Page 28 of Unwritten Rules (The Sunburnt Hearts #1)
Chapter Twelve
SINNETT
T he second the glass slams down onto the wooden table that is as unsteady as my heart, I’m itching to go to the bar to order another.
My veins thump in time with the beat of “How Deep Is Your Love” by Calvin Harris, the alcohol swimming through them doing nothing to ease the tension rolling in my shoulders.
“Ease up there, cowboy. Save some alcohol for the rest of us,” Khai shouts over the music, the sound grating on my already fragile nerves.
My fingers flex around the glass, and I fight the urge to clench my jaw for fear of snapping a tooth. There are only so many times you can do it before it becomes a concern—one that my dentist might have a problem with.
Strobe lights blur at the corner of my vision, making the already small club feel tiny.
Sweaty bodies brush past my back, eager to hit the dance floor with a drink in hand.
Drops of what I can only assume is alcohol land on my back, seeping into my tense muscles.
I fight the urge to grimace at the scent of cheap perfume, stale beer and smoke.
What else would you expect from a club in North Sydney?
The Vixen is one of the most popular clubs in the city, and on a Saturday night, it’s almost impossible to get in after 10 PM.
Maybe it’s the happy hour house spirits that bring in the crowds, or the killer DJ that plays every weekend, but it’s packed in here, making it hard for my already struggling lungs to breathe.
I’m going to need more fucking alcohol if I want to get on a level that has me feeling as light as a feather.
“Is everything okay?” Khai asks when I don’t respond. “You seem… tense. Hell, you haven’t so much as blinked at the women who have stopped by the table in the past hour to get your phone number, or, I don’t know, have a friendly conversation with you.”
“I’m fine,” I grit out, using the same two words each time my friend asks about my wellbeing. I’m sure he’s tired of hearing the same shit as much as I am of saying it. “I just needed a drink.”
“Or five,” Khai snorts, sipping his own drink. “I mean, I’m not complaining. After Zane and Nico bailed on me for a night in to play video games, fuckers , I was glad you changed your mind so I wasn’t left to my own devices. You know how I get when I’m drunk and alone.”
“Yeah, you go home with the first man or woman that locks eyes with you.”
Khai leans over to wrap his arm around my shoulders, pressing me against his side. “And since you’re here, you’ll be the only man I go home with.”
I bite back a snort. “Yeah, lucky me.”
“But who knows,” my friend says as he releases me and returns to his seat, “I might still go home with someone. The night is still young and the stars are yet to fully shine.”
I tilt my head to the side, catching sight of Khai’s shit-eating grin. “You’re a menace, you know that right?”
“And yet you still love me.”
“Love might be a strong word.”
“You know you love me, Sin. Don’t make me shout it out in front of everywhere here.”
I reach over and slap my hand over his mouth. “Don’t you dare, asshole.”
Khai grins beneath my hand, cheeks lifting. “Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
Pulling my hand from his mouth, I shove myself up from the stool. “I’m going to get another drink. Do you want one?”
“If it’s your shout then consider me thirsty.”
Leaving Khai to laugh to himself, I push my way through the crowd cast in shadows and multi-coloured strobe lights. Stray hands graze over my chest and down my arms, but I ignore the touches, my sights set on getting another drink in me to calm the storm raging in my mind.
After what felt like an eon standing at the bar, I have two drinks in hand, pushing through the crowd and praying no one pumps into my quad. The last thing I need is for some drunk idiot to ruin the steady progress I’ve been making.
When I break through the crowd, I stop dead in my tracks when my eyes land on the head of strawberry-blonde hair occupying my seat.
Heat thrums through my veins as I watch her from afar, like a fucking creep.
Her head tips back, laughing at something Khai said.
Beside her, Raya flips her hair over her shoulder, eyes pinned on my best friend.
My fingers tighten around the plastic cups, and I’m grateful it’s not glass because I have no doubt they would’ve shattered under the pressure.
What is she doing here?
Of all the places she could be right now, why does it have to be here at this very moment when I’m balancing on the edge of losing my goddamn mind?
I consider retreating into the crowd and sculling the drinks in my hands, but Khai catches my eye, and gestures for me to approach. Shit . This is not good. I came here to get my mind off the strawberry-blonde, not have her invade more of my mind than she already has.
