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8:54 p.m.
Brady would be picking her up in six minutes.
Tatum eyed her outfit carefully. She wore a deep maroon t-shirt with a high front and open back. She sleeves were short and just covered her shoulders a bit. It was one of her favorite shirts. It was simple, but she paired it with some gold jewelry. If she was being honest, she loved how she looked in darker, jewel tone colors. It complimented her light brown skin and dark hair. Her jeans were a high-waisted medium wash with wide legs. She let her dark hair fall loosely down behind her, swishing softly against the exposed skin on her back. Her black booties dug into her heels slightly, but she was just going to ignore that because they looked amazing with her black purse.
She rubbed her hands against her bare arms unsurely. She used to be insecure about her arms looked in shirts with no sleeves. Growing up only seeing one body type in the media taught her to feel a certain way about her body. It took her time to love herself. She tended to be bigger than her other friends growing up. Her thighs always spread out more when they were all sat down. Her arms squeezed the seams of her shirts more than theirs did. While her friends would tend to fit typical beauty standards, Tatum had always been curvy. But she had grown to love that about herself. Her body was healthy, and that was something she valued. Though, sometimes, she just wished she didn't feel different than everyone else. But she made the decision to be kinder to herself one day, and she refused to look back.
Doing some finishing touches to her makeup, Tatum felt good. Really good. She swiped a layer of dark red lip gloss across her lips, inspecting herself carefully in the mirror. While she doubted how she would feel going out, she couldn't help but get increasingly excited as she got ready. She credited it entirely to her getting ready process and gave absolutely no credit to Brady.
She told Kinsley she was going out tonight with Isaac. Tatum had invited her to not seem suspicious, but she already knew her roommate had to stay in to finish an essay due at midnight. If Kinsley seemed surprised that Tatum was going out, she didn't say anything. She had even smiled when Tatum told her. Maybe she thought Tatum was loosening up finally.
The song of her phone dinging echoed in the air. There was a part of her that instantly wanted to tell him that she changed her mind. That this was a dumb idea. But there was a small part of her that wanted her to do this. Besides needing this for her future, she couldn't help but think this genuinely could be fun. Her eyes darted over to Kinsley guiltily, but her friend had her headphones in and made it clear that she was not to be disturbed until she finished this essay. God, it felt like she was betraying her. No matter how much she convinced herself that she wasn't... she just felt like this was wrong. But Tatum didn't know what else to do.
She had to do this. Tatum sucked in a deep breath and grabbed her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. Brady had called them a car on a ride share service, adding a stop at her dorm to pick her up. Being on a lower level of the dorms, she made her way down the stairs quickly.
Once she got to the car Brady described, she swung the door open and placed herself on the seat next to him. She situated herself in the seat before turning to the boy next to her. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, his curly hair tussled and messy like always. She froze momentarily when she noticed his eyes trained on her body. When she cleared her throat, his eyes darted up to hers like he was never looking anywhere else.
He hummed. "You look good, Hartley."
"Not too bad yourself," she remarked, nodding once.
"Trying to impress me?" Brady quipped.
"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."
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"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.
"They really do let in just anyone, huh? No standards these days," Isaac mused, eyes narrowed in thought. Brady nodded with the same quizzical look on his face, humming in agreement.
"Probably snuck in through the back door," Brady decided in a dry voice.
Theo let out a wry chuckle. "Yeah, gotta be careful everywhere you go. Never know who's lurking around the corner, am I right?"
Tatum's eyes bulged at the reference to Brady being attacked last year. That was something most people seemed hesitant to bring up. She only ever brought it up to intentionally get under his skin, and even then she never actually mentioned the attack itself. It felt off limits. She thought that would go for everyone.
"Man, that's out of line," Isaac scolded with a scoff. Even Tatum agreed, and that was saying something.
"Hey, just thought someone should offer some advice," Theo said innocently, eyes flickering over to Brady. "Never know what someone may see."
That caught Tatum's attention. She glanced over at Brady, who's face hardened. He narrowed his eyes, hate blazing in his eyes. "You just keep your advice to yourself, all right?"
"Yeah, well, when you can't play hockey all you have is your ability to talk shit," Isaac snapped at Theo gleefully, slapping his hand on Brady's shoulder as the two stared at Theo.
"Whoa," Tatum called out, eyes wide with a nervous smile on her face. "Feels like a bad idea, Isaac."
"Yeah, listen to your doctor," Theo agreed smugly. He just seemed to notice Tatum, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Didn't realize you needed twenty-four hour care, Parker."
"Yeah, it's in my job description to steer assholes away from him," Tatum quipped with a shrug. "You know what they say, a doctor a day keeps the pricks away."
"Is that right?" Theo asked in mock amusement, moving forward just slightly.
Brady side-stepped in front of Tatum, putting himself in between her and Theo. "I think that's enough, man."
