The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 263: Chapter 263 - None of My Business

The next morning, Roxie decided she was staying the fuck away from Zac.

She had decided it sometime around two in the morning after checking her phone for what had to be the fiftieth time and finding absolutely nothing from him. No message asking if she got home. No stupid meme. No good morning waiting for her when she woke up.

Nothing acknowledging the fact that less than twelve hours ago he had dragged her into a storage room because Mike was driving him crazy, admitted he missed her every fucking minute, then kissed her until Roxie had almost forgotten they had broken up in the first place.

Apparently Zac could do all of that and then go right back to silence.

Roxie rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling while her phone sat facedown beside her. The whole thing was embarrassing now that she was alone.

She had spent two days smiling at random boys, making Mason hand her flowers and using Mike like some idiot prop because she wanted Zac jealous enough to finally crack. Then the second he did, Roxie had practically melted against him. She had touched him first. Asked if he missed her. Pulled him down and kissed him.

And then she had gone home alone straight from that horrifying incident. A moment of weakness.

Roxie grabbed her phone again before she could stop herself.

Nothing.

”Fuck you.”

She tossed it onto the other side of the bed.

That was it.

She was done chasing him.

Actually done this time.

By AP Chemistry, Roxie had repeated that decision enough times that she almost believed herself.

She walked into Callahan’s room with Karen and Angela, sat down and pulled out her notebook without looking toward the back. She knew Zac was there because she had heard Mason say something when they came in, but Roxie kept her eyes on the pages in front of her.

If Zac wanted to pretend yesterday had never happened, she could help him.

Karen sat beside her and watched Roxie write the date at the top of her page. ”You’re quiet.”

”Literally everyone keeps complaining when I’m not.”

Karen gave her a longer look. ”Did something happen yesterday?”

Roxie’s pen stopped.

Angela leaned closer. ”What happened? You didn’t come for practice after Zac pulled you somewhere.”

”Nothing.”

Karen’s eyes narrowed. ”Don’t tellme you’re back together?”

Roxie nearly laughed. ”Nothing happened. We talked and fought, end of the story.”

Roxie looked toward the board just as Mr. Callahan came in, ending the conversation before either of them could keep digging.

She managed almost ten minutes before curiosity got the better of her.

Roxie glanced back.

Zac was already looking at her.

Their eyes met.

For one stupid second, everything from the storage room came rushing back. His hands around her waist. His mouth against hers. The way his breathing had changed when she touched him. Every fucking minute.

Roxie looked away first.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

She spent the rest of class staring determinedly at Callahan, her worksheet and basically anything that was not Zac Prescott. When the bell rang, she packed quickly and left with Karen and Angela before he could get anywhere near her.

Zac never tried.

That should have made things easier.

Instead, it pissed her off all over again.

By lunch Roxie had abandoned the flirting completely. She talked to the girls, ignored the football table and only caught herself looking toward Zac twice, which she considered impressive considering the last few days. When a guy from their grade stopped to talk to Ava, Roxie barely acknowledged him. When Mike waved from across the cafeteria, she gave him a bored look and went back to eating.

Karen noticed immediately.

”Psychological warfare over?”

Roxie stabbed a cucumber. ”I got bored.”

Angela looked disappointed. ”Already?”

Karen stared at her. ”That ended faster than expected.”

Roxie pointed her fork at Angela. ”Thank you for supporting me while it lasted.”

”Always.”

Karen shook her head. ”One of these days I’m going to let both of you destroy yourselves just so I can say I told you so.”

”You say that anyway.”

”Because I’m usually right.”

Roxie rolled her eyes and kept eating.

She made it through the rest of the school day without creating a single reason for Zac to look at her.

It sucked.

After practice, Roxie had no interest in going home.

The bungalow had become unbearable since Zac took his things. It was the same house she had lived in before him, but now she noticed every place where something was missing. His shoes were gone. His charger was gone. His toothbrush was gone. There was more space in her closet, which should have been useful but somehow only pissed her off every time she opened it.

So instead of heading home, Roxie went to the Corner Grill.

The bell above the door gave the same annoying little ring when she walked inside, and for the first time all day something in her chest loosened.

The place smelled exactly the same. Grease, fries, coffee that had probably been sitting too long and whatever was cooking in the kitchen. A couple of people she recognized were working, and Ethan was behind the counter wiping something down when he saw her.

He lifted an eyebrow. ”You lost?”

Roxie dropped onto one of the stools. ”Fuck you.”

”There she is.”

She reached over and stole a fry from a basket waiting to be picked up.

