Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: My Future Is Standing Here

The downtown art gallery was completely silent.

Audrey walked slowly down the long, bright hall. The walls were painted a stark white. The photographs hanging on them were entirely black and white. The atmosphere was peaceful. There were no loud fans. There were no flashing cameras.

Rowan walked next to her. He kept his hands comfortably in his pockets. He was looking at a large picture of a busy city street.

"The photographer shot this on film," Rowan said quietly. "No digital edits. No artificial lighting. Just raw timing."

"It is really good," Audrey agreed. She looked closely at the picture.

She looked at Rowan. He was incredibly calm. He did not check his phone once. He did not look over his shoulder to see if a sports reporter was watching them. He just looked at the art.

This was exactly what Audrey wanted. It was a completely normal Saturday afternoon.

"You look like you are a million miles away," Rowan noted gently. He turned his head to look at her. His green eyes were very observant.

"I am just thinking about newspaper layout," Audrey lied smoothly. "Ben is going to ruin the formatting again."

Rowan let out a soft, genuine laugh. "Well, let the layout rest for today. You promised you would take a break."

"I am trying," Audrey smiled.

They left the gallery and walked down the busy street to buy coffee. The autumn air was crisp and cool. They carried their warm paper cups through the local park.

"So you just edit sports articles all day?" Rowan asked. He took a sip of his coffee.

"I write them too," Audrey said proudly. "I am the lead sports reporter for the campus bulletin. But Ben usually yells at me about the word count."

"Ben sounds absolutely terrifying," Rowan laughed.

"He is a menace to society," Audrey nodded. "But he is a good editor."

Rowan did not ask her about the football team. He did not ask her about the WFA draft prospects. He asked her about her favorite books. He asked her about the photography styles she liked.

It was incredibly easy. Audrey felt her tight, anxious muscles slowly relax. She did not have to build a protective wall around Rowan. He was not trying to break it down. He was just walking next to her.

The sun was just starting to set when they reached her apartment building. The sky was painted in soft pinks and dull oranges.

"Thank you for coming with me," Rowan said. He stopped at the bottom of the brick steps. He did not try to follow her inside.

"Thank you for inviting me," Audrey replied honestly. "I had a really great time today."

"I am glad," Rowan smiled. His green eyes looked very bright in the fading daylight. "Can I call you next week?"

"Yes," Audrey said. "I would like that."

Rowan gave her a soft, polite smile. He turned around and walked down the pavement, his canvas bag slung over his shoulder.

Audrey stood on the steps and watched him go.

She felt a warm, quiet sense of pride bloom in her chest. She actually did it. She went on a date. She did not cry. She did not spend the entire afternoon thinking about Miami. She was officially moving forward.

Audrey turned around and walked into the building.

She climbed the stairs to her floor. The apartment building was entirely quiet. Chloe was out celebrating the away game victory with Leo. Zoya was probably locked in a quiet corner of the law library. Audrey had the entire place to herself for the night.

She dug into her coat pocket to find her apartment keys. She kept her head down, completely focused on untangling her keychain.

She turned the corner of the hallway.

She stopped walking.

Her keys slipped right out of her fingers. They hit the wooden floor with a loud, sharp clatter.

Audrey forgot how to breathe.

A massive figure was sitting on the floor right next to her apartment door.

His long legs were stretched out in front of him. A heavy black duffel bag was dropped carelessly on the rug beside him. He was not wearing a tailored black suit. He was wearing faded gray sweatpants and a dark hoodie.

His head was tipped back against the wall. His eyes were closed. He looked entirely exhausted. He looked like he had not slept in a full week.

The sound of the dropping keys made him move.

Mason opened his eyes.

He looked straight at her.

The intense, burning heat in his dark eyes completely paralyzed her. The safe, quiet feeling of her normal afternoon instantly shattered into a million tiny pieces. Rowan felt like a distant ghost. Mason was a literal hurricane.

