Page 48 of Unwritten Rules (The Sunburnt Hearts #1)

Before I can overthink my decision, I send the photo and type a quick message to follow.

TATE: Well, I’m ready and waiting to hear said thoughts.

I drag my bottom lip between my teeth and stare at the screen.

The messages are received as delivered and then seen.

I can’t help but smile when the three dots appear, eager to see what his response is going to be, but they disappear a moment later.

And then reappear. Then disappear. Again and again.

I frown. What the hell is he doing?

Panic surges through me as a realisation washes over me.

What if I took it a step too far by sending him a picture of myself?

Maybe I misread the tone of the conversation and Sinnett was searching for someone to confide in about what is on his mind.

After all, he does have a lot on the line with the game tomorrow—I guess tonight, actually.

And here I am sending raunchy photos of myself to tease him a little.

God, I’m such an idiot .

After five minutes of watching the dots appear and disappear, I lock my phone and drop it onto my chest with a sigh. I’m going to take this as a sign to never step out of my comfort zone again because look where it’s gotten me. Embarrassment creeps up my throat and I swallow the lump forming.

Mortified, I kiss any form of sleep goodbye because I’m going to lie awake until the sun rises, constructing a plan of how I can face Sinnett at the game without turning as bright as tomato.

Vibration on my chest has my eyes widening and my hands scrambling for the insistent device. When I see Sinnett’s contact name on the screen requesting to Facetime me, heat explodes in my core.

Oh, God .

What is happening?

Why is he Facetiming me?

I exhale a sharp breath and reposition myself on the mound of pillows before answering the call, hands trembling. Sinnett appears on the small screen—all messy hair, sharp features, bright eyed and no fucking shirt. A soft glow illuminates the room, shadowing half of his face in a warm light.

“Sin…” I breathe, blinking slowly. “What are you do?—”

He grunts, jaw ticking as he holds my gaze through the screen. “This is what you do to me, Tate.” The camera pans down over the hard ridges of his torso and the lean muscles in his abdomen to where his hand is wrapped around the base of his cock, stroking it gently.

Holy. Shit.

Sinnett reappears on the screen as a I struggle to find an ounce of air in my lungs, but it seems the man has taken my breath away. All I can do is stare at him, mouth parted, as he pleasures himself. To a photo of me. Me .

The fact that I can see the muscles in his right arm flexing beneath the inked designs with each stroke has my head spinning and my mouth so dry I may as well have gotten cotton balls stuffed in there.

“Were you trying to tease me with that photo?” Sinnett continues, voice tight.

“Showing off those perky tits with those damn nipple piercings you know drive me crazy.” He rolls his tongue in his cheek—something he knows drives me crazy—and tilts his head to the side.

“Because this is what you do to me, Tate. Your smile, your mind and your ability to break down my walls. I crave every fucking inch of you to the point of insanity.”

Without realising it, my right hand has slipped between my shorts, pointer finger circling my soaked clit. I drag my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down on the skin to the point I might draw blood. But I know if I don’t, a moan will slip through and reiterate to Sinnett what he does to me .

“Talk to me, Tate,” Sinnett grunts, muscles flexing. “I want to hear that sweet voice of yours.”

“Sin…” I squeeze out, dragging my finger through my slick folds. I drop further into the pillows, focusing on his eyes through the screen.

“That’s it,” he encourages, voice thick with an emotion I can’t place. “Touch yourself. I want to hear what you can do to yourself while I watch.”

Oh, my God .

The edge of my vision blurs as my focus zeros in on the man who has me so far out of my comfort zone I can no longer see it.

But I’ve never felt safer. Not only does he bring out a side to me that is raw and unrecognisable, but he makes me feel like I’m the only woman he has eyes on.

Protected, beautiful, powerful . Sinnett gave me something I didn’t know I possessed, and that’s the ability to be the person I want to be.

Before him, I was the Tatum I thought I had to be.

It was easy to follow the rules of what was expected of me by my parents—go to university, get a career job and then settle down with a family.

But among those rules, I lost sight of what I wanted to be.

And that’s someone who isn’t afraid to take what they want without fear of judgement and live life on the edge without fear of falling.

