The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 378: Chapter 378 - Keep Them Open

Zac was already home when Roxie walked in.

He looked up from the couch as soon as the door opened, and whatever he had been doing on his phone stopped the moment he saw her face.

”What happened?”

Roxie closed the door behind her and stood there for a second longer than she meant to. The bungalow was quiet, warm, familiar, and somehow that made everything from the party hit harder. She had spent the entire ride home keeping herself together because Angela was there, Ethan was driving and Karen was still the only thing that mattered.

Now she was home.

Now Zac was looking at her.

”Karen.”

He stood immediately. ”What happened to Karen?”

Roxie dropped her bag near the wall and walked toward the couch. She sat down, then rubbed both hands over her face before looking up at him.

”She lied about going home. Mason saw her at Logan Pierce’s party.”

Zac frowned. ”That place that got raided?”

”Yeah.”

”What the fuck was she doing there?”

”I don’t know.”

He sat beside her, waiting.

Roxie told him what happened as quickly as she could without getting pulled back into every detail. Mason couldn’t find Karen at first. Roxie and Angela went there with Ethan. They searched the house, then found Karen around the side with people Roxie had never known she talked to.

”She was drunk,” Roxie said. ”Or I thought she was drunk at first.”

”At first?”

”She wasn’t acting normal.”

Zac’s face tightened.

Roxie stared at her hands while she explained. ”Karen can drink. You know that. She barely gets drunk compared to everybody else, but tonight she could barely stand. Her eyes were weird. She kept taking forever to answer us.”

”What did she take?”

Roxie looked at him.

”That’s the problem. She doesn’t know.”

Zac went still. ”What?”

”Some girl said Karen took a pill.”

”What pill?”

”I don’t know.”

”She doesn’t know either?”

”No.”

”Who gave it to her?”

”She doesn’t know.”

Zac leaned back and stared at her. ”Jesus fucking Christ.”

Roxie nodded.

”She wouldn’t go to the hospital. We argued with her. Mason said he’d stay with her and take her in if anything changed. She’s home now.”

For a few seconds Zac said nothing.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

”Why didn’t you call me?”

Roxie had been expecting that question ever since Karen brought him up outside the party. Still, hearing it now made something inside her tighten.

”You were training.”

Zac stared at her. ”So?”

”Mason was already there. We needed a ride. We handled it.”

”You handled it.”

”Yes.”

Zac got up from the couch and walked a few steps away before turning around. ”Roxie, what does that even mean?”

”It means I handled it.”

”Karen was missing at Logan Pierce’s house, you found her fucked up after taking some random pill, and you decided that wasn’t something I needed to know about?”

”I didn’t say you didn’t need to know.”

”You didn’t tell me.”

”You were training.”

”So?”

Roxie looked at him. ”You worked your last shift and went straight to Dylan. You’ve been talking about how much you need to catch up, how Tennessee wants you doing more conditioning and throwing. I knew the second I called you, you’d leave.”

”Yeah. I would have.”

”That was the point.”

Zac stared at her like he genuinely couldn’t understand her.

”That makes no sense.”

”It makes sense to me.”

”No, it doesn’t. Why would you think training is more important than me being there with you?”

”I didn’t say it was more important.”

”You decided it was.”

Roxie’s irritation started rising. ”I didn’t decide anything for you. I knew you were busy, Mason was already there and Ethan could drive us. We found Karen and got her home.”

”Ethan?” His voice went low when he said the name.

Roxie bit her lip before deciding this is not about him. ”I knew this was gonna be about Ethan.”

”Well, I’m sorry for even wondering why that guy keeps messing with you.”

”Because I needed a ride.”

”So what? You thought the best person to call was Ethan?”

”You we’re busy and if I called you, you would have left training.”

”Yes.”

”Exactly.”

Zac threw one hand up. ”Roxie, why are you saying that like I would’ve been annoyed?”

”You’re finally getting serious about Tennessee again. You quit your job for this. You’ve been training every chance you get.”

”And?”

”And I didn’t want you dropping everything because Karen decided to go get wasted at some shitty party.”

Zac’s jaw tightened.

”It’s not like I was alone,” Roxie continued. ”Angela was with me. Mason was already there.”

”That’s not the fucking point.”

