Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 88: Chapter 88 : The Hallway Goodbye

Mason did not wait for her to answer.

He leaned down and captured her lips. The kiss was not gentle. It was heavy, desperate, and completely demanding. It carried all the intense, suffocating stress of the last few weeks in Miami. He wrapped his massive arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his solid chest.

For one single, agonizing second, Audrey froze.

The familiar heat of his skin, the smell of his cologne, the rough grip of his hands, it was everything she had cried over. It was everything she had missed.

But then, reality completely crashed down on her.

She was not a prize to be won. She was not a trophy he could just come back and claim after disappearing into a different world.

Audrey planted her hands flat against his chest. She pushed hard.

Mason was built like a brick wall, so he did not move easily. She had to violently twist her shoulders and shove him again.

"Stop!" Audrey gasped, finally breaking the kiss.

She stumbled backward, nearly tripping over her own fallen keys on the floor. She wiped her mouth with the back of her trembling hand. Her chest heaved as she dragged air into her lungs.

Mason stumbled back a half-step. He looked entirely confused. His chest was rising and falling heavily.

"What’s wrong?" Mason asked softly. His dark eyes searched her face, totally lost. "I missed you."

Audrey stared at him. Her heart was breaking all over again, but the anger was rising faster than the sadness.

"I never asked you to kiss me," Audrey said. Her voice shook, but she forced the words out clearly. "Or touch me."

Mason blinked. He looked like she had just slapped him across the face.

"What?" Mason breathed.

"You see, this is your problem," Audrey stated. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, trying to hold herself together. "You do not read the room. You just don’t understand personal space. You think you can just show up here, drop a contract at my feet, and grab me."

Mason ran a frustrated hand through his dark hair. The heavy exhaustion on his face returned, making him look pale in the dim hallway light.

"Audrey, I am trying to explain," Mason pleaded. He took a small step toward her, holding his hands up defensively. "The thing with Elena wasn’t real. It was just a contract. I didn’t touch her. I didn’t want her. I am sorry for everything. I am sorry I couldn’t call you."

"Stop talking about Elena," Audrey interrupted sharply.

Mason froze.

"It’s not about Elena," Audrey continued. A hot tear slipped down her cheek, but she aggressively wiped it away. "It’s about me. It’s about us, Mason. We ended things."

"You sent a text message," Mason argued roughly. "You were just trying to protect me so I would focus on the camp."

"I was serious about ending things when I sent that text!" Audrey yelled back. Her voice echoed loudly in the empty hallway.

The silence that followed was completely deafening.

Mason stared at her. His arms slowly dropped to his sides. The fierce, victorious energy he had carried off the airplane completely drained out of his massive frame.

"You were serious," Mason repeated. His voice was hollow.

"Yes," Audrey cried. She felt like her chest was physically tearing open, but she had to say it. "Us... we can’t work, Mason. We just can’t."

Mason shook his head slowly. He looked down at the carpet, then back up at her.

"I just took down the most powerful director in the WFA for you," Mason whispered. The raw pain in his deep voice was completely devastating. "I risked my entire professional career. I fought an entire corrupt system just so I could come back to this hallway and be with you."

"And I didn’t ask you to do that!" Audrey cried out.

She stepped backward, pressing her shoulders against her closed apartment door. She needed the physical support to keep standing.

"Don’t you get it?" Audrey asked, her voice breaking. "That is exactly why we cannot work. Everything with you is massive. Everything is a high-stakes gamble. Your career, the blackmail, the media... it is all too much!"

Mason just stood there. He didn’t try to close the distance again.

"I spent the last three weeks crying in my bedroom," Audrey confessed honestly. "I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus on my newspaper layouts. Every time I looked at my phone, I saw a picture of you living in a completely different universe. I felt like I was drowning, Mason."

"I was drowning too," Mason argued quietly. "I hated Miami."

"But you survived it," Audrey pointed out. "Because that is your world. You are a top-tier prospect. You belong on the red carpets. You belong with the European scouts. But I don’t."

"You belong with me," Mason said stubbornly.

"No, I don’t," Audrey shook her head. "I am just a college student. I want to write local sports articles. I want to drink cheap coffee with my friends. I want a normal, quiet life. I cannot be the girl standing behind the WFA superstar, waiting to see if a billionaire director is going to randomly ruin my life."

Mason flinched. The mention of Director Hayes’ threat clearly hit a nerve.

"He can’t hurt you anymore," Mason promised fiercely. "I fixed it."

"You fixed it this time," Audrey corrected. "But what about next time? What about when you transfer to London? What about the paparazzi? The crazy fans? The club managers? I do not want that life, Mason."

Mason stared at her. His dark eyes were completely glossy.

He had fought so hard. He had stayed awake for days. He had signed the papers, defeated Elena, and hopped on a plane thinking he had finally won the ultimate prize. He thought he had saved their relationship.

He didn’t realize the relationship was already dead.

"So that’s it?" Mason asked. His voice was entirely flat, stripped of all its usual arrogant confidence. "I finally get completely free, and you just walk away?"

Audrey looked at the floor. She saw her keys lying near his boots.

"I already walked away, Mason," Audrey whispered. "I just started putting the pieces back together. I went to an art gallery today. I had coffee. I actually smiled. I am trying to move on."

Mason completely froze.

"You went out," Mason realized. The words tasted like ash in his mouth. "With someone else."

Audrey did not deny it. She just looked up and met his broken gaze.

"I have the right to move on," Audrey said softly.

Mason took a slow, heavy breath. He looked at the girl he loved more than football. He looked at her messy hair, her oversized sweater, and her tear-stained cheeks.

He was a fighter. He fought for loose balls on the pitch. He fought bigger guys in the mud. He had just fought a corrupt academy director.

But looking at Audrey right now, he realized he could not fight this.

He could not force her to want his chaotic life. He could not force her to stay in a world that terrified her. If he truly loved her, he had to actually read the room. He had to understand her personal space.

He had to let her go.

Mason slowly bent down. He reached out and picked up her apartment keys from the wooden floor.

He stood back up. He did not step into her space. He just held his large hand out.

Audrey hesitated, then reached out and took the keys from his palm. Their fingers briefly brushed. His skin was freezing cold.

"You are right," Mason said quietly. His voice sounded entirely defeated. "You have the right to move on."

Audrey clutched the keys against her chest. She felt a terrible, painful lump in her throat.

Mason turned around. He reached down and picked up his heavy black duffel bag. He slung it over his broad shoulder. He didn’t look back at her. He didn’t try to argue anymore.

"Goodbye, Audrey," Mason whispered.

He walked slowly down the long, empty hallway. His heavy footsteps echoed quietly against the wooden floorboards.

Audrey stood against her door. She watched him turn the corner and disappear toward the stairwell.

The hallway was entirely silent again. The hurricane was gone. She was completely safe. She was completely normal.

Audrey turned her key in the lock. She pushed her apartment door open, stepped inside, and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

She pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face in her arms, and finally let herself cry.