Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: An Absolute Mess

Saturday afternoon at the stadium felt entirely wrong.

The stands were packed. The marching band was playing loudly. The air was crisp and smelled like cut grass and stadium popcorn. But as Audrey stood on the touchline with her camera, the entire pitch felt completely empty.

Mason was in Florida.

He had only been gone for four days, but the absence of his massive frame anchoring the defense was glaringly obvious. Jackson was wearing the captain’s armband today, shouting orders at the midfield, but it just wasn’t the same deep, commanding rumble.

Audrey let out a quiet sigh, adjusting the strap of her camera bag. She missed him. She missed him so much it actually physically ached. He had called her every single night just like he promised, but hearing his voice through a phone speaker wasn’t the same as having him steal her french fries.

”Oh, wow. The lighting over there is absolutely gorgeous.”

Audrey blinked, pulling her attention back to the present.

Standing right next to her was Daisy. The freshman photographer had her camera pressed firmly to her face. Her wild halo of curly blonde hair was blowing in the wind.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Daisy was taking photos at a rapid-fire pace.

Audrey frowned. She looked out at the pitch. The ball was currently on the far left side, near the opponent’s goal box. The Westbridge strikers were setting up for a corner kick.

Audrey looked back at Daisy’s camera lens.

Daisy was not pointing her camera at the corner kick. She was pointing it directly at the Westbridge defensive line, which was currently standing completely still on the opposite end of the field.

More specifically, she was pointing it at Leo.

”Daisy,” Audrey said gently. ”The action is on the other side of the pitch.”

”I know,” Daisy breathed, not lowering her camera. Click. ”But look at the way the sunlight hits his jawline. It’s tragic and beautiful. He looks like a lonely warrior.”

Audrey stared at the freshman. ”He is a center-back waiting for the ball to cross the halfway line.”

”It’s art, Audrey,” Daisy insisted.

Audrey shook her head and looked back at the field.

Leo actually did look a little tragic today. He was playing aggressively, throwing his massive body into tackles with a reckless, frantic energy. He was sweating heavily, his face set in a hard, focused scowl.

Audrey glanced up at the stands.

Sitting in the third row, perfectly visible from the pitch, was Chloe.

Chloe was not alone. She was surrounded by three guys wearing denim jackets and backwards baseball caps. They were her friends from her economics seminar. They were laughing loudly, passing around a box of popcorn, and one of them kept leaning over to whisper something in Chloe’s ear.

Chloe laughed, throwing her head back, completely ignoring the football match happening right in front of her.

Out on the grass, the referee blew the whistle for a foul.

Leo stopped running. He rested his hands on his knees, panting heavily. He slowly stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His eyes drifted up to the bleachers.

He saw Chloe. He saw the three guys laughing with her. He saw the guy leaning into her personal space.

Audrey held her breath. She expected Leo to react. She expected him to throw his hands up, or yell something stupid, or completely lose his focus.

But Leo didn’t do any of that.

His jaw tightened. His broad shoulders went completely rigid for exactly three seconds.

Then, he simply looked away.

He turned his back entirely on the bleachers. He clapped his hands loudly, yelled an instruction to the left-back, and jogged back into his defensive position.

He didn’t look up at the stands again for the rest of the match.

Audrey smiled softly. Mason had told him to keep his head in the game. And despite his broken heart, Leo was actually doing it.

Ninety minutes later, the final whistle blew.

Westbridge won 2-0. The team cheered, high-fiving each other as they jogged toward the benches.

”Okay,” Audrey said, capping her camera lens. ”We need to get some post-match celebration shots for Mrs. Higgins. Try to get Jackson with the captain’s armband.”

Daisy didn’t answer.

Audrey turned around.

Daisy was standing ten feet away, her camera clicking aggressively.

Click. Click. Click.

Leo was standing by the water coolers. He was squeezing a plastic water bottle over his head, letting the cold water wash the sweat and dirt off his face. He shook his dark hair like a wet dog.

Click. Click. Click.

”Daisy,” Audrey said, walking over and gently pushing the barrel of Daisy’s camera down. ”You have taken at least eighty pictures of Leo drinking water.”

Daisy’s cheeks instantly turned a bright, glowing pink. ”Eighty-two, actually.”