Gritting my teeth, I take, slow, deliberate steps towards the table, ignoring how my pulse races with the overwhelming need to get the fuck out of here.
“There is he!” Khai cheers when I set his drink down in front of him. “I thought you might’ve gotten snatched up by a lucky lady at the bar and abandoned me.”
I grunt in response, taking the seat beside him and across from Tatum. Her eyes trail over my face, leaving tiny fires in their wake.
Don’t look into her eyes. Don’t look into her eyes. Don’t look into her?—
Fuck . I have the willpower of a fucking toddler.
Jade eyes lock with mine, holding me hostage. God, she’s beautiful. Even in a filthy club with awful lighting, Tatum manages to steal the little air left in my lungs. I flex my hand around the cup, needing to do something with them.
“There was a long ass line,” I squeeze out, jaw flexing. “What did I miss?”
Khai gestures to Tatum and Raya with a smile that could light up the moon. “I saw these two lovely ladies enter and thought they could use our wonderful company.”
“Did you think that maybe they might want to spend time together?” I deadpan.
“I take offence to that,” Khai says with a frown. “Either way, they’re here now, so let’s get fucked up.”
“I second that,” Raya says, running her fingers through the ends of her two-toned hair. “I don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow, so I plan to be fuck-eyed come morning.”
Khai reaches across the table and the two high five. “That’s what I like to hear! What about you, Tate? Keen on getting legless with us?”
Tatum’s mouth tilts up in a half smile. “Yeah? I guess.”
A shiver races down my spine as my eyes sweep across her body.
Besides the night we met in Barrenridge when she wore the most insane little black dress I had ever seen, and a polo and long pants at work, I haven’t seen her dressed casually.
If you call blue jeans and a white spaghetti strap top casual.
And don’t even get me started on the outline of her fucking nipple piercings showing through the thin material.
I swallow hard and tear my eyes away. If I continue to focus on her smooth skin and the tiny freckles scattered across her shoulders, I’m going to lose my damn mind.
“Then let’s get this fucking party started!” Khai jumps to his feet and leans down to plant a kiss on Raya’s cheek. She bursts out laughing. “First round of shots is on me.” He scurries through the crowd, hands thrown in the air as he goes. Damn my best friend for thrusting me into this situation.
After my session with Tatum today, I struggled to keep my self-control around her composed and intact.
I’ve grown to enjoy her random questions and how easily I relax in her presence.
It’s as if all the tension and pressure weighing heavily on my shoulders disappears when I see her face—so sweet and calming.
I’ve started looking forward to going to our sessions, wondering what question she might ask me next or what I can learn about her.
Discovering that Mia is neighbours with Noah Sterling, Tatum’s friend, was a shock, to say the least. I was ready to tear Noah to shreds and demand Tatum keep him in line, especially after the bad luck with men Mia has dealt with in the past three years.
But she told me I could trust that my sister is in good hands with him, and I believed her words.
Call it intuition, but I believed Tatum.
I just hope that what she said about Noah is true, and he doesn’t fuck over my sister.
“Long time no talk, Sin.” Raya shifts on the seat, eyes meeting mine. “How have you been?”
“Same old, same old,” I respond with a shrug. I take a sip from my bourbon and Coke to consider my next words. “My new physio has got me on this intense recovery plan, so I spend most of my days living and breathing by her words.”
The corner of Tatum’s mouth twists up at my words. And God do I wish I could take a picture of it.
Raya grins, her eyes flicking between me and Tatum. “So I’ve heard. I heard she can be real hard ass.”
“Oh, yeah, the biggest.”
Tatum takes a swipe at Raya’s arm, her friend laughing in response. “Hey! I’m not that much of a hard ass.”
“Says the person who has me icing my quad and then stretching it for what feels like hours.” I bite back a grin, but it’s hard when she looks so cute and annoyed. “But I will say she has her moments.”
Raya bumps her shoulder against Tatum, who smiles in return. “Yeah, she’s pretty. And totally off-limits, Sin. In more ways than one.” The tone of her voice is neutral, but I’m no fool who can’t read between the lines. My hands flex around the cup again, the brief good mood slipping from my bones.