Mason put his large hands on the floor and slowly stood up.

He was incredibly tall. He completely shadowed the narrow hallway. The familiar, intoxicating smell of his expensive cologne mixed with the cold outside air entirely flooded her senses.

Audrey could not speak. Her throat felt completely tight. Her heart was hammering against her ribs so violently she thought it might break right through her chest.

"Audrey," Mason said.

His deep, rough voice echoed loudly in the quiet space. It sounded absolutely desperate.

"What are you doing here?" Audrey finally whispered. She stepped backward, instantly building a thick, defensive wall. "You should be in Florida. With Elena."

Mason took one step forward. He did not care about her defensive wall.

"I took the first flight out of Miami," Mason stated. "I don’t care about Elena."

"You are literally dating her!" Audrey argued. Her voice cracked, revealing how much pain she was actually in. "The whole world saw the pictures, Mason! You are holding her hand on red carpets!"

"It was fake, Audrey," Mason said fiercely. "It was completely fake."

Audrey froze. She stared at him. "What?"

"It was blackmail," Mason explained, stepping closer. His dark eyes searched her face frantically. "Director Hayes controls the academy pipeline. Elena told me that if I didn’t play the part of her perfect boyfriend, her father would blacklist my name. I would never get an interview with a WFA scout."

Audrey’s mouth dropped slightly open. Her mind completely spun.

"Blackmail?" Audrey whispered. "She forced you?"

"Yes," Mason nodded heavily. "I had to survive the camp. I had to smile for the cameras so I wouldn’t lose my entire career. But I hated every single second of it."

Audrey felt her protective wall start to crumble. She had spent weeks convincing herself that she wasn’t good enough for his new wealthy world. She had broken her own heart thinking he had easily replaced her with a billionaire’s daughter.

"Why didn’t you just tell me?" Audrey asked, a hot tear springing to her eye.

"Because you dumped me in a text message!" Mason reminded her. His voice was rough with raw emotion. "And then my phone broke. And by the time I got a new one, Elena was threatening to send an email to Mrs. Higgins claiming you committed ethical fraud. She threatened to ruin your journalism career if I didn’t comply."

Audrey completely stopped breathing. Elena had threatened her? Mason was protecting her?

Mason reached into the pocket of his hoodie. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out to her.

"I didn’t let them win," Mason said softly. "Read it."

Audrey slowly reached out and took the paper. She unfolded it with trembling hands.

It was a printed legal contract. The official logo of the top London WFA club was stamped in bright ink at the top. She saw Mason’s messy signature on the bottom line.

"Marcus flew down," Mason explained, his voice turning low and victorious. "We bypassed Director Hayes entirely. I signed directly with London. And Marcus found their dirty financial records. We destroyed their leverage. Elena can’t touch you, and her father can’t touch me."

Audrey stared at the WFA contract.

He fought his way out. He did exactly what she thought was impossible. He didn’t move on without her. He fought an entire corrupt system just to get back to her.

"You are free," Audrey whispered, looking up at him.

"I am," Mason nodded.

He took another step closer. He was standing right in front of her now. The heat radiating from his large body was completely overwhelming. She had to tilt her head back just to look at his face.

"So why are you here?" Audrey asked. She tried to sound strong, but the tears were already falling down her cheeks. "You should be celebrating."

Mason looked down at her. The heavy exhaustion on his face vanished completely. He looked incredibly focused. He looked at her exactly like a defender preparing to steal the ball.

"I told you I was going to secure my future," Mason said. His voice was a low, rough rumble. "My future is standing in this hallway."

Audrey gasped softly.

She tried to hold onto her logic. She tried to remember the nice, safe afternoon with Rowan. But it was completely useless.

Mason reached out. He gently cupped her face with his large, warm hands. His thumbs wiped away her tears, sending a massive jolt of electricity straight through her entire body.

"I am not playing games anymore," Mason whispered fiercely. "I am entirely done pretending. You are mine, Audrey."