FALLING FOR THE QUARTERBACK

CHAPTER THREE

Three weeks later, Ruby had almost convinced herself that the elevator incident had never happened. She'd thrown herself into her work, finishing her salvaged portfolio piece, starting three new paintings, spending hours in the studio until her hands were cramped and her eyes were blurry. She'd picked up extra shifts at the coffee shop, saving every penny she could for next semester's tuition. She'd avoided the athletic building like the plague, taking the long way around campus to avoid any chance of running into Tyler Bennett.

It was working. Mostly. She still thought about him sometimes, in the quiet moments before sleep, but she dismissed those thoughts as mere curiosity. She was an artist, she was naturally observant, naturally interested in people. That was all it was. Just curiosity. She was leaving the studio late one night, her messenger bag heavy with supplies, when she heard the grunting.

It was coming from somewhere behind the athletic building. Ruby frowned, checking her watch, it was nearly midnight, far too late for anyone to be practicing. But she was curios, and somewhereat the back of her mind, she hoped it was him.

She should keep walking. She should go home, go to bed, forget whatever was happening on the field behind the athletic building. It was none of her business. But her feet carried her toward the sound anyway, and before she knew it, she was standing at the edge of the football field, watching a lone figure sprint across the grass.Tyler.

He was running, his form perfect, his movements fluid. He had earbuds in, music blasting loud enough that Ruby could hear it from where she stood, and he didn't seem to notice her presence at all. He just kept running, sprinting from one end of the field to the other, his feet pounding against the turf in a relentless rhythm. Ruby watched for a moment, transfixed. There was something almost beautiful about the way he moved, something powerful and raw. But there was something else too, something desperate in the way he pushed himself, in the way he didn't slow down, didn't stop, didn't even pause to catch his breath.

She should leave. She should turn around and walk away and pretend she'd never seen this. Instead, she stepped onto the field. "Tyler!" He didn't hear her. The music was too loud, his focus too intense. Ruby jogged toward him, her footsteps silent on the turf, until she was close enough to reach out and touch his arm.

He spun around, his eyes wild, his chest heaving. For a moment, he looked like he didn't recognize her, like he was lost in some dark place she couldn't see. Then his gaze cleared, and he pulled out his earbuds.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She gestured at the empty field. "It's midnight."

"I know." He wiped sweat from his forehead, his breathing still ragged. "I just... I needed to clear my head."

"By running until you collapse?"

"Something like that."

Ruby studied him, her artist's eye cataloging the details. The tension in his jaw. The way his hands were shaking slightly. The shadow of something dark in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

Tyler's eyes snapped to hers, and for a moment, Ruby thought he was going to yell at her. To tell her to mind her own business, to leave him alone, to go back to pretending they didn't know each other. But he didn't. Instead, his shoulders slumped, and he sank down onto the grass, his head in his hands.

"I lost the game today," he said, his voice muffled. "Threw an interception in the fourth quarter. We would have won if I hadn't..."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

"Not me." He looked up at her, and Ruby was struck by the rawness in his expression. "I'm not allowed to make mistakes. I'm the captain. I'm supposed to be perfect."

"Says who?"

"Says everyone." He laughed bitterly. "Says my father. Says the coaches. Says the scouts who are watching me, the fans who expect me to be some kind of hero."

Ruby sat down beside him, crossing her legs beneath her. The grass was cool and slightly damp, but she didn't care. "That sounds exhausting."

"It is."

"Why do you do it?" Tyler was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Because if I'm not perfect, then I'm nothing. If I'm not the best, then I'm just... another disappointment."

The words hit Ruby like a physical blow. She knew that feeling, knew it intimately. The constant pressure to be enough, to prove yourself, to earn love that should have been unconditional.

"Who told you that?" she asked softly.

"My father. Not in so many words, but..." Tyler shook his head. "He doesn't have to say it. I can see it in his eyes every time I see him. The disappointment. The judgment. He looks at me like I'm not the son he wanted."

"Then he's an idiot." Tyler looked at her, surprised. "What?"

"Your father. He's an idiot." Ruby's voice was fierce, protective in a way that surprised even her. "You're out here at midnight, running yourself into the ground because you're afraid of disappointing him. You're killing yourself trying to be something you think he wants, and he can't even be bothered to see how hard you're trying. That's not your failure. That's his."

Tyler stared at her, his expression unreadable. "You don't even know me."

"I know enough." Ruby met his gaze, unflinching. "I know what it's like to want someone's approval so badly it hurts. I know what it's like to twist yourself into knots trying to be what they want, only to realize they'll never be satisfied. I know what it's like to realize that the problem was never you."

The words hung in the air between them, heavy with meaning. Tyler's eyes were bright, almost glassy, and Ruby realized with a start that he was close to tears. "I don't know how to stop," he admitted. "I don't know how to be anything other than what they expect."

"Maybe you don't have to know right now." Ruby reached out and placed her hand on his arm, a gesture of comfort that surprised them both. "Maybe you just have to start by admitting that you're not okay."

"I'm not okay."

The words seemed to crack something open inside him, and suddenly Tyler was talking, really talking, about the pressure, the expectations, the constant fear that he was going to fail. He talked about his father, about the affair that had shattered his family, about the way his mother had forgiven him and the way Tyler couldn't. He talked about football, about the weight of being captain, about the scouts who were watching and the future that hung in the balance.

Ruby listened. She didn't offer advice or platitudes or empty reassurances. She just listened, her hand still resting on his arm, her presence a steady anchor in the storm of his emotions. When he finally fell silent, exhausted, she squeezed his arm gently.

"Feel better?"

"Actually... yeah." He looked at her, something like wonder in his eyes. "I do."

"Good." Ruby stood, brushing grass from her jeans. "But this still doesn't mean we're friends." Tyler laughed, a genuine sound that seemed to surprise him. "Right. Of course not."

"We're just two people who happened to be in the same place at the same time."

"Absolutely."

"And I'm not going to start being nice to you or anything."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Ruby nodded, satisfied. "Good. Then I'll see you around."

She turned and walked away, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel his eyes on her back, could feel the weight of the moment they'd just shared. She didn't look back. But as she walked home, she couldn't stop thinking about the way he'd looked at her, like she was something precious, something worth holding onto. She pushed the thought away, burying it deep. It didn't mean anything. It couldn't.