Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Thirty-Six Hours

Audrey stared at the bright screen of her phone.

Delivered.

Right now, it was the absolute worst word in the English language.

She swiped her thumb down the screen, rereading the thread for the twentieth time today.

Audrey: Good luck with the endurance test today. (Yesterday, 7:00 AM)

Audrey: Did you survive? Coach Miller made Jackson run the stands for twenty minutes. (Yesterday, 5:00 PM)

Audrey: Call me when you get back to your room. (Yesterday, 11:30 PM)

Audrey: Mason. You are officially starting to scare me. (Today, 2:00 PM)

Nothing.

No replies. No missed calls. Just pure, absolute silence.

Audrey dropped the phone onto the kitchen counter. It hit the wood with a hollow thud. She rubbed her eyes, feeling a tight, painful knot twisting right in the center of her chest.

Mason never ignored her. He had been in Florida for nearly two months, and he had called her every single night. Even when he was completely exhausted, even when he could barely keep his eyes open, he always called.

It had been thirty-six hours since she last heard his voice.

"Still nothing?"

Audrey turned around. Chloe was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. She was wearing her usual black jeans, but her face was perfectly calm.

"Nothing," Audrey said. Her voice shook slightly. "His phone rings, but it goes straight to voicemail after five seconds."

Chloe walked over and poured a glass of water. "Audrey, do not panic. The guy is at an elite, cutthroat sports academy. He is not at a summer camp. They probably have him running in the mud right now."

"He always texts me before bed," Audrey argued. "Always. Even if it is just one word. Something is wrong."

Chloe took a sip of her water. She set the glass down and looked at her roommate seriously.

"You think he got hurt?" Chloe asked.

"I do not know," Audrey admitted. She grabbed the edge of the counter. "What if he blew out his knee? What if he is in a hospital down there and I have absolutely no way to reach him?"

"Stop," Chloe ordered firmly. She walked over and put a hand on Audrey’s shoulder. "Do not spiral into the worst-case scenario. You are going to make yourself sick. Go to the stadium. Talk to Leo. If anyone knows what is happening with the football prospects, it is him."

Audrey took a shaky breath. She nodded. "You are right. I am going to the pitch."

The autumn wind was freezing as Audrey hurried across campus. She clutched her winter coat tightly around herself.

The stadium lights were already on, casting a bright, artificial glare across the green grass. The team was in the middle of passing drills.

Audrey did not wait by the benches. She did not pull out her notebook. She walked straight to the touchline, her eyes scanning the players.

She spotted Leo.

He was organizing the backline, yelling instructions at the younger defenders. His face was hard and focused. He had grown into the captain’s role over the last two months, dropping the constant jokes when he stepped onto the grass.

"Leo!" Audrey called out.

Leo stopped. He jogged over to the touchline, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the hem of his jersey.

"Hey, Audrey," Leo panted. "What is wrong? You look pale."

"Have you talked to Mason?" Audrey asked immediately. She didn’t bother with small talk. "Did he text you yesterday or today?"

Leo frowned. He grabbed his water bottle from the grass and took a long drink.

"No," Leo said slowly. "I sent him a video of Jackson tripping over a cone yesterday morning, but he never opened it. Why?"

Audrey felt the cold panic grip her lungs again. "He hasn’t answered me in two days, Leo. He hasn’t called."

Leo lowered his water bottle. His dark eyes turned serious. He recognized the sheer terror on her face.

"Audrey, listen to me," Leo said steadily. "Calloway is built like a tank. He does not break easily. If he was injured, Coach Miller would have gotten a phone call from the academy directors. They have to report major injuries to the home university."

Audrey blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Leo nodded. "Coach Miller was in a great mood today. If Mason was in the hospital, Coach would be yelling at everyone. He is fine."

"Then why isn’t he answering?" Audrey demanded. Her voice cracked.

"Because it is Hell Week," a new voice interrupted.

Audrey looked to her right. Coach Miller was standing a few feet away, holding his metal clipboard. He had overheard the conversation.

"Hell Week?" Audrey repeated.

Coach Miller walked over. He looked at Audrey with a stern, no-nonsense expression.

"The National Development Academy does a mid-camp evaluation," Coach Miller explained bluntly. "They cut the bottom twenty percent of the players and send them packing. The ones who stay get sorted into tiers. For forty-eight hours, they put those boys in absolute lockdown. No phones. No outside contact. Just pure, brutal endurance testing."

Audrey stared at him. The knot in her chest instantly loosened just a fraction.

"They take their phones away?" Audrey asked.

