Chapter 412 - Five Minutes

Chapter 412: Chapter 412 - Five Minutes

The alarm went off while the room was still dark, loud enough that Roxie flinched before she was even fully awake.

Zac groaned beside her and reached across her to grab his phone from the bedside table. The alarm stopped, and before Roxie could properly open her eyes, his arm dropped over her waist again and pulled her closer against his chest.

Roxie smiled sleepily when his face settled against the back of her neck. Her entire body felt heavy and sore from the night before, especially her thighs and hips, and even shifting beneath the blanket reminded her why they had barely slept.

"You have conditioning," she murmured.

"I know."

"Then get up."

"I am."

Roxie opened one eye and looked down at the arm wrapped firmly around her waist. "This doesn’t look like getting up."

"I’m thinking about getting up."

"That’s very useful."

Zac pressed a lazy kiss against her shoulder and tightened his hold. "Five minutes."

"You said your alarm was early for a reason."

"I’m never late."

"That sounds like something people say right before they’re late."

He made a quiet sound against her skin that might have been a laugh, but Roxie was already losing the fight with her own exhaustion. She had flown back from Briarwick, barely slept the night before that, then apparently thought keeping Zac awake for half the night was a good idea.

Five minutes sounded harmless.

"Five," she mumbled.

"Five."

Roxie closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, sunlight was coming through the curtains.

She stared at the pale light for several seconds while her half awake brain tried to figure out why it looked wrong.

Then she remembered the alarm.

Roxie grabbed her phone and looked at the time.

"Zac."

He barely moved.

She turned and shook his shoulder. "Zac."

He groaned and pulled the pillow closer.

Roxie shook him harder. "What time is conditioning?"

His eyes opened immediately.

"What?"

"What time are you supposed to be there?"

Zac reached for his phone, looked at the screen and sat upright so fast the blanket fell into his lap.

"Fuck."

Roxie pushed herself up beside him. "How late?"

"Enough."

"That tells me nothing."

He was already getting out of bed, dragging on the first pair of shorts he found while looking around the room. "Where’s my gray Tennessee shirt?"

"You have like twelve gray Tennessee shirts."

"The one from yesterday."

"That really narrows it down."

Zac gave her a look while pulling on one sock, and Roxie spotted the shirt near the chair before throwing it toward him.

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome. Now move."

He pulled the shirt over his head while Roxie climbed out of bed, only to stop when soreness made her grab the edge of the mattress.

Zac immediately looked at her. "You okay?"

"I’m fine."

"You just almost fell."

"Because somebody apparently decided two days apart required destroying my legs."

A grin threatened to appear even while he was rushing. "You started it."

"You had several chances to stop."

"You said anything."

Roxie stared at him. "You are late and somehow still arguing about sex."

"That’s because I’m talented."

"Go."

He laughed under his breath and headed out of the bedroom while Roxie pulled one of his shirts over herself and followed more slowly.

By the time she reached the kitchen, Zac already had his shoes on and was grabbing his phone from the counter.

"Eat something."

"I’ll get something there."

"You always say that."

"And I usually do."

"Usually is doing a lot of work in that sentence."

His phone lit up in his hand.

Dylan.

Zac read the message and grimaced.

"What?"

"He wants to know where the hell I am."

"That seems fair."

"He sent three messages."

"That also seems fair."

Zac typed quickly before slipping his phone into his pocket. Roxie followed him toward the door, still feeling guilty even though she knew perfectly well they had both gone back to sleep.

"Drive safely."

"I’m already late."

"That means you show up late. It doesn’t mean you drive like an idiot trying to save five minutes."

Zac looked back at her. "Yes, Mom."

"Fuck you."

His grin came immediately. "You already did."

Roxie grabbed the nearest throw pillow and threw it at him, but he slipped through the door laughing before it reached him.

The apartment went quiet.