Ethan slapped her hand away. ”That isn’t yours.”

”Then why was it near me?”

”Strong legal argument. I could call the police on you”

Roxie stole another one before he moved the basket. ”On what? I’d file for human trafficking. You’ve worked me to the bone for below wage minimum.”

Ethan chuckled. ”Why are you here?” He reached for another order ticket. ”Prescott again?”

Roxie’s entire face tightened. ”I’m not talking about him.”

”Okay.”

That was it.

Ethan went back to what he was doing.

Roxie stared at him for a moment.

No questions. No asking what happened. No trying to get her to explain why she looked like shit or whether she and Zac were back together after whatever rumors had probably already made it here too.

She stayed longer than she meant to. She talked to people when they had time, stole more fries, complained when Ethan refused to make her something for free and eventually bought food because apparently she had become a responsible paying customer.

By the time she finally left, the sky was starting to darken.

Going home still sounded depressing.

Roxie adjusted the strap of her handbag and started walking anyway.

She made it a few blocks before noticing the new coffee shop Karen and Angela had been talking about.

Roxie slowed.

The place had opened recently, and from outside it looked exactly like somewhere she normally would have avoided. Big windows. Warm lights. Little tables full of Briarwick students with expensive looking drinks sitting in front of them while they talked or stared at laptops.

Karen had already mentioned it three times.

Angela liked some iced thing with foam on top that had apparently cost enough for Roxie to make fun of her for an entire lunch period.

Roxie almost kept walking.

Then she remembered the card inside her handbag.

She stopped.

For most of her life, buying an overpriced coffee because she felt like it would have been fucking stupid. Coffee came from Zac or the Grill. Spending several dollars on something that would disappear in fifteen minutes made no sense when that money could buy actual food.

Except she had money now.

Roxie looked through the window again.

She could buy herself one stupid coffee.

Nobody had to offer.

Nobody had to pay for her.

She could just decide she wanted something and get it.

”Fuck it.”

Roxie opened the door.

She regretted it almost immediately.

The place was packed.

Half of Briarwick apparently had the exact same idea, and Roxie recognized people from school everywhere she looked. A group of juniors occupied one table near the window. Two girls from cheer were farther back. Somebody from the football team sat with a laptop open near the wall.

Roxie had come alone.

Great.

She almost turned around.

An employee behind the counter looked up. ”You can sit at the small table near the counter if you’re staying. It just opened.”

Roxie glanced toward it.

One tiny table.

Right in the middle of everything.

”Great.”

She considered pretending she had forgotten something and leaving.

Instead, she joined the line.

She had already walked inside. She could order one drink, drink half of it and get the hell out.

Easy.

The menu immediately made her regret everything again.

Roxie stared up at names that seemed unnecessarily complicated for coffee.

When she finally reached the counter, the girl working the register smiled. ”What can I get you?”

Roxie looked at the menu one last time and picked something that sounded decent enough.

”I’ll get the caramel macchiato.”

”Hot or iced?”

Roxie hesitated. ”Iced.”

”What size?”

She looked at the cups beside the register. ”Medium.”

The girl gave her the coffee shop version of a patient smile and entered the order.

Roxie paid with the card from her handbag. That part felt strange enough that she looked at the receipt afterward.

She had just spent that much money on coffee. On the other hand, it felt good to use Mr. Robinson’s money on nonsense things like this.

Roxie moved toward the end of the counter to wait.

The employee door behind it opened.

Zac walked out.

Zachary Prescott.

Her ex-boyfriend.

For several seconds they just stared at each other.

He was wearing a black coffee shop shirt and an apron tied around his waist.

Roxie looked him over once.

Then again.

What the fuck?

A guy standing near the espresso machine followed Zac’s attention and looked toward Roxie before checking the order screen.

”Perfect. You can make this one.”

Zac looked at him.

The guy pointed toward Roxie’s order. ”I’ll walk you through it.”

Roxie’s eyes narrowed.

Zac looked back at her.

Neither of them said anything.

Then it hit her.

He worked here.

Zac fucking worked here.

Roxie stayed beside the counter while the other employee started explaining something to him. Zac listened, grabbed a cup and checked the order again.

”When did this happen?”

The question almost came out.

Roxie stopped herself.

Instead, she watched.

Zac was clearly new. He reached for something, and the guy beside him corrected him. Zac put it back without arguing and grabbed something else. Then he measured whatever went into the drink, used the machine and frowned when the employee told him something about the amount.

Roxie stared.

Three days ago she would have known about this before Zac filled out an application.