"They isolate them to test their mental grit," Coach Miller stated. "Calloway is fighting for a top-tier spot right now. He does not have time to send text messages. Let the boy work, Ellis."

Coach Miller blew his whistle sharply and walked back toward the midfield.

Leo looked at Audrey. He offered a small, reassuring smile.

"See?" Leo said softly. "He is just busy proving he is the best defender in the country. He will call you the exact second he gets his phone back."

Audrey let out a long, ragged exhale. She nodded. "Okay. Okay, you are right. Thank you, Leo."

"Go home," Leo told her. "Get some rest. He is fine."

By the time Audrey walked back to her apartment, it was completely dark outside.

She changed into a pair of soft sweatpants and Mason’s massive black jersey. She pulled the sleeves down over her cold hands. The fabric smelled faintly like his laundry detergent, but the scent was starting to fade.

She sat cross-legged on her bed, trying to read a textbook for her media law class. She read the same paragraph five times. None of the words made any sense.

The apartment was totally silent. Chloe was in her room, and Zoya was working a late shift at the library.

Audrey looked at her phone resting on the nightstand. The screen was completely blank.

Hell week, she reminded herself. He is just taking an evaluation.

She closed her textbook and turned off the desk lamp. She lay back against her pillows, staring up at the dark ceiling.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated violently against the wood of the nightstand.

The harsh buzzing sound echoed like a gunshot in the quiet room.

Audrey gasped. She lunged across the mattress and grabbed the phone.

The screen was lit up. The caller ID did not say Mason’s name. It was an unknown number with a Florida area code.

Audrey’s heart hammered against her ribs. She swiped the green button and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Audrey said quickly.

Static crackled on the other end of the line.

"Audrey."

It was him.

The deep, rumbling voice sent a massive wave of pure, unfiltered relief crashing over her entire body. Tears instantly pricked the corners of her eyes.

"Mason," Audrey breathed. She clutched the phone tightly. "Where are you? Why are you calling from this number?"

"I am standing in the hallway outside the dressing room," Mason replied. His voice sounded incredibly rough. He sounded utterly exhausted. "I had to borrow a phone from one of the strikers. I don’t have mine."

"Coach Miller told me they took your phones for the evaluation," Audrey said. She wiped a tear from her cheek. "I thought you were hurt, Calloway. You terrified me."

Mason let out a heavy, tired sigh.

"They didn’t just take my phone," Mason confessed. "Some idiot dropped a heavy dumbbell on my kit bag in the gym on Tuesday. My phone was in the front pocket. It shattered into a million pieces. The screen is completely dead."

Audrey blinked in the dark. "Your phone is broken?"

"Destroyed," Mason confirmed flatly. "And then the coaches instantly threw us into the lockdown evaluation. We haven’t slept more than four hours in two days. I couldn’t even leave the facility to go buy a new one."

The anger in his voice was clear. He wasn’t angry about the evaluation. He was angry because he couldn’t reach her.

"Mason, it is okay," Audrey promised softly. The panic was entirely gone now. "I am just glad you are safe."

"I hated it," Mason muttered into the phone. "I hated not talking to you. The drills were fine, but the silence was driving me absolutely insane. I memorized your number just so I could call you the second they let us out of the gym."

Audrey smiled. Her chest felt incredibly warm. "You memorized my number?"

"I memorize everything about you," Mason said smoothly. Even completely exhausted, he still knew exactly how to make her heart skip a beat.

"Are the evaluations over?" Audrey asked.

"Yeah. They just posted the results."

"And?" Audrey held her breath.

"Tier one," Mason stated. The exhaustion in his voice was replaced by a quiet, solid pride. "I made the top cut. I am officially in the primary group for the pro scouts."

"I knew it," Audrey beamed in the dark. "I knew you would. You are the best defender they have."

Mason chuckled softly. "Tell that to my legs. I can barely walk up the stairs right now."

"Go sleep, Calloway," Audrey told him gently. "You need to rest. We can talk tomorrow when you buy a new phone."

"I am going straight to the store tomorrow morning," Mason promised. "I am buying the first phone I see."

"Okay," Audrey smiled.

"Audrey?"

"Yes?"

"I missed you," Mason whispered into the receiver. "A lot."

Audrey pulled her knees up to her chest, curling into the oversized black jersey.

"I missed you too," Audrey whispered back. "Go to sleep, Captain."

"Goodnight, Audrey."

The line clicked dead.

Audrey slowly lowered the phone. The anxiety that had suffocated her for the last two days was completely erased. She pulled the warm blanket over her shoulders, finally closing her eyes.