The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 311: Chapter 311 - Before Tomorrow

By the time Coach Miller finally ended practice, Roxie wanted to lie down on the gym floor and let everybody step around her.

It was after nine, and she had already spent the entire school day selling tickets before getting dragged through hours of training because Sweetheart was tomorrow and Coach apparently believed exhaustion could be postponed until Sunday.

Roxie understood why he kept them. They still had routines to clean, spacing to fix and a hundred small things that suddenly looked wrong now that Nationals was actually ahead of them. He hadn’t even given them more time to work on their individual Sweetheart performances because the team routines mattered more.

She understood him, but understanding did absolutely nothing for her legs.

Karen dropped beside her while Roxie changed shoes and groaned. "I think my feet are dead."

"They’re lucky."

Angela sat on Roxie’s other side looking almost as exhausted. "I don’t even want food."

Roxie slowly turned toward her. "That’s serious."

"I know."

They laughed weakly and gathered their things.

The excitement from three hundred fifty eight tickets was still sitting underneath all the exhaustion. Every time Roxie remembered the number, a smile pulled at her mouth again, especially when Coach Miller’s face came back to her.

That had been better than hitting the target itself.

The second Roxie stood, however, her thighs reminded her that she had walked around Briarwick for hours before practice. Before that, she had barely slept, and that particular part of her suffering had a name.

Zac.

Roxie narrowed her eyes just thinking about him.

She said goodbye to Karen and Angela outside and ordered an Uber. Her feet were finished, and there was no fucking way she was walking through the cemetery after nine at night anyway. Exhaustion was bad enough without adding a heart attack because some tree branch moved in the dark.

By the time the bungalow came into view, Roxie was thinking about three things.

Hot shower.

Food.

Something soft enough to collapse on.

The lights were already on when she got there, and the smell of takeout hit her as soon as she opened the door.

Zac stood in the kitchen in his work clothes, setting containers across the counter. His coffee shop shirt was slightly wrinkled, his hair messy from the shift and his face tired enough that Roxie knew he hadn’t exactly spent his evening relaxing either.

He looked over. "Hey, babe."

Roxie dropped her bag beside the door and kicked off her shoes. "I’m dead."

Zac’s eyes moved over her face, then lower, taking in the way she was practically dragging herself inside. The corner of his mouth twitched before he could stop it.

Roxie froze and stared at him.

His expression immediately flattened, which made it worse because now she knew exactly what he had been thinking.

Zac laughed when she finally reached him and weakly smacked his chest. "You’re an asshole."

"I brought food."

Roxie looked toward the counter.

That helped considerably.

"A lot?"

"Enough for tonight and tomorrow."

Her expression softened as she stepped closer and wrapped both arms around his waist, resting her face against his chest. Zac’s arms came around her immediately, and Roxie stayed there longer than she intended, letting him hold most of her weight because standing suddenly seemed unnecessary.

"Practice until nine?" he asked.

"Yeah."

His hand moved slowly over her back. "Go shower. I’ll get everything ready."

Roxie lifted her head. "You’re useful sometimes."

"Thank you."

She kissed him quickly and disappeared into the bathroom.

By the time she came back wearing shorts and one of Zac’s shirts, the takeout had been moved to the coffee table and Zac had changed too. Roxie dropped onto the couch beside him and immediately tucked one leg underneath herself.

They ate while Roxie told him about the fundraiser.

"Three hundred fifty eight."

Zac smiled. "You already told me when you walked in."

"I’m telling you again."

"I noticed."

"We needed three fifty."

"I know."

"And we got three hundred fifty eight."

Zac looked at her properly this time, his smile softening when he saw how pleased she was. "You’re really happy."

Roxie smiled around another bite. "Coach looked so relieved."

That was where her excitement always ended up.

She set the container down and leaned back, remembering the gym after Noah finished counting. "Everybody was screaming, and I looked over at him and he just looked like all the tension left his body."

Zac stayed quiet, letting her keep going.

"Cheer shows up for everybody. Football, basketball, assemblies, whatever Briarwick needs. We’re always there screaming for somebody else, and then we finally win State and qualify for Nationals and getting people to show up for us becomes this whole fucking thing."

Roxie looked at him, rubbing her thumb along the edge of the takeout container.

"I wanted Coach to have that tomorrow. I wanted him to look at those bleachers and see people there for his team."

Zac’s expression softened. "He will."

Roxie smiled. "Yeah."

"You sold a lot."

"I was fucking good."

"I saw."

Roxie paused with her fork halfway toward her mouth.

Zac looked down at his food.

Her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

His mouth started twitching.

"Oh my God."