Audrey crossed her arms. ”Do you like him?”

”Yes,” Daisy answered immediately. She didn’t even try to deny it. Her honey-colored eyes were wide and completely sincere.

Audrey stared at her in mild disbelief. ”Daisy... you literally met him yesterday.”

”I bumped into him,” Daisy corrected softly.

”He helped you pick up a notebook,” Audrey pointed out. ”That was a thirty-second interaction.”

”It was forty-five seconds,” Daisy defended, clutching her camera to her oversized knit sweater. ”And he was so incredibly gentle. He looked so sad, but he still stopped to help me. He is a good person. And he’s really, really handsome.”

Audrey let out a long sigh, rubbing her temples. She was suddenly beginning to understand how Zoya and Chloe felt when they looked at her.

”Daisy, listen to me,” Audrey said, trying to impart some older-sister wisdom. ”Leo is a great guy. He really is. But he just got his heart completely crushed like, three days ago. He is not in a place to start dating anyone right now.”

Daisy smiled. It was a sweet, incredibly optimistic smile.

”I don’t need him to date me right now,” Daisy said simply. ”I just want to say hi.”

Before Audrey could stop her, Daisy turned around.

She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t overthink it. She just marched straight toward the water coolers, her curly blonde hair bouncing with every step.

”Wait, Daisy—” Audrey called out.

It was too late.

Leo was grabbing a towel from the bench when Daisy stopped right in front of him.

Leo blinked, looking down at the small freshman. He wiped his face with the towel, looking completely confused.

”Hi,” Daisy squeaked. Her voice was slightly nervous, but she stood her ground.

Leo looked left, then right, making sure she was actually talking to him. ”...Hi?”

”I’m Daisy,” she said, holding her hand out. ”You helped me pick up my papers outside the student union yesterday.”

Leo stared at her hand. Then he looked at her face. Recognition slowly dawned in his eyes.

”Oh,” Leo said, his voice dropping into that quiet, surprisingly gentle tone. ”Right. The yellow notebook. Are you okay? You dropped a lot of stuff.”

”I’m perfectly fine,” Daisy beamed, completely thrilled that he remembered. ”I just wanted to properly introduce myself. I’m the new junior photographer for the sports bulletin.”

Leo smiled. It was a small, tired smile, but it was genuine. He reached out and gently shook her hand.

”Nice to meet you, Daisy. I’m Leo.”

Audrey watched them from a distance. She had to admit, it was actually kind of cute. Daisy was tiny and buzzing with nervous energy, and Leo was just standing there, completely oblivious to the fact that she was entirely star-struck.

”Unbelievable.”

The voice was cold and sharp.

Audrey turned around.

Chloe was walking down the metal steps of the bleachers. Her three guy friends were trailing slightly behind her, completely ignoring the tension radiating off her.

Chloe stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She was staring straight across the grass at the water coolers.

She watched Leo smiling down at a pretty, curly-haired blonde girl. She watched the girl blushing and holding her camera.

Chloe’s jaw tightened so hard it looked painful. Her perfectly manicured fingers dug into the strap of her designer bag.

Audrey took a step forward. ”Chloe—”

”Don’t,” Chloe interrupted sharply, holding up a hand.

Chloe didn’t look angry. She looked validated. She looked exactly like someone who had just proven her own worst fears completely right.

She let out a harsh, bitter scoff.

”I knew it,” Chloe muttered, her voice dripping with cynical satisfaction. ”It took him exactly four days. I told you, Audrey. He falls in love every time a girl remembers his name.”

”Chloe, she just introduced herself. He isn’t flirting.”

”Right. Sure,” Chloe said flatly. She turned her back on the pitch entirely. ”Come on, guys. Let’s go get food. I’m bored.”

Her guy friends cheered, completely oblivious to the drama, and followed her out the stadium gates.

Audrey stood on the grass, watching Chloe march away.

Then she looked back at the water coolers.

Leo had stopped smiling. He was looking past Daisy’s shoulder, staring directly at the empty stadium gate where Chloe had just disappeared.

His shoulders slumped heavily. The brief spark of life that Daisy had brought out of him was completely gone.

Audrey let out a heavy sigh, pulling her phone out of her pocket to text Mason.

They were an absolute mess.