Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 121: Chapter 121: I Wasn’t Following You

The downtown lounge was completely packed, buzzing with loud music and the clinking of expensive cocktail glasses.

Zoya sat in a velvet booth. Maya sat next to her, absolutely thrilled that she had actually managed to drag Zoya out of the office.

Sitting directly across from Zoya was her blind date, David.

David was perfectly decent. He was polite, highly successful in corporate finance, and dressed in a very sharp, expensive suit. He was a genuinely good conversationalist.

Unfortunately for David, Zoya had already established an absolutely impossible standard in her head seven years ago.

"So, the merger took about six months to finalize," David explained smoothly, leaning back in his chair. "The legal paperwork was a nightmare, but we managed to secure the assets."

Zoya took a slow sip of her drink. She listened.

David chuckled at his own mild joke.

Jackson’s laugh was more annoying, Zoya thought instantly.

She blinked. She immediately got irritated with herself. Her grip on her glass tightened.

Why am I comparing him to Jackson? she scolded herself mentally. Stop it.

She looked at David again. He had nice eyes. He had a good smile.

He isn’t even bad-looking, Zoya reasoned.

She took another sip of her drink.

He just isn’t Jackson.

Zoya mentally slapped herself. She forced a polite, entirely fake smile onto her face and nodded at something David said.

While David casually talked about his golf handicap, Zoya’s attention slowly drifted toward the front entrance of the lounge.

She froze.

There he was.

Jackson.

He wasn’t wearing a strict, professional suit like he did at the academy boardroom. He was dressed casually in a dark, fitted button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

And he was not alone.

He was walking in with a woman.

The woman was absolutely stunning. She was elegant, beautiful, and completely confident. She wore a sleek red dress that turned the heads of half the men in the room.

Of course, Zoya thought immediately.

She rolled her eyes, turned her head, and looked directly back at David.

David continued talking. Zoya really tried to listen. She focused on his mouth moving. She focused on the ice melting in her glass.

But then, she looked again.

Across the room, Jackson was laughing at something the beautiful woman said.

Zoya’s fingers tightened painfully around her glass.

Why am I looking? Zoya thought sharply.

She forced herself to look away. She stared at the table.

Three seconds later, she looked right back at the entrance.

Stop looking.

She looked again.

Zoya, pull yourself together.

Across the crowded floor, the woman stepped closer to Jackson.

She reached out and placed her hand flat against his chest. Then, she moved even closer. She was entirely too close.

Zoya’s expression slowly hardened into absolute ice.

Maya leaned over and nudged Zoya’s shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Maya whispered.

"I’m fine," Zoya answered without blinking.

"You don’t look fine. You look like you’re planning a murder."

"I am perfectly fine," Zoya insisted smoothly.

Meanwhile, Zoya watched Jackson. He actually looked increasingly uncomfortable. The woman kept trying to stick close to his side, leaning into his space. Jackson kept subtly shifting his weight, taking small steps backward to carefully create distance between them.

Zoya noticed every single tiny movement he made. She noticed the tension in his shoulders. She noticed the slight annoyance in his eyes.

She absolutely hated that she noticed.

Then, the woman laughed loudly, leaned in, and completely wrapped her arms around Jackson’s bicep.

Clack.

Zoya’s glass hit the heavy wooden table much harder than necessary.

David paused mid-sentence. He looked at her in surprise.

"Is everything okay?" David asked.

"Yes," Zoya smiled tightly.

"You seem distracted."

"I’m not," Zoya lied effortlessly.

She was absolutely, completely distracted.

Eventually, Zoya watched Jackson politely excuse himself from the bar area.

He turned and headed down the dim, quiet hallway toward the VIP private suites. A second later, the woman in the red dress immediately followed right behind him.

Zoya watched them disappear around the corner.

Her brain completely screamed at her.

Why are they going into a private suite?

She took a breath. She told herself it was absolutely none of her business. He was a single man. She was on a date. She firmly planted her feet on the floor. She stayed seated.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds.

Zoya suddenly stood up.

David looked up, completely confused. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," Zoya stated flatly.