Zac laughed quietly.

Roxie turned toward him. "What?"

"I saw you selling."

"So?"

"I saw how you were selling."

Roxie stared at him for half a second before a giggle escaped. "That was marketing."

"You were flirting."

"I flirted with everyone."

Zac looked at her.

"Guys, girls, whoever had twenty dollars." Roxie laughed harder at his expression. "I complimented one girl so much Angela thought I was trying to take her home."

Zac chuckled and shook his head, but Roxie caught something underneath the amusement.

Her smile slowly widened.

"Are you jealous?"

He inhaled like he was about to answer automatically, then seemed to think better of it. His eyes dropped toward his food while Roxie waited, already fighting the smile threatening to spread across her face.

After a few seconds, Zac sighed. "I am."

Something embarrassingly warm curled inside her chest.

Roxie bit her lip.

She really should not be this pleased.

Zac looked at her again. "I know what you said."

"What?"

"That we can’t keep making each other jealous on purpose."

Her smile softened.

"I’m trying."

Roxie bit her lip harder because the way he said it, almost resigned to having to behave like a reasonable person, was ridiculously cute.

He caught her expression immediately. "Why are you smiling?"

"I’m proud of you."

"That is bullshit."

A giggle escaped anyway.

Fuck.

They really were trying to change. They had already caused enough problems by feeding each other’s jealousy, provoking reactions and secretly enjoying what happened afterward. Roxie should have been happy that Zac could sit beside her, admit he was jealous and leave it there.

She was happy about that.

She also liked knowing he was jealous.

That part was harder to admit.

Every time another girl got close to Zac, something possessive woke up inside Roxie before she could stop it. Knowing he had spent part of lunch watching people flirt with her and forcing himself to sit there made her want to smile like an idiot.

Zac leaned back against the couch. "At least I’m not punching anyone who says my girlfriend is hot."

Roxie lost it.

She laughed and covered her mouth while Zac stared at her with tired resignation.

"I’m serious."

"I know."

"I’m trying, babe."

"I know."

That only made her laugh more.

Roxie bit her lip and tried getting herself under control because he genuinely was making an effort and she probably shouldn’t look this fucking delighted about it.

Still, it was cute.

Zac shook his head. "You’re impossible."

Roxie leaned against him, smiling. "You love me."

"Unfortunately."

She pinched his side.

He laughed and kissed the top of her head.

They finished eating in comfortable silence, and by the time Roxie set her container down, her eyelids were growing heavier again. She let her head fall against the back of the couch and closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, she felt Zac stand.

Roxie opened one eye. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere."

He moved behind the couch, and his hands settled onto her shoulders.

Her eye immediately closed again.

Oh.

The massage.

She had completely forgotten.

Zac’s thumbs pressed slowly into the muscles beside her neck, and Roxie exhaled so deeply her whole body seemed to sink into the cushions.

"Fuck."

"That bad?"

"Worse."

His thumbs worked outward over her shoulders, pressing into the tension while Roxie let her head fall forward. Her bag, the tickets, hours of walking and then hours of practice had apparently settled into every muscle between her neck and shoulder blades.

Zac found a knot and pressed into it.

Roxie moaned softly. "There."

"This?"

"Yes."

He slowed, working carefully over the same spot until the sharp ache gradually eased into warmth. Roxie practically melted beneath his hands, giving up on sitting properly as she sagged against the couch and let him move her however he needed.

His palms were warm, his thumbs strong enough to hurt in exactly the right way, and every few minutes Roxie realized another part of her body had relaxed.

"You should do this more."

"I knew this was coming."

"You’re good at it."

"That sounded dangerous."

Roxie opened one eye and looked back at him. "Massage."

Zac smiled.

"Keep going."

"Yes, babe."

Roxie closed her eyes again and started telling him about Kendall between long sighs, explaining how the stupid fundraiser competition was still open through Sweetheart and how Kendall had looked ready to murder her after Bianca accidentally helped Roxie sell half the cafeteria.

"Bianca helped?"

"By being a bitch."

Zac’s thumbs slowed. "I wanted to come to you."

"It was fine. She thought she was embarrassing me, but we sold a shit ton."

Zac laughed quietly. "You should’ve thanked her for the advertising. You were awesome."

"I did."

He laughed again, and Roxie smiled sleepily before Bianca’s last words came back to her.

The smile faded.

"She said something weird after."

Zac kept massaging her, but Roxie felt his attention sharpen immediately. "What?"

"Enjoy tomorrow."

His thumbs stopped.

Roxie looked over her shoulder and found his eyebrows pulled together.

"What does that mean?"

"I have no fucking idea."

