Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 : Boyfriends Do That

Friday morning felt completely different.

The air in the girls’ apartment was the same, the cheap coffee machine made the same sputtering noise, and the sunlight streaming through the blinds looked exactly as it always did.

But everything had changed.

Audrey walked into the small kitchen, wrapping her oversized cardigan around herself. Chloe was sitting on the counter, scrolling through her phone while holding a mug of black coffee. Zoya was at the table, highlighting a textbook.

Audrey took a deep breath. She had to tell them.

"So," Audrey started, leaning against the doorframe. "Mason and I are officially dating."

Chloe didn’t even look up from her screen. She took a sip of her coffee.

"I know," Chloe said.

Audrey blinked. "...How?"

"Leo," Chloe replied simply.

Zoya let out a long, suffering sigh, closing her highlighter with a sharp click. "He celebrated in the group chat like he had just won the lottery. He used twelve different trophy emojis. Twelve."

"He also sent a voice note of himself shouting, ’I am a visionary’ into the void," Chloe added, finally looking up with a perfectly deadpan expression. "So yes, Audrey. We know. Congratulations on finally stopping the agonizing slow burn."

Audrey couldn’t help it. She laughed, a bright, relieved sound, and went to pour herself a cup of coffee.

When Audrey walked out of the journalism building after her morning seminar, she expected to make the familiar, quiet trek to the cafeteria alone.

Instead, she stopped at the top of the concrete steps.

Mason was waiting.

He wasn’t doing it dramatically. He wasn’t leaning against the railing trying to look cool. He was just standing near the bottom of the stairs in his gray hoodie, checking something on his phone, looking completely relaxed. Like he had always planned to walk her to lunch.

He looked up, sensing her presence. A slow, easy smile spread across his face.

Audrey walked down the steps, her heart doing a completely ridiculous flutter.

"...Hi," she said, stopping in front of him.

"Hi," Mason replied, his voice a low, warm rumble.

They started walking side by side toward the quad. The campus was bustling with students heading to their next classes, but for the first time, Audrey didn’t care who was watching. She didn’t feel the need to perform.

Halfway down the path, Mason suddenly stopped walking.

"...Ellis," Mason said, his brows pulling together in a frown.

Audrey stopped beside him. "What?"

He looked at her, entirely serious. "...How have we been fake dating for three months?"

Audrey tilted her head. "...Yeah?"

"...And I don’t have your number."

Audrey blinked. She thought about it for a second. They had communicated through Leo, through Chloe, or by simply finding each other on campus. They had never actually exchanged numbers.

"...You don’t," Audrey realized.

"...That’s ridiculous," Mason said.

Audrey laughed out loud. "It really is."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, holding it out to her.

"Fix it," Mason said.

She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms playfully. "Was that an order, Captain?"

"It was a request disguised very badly," he admitted without missing a beat.

She smiled, taking his phone. She quickly typed her number in, added herself as a new contact, and hit save. She handed it back to him.

Mason looked down at the screen.

Audrey

He smiled, shaking his head. "You gave yourself a flower."

"You gave me your phone," Audrey countered.

"Fair point," Mason agreed. Then, he held out his hand. "My turn."

Audrey pulled her phone out of her bag and handed it over. Mason tapped the screen a few times, his thumbs moving quickly. He handed it back.

Audrey looked at the newly saved contact.

Mason Calloway

She looked up at him, entirely unimpressed. "...You put your last name."

"You know multiple Audreys?" he asked defensively.

"No."

"Then why did you do it?" she asked.

Mason gave her a lazy, thoroughly unapologetic smirk. "...Because I wanted to tease you into changing it yourself."

Audrey rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. She tapped the edit button, deleted his last name, and added an emoji.

Mason

His ears turned slightly red as he watched her screen. "...Bold."

"You literally watched me do it," Audrey pointed out.

"I enjoyed the show," he replied smoothly.

They started walking again. Five minutes later, as they were approaching the cafeteria doors, Audrey’s phone vibrated in her hand.

She looked down.

Mason: Hi.

She looked up at him. "...We’re standing next to each other."

"I know," Mason said, opening the door for her.

Another buzz.

Mason: Just testing.

She walked through the door. Another buzz.

Mason: Also I wanted to be your first text as your actual boyfriend.

Audrey couldn’t help the massive smile that took over her face. She looked at him as he walked in behind her.

"...You’re ridiculous," she whispered.

"I’ve been told," Mason grinned.

The cafeteria was loud and packed with students. Audrey and Mason navigated through the maze of tables, talking about the upcoming match on Saturday.