”Then what is the point?”

”The point is you were dealing with something like that and decided my football practice mattered more than me being there with you.”

”Really, this is not about Ethan?”

”This is about Ethan and you.”

Roxie looked away, already too exhausted for the argument.

”I handled it.”

Zac stared at her for another moment.

Then his expression changed.

”It was big enough that you’re still shaking.”

Roxie looked down.

Her fingers were trembling against her knees.

She hadn’t noticed.

The anger on Zac’s face slowly disappeared. He stayed standing for a few seconds longer, then sighed and came back to the couch.

He sat beside her and took one of her hands.

”Are you okay?”

Roxie shook her head.

That was all she could manage.

Zac moved closer, but he didn’t immediately pull her into him. He just held her hand and waited.

Roxie stared at their fingers for a long time.

”I really thought she was going to die.”

Zac’s grip tightened slightly.

”She kept closing her eyes. Every time she did it, I kept watching to make sure she opened them again. Then that girl said she took something and nobody knew what it was. Karen didn’t even know.”

”I’m sorry.”

Roxie stopped and swallowed.

”I couldn’t stop thinking about my mom.”

Zac wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him.

Roxie leaned into him.

”I kept looking at her and thinking maybe she was going to stop breathing.”

”She didn’t.”

”I know.”

”She’s home.”

”I know.”

”But you’re still scared.”

Roxie nodded against his chest.

For a moment Zac didn’t say anything. He just rubbed his hand slowly over her arm while Roxie tried to get herself under control.

”She said my mom overdosing didn’t mean she was going to die because she took one pill.”

Zac stared at her.

”She said that?”

Roxie nodded.

”What the fuck?”

”I know she was drunk.”

”That doesn’t matter.”

”Maybe whatever she took made it worse.”

”That still doesn’t make it okay.”

”I know.”

Zac looked angry again, but this time it wasn’t at Roxie.

”She knew what she was saying.”

”That’s what bothered me.”

Roxie pulled her hand from his and rubbed both palms over her face.

”Karen’s always hard on us. She says shit all the time. That’s just Karen. We say worse things back sometimes.”

”Not like that.”

”No.”

Roxie looked toward the floor.

”That was the first time she ever said something that felt like she actually wanted to hurt me.”

Zac stayed quiet.

”She looked at me and figured it out. I didn’t even have to tell her what I was thinking. She knew.”

Roxie swallowed.

”And then she used it.”

Zac pulled her closer again.

”She was fucked up.”

”I know.”

”But you’re still allowed to be hurt.”

”I know.”

Roxie leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. ”I just hate that I left.”

”You didn’t leave her alone.”

”I know.”

”Mason’s there.”

”That’s another thing.”

Zac frowned. ”What?”

Roxie opened her eyes. ”Mason likes her.”

”Yes.”

”She was completely fucked up and I left her with a guy who likes her.”

Zac looked at her.

”You trust Mason.”

”I do.”

”Then?”

”I don’t know. It still feels weird.”

”You think Mason’s going to do something?”

”No.”

The answer came immediately.

Roxie did trust him.

That wasn’t really the problem.

”It just feels wrong leaving her like that with anybody. But I couldn’t stay.”

Zac’s expression softened again.

”I wanted to. I kept thinking I should stay there and watch her myself, but the second we got her home and she lay down, I couldn’t do it.”

”Because of Claire.”

Roxie nodded.

”I kept thinking if I stayed, I’d spend the whole night staring at her chest to make sure she was still breathing.”

Zac rubbed his hand over her arm.

”So you left.”

”Yeah.”

”That’s okay.”

Roxie looked at him.

He shrugged slightly. ”Mason is there. Her aunt is there. You didn’t dump her somewhere by herself.”

”I still feel guilty.”

”I know.”

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table.

Roxie grabbed it immediately.

Mason.

Video call.

She answered before Zac could even ask.

Mason’s face filled the screen.

”She’s fine.”

Roxie frowned. ”Turn the camera.”

”Hello to you too.”

”Mason.”

He rolled his eyes and turned the phone.

Karen was lying on her bed under a blanket.

Roxie immediately leaned closer to the screen.

Her hair was spread across the pillow, and she looked pale without all the lights from the party around her. Roxie watched her chest until she saw it rise.

