The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 290: Chapter 290 - Secret Again II

Roxie smiled, leaned up and gave him a quick kiss.

She barely had time to pull away before Zac groaned and tightened his arms around her.

"That was bullshit."

"You said a kiss."

"I meant a real one."

"That sounds like your problem."

Zac kissed her before she could laugh again.

The heat came quickly because apparently neither of them had recovered from the morning yet. His mouth moved against hers with enough hunger that Roxie forgot about Noah, the lawn and school for several seconds. She wrapped both arms around his neck while Zac lifted her onto the counter and stepped between her legs.

"Zac," she murmured against his mouth, already smiling because he clearly had no intention of stopping. "We have school."

"I know."

He kissed her again anyway.

"Then act like it."

"Just a little more, babe."

His mouth moved against hers again, then along her jaw while Roxie tightened her legs slightly around him. The movement pressed him closer, and the sensation made her whole body react before she remembered one very important detail about what she had thrown on after waking.

She was wearing his shirt.

And nothing underneath.

Heat rushed straight into her face when she became painfully aware of how closely Zac was pressed between her legs.

His breathing changed too.

Roxie froze.

Zac looked at her.

That was enough.

"Nope."

She pushed at his shoulders, jumped down from the counter and practically ran toward the bathroom.

Behind her, Zac groaned.

"Coward!"

Roxie laughed as she disappeared through the door. "We have school!"

His laughter followed her.

By the time Roxie finished getting ready, she had mostly stopped blushing, although looking at Zac immediately threatened to start the whole thing again. They left the bungalow together and started toward the cemetery, and the moment they were far enough from the house that nobody nearby was paying attention, Zac took her hand.

Roxie looked down at their joined fingers.

Something in her chest tightened.

She had walked this route alone for only a few days, but apparently that had been long enough for the absence of him to settle into the path. She had missed the big things first during the breakup, his kisses, sleeping beside him, being able to call him when something happened. She had not realized how much she missed this part too until his hand was around hers again.

The stupid ordinary walk to school.

His warmth beside her.

The familiar cemetery path.

Zac complaining about things that barely mattered.

It had only been days, but those days had been miserable enough to make getting this back feel almost unreal.

Roxie looked at him.

His hair had never fully recovered no matter how much he tried fixing it before they left. He looked happy. Actually happy. The tight exhaustion she had seen on his face throughout the breakup was gone, and something embarrassingly soft moved through Roxie when he caught her staring and smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She looked ahead, but a little farther down the path she caught herself doing it again.

Zac noticed this time too. "You’ve been looking at me all morning."

Roxie kept her eyes forward. "No, I haven’t."

"You stared at me through breakfast."

"That was different."

A slow grin appeared. "Yeah. I know why you were doing that."

Heat immediately climbed into Roxie’s face as last night flashed through her brain again.

"Asshole."

He squeezed her hand, clearly pleased with himself.

Roxie stayed quiet for a moment before giving him the real answer. "I missed your face."

Zac looked at her.

She immediately regretted giving him something that good because his expression became unbearably pleased.

"Forget I said anything."

"No."

"I take it back."

"You can’t."

"I absolutely can."

"Too late, babe."

Roxie looked away because she could feel herself smiling and refused to let him enjoy it any more than he already was.

They reached Margaret’s grave almost before Roxie realized where they were. Her pace slowed naturally, and Zac slowed with her without needing to ask why.

Roxie looked at the name carved into the stone, then down at their joined hands. A soft warmth spread through her chest because only a few days ago she had thought this small piece of her life was gone.

"We’re back together," she said quietly.

Zac looked toward Margaret’s name. "She already knows."

Roxie glanced at him. "How?"

"You probably complained about me here enough that she’s been following the whole thing."

A quiet laugh escaped her.

She looked back toward the grave and squeezed Zac’s hand. "He’s still annoying."

"Great. Glad we stopped."

They stayed only another moment before continuing, but the familiar stop left Roxie thinking about how many times they had walked this exact path before the breakup. For those few miserable days apart, she had believed this version of her life had disappeared. Zac beside her. Their hands together. His voice filling the walk to school.