"She said it like that?"

"Yeah."

Roxie settled forward again, letting her chin drop toward her chest. "Probably just wanted to get inside my head. She likes making shit weird."

Zac stayed quiet for a moment before his hands resumed moving.

"Tell Coach tomorrow."

Roxie frowned. "Tell him Bianca told me to enjoy Sweetheart?"

"The way you’re talking about it, you think she meant something else."

Roxie pressed her lips together.

That was irritatingly fair.

"I’ll watch her."

"Just be careful."

"I will."

Zac worked lower until Roxie finally gave up sitting altogether and stretched across the couch on her stomach. He shifted toward her feet and started with one calf, his fingers pressing slowly into muscles that still ached from practice.

Roxie groaned into the cushion as his thumbs pushed into the soreness, then relaxed when the pressure eased.

She talked less after that.

Zac moved from one calf to the other, taking his time, and every slow press dragged Roxie closer to sleep. The television played quietly in the background while the conversation between them faded until she was mostly listening to the sound of his breathing and feeling his warm hands working over her legs.

When he reached her thighs, Roxie became aware of those hands again in a very different way.

His palms moved slowly over the back of her thigh, firm enough to loosen the muscle before his thumbs pressed deeper. He took his time as he worked upward, and somewhere between her knee and the edge of her shorts, the silence around them changed.

Roxie swallowed.

Zac’s breathing had changed too.

Barely.

But she heard it.

The massage still felt incredible, only now every touch registered differently. She could feel the warmth of his palms through the thin fabric of her shorts when he reached higher, the strength in his fingers as they worked along her thighs and the slight hesitation that appeared when his hands reached her hips.

Roxie’s breathing slowed.

Zac pressed into another sore spot, and a moan slipped out before she could stop it.

His hands paused beneath her.

Only briefly.

Then he continued.

Roxie’s mouth curved against the cushion.

His palms kneaded slowly over her hips, and Roxie shifted one leg to get more comfortable. Her foot brushed backward against him.

Her eyes opened.

She went completely still.

Oh.

She felt exactly how hard he was through his clothes.

Zac stopped too.

For a few seconds neither of them moved.

Roxie stared into the cushion while a sleepy smile slowly spread across her face.

Really?

She moved her foot just enough to make sure she hadn’t imagined it.

Zac caught her ankle.

"Babe."

His voice had dropped enough to send a warm little shiver through her despite how exhausted she was.

Roxie giggled. "What?"

"You know what."

She turned her head enough to look back at him, her eyelids already heavy again. "You’re on your own tonight."

"I didn’t ask for anything."

"You were thinking."

His mouth twitched.

Roxie laughed softly and dropped her face back onto the cushion. "I can barely stay awake."

"I know."

His hands returned to her leg, gentler now, but Roxie could still hear the heavier rhythm of his breathing behind her.

For another minute or two, sleep and awareness fought over her.

She could feel every movement of his fingers, every slow press into her thighs and hips, and there was something incredibly hot about lying there half melted into the couch while Zac tried to keep giving her the massage he had promised even though she knew exactly what his body wanted.

Her tired brain briefly entertained the idea of rolling over just to look at him.

Then she yawned so hard her eyes watered.

That settled it.

"I’m so sleepy."

Zac’s hands slowed. "Then sleep."

Roxie looked back at him again, her eyelids barely cooperating. His face was controlled, but she knew what she had felt beneath her foot.

Her mouth twitched.

"What about you?"

"I’m fine."

Roxie’s eyes dropped toward his lap.

Zac followed her gaze and sighed.

That made her giggle again.

"Go to sleep, babe."

His voice sounded even darker now.

Roxie’s eyes started closing. "But you’re..."

"I can take care of it."

Her exhausted brain took a moment to understand what he meant.

Then it clicked.

Oh.

A hazy image formed in Roxie’s mind of Zac waiting until she fell asleep and handling the problem himself.

That would probably look hot.

Very fucking hot.

Her sleepy smile widened.

Zac narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing."

"That is definitely something."

Roxie giggled quietly and let her eyes close.

She was far too tired to explain it.

His hands returned to her calf, slower and gentler now, and Roxie sank deeper into the couch as the warmth dragged her toward sleep. She barely heard Zac say he would move her to bed later, and Roxie hummed something that might have been an answer.

Tomorrow was Sweetheart.

A packed gym was waiting for her, along with her performance, Kendall’s stupid fundraiser competition, Noah and finally the end of hiding Zac.

She should probably have been thinking about all of that.

Instead, Roxie fell asleep with a faint smile while her jealous boyfriend sat behind her, horny and trying very hard to behave.

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