Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 64: Chapter 64,: You Took My Choice Away

The economics lecture hall was incredibly stuffy. The heater was running entirely too high. Chloe sat near the back row. She was spinning a black pen smoothly between her fingers. She stared blankly at the whiteboard at the front of the room.

She was actually in a really good mood. It was a very strange, highly foreign feeling for her. She had spent the entire morning texting Leo. He had sent her a stupid, blurry picture of Jackson completely falling over a bright orange practice cone. She had laughed out loud in the middle of the campus coffee shop.

The professor finally finished his lecture and dismissed the class.

Chloe zipped her notebook into her black leather backpack. She looked down the row of desks to her left. Jared and Liam were packing their bags. They were moving incredibly fast. They looked completely panicked.

Chloe stood up. She walked over to their desk. She had blocked their phone numbers on Sunday, but they still had a massive group project due next week. She just wanted to tell them she was doing her own section completely separately to avoid talking to them ever again.

"Jared," Chloe said firmly.

Jared physically jumped. He dropped his heavy textbook directly onto the floor with a loud thud. He looked up at her with absolutely wide, terrified eyes. Liam backed up immediately until his spine hit the concrete wall of the classroom.

Chloe frowned deeply. She crossed her arms over her black leather jacket. "What is wrong with you two?"

Jared swallowed hard. He bent down and grabbed his book with shaking hands. "We are leaving, Chloe. We are dropping the group project. We already emailed the professor."

Chloe stared at him in pure shock. "You are dropping the project? It is worth thirty percent of our final grade."

"We do not care," Liam said quickly. His voice cracked. "Just tell him we listened. Tell him we are staying far away from you."

Chloe felt a strange, freezing knot twist violently in her stomach. "Tell who?"

Jared looked around the empty lecture hall. He looked like he was afraid someone was hiding in the shadows of the room.

"Your massive boyfriend," Jared whispered frantically. "He found us behind the library yesterday afternoon. He shoved Liam straight up against the brick wall. He told us if we ever looked at you, talked to you, or breathed in your direction again, he would put us both in the hospital."

Chloe stopped breathing. The stuffy air in the room suddenly felt entirely suffocating.

"He said what?" Chloe asked quietly.

"He is crazy, Chloe," Jared said. He grabbed his backpack and practically ran toward the center aisle. "We are done. Do not talk to us. Do not even look at us."

Jared and Liam sprinted out the heavy wooden doors.

Chloe stood completely alone in the empty row of desks.

Her hands began to shake. A massive, burning wave of pure anger rushed directly into her chest. It was hot and incredibly violent. Her ears started ringing loudly.

She had handled the situation perfectly. She blocked their numbers. She made her own firm boundary. And Leo completely ignored her choices. He went right behind her back. He treated her like a weak, helpless girl who needed a giant man to scare away her bullies.

Chloe grabbed her backpack. She stormed out of the academic building.

The cold autumn wind hit her face instantly. It felt like a sharp physical slap, but it did not cool her hot anger down at all. She walked very fast. Her heavy boots slammed aggressively against the concrete pavement.

She reached the athletic complex. She pushed the heavy metal stadium gates open with both hands. The metal rattled loudly against the brick walls.

The football team was just finishing their afternoon drills. The stadium smelled strongly of wet turf and sweat. The bright artificial lights buzzed loudly overhead.

Leo was jogging toward the water coolers. He was laughing at something Jackson said. He held a bright blue sports drink in his hand.

Chloe marched directly onto the green grass.

"Leo!" Chloe shouted. Her voice echoed sharply across the empty bleachers.

Leo turned around. His face lit up instantly. A massive, incredibly happy smile spread across his handsome face. He dropped his water bottle on the grass and jogged straight toward her. He looked so genuinely happy to see her.

"Hey," Leo smiled warmly. He reached out to grab her waist for a hug.

Chloe slapped his hands away.

The smack was loud. It echoed in the quiet stadium.

Leo completely froze. His smile vanished. He took a confused step backward. He looked at her furious dark eyes and her trembling hands.

"Chloe?" Leo asked softly. The playful energy left him entirely. "What is wrong?"

"Did you threaten Jared and Liam?" Chloe demanded. She did not lower her voice. She did not care who heard her on the pitch.

Leo shifted his weight. He looked away for exactly one second. That was all the confirmation she needed.

"Did you?!" Chloe yelled.

"I just had a conversation with them," Leo said quietly. He looked back at her. His dark eyes turned very serious. "They needed to understand that they cannot treat you like trash."

