Chapter 413 - Find Your Own Girlfriend

Chapter 413: Chapter 413 - Find Your Own Girlfriend

Breakfast had become part of their routine after the morning Zac overslept. Roxie started waking with his alarm, cooking while he showered and sitting with him while he ate before conditioning. By the end of the week neither of them questioned it anymore.

Zac usually came into the kitchen already dressed, Roxie watched the clock whenever he got distracted, and he always kissed her before leaving.

Once he was gone, Roxie stayed awake more often now. Her orientation at UT had only been about a week ago, and even though she was already enrolled and had her schedule, she still spent part of most mornings checking her student portal, going through orientation information or figuring out where everything was before classes started.

She had already walked the route between her classes twice and still had a few things she wanted to check on campus that day.

Several hours after Zac left, the sun was high enough to warm the apartment through the windows and Roxie finally closed her laptop to make lunch. She was packing her own food when she remembered Zac saying he would probably find something around the football facilities, which usually meant he had no actual plan. She looked at what she had made, grabbed another container and packed some for him too.

By the time Roxie reached UT, the morning quiet was gone. Students were coming out of buildings in groups for lunch, carrying drinks and paper bags while others crowded the outdoor tables or headed toward places selling food. The sun sat high above the campus, bright enough that Roxie regretted leaving without sunglasses, and the smell of food followed her as she made her way through the walkways.

She handled her own things first, checking one of the buildings she still wanted to find and stopping by the bookstore before heading toward the football facilities.

Finding Zac was becoming easier.

She spotted him before he noticed her, standing with several players near the edge of the field. His shirt was damp around the collar and across his chest, his hair messy from training and a bottle of water hung loosely from one hand while he laughed at something one of the guys beside him said.

Roxie slowed without meaning to.

She had seen Zac after football practice hundreds of times. There was nothing new about sweaty Zac standing around with football players.

What was new were all the girls around him.

Two girls stood beside the walkway talking while eating lunch, and Roxie caught both of them glancing toward Zac more than once. Another girl passed the players and looked back after she had already gone by.

Roxie looked at Zac again and understood perfectly well why they were looking.

She had eyes too.

Still, understanding did very little to stop her from noticing each time somebody stared at him.

One of the girls leaned closer to her friend and said something before both looked toward the players again. Roxie adjusted the bag in her hand, already annoyed with herself because this was stupid. Girls had looked at Zac in Briarwick too. That had never exactly been a secret.

College simply meant there were more people around who had never spent years seeing Zachary Prescott walking through the same high school hallways.

She was still watching when Zac finally looked toward the walkway and spotted her.

His expression changed immediately. He said something to the player beside him, handed the guy his water bottle and jogged across the open space toward her.

Roxie smiled before she could stop herself.

"What are you doing here?" Zac asked when he reached her, slightly out of breath but already looking at the bag in her hand.

"I had things to do for school." Roxie lifted the bag. "And I brought you lunch."

"You brought me lunch?"

"Yes."

Zac looked inside the bag before looking back at her. "You already cooked for me this morning."

"That was breakfast. This is lunch."

"I know what meals are."

"Good. I was worried."

He laughed and took the bag from her, holding it away when Roxie reached toward it again just to annoy him. "Nope. You already gave it to me."

"You sounded shocked. I thought maybe you didn’t want it."

"I never said that."

"You looked suspicious."

"I’m wondering what happened to my girlfriend."

"She got hungry and made extra food."

"That sounds less romantic."

"It was supposed to."

Zac was still smiling when he leaned down and kissed her. It was quick, but it happened right there with his teammates behind him, students moving along the walkway and the same girls Roxie had noticed nearby.

That immediately made the small jealous thought in her head feel even more ridiculous.

When he pulled away, Zac looked inside the bag again. "Can I eat now?"

"That was the purpose of bringing food."

"Come with me."

"I already ate some while I was making it."

"You can sit with me."

Roxie followed when he took her hand and started leading her away from the louder part of the facility. They had only gone a short distance when Zac said he knew somewhere quieter, and Roxie glanced back toward the players and the students eating nearby.

Her eyes found the girls again.