Roxie stood there for a few seconds, then picked the pillow off the floor and dropped it back onto the couch. Zac being late once was hardly going to ruin his football career. He took conditioning seriously, had probably been early every other morning and clearly knew he screwed up before he even left the bedroom.

Still, she understood why Dylan was checking where he was.

Those two had played together long enough that Dylan probably noticed immediately when Zac was missing. Tennessee was a completely different level from high school, and both of them knew they were surrounded by guys who wanted the same opportunities.

Her phone buzzed around twenty minutes later.

Made it. Coach gave me shit. Still alive.

Roxie smiled and answered.

Dylan kill you yet?

The typing bubble appeared.

He’s considering it.

Another message followed almost immediately.

Go back to sleep.

Roxie rolled her eyes but listened.

She woke again a couple of hours later feeling far more human, although her body still protested whenever she moved too quickly. She showered, unpacked the few things she had brought back from Briarwick and spent some time looking through the course booklet she had left on the table before hunger finally pushed her toward the kitchen.

By early afternoon she was standing in front of the open refrigerator trying to decide whether she had enough energy to cook when the apartment door opened.

Zac walked in first with Dylan behind him.

Roxie looked over as Zac came straight toward her, kissed the side of her head and reached around her for a bottle of water.

"You sleep?"

"For a while."

"Good."

He twisted the cap off and drank nearly half the bottle while Dylan dropped his bag beside the couch. Roxie went back to checking the refrigerator, assuming they had come back to go over more football stuff, until Dylan spoke.

"You know he was late this morning."

Roxie looked over her shoulder. "I know."

Zac lowered the bottle. "Why are you telling her?"

"Because you’re standing there acting like it didn’t happen."

"I got yelled at for ten minutes. I’m very aware it happened."

Dylan dropped onto the couch and leaned back. "I called you twice."

"I know."

"You didn’t answer."

"I was driving."

"You didn’t answer before that either."

Zac gave him a flat look. "Because I was asleep."

"Exactly."

Roxie closed the refrigerator and leaned against the counter, watching them.

Dylan looked genuinely bothered rather than angry. "Dude, I thought something happened. You’re never late. I’m standing there thinking maybe your car broke down or you got sick or something, then you text me saying you overslept."

"We overslept," Roxie corrected.

Dylan glanced toward her, then back at Zac. His mouth twitched slightly like another thought had occurred to him, but he seemed smart enough to keep it inside.

Zac pointed the bottle toward him. "Good boy."

"Fuck you."

Roxie smiled and opened one of the cabinets.

Dylan leaned forward with his forearms on his knees. "I’m serious, though. Coach was pissed. Maybe he forgets about it by tomorrow, whatever, but you know how these guys are. There are like six dudes trying to prove they deserve more reps, and if one person starts screwing around somebody else is standing right there waiting."

"I know."

"I know you know. I’m still saying it."

Zac looked at him. "You’ve been saying it since I got there."

"Because you keep telling me to shut up."

"That normally means stop talking."

"Yeah, but then you’ll forget."

"How am I going to forget being late this morning?"

Dylan shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe you’ll get distracted again."

Roxie looked toward him.

Dylan caught it and immediately raised a hand. "I’m not blaming you."

"I didn’t say anything."

"I know, but you looked at me."

"I was just looking."

"That was a very specific look."

Roxie laughed softly. "You’re paranoid."

"Probably. I’ve been with him all morning."

Zac shook his head and finished the rest of his water.

Dylan looked back at him. "I’m just saying, man, we got here. Like actually got here. You know how many people we played with who thought they were going somewhere and didn’t? I don’t want us showing up and then doing stupid shit."

That made Zac quiet for a second.

Roxie understood what Dylan meant. He was probably thinking about high school, all the guys they had played beside who wanted college football and never made it this far. Maybe that was why he watched Zac so closely. The opportunity mattered to him too, and somewhere along the way the two of them had started treating each other’s football careers like a shared responsibility.