Theo slowly tuned his gaze back to Brady, giving him a daring look. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Isaac. He stood in on either side of them, pleading to Theo, "Dude, can we not do this? Just... just go back to the rest of the guys. Would rather not get kicked out of the bar that we just paid a cover at."
"Just was saying hello," Theo said innocently. "See you all later."
"Not if we're lucky," Isaac grumbled as Theo waltzed away. "I'm gonna go get us a round."
Isaac headed over to the bar and Tatum cleared her throat uncomfortably. She gestured loosely to the door as she suggested, "Maybe it's time I call a ride back. Not sure I wanna be part of hockey drama."
"Come on, Hartley," Brady bellowed, leaning his head back. "You can't leave yet."
"I gave you... what? Almost ten minutes?" Tatum mused with a shrug. "I don't even know why you want me here."
"I want you to lighten up a bit," Brady snapped. She snorted, shaking her head at him.
"Yeah, I think I'm good here," she snapped with a scoff, heading to the door.
Brady raised an eyebrow, calling out to her, "You're too competitive to skip karaoke."
Her head darted over to him as she paused in her step. "Is there a contest?"
He shot her a grin, seemingly proud that he found a way for her to stay. "Thought you'd like that."
"You're pay more attention than I gave you credit for," Tatum remarked, moving back inside from the door. "I'm flattered."
Brady scoffed and set his jaw. "Any idiot with eyes can see you like to win, Hartley."
She hummed in acknowledgement. "What's the prize?"
"Free drinks for the rest of the night," Brady informed her, nodding his head over to the poster near the stage.
"Give me the damn mic," she grumbled, shuffling past him. He let out a hearty laugh, lazily turning around and watching as she climbed up on stage.
Was Tatum a good singer?
No, no, she was not.
Was she about to own this stage like she had dedicated her life to performing?
Absolutely, she was.
She gripped the microphone with a newfound ferocity she never knew she had. She scanned the crowd, determined to put on a performance that they had never seen. Calling out her song of choice to the DJ. He tried to tell her that she had to wait her turn, but it only took one scrutinizing look to make him change his mind.
The song began to play through the speakers and she grinned. Tatum whipped her head to the crowd, her hair soaring behind her. She opened her mouth and started to sing. If you could even call it that, really. But she owned that stage. She flung herself around madly, singing the upbeat pop-punk song as loudly as she could.
Brady hung towards the back, mouth opened slack. She spotted him staring in shock every couple of minutes, but tried to keep her focus on entertaining the rest of the bar. Tatum was creating quite a crowd watching her, honestly. A lot of girls seemed to recognize the song, singing along with her at the front of the stage. She beamed at them, feeling a surge of confidence go through her.
The song finished and Tatum had one hand on the microphone with the other hand in the air. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Her head darted over to the guy managing karaoke. He stared at her with wide eyes and she shot him a smile. "Did I win?"
"Y-Yeah!" he stuttered out in shock, nodding quickly. He seemed a bit terrified of Tatum, but she didn't mind that one bit. She nodded happily, placing the microphone back on its stand and hopping off stage.
She strutted over to Brady happily, taking a drink from his hand. She lifted it up, taking a sip as he chuckled. "Happy now, Parker?"
"That's one word for it," he quipped.
"You asked for this," she reminded him, sipping the drink. Her face scrunched up in disgust. "God, what did Isaac get us?"
"Long Islands," Brady told her with a wince of his own. "Not exactly my first choice."
"Shouldn't be anyone's first choice," Tatum agreed, drinking it regardless. "And hey, I got free drinks for the rest of the night."
And eventually... the free drinks had started to catch up with her, unfortunately.
Tatum was sat on a stool at the bar with Brady, fiddling with the plastic cup holding her drink. The two had taken to bickering over anything and everything that came to mind. They started fighting over who was busier. Tatum was refusing to lose this one. Not that she was comfortable losing anything, really. But being busy took up almost her entire personality. But admittedly, she didn't realize how packed the hockey boys' schedules were. Between practices, games, strength training, PT sessions, and classes? She could admit that he was maybe as busy as Tatum. But she still think she won.
They had been going back and forth with anything that came to mind. Tatum would say one thing and Brady would instantly counter it with something else. The conversation was fun, honestly. Most people were deterred by Tatum's competitive nature. But Brady matched it head on. He was just as adamant about winning he conversation as she was.
"Well, I'm smarter than you," Tatum shot at him confidently, her chair leaning dangerously far back as she shifted around drunkenly.
"I'm more talented," he retorted instantly as he nonchalantly reached forward and pulled her chair up so it wouldn't topple over.
She hummed, not even noticing Brady balancing her. "Depends on your definition of talent."
Brady raised his eyebrows coyly. "Oh yeah? Didn't know you made time for that, Hartley."