The thought that followed was stupid enough that she immediately knew she should keep it inside.

Why somewhere quieter?

Maybe he did not want his teammates seeing his girlfriend bring him lunch. Maybe he wanted to keep this part of his life separate. Maybe he liked having girls around campus look at him without immediately seeing Roxie attached to his arm.

Then Roxie remembered that Zac had just jogged toward her in front of everybody, taken her hand and kissed her where anyone could see.

That should have ended it.

Instead she heard herself ask, "Why somewhere quieter?"

Zac looked over at her. "Because I want to sit down."

"You can sit over there."

"With everybody?"

"Yeah."

He slowed slightly and looked at her properly. "What are you asking?"

"Nothing."

"That sounded like something."

Roxie already regretted opening her mouth. "It was a stupid thought. Forget it."

Zac stared at her for another couple of steps before understanding appeared on his face. "Wait. Did you think I was trying to hide you?"

Heat climbed into Roxie’s face so quickly that his eyebrows immediately went up.

"Oh my God. You did."

"For like three seconds."

"I literally ran over to you."

"I know."

"And kissed you."

"I know, Zac."

"In front of everyone."

"That is why I realized it was stupid."

He started laughing, and Roxie pulled her hand away.

"Keep laughing and I’m taking the lunch back."

Zac immediately hugged the bag closer to himself. "Okay. I’m done."

"You’re still smiling."

"I can’t control my face."

"You better learn."

He reached for her hand again, still fighting the smile while he explained that he wanted somewhere quieter because he only had around thirty minutes and would rather spend it actually talking to her than sitting with a group of guys yelling around them.

Roxie accepted that because it made far more sense than whatever nonsense her brain had created, although she warned him that mentioning it again would cost him whatever dessert she packed next time.

That finally made Zac take the threat seriously.

They found a quieter area beside one of the buildings where several benches sat in the shade. The noise from the busier part of campus was still there, but farther away, mixed with voices and people moving between buildings for lunch. Zac sat beside her and opened the container immediately.

He looked down at the food for a moment. "This is a lot."

"You’re large."

"That sounded insulting."

"True though."

A week ago, most of what she knew about UT had come through Zac. Football had brought him here before classes even started. He already had coaches, teammates, schedules and places he needed to be every morning. Roxie had arrived with orientation papers, a student portal and a schedule full of room numbers she was still trying to memorize.

Now she was starting to know the campus herself.

"You still nervous?" Zac asked after eating for a while.

"About classes?"

"Yeah."

"A little."

"You’ll be fine."

"You say that because you already have your thing here."

Zac looked at her. "Football?"

"Yeah. You already know people. You know where you’re supposed to be every day. I’m still checking building signs."

"You’ve only been doing this like a week."

"I know."

"You’ll meet people when classes start."

Roxie looked toward a group of students eating beneath a tree. "Maybe."

"You will."

"You have way more faith in my social skills than I do."

Zac laughed. "You made me like you."

A girl walking past their bench looked toward them. "Hey, Zac."

Zac glanced up from the container. "Hey."

The girl smiled and kept walking.

Roxie watched her for another second because the girl barely looked in her direction before continuing toward a group farther down the walkway. When Roxie turned back, Zac had already returned to eating.

"Who was that?"

He looked up. "Who?"

"The girl who just said hi."

Zac glanced behind him even though the girl was already farther away. "I don’t know."

"She knows you."

"A lot of people know the players."

Roxie stared at him long enough that Zac slowly stopped eating.

"What?"

"That sounded very quarterback of you."

He laughed. "That’s not what I meant."

"She knows your name and you don’t know hers?"

"No."

"She smiled at you."

"People smile."

"She barely looked at me."

His mouth started twitching.

Roxie pointed at him before he could say anything. "Don’t."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

Zac leaned back slightly and looked far too entertained. "You’re jealous."

"I asked who she was."

"You’re jealous."

"I am observing."

"Very intensely."

Roxie reached for his water. "Maybe I should stop bringing you lunch."

Zac immediately moved the container farther away from her. "No. You can be jealous."

That made her laugh despite herself. "How generous."

"I support you."

"You’re annoying."

"I support that too."