Now everything looked almost exactly the same.

Roxie knew it wasn’t.

Zac had gone home after their argument and made his own decision to come back. Roxie had opened the door even though she was scared. They had both chosen this version of themselves again, and that changed the meaning of how easily his hand fit around hers now.

The cemetery gate eventually came into view, and beyond it Roxie could already see students heading toward Briarwick. Cars passed along the road while groups gathered closer to campus, and the private little world they had been inside since leaving the bungalow suddenly had an ending.

Roxie stopped.

Zac took another step before their joined hands pulled him back.

He looked at her. "What?"

"This is where you leave me."

Zac glanced toward the school and then back at her, looking personally insulted. "I go there too."

"You know what I mean."

His mouth tightened slightly.

Roxie squeezed his hand. "Just until I talk to Noah. I want him to hear it from me before everybody else starts figuring it out."

Zac sighed, then looked toward Briarwick like Noah personally caused the entire inconvenience. "Noah needs his own girl."

Roxie grinned. "Want me to find him one?"

His eyes immediately came back to hers. "Stay out of it."

"You brought it up."

"I already regret that."

"Dana is literally right there."

"I especially want you staying out of whatever you’re thinking."

Roxie laughed and looked around. There were students farther ahead, but nobody close enough to care about two people lingering near the cemetery gate.

She grabbed the front of Zac’s hoodie and pulled him down.

His mouth met hers immediately.

The kiss started soft, but the knowledge that they were about to spend hours pretending they had not woken up together made Roxie stay there longer than she intended. Zac’s arm moved around her waist and pulled her closer while she kissed him again, enjoying how different this felt from every desperate kiss during the breakup.

There was nothing to prove.

He was hers again.

When Roxie finally remembered why they had stopped, she pulled away.

Zac followed her mouth automatically but Roxie put one hand against his chest. "Enough."

"You started it."

"And I’m ending it."

"That seems unfair."

"You’ll survive."

He looked unhappy enough that Roxie almost kissed him again, but she forced herself to smooth the front of his hoodie instead.

"Go ahead."

"This is stupid."

"You agreed."

"I agreed while you were sitting in your kitchen wearing my shirt. My judgment was compromised."

Roxie stared at him. "That has absolutely nothing to do with anything."

"It had a lot to do with it."

She shoved him lightly. "Walk, Prescott."

Zac finally started toward the gate.

Roxie stayed behind and watched him go.

He made it several steps before looking back.

She immediately pointed toward Briarwick. "Turn around."

Zac grinned and faced forward again.

Roxie bit the inside of her cheek because her own smile was becoming embarrassing.

He walked farther.

Then looked back again.

This time Roxie laughed.

Zac’s grin widened before he finally continued toward school.

Watching him walk ahead brought back memories of the first time they had been secret. Back then every hidden glance, accidental touch and stolen moment carried uncertainty because Roxie never really knew what they were becoming or whether Zac would keep choosing her once things became complicated.

This time she knew.

He had stood outside her bungalow and chosen her.

He had stayed through the night, made her breakfast, called her babe until she wanted to strangle him and spent half the morning inventing reasons he was better than Noah.

Being secret again felt completely different when Roxie already knew exactly who she was to him.

She waited until there was enough distance between them before following.

She probably should have fixed her face somewhere along the way because she was still thinking about how Zac had looked back twice after she told him to walk ahead.

By the time she reached Karen and Angela, Karen was already staring at her.

Angela noticed a second later.

Roxie tried forcing her expression into something normal, but judging by the way Karen’s eyes narrowed, she had already failed.

"Why do you look so fucking happy?"

Roxie adjusted the strap of her bag and tried to keep her face neutral. "I don’t."

Karen kept staring.

Angela looked between them, then studied Roxie more closely.

Roxie could practically feel the suspicion growing.

Then Karen looked past her.

Zac was farther ahead near the entrance.

Karen’s eyes came back to Roxie.

Roxie knew she was fucked before Karen even opened her mouth.

"Roxie."

She tried looking innocent. "What?"

Karen stared at her for another second.

"What did you do?"

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