Then fall.

Then rise again.

Mason moved the camera slightly.

”She’s breathing normally. I checked.”

”Did she throw up again?”

”No.”

”Did she drink water?”

”A little.”

”Did you wake her?”

”Yes.”

”When?”

”Like five minutes ago.”

”What did she say?”

”That I was annoying.”

Roxie relaxed a little.

”That sounds normal.”

”Exactly.”

Mason turned the camera back toward himself. ”Her aunt is here too. She keeps checking.”

Roxie stared at him for a second.

Seeing Mason sitting in Karen’s room made the uncomfortable feeling come back. Karen was drunk, drugged or both, and Mason was sitting beside her bed while she slept.

Roxie trusted him.

She did.

Still, she didn’t like it.

Mason seemed to notice the way she was looking at him.

”What?”

”Nothing.”

”That’s not nothing.”

”Leave the camera on her.”

He blinked. ”What?”

”Put the phone somewhere and leave the video running.”

”For how long?”

”I don’t know.”

”Roxie.”

”I want to check her.”

Mason stared at her. ”Her aunt has more trust in me than you do.”

”Fuck off.”

He laughed.

Roxie immediately felt guilty.

Mason had been the one who found out Karen was there. He went back for her before Roxie even arrived. He let Karen shove him around, insult him and tell him to leave. He stayed anyway.

Now he was still sitting there because Roxie couldn’t.

”I know you’re not going to do anything,” Roxie said after a moment.

Mason’s expression softened.

”I know.”

”I just...”

”I know.”

He looked toward Karen.

”She’s safe. I’m sitting here because I don’t want her aunt dealing with this alone and I don’t want Karen waking up confused.”

Roxie nodded.

Mason picked up the phone and moved it until Karen was fully visible again.

”There. You happy?”

”A little.”

”You’re insane.”

”Probably.”

He propped the phone against something beside the bed.

Karen moved slightly underneath the blanket.

Roxie immediately leaned toward the screen.

Mason sighed.

”She moved. She didn’t die.”

”Shut up.”

”I’m serious, Roxie. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack before she even gets a hangover.”

Zac leaned closer beside her.

Mason noticed him.

”Oh.”

Roxie already knew what was coming.

Mason grinned. ”So did you two fight?”

Roxie lifted her middle finger at the camera.

Mason laughed.

”That answers it.”

Zac frowned. ”Why does everybody assume we fought?”

”Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Roxie looked at Mason. ”I hate you.”

Mason laughed harder. ”Zac knows.”

”Yes, he knows.”

Zac leaned closer until Mason could properly see him.

Mason smirked. ”Prescott.”

Zac looked at him. ”Did Ethan put a move on Roxie?”

Roxie turned toward Zac immediately. ”Stop it.”

”What? I’m asking.”

”We were worried about Karen.”

Zac raised both hands. ”Fine.”

Mason laughed from the screen. ”No. He was a perfect nice guy.”

Zac narrowed his eyes slightly.

Mason kept going. ”You know those types. Super helpful. Nice. Drives the girl around. Never gets the girl.”

Roxie chuckled. ”Like you.”

Mason’s smile disappeared.

He slowly lifted his middle finger toward the camera.

Roxie laughed.

”Fuck you.”

”That hit close?”

”Go to sleep.”

Even Zac smiled.

Roxie laughed again, and for the first time since they found Karen, the tight feeling in her chest eased enough that she could breathe normally.

Mason looked back at Karen.

”She’s still asleep.”

”Wake her again later.”

”I know.”

”How often?”

”Roxie.”

”Mason.”

He sighed. ”I’ll keep checking her. If anything changes, I’ll call. If she starts throwing up again, if she gets harder to wake, if her breathing looks wrong, anything, we’re going in.”

”I’ll keep the phone here,” Zac said. ”If Mason calls your name, I’ll wake you.”

She looked at him.

”Promise?”

”Yes.”

Roxie looked at the screen one last time.

Karen was curled on her side, the blanket pulled up near her shoulder. Mason was barely visible at the edge of the camera.

For the first time all night, Roxie believed she might actually still be there when morning came.

She let her eyes close.

Zac’s arm tightened around her.

The video stayed running beside them, and Roxie fell asleep with Karen still on the screen.