Roxie took a drink and handed the bottle back, trying to convince herself she was finished with the subject. It was stupid anyway. Zac had done nothing, and some girl knowing his name hardly meant anything. If he kept playing well, more people were probably going to know exactly who he was.

She would get used to it.

Probably.

"Are you hiding food from me?"

Dylan’s voice made them both look up.

He was walking toward the benches with a sports drink in one hand and a protein bar in the other. His eyes immediately went to the container in Zac’s lap before moving toward Roxie.

"You brought him lunch?"

"Yeah."

Dylan looked at Zac. "Seriously?"

Zac smiled around another bite. "What?"

"You get breakfast at home and now she shows up here with lunch?"

"That sounds like jealousy."

"It is jealousy. Look at what I have."

Dylan held up the protein bar like it had personally disappointed him.

Zac barely glanced at it. "You bought that."

"I had five minutes before we had to be back."

"That sounds like poor planning."

"You overslept two days ago. You’re the last person allowed to talk about planning."

Zac pointed his fork toward him. "And yet I have actual food."

"Because your girlfriend takes care of you."

Roxie laughed while Dylan sat at the other end of the bench and looked at the smaller container beside her.

"Is that yours?"

"Yes."

"You eating it?"

"I already ate some."

Dylan looked at the container and then at her. He did not even have to ask.

Roxie pushed it toward him. "Take it."

"Thank you."

Zac immediately looked at her. "Why are you feeding him too?"

"Because I’m full."

Dylan opened the container before Zac could complain. "See? This is why I like her."

"She’s my girlfriend."

"I know. I’m eating her food, not stealing her."

Zac looked at him. "Find your own girlfriend to feed you."

For a brief moment, Dylan said nothing.

Zac’s fork paused halfway to his mouth before he looked down at his food again.

Then Dylan chuckled and leaned back against the bench like nothing happened. "Still trying. You got any recommendations?"

Roxie missed whatever passed between them because her attention had already drifted toward the people moving around campus.

There were athletes everywhere at this part of UT, and the women were hard to miss. Tall girls in shorts and training clothes walked past in groups, some carrying gym bags, others still sweaty from practice. A few were beautiful enough that Roxie caught herself looking twice.

Then she noticed how many of them were looking back.

Mostly at Zac and Dylan.

One group farther down the walkway kept glancing toward the bench while talking among themselves, and another girl passed close enough that her eyes stayed on Zac until she had already walked by.

Roxie frowned slightly.

The thought of cheer slipped into her head again.

She had already considered it before, but being here made the idea feel different. Zac already had football. Dylan had football. Roxie would have classes soon, but standing around the athletic side of campus made her remember how much of her own life had once revolved around cheer too.

Maybe she wanted that again.

Her eyes moved back toward one of the groups nearby just in time to catch two girls looking directly at Zac.

One whispered something to the other.

Both smiled.

Roxie rested her hand on Zac’s thigh without really thinking about it.

He stopped talking and looked down at her hand before looking at her face. A smile slowly pulled at his mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing."

His eyes briefly followed hers toward the girls before returning to her. "Babe."

"Eat your lunch."

"You’re doing it again."

"I’m sitting here."

"With your hand on my thigh."

Roxie left it exactly where it was. "Is there a problem?"

"Nope."

Dylan looked between them while eating. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Roxie said.

Zac laughed. "She’s jealous."

"I’m surrounded by girls looking at both of you like you’re lunch."

Dylan immediately looked around. "Where?"

Roxie stared at him.

"What? You said both of us."

Zac laughed while Dylan actually started searching the walkway.

Roxie shook her head. "Never mind."

Zac covered her hand with his and squeezed it. "You know you have nothing to worry about, right?"

"I know."

She did. Zac had done absolutely nothing, which somehow made her jealousy even more annoying.

Roxie leaned closer. "If someone asks for your number, tell them you’re mine."

Zac smiled. "Yes, ma’am."

"And stop calling me that."

"You’re giving orders."

Roxie squeezed his thigh hard enough to make him laugh.

Dylan glanced over again. "Seriously, though. Which girls were looking?"

"Eat your food, Dylan."