Maya looked at Zoya. Maya looked down the dim hallway Zoya was pointing at.

Zoya entirely avoided her colleague’s eye contact.

"Zoya," Maya said slowly. "The bathrooms are that way." She pointed in the exact opposite direction.

Zoya completely froze.

"...I’m aware," Zoya lied smoothly.

She turned around and walked down the VIP hallway anyway.

Zoya reached the edge of the quiet hallway. She pressed her back against the wall and carefully peeked around the corner.

She saw Jackson standing near the door of a private suite. The woman in the red dress was standing right in front of him, clearly trying to corner him and keep him there.

Jackson looked entirely uncomfortable. He looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else.

Suddenly, Jackson raised his hand and pointed down the opposite end of the long hallway. He said something quickly.

The woman turned her head to look.

While she was completely distracted, Jackson instantly pulled the heavy door open, slipped inside the suite alone, and pulled the door shut with a soft click.

The woman turned back around, realized he was gone, and let out an annoyed huff before turning on her heel and walking back toward the bar.

Zoya blinked.

Did he just trick her?

Zoya waited until the hallway was completely clear. Then, she slowly walked down the carpeted hall and stopped directly outside his closed door.

Now that she was actually standing there in the quiet hallway, reality finally hit her like a bucket of ice water.

What am I doing? Zoya thought.

She looked at the heavy wooden door. Then she looked at the empty hallway. Then she looked back at the door.

I came here for a blind date. I am currently standing outside Jackson Pierce’s private suite like a crazy person.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

This is completely pathetic.

She firmly turned around.

I am leaving.

She took one step away from the door.

She stopped.

She looked back over her shoulder.

Why Jackson again?

Just as Zoya finally decided to walk away and reached into her bag for her phone, the heavy wooden door suddenly swung open.

Jackson was standing right there.

They completely froze. They stared at each other in the dim light of the hallway.

Neither of them spoke a single word.

Jackson’s dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"Zoya?"

Zoya immediately straightened her spine. She lifted her chin.

"Jackson," she replied smoothly.

"What are you doing here?" Jackson asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I could ask you the exact same question," Zoya countered instantly.

"This is my suite."

Zoya realized exactly how ridiculous her argument sounded.

"I was just leaving," Zoya said, turning away.

"From my suite?" Jackson asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

"I wasn’t in your suite," Zoya corrected sharply.

"You were standing directly outside it."

"I was reconsidering my life choices," Zoya shot back.

Jackson actually almost smiled.

"Clearly," he murmured.

Zoya gave him a completely icy glare. She turned on her heel to walk back to the main bar.

Jackson moved faster. He reached out and caught her wrist.

Zoya gasped as he spun her back around. Before she could even open her mouth to protest, he pulled her straight inside the dim, quiet room.

The heavy door clicked shut behind them.

Zoya stumbled slightly. Her back met the solid wood of the closed door. Jackson immediately stepped into her space. He braced one large hand flat against the door right beside her head, completely blocking her escape.

The loud music from the lounge was completely muffled in here. The room was incredibly quiet.

For a long moment, neither of them said absolutely anything. Zoya could feel the heat radiating off his chest.

Then, Jackson lowered his head. He looked directly into her wide, dark eyes.

"You followed me," Jackson said quietly.

Zoya’s racing heartbeat completely betrayed her calm face.

"I was curious," Zoya lied.

"Curious?"

"Yes."

"About?" Jackson pressed, leaning an inch closer.

She looked away, staring at his shoulder instead of his eyes.

Jackson waited. He didn’t move. He didn’t let her run away.

Finally, Zoya let out an annoyed breath. She muttered, "Why do you keep appearing everywhere I go?"

The corner of his mouth curved up into a tiny, knowing smile.

"Maybe you’re the one following me," Jackson whispered.

Zoya instantly glared up at him.

"I was here first," Zoya defended fiercely.

Jackson’s small smile completely vanished. His face turned entirely serious. His dark eyes searched her face, stripping away every single wall she had tried to build.

"Then why were you watching me?" Jackson asked.