Sticks and Stones

Nine: Mixing Drinks and Emotions

"You got me," Tatum admitted sarcastically. "All of this was just a big ploy to get you to fall madly in love with me."

"Sure my sister would love that," he scoffed out under his breath, glancing out the dingo.

Tatum gave him a deadly look, the joking gleam no longer in her eyes. "Let's add a condition to the deal. Leave Kinsley out of this."

He shrugged, clenching his jaw. "Fine by me."

Silence filled the car. The driver's eyes flickered in the rearview mirror, as if trying to see what was going on. Tatum narrowed her eyes at him and he immediately looked away. She didn't know how to ease the tension that surrounded them after the mention of Kinsley. But she didn't regret it. It wasn't fair of them to talk about her when she didn't even know this was going on.

"So, you ready to have some fun?" Brady asked, tension slowly easing from the air. She scoffed at him dismissively.

"Please... I'm probably not even gonna drink."

●・○・♥︎・○・●

"Hearty! Parker! Shots!"

Well, that plan was short lived.

Isaac darted towards Tatum the second that she and Brady walked into the bar, shots in hand like he had them ready. He shoved the shots into both of their hands, holding his up expectantly. Tatum barely had a second to take in her surroundings before half the shot was spilling in her hands.

The bar was one of her favorites in the city. It was a bit calmer than other bars. It was typical for college students to frequent there, and so older crowds weren't that common. It had a stage towards the back and bars on either side of it. The bartenders were running around already, completing drink after drink. The lights were warm, no strobes in sight. Tatum was relieved, honestly. She was worried that Brady would drag her to a club. If that were the case, she would've been thinking of an excuse to leave very early in the night.

"Isaac," Tatum tried to protest, knowingly it was useless.

"Come on, I spent the money on it," Isaac pleaded.

"Cheers to your poor financial decisions," Tatum conceded, lifting the shot up. He beamed at her, clinking her shot with his own. He did the same to Brady before the three of them threw the shot back.

Tatum instantly gagged, her hand flying to cover her mouth. "Oh my god, who gives someone a tequila shot with nothing with it?"

"They were gonna cost extra for a lime and salt," Isaac informed her in a strained voice, face scrunched up in disgust.

"Jesus, Isaac," Brady winced, wiping his mouth. "Never again, all right?"

"Not sure, you may wanna drink more," Isaac suggested with a look of warning. "Theo showed up."

Brady instantly narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell invited him?"

"It was sent in the group chat with the team, just didn't expect him to actually show," Isaac said as he shrugged.

Tatum raised her eyebrows. "Knew you guys had a rivalry but is it that serious?"

Brady opened his mouth but was interrupted. "Parker, funny seeing you here."

The trio turned around to see Theo waltzing towards them, a smug look on his face. His eyes were trained on Brady, sizing him up. Tatum knew that the two had a rivalry— everyone knew that. But she didn't realize it was an actual thing. She figured it was something that was just on the ice considering they were both remarked as two of the best hockey players in college at the moment. But with the way Brady's face turned to ice and his entire posture stiffened, it was obvious that it went further than that.