She would have known he had an interview. Known when he started. Known how much he was making and what hours they gave him. Zac probably would have complained to her about the uniform before he even put it on.

Now she had walked into a random coffee shop and discovered her ex boyfriend behind the counter.

When the fuck had he gotten this job?

Why had he never told her?

The answer came almost immediately.

Because they broke up.

Roxie looked away.

Right.

She no longer got updates.

Whatever Zac did after school was none of her business now.

Roxie looked around the coffee shop because watching him work had suddenly become uncomfortable.

That was when she noticed the girls.

Three girls from Briarwick were sitting at a table with a clear view of the counter. Two others stood farther down waiting for their drinks. Roxie recognized one from junior year and another girl she had seen around school.

One of them was looking at Zac.

Of fucking course.

Roxie’s jaw tightened.

The junior leaned toward her friend and said something that made both of them giggle.

Roxie looked back at Zac.

He was concentrating on her drink, completely unaware.

Another girl near the counter glanced at him and smiled.

Roxie narrowed her eyes.

Seriously?

He had been working here for what, five fucking minutes?

One of the girls whispered something to her friend, and Roxie caught enough of it to hear the word apron followed by another giggle.

Roxie turned sharply toward Zac’s back.

As if he could feel her staring, Zac looked over his shoulder.

Their eyes met.

He looked at her face for a second, then glanced behind himself like he was trying to figure out what the fuck she was glaring at.

When he looked back, one eyebrow went up.

Roxie looked away.

Asshole.

A few minutes later Zac brought her drink toward the counter.

He set it in front of her.

”Here you go.”

Roxie stared at him.

Zac stared back.

”That’s it?”

His brow furrowed. ”What?”

”When did you start working here?”

He glanced toward the guy training him before looking back at her. ”Today.”

Roxie waited.

Zac said nothing else.

”Today?”

”Yeah.”

She stared at him harder.

He looked genuinely confused about what else she expected.

Then his attention moved toward the line behind her.

”Anything else?”

Roxie almost laughed.

Anything else?

Three days ago she knew where he slept.

Now she got fucking customer service.

”No.”

Zac nodded. ”Okay.”

There was that word again.

Roxie grabbed her coffee before she threw it at him. She had originally planned to leave immediately. Instead, she walked straight to the little table near the counter and sat down.

Fuck him.

She had paid for this stupid drink. She could sit wherever she wanted. Roxie took a sip.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Okay.

That was actually good.

Still overpriced.

She took another sip and pulled out her phone like she had something important to do. She lasted maybe thirty seconds before looking toward Zac again.

He was working the register now with the other employee beside him.

A girl from Briarwick walked up.

Roxie recognized her immediately.

The girl recognized Zac too.

Her whole face brightened.

”Oh my God, you work here now?”

Zac looked slightly uncomfortable. ”Yeah.”

The girl laughed.

Roxie’s fingers tightened around her cup.

Since when was ’yeah’ that funny?

The girl ordered something and kept talking while Zac entered it into the register. Roxie could not hear everything from where she sat, but the girl was smiling enough for both of them.

Zac said something.

She laughed again.

Roxie took another angry sip of coffee.

This was ridiculous.

She had spent the last two days deliberately flirting with anyone who happened to have a penis because she wanted Zac to feel exactly like this.

Apparently it fucking sucked.

The girl finally moved away.

Another one replaced her ten minutes later.

This one leaned against the counter. Showcasing her best feature with that tiny top.

Roxie stared.

The girl tilted her head. ”Are you new?”

Zac nodded. ”First day.”

”I thought so. I would’ve noticed you.”

Roxie nearly choked.

Oh, fuck off.

Zac looked down at the register.

The girl smiled at him.

”What time do you get off?”

Roxie stopped drinking.

Zac looked up.

From where Roxie sat, she could not hear his answer over the coffee machine and people talking nearby.

She saw the girl smile.

Zac said something else.

The girl laughed.

Enough.

Roxie stood so quickly the chair scraped against the floor.

A couple of people looked over.

She grabbed her handbag and coffee and headed toward the door before she did something stupid.

This was none of her business.

Zac was none of her business.

If some girl wanted to stand there giggling at him and asking when he got off work, Roxie had absolutely no right to care.

Which was fucking fantastic because apparently nobody had bothered to tell her body that.

She pushed through the door.

Cold air hit her face.

Roxie started walking quickly, angry at Zac, angry at the girl, angry at herself and especially angry that she had voluntarily spent money on an overpriced coffee just to sit there watching her ex boyfriend get flirted with.

She made it several steps down the sidewalk before a hand caught her arm.

Roxie stopped.