When I’m with Sinnett, I never worry about being judged or falling, because I know he’s going to be there right alongside me, ready to take the leap with my hand in his. We’ve somehow brought out the best in each other—the real version of ourselves. And it’s something I’m not taking for granted.

“Y-you make me feel… beautiful,” I murmur breathlessly, eyelids heavy. The grip on my phone tightens as I slide my finger inside of me.

“Because you are,” Sinnett is quick to say.

He shifts on the bed and releases a deep groan that has my eyes nearly rolling in the back of my head.

“You’re so fucking beautiful it hurts me, Tate.

Every time I look at you, I’m reminded of why I couldn’t walk away.

Of why I wanted to break the rules for you .

” He moans, head tipping back, throat arching.

“And you bring out a side to me I didn’t know existed.

You opened my eyes to a world I thought was only black and white.

And with you… all I see is colour. Big, bright fucking colours. ”

My back arches as the rhythm of my hand quickens, pushing me closer to the edge.

I’m having a hard time processing Sinnett’s words when my brain is a fuzzy messy and I can’t see straight.

But I do feel him—every inch. He might not physically be in the room with me, but his overwhelming presence is palpable as if he were watching from the corner of the room, his words spurring me on.

“I miss you,” I squeeze out, throat tight as I continue to work myself closer to the edge. I’m barely hanging on by a thread. “I’d break every rule if it meant being yours.”

“ Fuck , Tate,” Sinnett hisses, muscles ready to jump out of his skin as he strokes himself. “I need you to come for me. Close your eyes and pretend that it’s my fingers fucking you.”

“Only if you close your eyes and picture my mouth wrapped around your cock.”

Sinnett groans in response, and I can’t help but smile in victory.

Our moans mix together as we close our eyes, racing toward the edge.

I feel his hands on me—touching and teasing my skin, and trailing his lips along my inner thighs.

His fingers are intrusive as they enter me, filling me completely.

I arch into his touch, desperate for more of him.

Every flick, every thrust, every goddamn moan sweeps over me in a rush, and with a stifled cry, I’m freefalling, limbs shaking and head spinning.

Sinnett joins me, shouting my name as he rushes with me.

My eyes flutter open, my chest heaving for a breath it can’t catch. I meet Sinnett’s hooded ocean eyes, his chest slick with sweat and messy strands of hair covering his forehead. He grins at me and chuckles, deep and soulful, melting into my skin.

“Holy fuck, Tate,” he drawls, a smirk touching his lips. “I never thought I’d see the day where a woman has the power to make me come on my stomach like a teenage boy.”

I snort a laugh as feeling comes back to my body and I’m returned to Earth. “There is no way that’s true.”

“I’m being serious.”

I raise a brow at him and push away the hair sticking to the side of my face, having fallen from the messy bun at my nape. “You are?”

Sinnett nods, tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip. “I’ve gotten myself off plenty of times before, but never over Facetime and certainly never with a specific person in mind. Until you.”

Heat floods my cheeks and I’m helpless to fight the smile that splits across my face. “Well, I guess we’re in the same boat then.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Sinnett shifts on the bed, reaching for something on the floor before settling back in position. “I’m also serious about having a lot on my mind.”

The mood shifts from flirty to serious. Wanting to be the person Sinnett needs right now, I shift my focus to what could be stressing him out to the point he’s awake at three in the morning. “Is everything okay?”

He shrugs as he reaches for something off-screen. A blush rises up my throat when a box of tissues appears. “Yes and no.”

“Talk to me,” I encourage, leaning back further into the mound of pillows. “I’m listening.”

Sinnett exhales a sharp breath and shakes his head, as if trying to find the right words to speak what’s on his mind. “I spoke with my dad about me getting cleared to play tomorrow—tonight.”

“And how’d that go?”

“As well as you could imagine,” Sinnett murmurs, running a hand through his hair.

“No matter what I do out there, it’s not going to be enough for him.

Being out for six weeks has opened my eyes to the amount of pressure he was putting on me because he wasn’t doing it anymore.

And now I don’t know if it’s something I can handle again. ”

“Sin,” I start, keeping my voice even. “You’ve got this, remember? Forget about your father and what he wants from you. Hell, forget about what my father is expecting of you and just go out there and be the best version of yourself for the team.”