Tatum gawked at him for a moment, realizing what he was implying. She cleared her throat, gathering herself. "What? You jealous?"
"Not at all," Brady quipped and Tatum raised her eyebrows. "You probably recite the fucking periodic table while screwing."
"Well, you won't ever be finding out," Tatum quipped. Brady hummed, eyeing the drink in her hand.
"You should probably slow down, by the way," Brady suggested as he nodded his head to her drink. He switched to water a while ago, but Tatum hadn't even noticed.
As soon as he said the words, it was like it hit her. Every drink she consumed was suddenly swirling around her head. Tatum raised her hand up to her head. "Shit, I didn't even realize how drunk I was."
"You didn't realize after your sixth drink?"
"I can't believe I actually got this drunk," Tatum groaned, rubbing her head and wishing for her body to sober up. "I don't do this anymore."
He raised his eyebrows. "Have fun?"
"Waste time," Tatum corrected without missing a beat. She might come off as being a bit ridiculous, but she was dedicating her life to this career. Not everyone had all the time in the world for her to mess around. There were sick people who she could help if she focused and hurried up. Sick people like her Mom. Shaking her head from those thoughts, she continued with, "And if I show up tomorrow hungover I'm done."
"Then we'll skip," Brady suggested simply.
"That's not how this whole 'taking turns' thing works," Tatum said in a tired voice, huffing out as her head fell into her hands.
"Evans wants me to do the plan, right? Say we're going to the rink tomorrow," Brady offered with a shrug. "It'll give you some time before you need to see her."
"That's..." Tatum started, trailing off in thought. "Actually not a bad idea. I can say I wanna see when it starts to hurt when you play."
"Well, it doesn't hurt."
"Don't start."
The two left soon after that with Isaac, who was as sober as Brady at this point in the night. The ride home would've been bearable if the driver hadn't talked to them the entire time. Tatum was honestly too tired and drunk to try to hold a conversation. She let her head rest against the window of the car, which ended up being more uncomfortable than she thought it would. The rattling of the window knocked her head around, making her far more nauseous than she was before.
They dropped Isaac first but Tatum didn't even remember him leaving. When they got to Tatum's dorm, she was surprised by Brady getting out with her. He told the driver he'd be down in a couple of minutes and the driver agreed when Brady promised a good tip. Tatum sucked in harshly as she stood up, groaning at how her head wouldn't stop spinning. She trudged forward to her dorm with Brady trailing her, making sure she wouldn't fall.
Eventually, they reached her room. She fumbled with the lock but she finally made her way inside. Tatum flopped down onto her bed, burying her head into her pillow. Brady raised an eyebrow. "Not gonna change our of your clothes?"
"You just wanna see me naked," Tatum murmured decisively into her pillow.
Brady barked out a laugh in surprise. But before he could retort, the doorknob began to jiggle again and the sound of keys clinking together filled the air. Brady's eyes widened slightly as he told her in a hushed voice, "Pretend you're asleep."
"Not hard to pretend," Tatum admitted tiredly as she rolled over in her bed, facing the wall. "Goodnight."
Her eyes drooped shut almost instantly out of pure exhaustion. A new set of footsteps walked in and Tatum could feel the tension flood the room. It was dead silent for a moment, and Tatum really did almost fall asleep. But then she heard a familiar voice pipe up.
"Why the hell are you in my room?" Kinsley gritted out between her teeth. "With my friend?"
Oh, shit. Tatum kind of forgot about that.
"Saw her at the bar," Brady grumbled out, lying between his teeth. "She got hammered. Knew she lived here."
"Wasn't she with Isaac tonight? Why didn't he bring her home?" Kinsley pressed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We dropped him off, relax."
"Don't tell me to relax," Kinsley snapped harshly. "You know I don't want to see you."
Brady scoffed. "Right, next time I'll just leave her outside."
"Maybe next time, don't hang out with my friend," she suggested hotly. "I don't like how much time you're spending with her."
"She's helping me with my knee," Brady grumbled as a reminder.
"Does she even know?" Kinsley asked in a voice filled with so much venom that Tatum almost didn't even recognize it. "Since she's helping you so much?"
"You tell me, since she's apparently your family now," Brady said in a snarky voice.
Her friend scoffed. "I wouldn't just tell someone something like that."
"You swore you wouldn't tell anyone anything," he reminded her in a low voice.
"I haven't," Kinsley snapped. "And I won't, all right?"
"Yeah, well, she acts like she knows something," Brady went on and Tatum wondered if he forgot that she wasn't actually asleep yet. "If she knows something—"
"—She doesn't."
"She better not, for everyone's sake."
Hm, well, now Tatum wanted to know what she wasn't supposed to know.
How bad could it even be?
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Drunk Tatum you will always be loved by ME (And Brady)
Brady and Kinsley are soooo suspicious they're so funny