The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 25: Chapter 25 - Ravens Vs. Bears

ROXIE’S POV

”Here comes Zac’s girlfriend.”

”That’s her? She’s not that pretty.”

Roxie stood near the track with her pom-poms in one hand and her cheer bag by her feet, seething.

She wanted to turn around and tell them she was nobody’s girlfriend. She wanted to ask if they had nothing better to do than whisper about a girl standing ten feet away.

But turning around would only make it worse.

Karen came up beside Roxie, ponytail bouncing, lips shiny with gloss. ”You heard?”

Roxie kept her eyes on the field. ”I heard a lot.”

If it was about her again, she was pretty tired of repeating herself. Especially since her supposed boyfriend had not talked to her once this week.

Supposed boyfriend.

That pantry stunt had been the hot gossip for the week but Zac not talking to her once actually helped. She was nervous her secret had been exposed.

But Zac had kept his mouth shut.

That mattered more than she wanted it to.

Karen smirked, one eyebrow lifting. ”It’s not about you, Miss Popular.” She paused, enjoying herself way too much. ”Actually, maybe it is.”

Angela came from Roxie’s other side, already frowning. ”Zac and Kyle aren’t starting.”

Roxie’s hand paused around the pom-poms.

The Bears team had come in loud. Big players, ugly orange helmets, too much shoulder shoving during warm-ups. They were not Fairmont, but they were enough to make Briarwick nervous.

”Why?” Roxie asked.

Angela glanced toward the football bench. ”Coach Hayes benched them for the first quarter.”

Karen grinned and checked her nails like she had been personally invited to deliver bad news. ”And I know why.”

Roxie finally let herself look.

Zac stood near the bench with his helmet tucked under one arm, jaw set, tape around his wrist. Kyle stood several feet away from him with a busted lip and a stare full of murder.

They were both in uniform but neither one was on the field.

The backup quarterback jogged out with the offense.

The student section noticed at the same time.

A wave of voices rolled through the bleachers.

”Where’s Prescott?”

”Is he hurt?”

Somebody yelled, ”Prescott, what did you do?”

Kendall drifted closer with two girls behind her, smiling like she had been waiting all day to find something sharp enough to hold. Her curls were tied high, ribbon neat, face glitter placed like she had spent twenty minutes making sure it looked effortless.

”Morning, Captain,” Kendall said.

Roxie lifted her chin. ”Warm-ups. Now.”

Kendall looked toward the football bench. ”Your quarterback’s in timeout?”

”He is not my anything.”

Kendall’s smile widened. ”That’s not what the pictures say.”

Roxie stepped closer, close enough that Kendall had to stop smiling or commit to it.

”As co-captain,” Roxie said, keeping her voice sweet enough for Coach Miller to ignore, ”I want you warming up with the girls.”

Kendall’s eyes narrowed.

Roxie smiled. ”Now.”

The two girls behind Kendall looked at each other, then quickly turned away.

Kendall held Roxie’s stare for another beat before turning around. ”Girls, formation.”

Roxie breathed through her nose and looked at Karen once Kendall was far enough away. ”What did you mean?”

Karen’s smirk came back immediately. She was enjoying Roxie’s curiosity, which was irritating because Roxie had not meant to show any.

”They got into a fight because of you.”

Roxie looked at Zac and Kyle. ”That has nothing to do with me.”

Karen’s eyebrows lifted like she did not believe a single word.

Roxie looked back toward the field and forced her fingers to loosen around the pom-poms.

Football boys were animals. They would fight over a bad pass, a dirty look, or one stupid sentence. Her name being thrown around did not make her responsible.

She told herself she did not care.

The whistle blew.

The Bears kicked off.

Without Zac, Briarwick looked weaker.

Roxie did not know every football detail, and she was not going to pretend she did because girls pretending to understand sports for male approval deserved their own punishment, but she knew rhythm. She knew when bodies moved together and when they moved like strangers forced into the same hallway.

Briarwick did not move together.

The snap came high. The backup quarterback bobbled it, recovered late, and the running back got swallowed after two yards.

The Bears sideline erupted.

Roxie lifted her poms. ”Ready?”

The cheerleaders snapped into position.

”Defense will fix it,” Karen muttered through her smile.

”They better,” Angela said.

Second down went worse.

By third down, the student section had gone quiet.

Briarwick punted badly, and three plays later, orange was in the end zone.

The Bears bench screamed.

By the time the scoreboard changed to 7–0, the student section had fully entered crisis mode.

Across the field, Zac stood near Coach Hayes. His helmet was still under his arm. His eyes were on the field, but his mouth was a hard line.

Kyle sat on the bench now, elbows on knees, staring at the turf.

They looked like two boys being punished in public.

That should have been funny.

It was not.

Just put them in, she thought, jaw tight.

This was already messy. If Briarwick lost because Zac and Kyle spent the first quarter benched, people would point right at her by Monday morning. Maybe earlier, if the student section got pissed enough before halftime.

The first quarter dragged.

Briarwick scraped out one field goal, making it 7–3 and giving the student section just enough hope to become annoying again.

The cheerleaders smiled through the tension.

The quarter ended with the Bears driving again, but Briarwick’s defense held them just before the break.

The buzzer sounded.

The student section started stomping.

”Prescott! Prescott! Prescott!”

Roxie clapped twice and turned toward the squad. ”Water. Thirty seconds. Then sideline chant.”

The girls scattered.

Coach Hayes finally pointed at Zac and Kyle.