"Coach thinks we should switch formations in the second half," Mason was saying, carrying both of their trays. "Southfield’s midfield is too aggressive, and if we don’t drop a man back..."

Without warning, Mason shifted the trays to one hand and slipped his free arm smoothly around Audrey’s waist.

He didn’t do it romantically. He didn’t do it for the crowd. He just did it because someone walked past them too closely, and he wanted her near him while he talked.

Audrey’s entire sentence stopped. Her brain completely flatlined.

Mason kept walking, pulling her securely against his side. "...we’re going to get caught on the counter-attack. Jackson agrees, but you know how Coach is about changing the playbook mid-season."

Total silence from Audrey.

Mason stopped walking. He looked down at her.

"...What?" he asked.

Audrey looked down at his arm, wrapped firmly and naturally around her waist. She looked back up at his face.

"...Nothing," she managed to say.

"You went quiet," Mason noted, his dark eyes studying her face.

"...I’m just..." Audrey laughed awkwardly, feeling her cheeks heat up. "...Getting used to this."

Mason tilted his head. "To what?"

She pointed a finger at him. "...You."

"My sparkling personality?"

"No," Audrey said. "...You’re very... touchy."

Mason looked genuinely confused. He blinked down at her. "...I am?"

Audrey stared at him in disbelief.

"You’ve held my hand all morning."

"Yeah."

"You just wrapped your arm around my waist."

"Yeah."

"You kissed my hand before class."

"...Yeah."

Mason blinked. He tilted his head again, looking completely unbothered by the evidence. "...Boyfriends do that, Ellis."

Audrey smiled, but it was a quiet, slightly vulnerable smile.

"I know," she said softly.

A tiny pause hung between them.

"I’ve just never had one who actually did," Audrey admitted.

The sentence hit.

Mason understood immediately. Logan. Logan had only touched her when people were watching, treating affection like a performance rather than a private comfort.

Mason didn’t say a word. He didn’t make a big deal out of it.

He just leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Very lightly. Very softly.

He kept his arm around her waist and started walking toward an empty table.

"...Too much?" Mason murmured.

Audrey laughed, leaning into his side.

"...No," she whispered. "...Just different."

They sat down at a small table near the windows.

Audrey unrolled her napkin and reached for her burger. Before she could even take a bite, a large hand reached across the table and stole a french fry right off her tray.

Audrey stared at him. "...Seriously?"

Mason chewed the fry, shrugging effortlessly. "Tastes better from your tray."

Audrey narrowed her eyes. She didn’t hesitate. She reached right across the table, grabbed a crisp fry off his plate, and ate it.

Mason threw his head back and laughed, a loud, rich sound that made her heart swell.

"There she is," he grinned.

A few tables away, Leo and Jackson were watching the scene unfold while eating their own lunch.

Leo squinted at them. "...The Captain’s gotten clingier."

Jackson shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich. "I think he’s just finally allowed to."

Late that afternoon, the golden hour sunlight filtered through the trees as Mason walked Audrey back to the girls’ dorm.

They stood together on the front steps. The air was cool, but Audrey felt entirely warm.

She looked up at him, playing with the strap of her bag.

"...Can I ask you something?" Audrey asked.

"Always," Mason said, leaning against the brick railing.

"You’ve been like this the whole time... haven’t you?"

Mason frowned slightly. "Like what?"

Audrey smiled. "...The hugging. The kissing. The stealing food. The waiting outside my classes just to walk me places."

Mason scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking a little caught out.

"...Pretty much," he admitted quietly.

"You just couldn’t do it," she realized.

"I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable," Mason said, his voice completely sincere. "You had a boundary. I wasn’t going to push it."

Audrey stepped closer. The two-foot gap he used to maintain was entirely gone.

She reached out and gently took both of his hands in hers.

"I think..." Audrey started, smiling shyly as she looked up into his dark eyes. "...I’m going to need a little time to get used to having a boyfriend like you."

Mason laughed softly, his thumbs brushing across her knuckles.

"I can work with that," he promised.

Then... instead of waiting for him to make the first move...

Audrey leaned up on her tiptoes.

She kissed him.

It wasn’t a drunken accident. It wasn’t a performance for the confession page. It was just a soft, deliberate, entirely real kiss on the front steps of her dorm.

She pulls back, cheeks pink.

"...I wanted to know what it felt like," she admits.

Mason smiles.

"And?"

She looks at him for a second.

"...I think I understand why you kept asking."

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