Rumor Has It I'm Dating the Football Captain

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Playing to Win

Zoya sat at a sticky wooden table in a dimly lit downtown bar. It was past eleven on a Friday night.

Going on a group blind date was entirely out of character for her. Her coursemates had practically dragged her out of the apartment. They told her she needed a break from her massive law textbooks.

But Zoya only agreed to come for one highly illogical reason.

She missed Jackson’s touch.

She hated admitting it, even in the privacy of her own head. She did not have romantic feelings for him. She did not want to date a loud, chaotic football player. But ever since that night in her bedroom, she could not stop thinking about the heavy weight of his arm around her waist. She missed the intense heat of his hands.

She decided to go on this blind date to prove a point to herself. She wanted to prove she could find physical comfort with a completely normal, quiet, logical guy. Someone who made sense on paper.

It was a total failure.

The guy sitting across from her was named Greg. He was a finance major. He wore a stiff blue button-down shirt. He had been talking about himself for twenty-five straight minutes.

"So yeah, it is all about risk tolerance," Greg said, leaning across the table. He gave her a lazy, incredibly sleazy wink. "I like to live on the edge. You have to take big gambles if you want a massive payout."

Zoya stared at him. She looked at his hands resting on the table. They were perfectly manicured and soft. They were not large and rough from hours of training on a pitch.

She felt absolutely nothing.

"Your risk tolerance is mathematically flawed," Zoya stated flatly.

Greg blinked. His cocky smile faltered. "What?"

"Your portfolio relies on highly volatile, unregulated assets," Zoya explained. Her voice cut clearly through the loud music of the bar. "You are not living on the edge, Greg. You are just terrible at basic probability. Furthermore, you have terrible posture and you chew with your mouth open."

The entire table went completely quiet. Her coursemates stared at her in pure shock.

Greg’s face turned bright red. "Excuse me?"

"I am going home," Zoya announced.

She stood up and grabbed her leather tote bag. She looked down at him with zero sympathy.

"Do not contact me," Zoya commanded coldly. "You are a complete waste of my evening."

She turned around and walked away, ignoring the loud gasps from her friends.

Zoya pushed through the heavy front doors of the bar. The cool night air hit her face instantly. It felt so much better than the suffocating heat inside. She let out a long breath and started walking down the pavement toward the street corner to hail a taxi.

Suddenly, she heard a loud slap.

The sharp, violent sound echoed from the dark brick alleyway to her right.

Zoya stopped walking. She looked into the shadows.

"You are an absolute jerk!" a girl’s voice yelled.

Zoya stepped closer. She peered into the dim, flickering light of the streetlamp.

Jackson was standing there.

He was wearing his dark gray team hoodie. He was rubbing his left cheek, which was rapidly turning a bright, angry red. The blonde cheerleader from the coffee shop was glaring at him with pure fury.

"I spent two hours getting ready for this date!" the blonde girl screamed at him. "And you have not listened to a single word I said all night! You just keep checking your phone!"

"I apologized," Jackson sighed. He did not sound angry. He just sounded completely exhausted. "I told you I was distracted. I paid for dinner. Let’s just call it a night."

"You are the worst!" the girl yelled.

She threw her hands up in the air in total frustration. She turned around and marched aggressively out of the alley. She bumped right past Zoya without even noticing her and disappeared down the busy street.

Jackson let out a heavy breath. He leaned his back against the rough brick wall. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back in defeat.

Zoya stood in the shadows and watched him.

Her heart did a familiar, highly annoying flutter against her ribs. She looked at his broad shoulders. She looked at his messy brown hair.

She pushed her logic aside. She stepped fully into the light of the streetlamp.

"Rough night?" Zoya asked.

Jackson snapped his eyes open. He looked at her. His dark eyes widened in genuine surprise, but he quickly masked it. He dropped his hand from his red, stinging cheek.

"What are you doing out here, encyclopedia?" Jackson asked. His voice was guarded and cautious.

