Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The Deal That Cost Him Audrey

Florida was incredibly hot.

Mason walked out of the training facility carrying his heavy black gym bag. His dark hair was wet from the showers. He looked entirely exhausted, but his posture was straight. He had just finished the best week of his entire life on the pitch. The scouts were extremely impressed.

He walked toward the idling player buses. He sat down in an empty seat near the back and dropped his heavy bag onto the floor.

He reached into the front pocket. He pulled out his phone.

He had kept it turned off for an entire month to follow the strict isolation rules. Now, he was going to call Audrey. He pressed the power button. The screen glowed bright white.

He ignored a massive flood of notifications and opened his text messages.

There was one new message from Audrey at the very top.

He tapped it.

Mason. I think we need to be honest with ourselves. The long distance is not working. We are very different people, and we have completely different lives now. We should just officially break up. I hope you get the contract. Take care.

Mason completely froze.

The loud chatter of the other players getting on the bus faded entirely into the background. The air conditioning blowing from the vent suddenly felt freezing cold.

He read the text again. And a third time.

His jaw locked tightly. A muscle twitched in his cheek.

He stared at the screen. This made absolutely zero sense. She had ignored him for a month, and now she was sending a completely robotic, emotionless breakup text?

He quickly opened a social media app. He scrolled through the tagged photos of the training camp. He stopped. He saw the picture from the Miami restaurant. He saw himself laughing politely. He saw Elena with her hand pressed firmly against his chest.

Mason’s dark eyes narrowed dangerously.

He knew exactly how that picture looked. He knew exactly how it looked to a girl sitting a thousand miles away. Audrey was trying to protect him, and that photo just gave her the perfect excuse to run away.

He did not type a reply.

Mason stood up from his seat. He grabbed his heavy gym bag.

Hey, Captain, Carter called out from across the aisle. Where are you going?

I am leaving, Mason said flatly.

He walked straight down the aisle and stepped off the bus. He did not care about the draft evaluations on Monday. He did not care about the rules. He was going to the airport.

He walked rapidly across the paved parking lot toward the main exit gates.

Leaving so soon, Mason?

The voice was sweet, high, and completely out of place.

Mason stopped walking.

Elena was standing near a sleek black town car parked right next to the gates. She wore a pristine white designer dress. She leaned against the expensive car, twirling a set of keys around her finger.

Move, Elena, Mason commanded sharply. I have a flight to catch.

You are not catching a flight, Elena smiled. She stepped directly into his path.

I am not playing games with you, Mason warned. His voice was a low, dangerous rumble. He stepped around her. Stay out of my way.

If you walk through those gates, Elena said casually, her voice completely smooth, my father will blacklist you from every professional league in Europe before your plane even lands on campus.

Mason froze.

He slowly turned around to face her. What did you just say?

Elena stopped twirling her keys. The sweet, friendly act completely vanished. Her eyes were cold, calculating, and entirely serious.

My father is the primary sponsor of the National Development Academy, Elena stated clearly. He owns the scouting agency that brought the European recruiters here. He controls the Tier One draft. If I make one single phone call and tell him you disrespected me, your football career is completely dead.

Mason stared at her. His broad shoulders went completely rigid.

You are insane, Mason whispered.

I am powerful, Elena corrected simply. And I like you, Mason. You are talented. You are handsome. You look perfect next to me in photos. I want you to stay.

I have a girlfriend, Mason gritted out. His hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.

Elena let out a short, mocking laugh. No, you do not. I saw the text message over your shoulder on the bus. She dumped you. She told you to focus on your contract. That is exactly what you are going to do.

A heavy, suffocating wave of realization crashed over Mason.

She had cornered him entirely.

Here are the rules, Elena explained. She walked closer to him, completely unfazed by his intense anger. You are going to finish the next five months of this camp. You are going to sign the European contract. And you are going to be my fiancé.

Mason felt the air rush completely out of his lungs. Your fiancé?

My father wants me to settle down with a top athlete, Elena said. We will make it official before the draft. You get your dream career, and I get the perfect fiancé. It is a win-win.

I will never marry you, Mason spat.

You do not have to marry me right now, Elena smiled thinly. You just have to wear the ring and play the part for the cameras. If you refuse, or if you try to fly back to that little college girl, I ruin you.

Mason stared at the pavement. His mind raced frantically, searching for a way out.

There was no way out.

If he walked away right now, his career was over. Everything he had worked for since he was a kid would be completely destroyed.

But worse than that, he thought about Audrey.

Audrey had ignored him for a month. She had broken her own heart to send that text message. She pushed him away specifically to protect his dream. If he ruined his career right now, Audrey’s painful sacrifice would be for absolutely nothing.

He was trapped.

He could not text Audrey the truth. If Elena found out, she would end him. He had to let Audrey believe the breakup was real. He had to let her go, just to make sure her sacrifice actually mattered.

Do we have a deal, Mason? Elena asked. She held out her hand.

Mason looked at her hand. Pure disgust twisted in his stomach.

He looked down at his heavy gym bag. His phone was sitting at the bottom of it, holding the last message Audrey would ever send him.

He slowly lifted his hand. He shook Elena’s hand. His grip was entirely cold.

Deal, Mason stated.

Elena smiled brilliantly. I will see you at dinner, fiancé.

She turned around and got into the back of her town car. The engine purred quietly, and the car drove away, leaving Mason standing completely alone in the sweltering Florida heat.

He dropped his gym bag onto the concrete. He stared at the closed metal gates of the training facility.

He was going to get his professional contract. He was going to achieve his lifelong dream.

But as he stood there in the quiet parking lot, Mason realized he had just lost the only thing he actually cared about.