Chapter 42: He Thought She Was His Girlfriend

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: He Thought She Was His Girlfriend

The five minutes turned into thirty, and by the time Mason actually walked down the stairwell, Audrey’s lips were tingling and her cheeks were completely flushed.

She leaned back against the closed front door, a silly, helpless smile plastered on her face. Her chest felt warm and incredibly light, like she was floating an inch off the floor.

The bedroom door clicked open.

Chloe walked out first, holding her laptop under one arm, followed by Zoya, who was calmly adjusting her glasses. Both of them stopped in the hallway, looking at Audrey.

Audrey quickly wiped the smile off her face, straightening her posture. "He left."

"We have ears, Audrey," Chloe said, walking past her to collapse onto the couch. "We heard the door open and close three different times. Were you guys saying goodbye or playing a sport?"

"Chloe!" Audrey hissed, her face burning.

Zoya sat back down at the kitchen table, reopening her textbook. "Ignore her. She’s just irritable because Leo spam-called her phone while we were hiding in the room."

Chloe stiffened on the couch, her expression turning defensive. "He was asking about the weekend schedule. I told you, he’s annoying."

Audrey walked over to the kitchen island, leaning her elbows on the counter. She watched Chloe carefully, remembering the conversation from that morning. She thought about Leo in the locker room, confidently flexing his arm and listing Chloe’s habits like they were entries in a ledger of true love.

"Chloe," Audrey said softly.

"What?"

"Leo thinks you’re dating."

Chloe’s fingers froze over her laptop keyboard. She blinked, slowly turning her head to stare at Audrey. The snarky, confident shield she usually wore suddenly looked a little shaky.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked, her voice dropping its usual sharp edge. "We aren’t."

"He told Jackson you like him," Audrey explained, keeping her tone completely gentle. "He listed everything. You waiting after training, you wearing his clothes, you keeping track of his exams. To a guy like Leo, those aren’t just ’guy friend’ things. He thinks it’s official."

Chloe stared at her. For the first time since Audrey had met her, Chloe looked completely out of her depth. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Zoya didn’t look up from her page, but her voice carried clearly across the quiet room. "I told you, Chloe. The boy operates on a very simple playbook. You can’t give him the playbook and expect him not to play the game."

Chloe swallowed hard. She looked down at her blank screen, her jaw tightening. "He’s an idiot."

"He is," Audrey agreed with a small smile. "But he’s an idiot who genuinely thinks you’re his girlfriend."

Chloe didn’t answer. She sharply closed her laptop, stood up from the couch without a word, and marched back into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Audrey and Zoya exchanged a long, quiet look.

"Well," Zoya murmured, finally turning a page. "That is going to be a spectacular disaster."

The next afternoon, the Westbridge stadium was completely packed.

It was the final home match before the regional playoffs, and the energy in the air was electric. The stands were a roaring sea of blue and gold. The thunderous beat of the campus marching band vibrated straight through the soles of Audrey’s sneakers as she stood on the touchline, her camera raised to her eye.

Click. Click.

Through the lens, she tracked number 4.

Mason was in his element. Out on the grass, he wasn’t the sweet, affectionate boy who had stolen her fries or kissed her knuckles. He was a force. His dark hair was soaked with sweat, his jaw was set in a hard, brutal line, and his voice barked orders across the defensive line with absolute authority.

A player from Southfield tried to cut through the center circle. Mason closed the gap in a fraction of a second, his shoulder slamming into the striker with a clean, devastating tackle that sent the ball spinning safely toward Jackson.

The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer.

Audrey lowered her camera, her heart hammering in her chest. A fierce, terrifying wave of pride hit her so hard she could barely breathe. That’s my boyfriend, she thought. The sheer reality of the thought made her dizzy.

Beside her, Ben was frantically scribbling on his clipboard. "Calloway is playing like an absolute monster today! Did someone put something in his pre-workout?"

Audrey bit her lip, keeping her eyes glued to the pitch. "He’s just focused."

"Focused? He’s practically eating the Southfield offense alive," Ben laughed.

The referee blew the whistle for halftime, and the players began jog-trotting toward the tunnel. The crowd was still chanting Mason’s name.

As the starters reached the touchline, Jackson and Leo immediately headed for the water coolers, gasping for air. Mason slowed his pace. He didn’t care about the sponsors in the VIP boxes. He didn’t care about the fifty students pointing at him from the front row.

He walked straight toward Audrey.