The student section exploded.

Zac jogged onto the field.

Kyle followed.

The crowd reacted harder.

Briarwick lined up.

Zac clapped once for the snap. Kyle shifted on the line without looking at him.

The ball moved.

The Bears rushed.

Kyle picked up his block.

Zac stepped back and threw.

The pass cut across the field and hit the receiver in the chest near midfield.

The stadium jumped back to life.

Roxie raised her poms. ”That’s a Briarwick first down!”

The squad echoed her, louder.

Zac turned back to the huddle like he had not just changed the entire mood of the stadium in one play.

Typical.

The drive was ugly, but it moved.

Kyle blocked like he was trying to hit someone legally enough to avoid another benching.

Zac played angry, but it worked. Fast snap. Quick throw. Hard count.

Roxie watched too much.

Kendall caught her.

That was the problem with Kendall. She noticed the exact things Roxie wanted buried.

”Careful, Captain,” Kendall said under her breath as they switched lines. ”You’re starting to look like a girlfriend.”

Roxie turned back before she scratched her face.

Briarwick scored near the end of the second quarter.

Zac rolled right, dodged pressure, and threw into the corner of the end zone. The receiver caught it with one foot barely inside. The ref raised both arms.

The home side detonated.

The band blasted the fight song. The student section shoved each other in celebration. Two boys nearly fell over the railing. A girl screamed directly into her phone and then checked if the video saved.

Roxie led the touchdown cheer with her smile locked in place.

The scoreboard changed.

Briarwick 10. Bears 10.

Tie game.

Zac jogged off the field.

As he passed the sideline, he looked toward the cheerleaders.

Roxie looked away first.

Halftime came with the Bears kneeling out the clock and Briarwick students acting like they had survived a national emergency.

The cheerleaders moved to the center of the field.

Roxie forced her brain into counts.

Eight. Turn. Arms. Hit. Step. Travel. Smile.

The routine went clean.

Mostly.

Kendall landed a little heavy from a jump, and Roxie adjusted the line before it looked obvious. Angela caught the back row drifting. Karen recovered from a late clap with enough attitude to make it seem intentional.

Roxie finished with her chin high and lungs tight.

Roxie handed her poms to Karen. ”Hold these.”

Karen blinked. ”Where are you going?”

Roxie paused.

Karen looked toward the football tunnel. ”You’re going to him?”

”No,” Roxie said.

She lied. They both knew she was lying.

Karen’s mouth opened, but Roxie was already walking.

The tunnel area behind the home bench was crowded with trainers, water coolers, equipment bags, and football players moving in and out with towels over their shoulders. The band thundered from the field. The concession line stretched near the fence. People kept passing, but slowly, because everyone at Briarwick had a talent for pretending they were minding their business while collecting evidence.

Zac stood near the wall outside the locker room entrance, helmet on the ground by his cleats, listening to Coach Hayes talk to one of the assistants.

His hair was damp with sweat. His jersey was grass-streaked. There was color near his jaw where Kyle had hit him.

Zac looked up and saw her.

His face changed before he could hide it.

”Roxie.”

”Did you fight Kyle because of me?” Roxie asked.

Zac’s expression shut fast. ”Who told you that?”

”Everyone with a mouth.”

He looked past her.

A couple of freshmen near the wall suddenly became obsessed with a roll of athletic tape. One of the injured players leaned closer to another player and got elbowed in the ribs.

Roxie stepped nearer, lowering her voice. ”Did you?”

Zac rubbed at the side of his jaw. ”He was running his mouth.”

She threw her hand out. ”You’re making this worse than it is.”

Zac’s eyes sharpened. ”Worse than what?”

”This.” Roxie pointed between them, then toward the field, then toward the bleachers where half the student section had nothing better to do than turn their heads every three seconds. ”Whatever people think this is.”

His jaw moved.

Roxie hated that she noticed the bruise again.

”It’s annoying,” she said. ”Are you not even thinking?”

Zac let out a breath, rough and annoyed, then glanced toward the field. His hands flexed once at his sides. He was still running hot from the game. It was in the way he stood too close, the way his shoulders stayed tight, the way his attention kept snapping back to her mouth before he dragged it up again.

”Roxie,” he said, voice lower now, ”you should probably stop pushing me right now.”

Her eyebrows lifted. ”Excuse me?”

”I’m serious.”

”So am I.”

”I’m full of adrenaline, my jaw hurts, Coach is one bad look away from killing me, and you came over here for what?”

”To tell you that you messed up big time.”

His breathing got heavier.

Roxie should have stepped back.

She did not.

”You shoved Kyle because he said my name,” she said.

”He said more than your name.”

”Then you should have been smarter.”

His jaw tightened, his eyes dropped to her mouth.

Roxie’s breath caught.

Bad.

Very bad.

She stepped back. ”Win.”

Zac blinked. ”What?”

”Win the game. I’m not spending Monday listening to people say I’m the reason Briarwick lost.”

”Prescott!” Coach Hayes shouted.

Roxie held his stare. ”Go.”

Zac grabbed his helmet from the ground and pulled it on.

Through the facemask, his eyes found hers again. ”Come to the party later.”

Roxie frowned. ”You haven’t even won yet.”

His mouth curved. ”When we win.”

She hated that her stomach reacted to that.

”No promises,” she said.

Zac backed away, still looking at her. ”That sounded like a maybe.”

”No promises.”

Coach Hayes shouted his name again.

Zac turned and jogged back to the field.