"You pinned Liam against a brick wall!" Chloe screamed. "You threatened to put them in the hospital!"

Jackson and a few other players stopped walking. They turned their heads to watch the argument. Leo noticed his teammates staring.

"Let us talk about this somewhere else," Leo requested gently. He reached out his hand again. "Come to the locker room hallway."

"Do not touch me," Chloe warned strictly. She took a large step backward. "We are talking right here. What gave you the right to do that?"

"I am your boyfriend," Leo stated. His voice grew slightly louder. He was getting defensive. "They got you blackout drunk. They left you completely vulnerable in the dark. It is my job to protect you."

"I do not need a bodyguard!" Chloe argued. Her chest heaved heavily. Her throat felt tight and painful. "I fought my own battles my entire life. I have never needed anyone to protect me. I blocked their numbers. I handled it."

"Blocking their numbers is not enough!" Leo shot back. The frustration finally broke through his calm voice. "They are terrible people. I wanted to make absolutely sure they never came near you again."

"You made me look completely pathetic," Chloe said. Her voice cracked with raw emotion. "You made me look like a weak little girl who runs to her giant boyfriend to solve her problems. I hate feeling weak, Leo. You know I hate feeling weak."

"You were weak that night!" Leo yelled. The words ripped out of his throat before he could stop them.

Chloe froze entirely. Her eyes went completely wide.

Leo instantly regretted it. He raised his hands in a frantic, desperate apology.

"I did not mean it like that," Leo rushed out. "Chloe, listen to me. You could barely walk. You could not even keep your eyes open. Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to see you stumbling down a dark street with a guy who clearly did not care about your safety? What if I had not walked out of the lounge at that exact second? What if you went to their apartment instead?"

Chloe swallowed a hard lump in her throat.

"I was terrified," Leo confessed loudly. His voice broke. "I was absolutely terrified for you. I went to the library yesterday to find them because my hands were still shaking just thinking about what could have happened."

Chloe stared at him. The air between them felt thick and suffocating. The cold wind whipped her dark hair across her face.

She understood his fear. She really did. But his fear did not give him the right to strip away her independence.

"I made a mistake that night," Chloe said quietly. "I drank too much. I trusted the wrong people. It was my mistake, Leo. Mine. Not yours."

"I am your partner. Your problems are my problems."

"No," Chloe said strictly. She took another step backward. "My life is my life. If you respected me, you would have let me handle the fallout. You would have let me fix my own mess."

She wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach. The cold wind bit through her thin shirt, but the chill inside her chest was much worse.

She had finally let her guard down. She had finally trusted someone. She thought Leo viewed her as an equal. She thought he respected her fierce independence. But the second she showed vulnerability, he took total control of her life. It was her absolute worst nightmare.

"Chloe, please," Leo begged quietly. His dark eyes were full of genuine panic. He realized exactly how badly he had messed up. "I am sorry. I was stupid. I completely overstepped. I promise I will never do it again."

Chloe stared at him. The buzzing of the stadium lights sounded incredibly loud in her ears.

"You went behind my back," Chloe whispered. The hot anger was fading into a deep, hollow sadness. "You took my choice away. You took my voice away."

"I was trying to help," Leo pleaded.

"I did not ask for your help," Chloe stated.

She looked at his desperate, panicked face. Her heart ached terribly. She wanted to forgive him. A tiny part of her wanted to step forward and let his massive arms wrap around her.

But her pride and her fear were entirely too strong. If she let him control her narrative now, she would lose herself completely. She would become exactly what she feared. A dependent, helpless girl.

"I am not going to forgive you for this, Leo," Chloe said flatly. Her voice lacked any sarcasm. It was just a cold, absolute fact.

Leo turned completely pale. All the color drained entirely from his face. "Chloe, do not say that. Please."

"Do not follow me," Chloe commanded sharply.

She turned around on her heavy boots. She walked away across the green turf.

"Chloe!" Leo called out. His voice was a raw, broken shout. "Chloe, wait!"

Chloe did not stop. She did not look back. She walked completely off the pitch. She pushed the heavy metal stadium gates open and stepped out into the freezing campus pathways.

She left him standing entirely alone in the middle of the stadium.

She kept her head held high. She forced herself to walk perfectly straight. She completely refused to let anyone see her break.

But as soon as she turned the corner and was entirely out of sight from the stadium, Chloe leaned her back against a cold brick wall. She covered her mouth with her trembling hands. She let out a quiet, painful sob.

She finally had something real, and it had shattered in less than a week.