He stopped a foot away, chest heaving, sweat dripping down his neck. He looked down at her, his dark eyes instantly softening as the brutal, competitive edge melted off his face.

"You’re doing great," Audrey said, her voice small against the roaring stadium noise.

Mason didn’t care about the rules anymore. He reached out, his massive, sweaty hand gently cupping the back of her neck, pulling her just close enough to press a firm, breathless kiss against her forehead.

"Stay right here," Mason murmured against her skin, his voice rough and deep from the exertion.

"I’m not going anywhere," Audrey whispered.

He smiled, a brief, private flash of white teeth, before turning around and jogging into the tunnel to join his team.

Audrey stood frozen by the benches. Her forehead felt completely warm where his lips had touched. She looked up at the stands. Nobody was whispering in shock. Nobody was pointing in disbelief.

They were just cheering for the captain and his girl.

Ten minutes into the second half, the atmosphere on the sidelines took a sudden, drastic turn.

Chloe had arrived late, slipping past the security gate to stand near Audrey on the grass. She was wearing her usual leather jacket, her arms crossed tight, her expression completely blank.

Leo was subbed out after a grueling defensive rotation. He ran off the pitch, pulling his jersey up to wipe the sweat from his face, his chest heaving as he headed for the benches.

The second his eyes landed on Chloe, his entire face lit up.

"Chloe!" Leo grinned, completely out of breath. He grabbed a towel from the assistant coach and marched straight over to her, his massive shoulders radiating heat. "You made it! Did you see that interception I had in the first half? It was beautiful, right?"

Chloe didn’t smile. She didn’t offer him a water bottle. She kept her arms tightly crossed over her chest, her eyes fixed on the scoreboard.

"It was fine, Leo," Chloe said, her voice icy and completely flat.

Leo’s grin faltered slightly. He wiped his neck with the towel, stepping a little closer. "Hey. You okay? You look mad."

Chloe finally turned her head, looking him dead in the eyes. There was no teasing spark in her expression. It was just cold.

"I’m not mad, Leo. I’m just tired," Chloe said, her voice cutting through the distant stadium noise. "And we need to clear something up."

Leo blinked, looking genuinely confused. "Clear what up?"

"Audrey told me about what you said in the locker room yesterday," Chloe stated bluntly. She didn’t beat around the bush. She didn’t soften the blow. "About us dating. About me liking you."

Audrey, standing five feet away with her camera, froze. She slowly lowered her lens, her stomach dropping. Oh no. Not right now.

Leo’s ears instantly turned a deep, splotchy red. He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out an awkward, nervous laugh. "Oh. Yeah. I mean... I was just talking to the guys, you know? It’s not a big deal..."

"It is a big deal," Chloe interrupted, her voice sharp as a knife. "Because it’s not true, Leo."

Leo stopped moving. The towel slipped an inch in his hand. "...What?"

"We aren’t dating," Chloe said, looking at him with complete, unwavering detachment. "We have never been dating. I wear your hoodies because I forget mine. I text you because you’re my friend. I’m like this with all my guy friends, Leo. You completely misinterpreted everything."

The roar of the stadium seemed to vanish.

Leo stood in his sweaty training kit, his broad chest still heaving from the match, but his face went entirely pale. The easy, confident boy who had celebrated with trophy emojis in the group chat looked like he had just been hit by a freight train.

He stared at Chloe, his mouth opening slightly, his eyes filled with a raw, sudden humiliation.

"All your guy friends?" Leo repeated, his voice dropping into a quiet, broken whisper.

"Yes," Chloe said, her jaw tightening, though Audrey noticed her fingers were trembling against her leather sleeves. "I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. But you need to stop telling the team we’re together. It’s embarrassing."

Leo looked down at the grass.

He didn’t yell. He didn’t argue. He didn’t make a joke to save face. He just stood there, the cool autumn wind blowing through his damp hair, looking completely and utterly crushed.

"Right," Leo whispered tightly. He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. "Yeah. My bad. I... I got it wrong."

He turned around without looking at Chloe again. He walked slowly back to the end of the bench, sitting down alone, shoving his face into his hands.

Chloe stood perfectly still for exactly three seconds. Then, she turned on her heel and walked straight out of the stadium, her head held high, leaving the heavy silence behind her.

Audrey watched Leo’s slumped shoulders from a distance, her heart aching for him.

The game was still carrying on out on the bright green grass, the whistle blowing sharply in the distance, but the comfortable, easy peace of their new normal had just violently shattered.