"It happened once," Zac said.

"I know."

"And it won’t happen again."

Dylan nodded. "Okay. That’s all I wanted."

Zac stared at him. "You could’ve said that ten minutes ago."

"I basically did."

"No, you gave a speech."

"It wasn’t a speech."

"It was absolutely a speech."

Dylan looked at Roxie. "Was that a speech?"

She considered it. "A little."

"Great. Thanks."

"You asked."

Dylan leaned back against the couch again. "Whatever. I’m done."

Roxie let the whole conversation pass. There was nothing there she needed to take personally. Dylan worried about football because football mattered to him, and he worried about Zac because they had been friends long enough for that to be normal.

Besides, he had a point.

Zac had worked too hard to get here for oversleeping to become something he did regularly.

"What time tomorrow?" Roxie asked.

Zac looked toward her. "Why?"

"What time do you have to be there?"

"Six thirty."

"Okay."

Dylan immediately smiled. "There. Problem solved."

Roxie glanced toward him. "I didn’t say I’m waking him up."

"You asked what time."

"Maybe I like knowing his schedule."

Dylan looked at Zac. "She’s waking you up."

Zac narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Roxie. "After last night, I’m honestly more worried she’s planning the opposite."

Roxie stared at him.

Dylan made a face. "Okay, yeah, I’m leaving."

"You started this conversation," Zac said.

"I regret it."

Roxie laughed while Dylan got up and grabbed his bag.

He slung it over one shoulder before looking at Zac again. "Tomorrow. Earlier."

"I heard you." Zac looked toward Roxie. "See what I deal with?"

Dylan opened the door. "You’re welcome."

Then he was gone.

Roxie watched the door close and smiled. "He was actually worried."

Zac walked back toward the kitchen. "He gets like that."

"I can tell."

"He thinks if he annoys me enough I’ll never screw anything up."

"That might work."

Zac gave her a look.

Roxie turned back toward the counter and started pulling out ingredients for lunch. "He has a point."

"You’re taking his side now?"

"I’m not taking sides. You were late."

"I know."

"You said you’re never late."

"I was very confident when I said that."

"That was your first mistake."

Zac laughed and came up behind her, wrapping both arms around her waist before resting his chin on her shoulder. Roxie smiled automatically and kept sorting through what she wanted to cook.

"You feeling guilty?" he asked.

"A little."

"Why?"

"Because we both went back to sleep."

"That sounds like both of us being stupid."

"I know."

"And I turned the alarm off."

"I know."

"And I said five minutes."

"I remember."

"So why are you guilty?"

Roxie shrugged slightly inside his arms. "Because I know how important this is to you."

Zac was quiet for a second before kissing the side of her head. "It was one morning."

"I know."

"If I start being late every day, then yell at me."

"I’ll do more than yell."

"That sounds threatening."

"It is."

He laughed against her hair.

Roxie looked at the ingredients in front of her and thought about the next morning. Waking up earlier was hardly difficult, and she already knew Zac tended to forget breakfast when he was rushing. She could make something while he got ready, make sure he actually ate and get him out the door before Dylan started sending another series of messages.

It was hardly some grand sacrifice.

Zac had cooked for her plenty of times since they moved in together.

She could make breakfast.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"That’s suspicious."

Roxie smiled and reached for a pan. "Go sit down."

"Why?"

"I’m making lunch."

"I can cook."

"You cooked last night."

"So?"

"So now I’m cooking."

Zac tightened his arms around her. "You’re trying to make up for me being late."

"I’m trying to feed you."

"I can hear the guilt from here."

Roxie turned her head enough to look at him. "If you keep talking, I’m going to make you cook."

He immediately released her and moved toward one of the stools.

"That’s what I thought."

Zac sat down and watched her begin preparing lunch, and Roxie smiled to herself.

Tomorrow morning, she would get him out the door on time.

After that, Dylan could find something else to worry about.