, and Tate felt like she could breathe a little easier. "Fuck, are you serious? Is that what you've been so busy with? Love, we've got to celebrate." 

"Rebecca told me I wasn't allowed to tell anyone until now, but yeah." Tate grinned, letting herself grow excited about it, too. "I've met the coaches and some of the other girls, and I've been dying not being able to tell you about it all."