"I was on a blind date," Zoya said.

Jackson completely froze. His jaw tightened instantly. "A date?"

"A group blind date," Zoya clarified. She crossed her arms tightly over her neat blazer. "My coursemates set it up. It was highly inefficient. The guy was an idiot. I humiliated him and left."

Jackson stared at her. A tiny, amused smirk fought its way onto his lips despite the tension.

"You humiliated him?" Jackson asked.

"Yes."

"Because he was an idiot."

"Exactly."

Jackson shook his head slowly. "You are brutal, Zoya."

Zoya uncrossed her arms. She walked a few steps closer into the alleyway. She stopped right in front of him. The familiar scent of his expensive cologne mixed with the cool night air washed over her. It made her skin tingle.

This was exactly what she had been looking for all night.

"How about entering a relationship of benefits with me?" Zoya asked.

Jackson blinked. He stared at her like she had just started speaking a foreign language.

"What?" Jackson asked.

"You heard me," Zoya said clearly. Her voice did not shake. "A relationship of benefits."

Jackson let out a short, completely confused laugh. He rubbed the back of his neck. "You are talking nonsense again, Zoya. Have you been drinking?"

"I am completely sober," Zoya stated firmly. "And I am not talking nonsense."

Jackson crossed his massive arms over his chest. He looked down at her. The playful energy completely vanished from his eyes.

"Okay," Jackson said slowly. "Explain."

Zoya took a steadying breath. She kept her voice totally even. She treated the conversation exactly like a legal negotiation.

"I am not going to lie to you," Zoya said. She looked him right in the eyes. "I remember everything about that night we spent together. Even though I was drunk, my memory is perfectly intact. I loved everything about it."

Jackson’s breath hitched slightly. His posture went completely rigid.

"But I do not have feelings for you," Zoya continued bluntly. She did not soften the blow. "I am not interested in you romantically. You are loud, you are chaotic, and you are terrible for my study schedule. I do not like you."

Jackson flinched slightly, but he did not look away.

"But I missed your touch," Zoya confessed quietly. "I went on a date tonight to see if I could replace it, and I could not. I want to feel like that again. So."

Jackson stared at her. His broad chest rose and fell heavily in the quiet alleyway.

"So you want a friends with benefits kind of relationship," Jackson clarified. His voice was a low, rough rumble.

"Yes," Zoya nodded. "It is a perfectly logical arrangement. We satisfy a physical need without the messy emotional complications. We do not go on dates. We do not hold hands in public. We just hook up."

Jackson let out a dry, bitter laugh. He pushed off the brick wall and stepped closer to her. He was so tall he completely shadowed her small frame.

"Do you think I am some kind of guy who just sleeps randomly?" Jackson demanded. His tone was intense and slightly offended.

Zoya did not back down. She looked at his team hoodie. She looked at the red handprint still fading on his cheek from his recent date.

"Yes," Zoya said simply. "Yes, you do seem like exactly that kind of guy."

Jackson’s eyes flashed with a sudden, dangerous heat. He leaned down until his face was just inches from hers. The air between them suddenly felt incredibly thick and suffocating.

"You are wrong," Jackson whispered. His deep voice sent a massive shiver straight down her spine. "I don’t sleep with a girl without making sure she ends up being my girlfriend."

Zoya’s breath caught in her throat. Her perfect logic completely stalled.

"I told you," Zoya managed to say, her voice shaking just a tiny fraction. "I am not interested in being your girlfriend. I just want the physical benefits."

Jackson looked at her lips, then back up to her eyes. He did not look angry anymore. He looked incredibly determined.

"I accept your deal, Zoya," Jackson said softly.

Zoya felt a rush of relief, but it was instantly replaced by a spike of panic.

"But you should know," Jackson warned her quietly. He reached up and gently brushed his knuckles against her cheek, sending a jolt of electricity through her entire body. "I am playing to win."

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