Chapter 10
Royce~
I kept staring at the phone in my hand, though the phone conversation had ended minutes ago.
Butterflies were swarming deep inside my gut as I was falling into the trap of something being too good to be true.
Now, I didn’t have a pessimistic personality, but when all your dreams were lining up to come true, it was hard not to doubt your good fortune sometimes.
“What’s wrong?” I looked up, and my dad was eyeing me, his face full of concern.
Slipping my phone back in my pocket, I told him what I’d done. “The weekend that I went to go see Fred Kemper about my recruitment into USC, I...uh...did something pretty unethical.”
Dad’s brows jumped high on his head. “What did you do?”
I sighed before confessing what I’d done. “I told Mr. Kemper that I’d commit to USC if he promised to get Roxie in also.”
Dad leaned up against the porch column as he processed what I’d just told him.
I had taken Mr. Kemper’s call outside, needing plenty of room to pace my anxiousness away, and that’s where Dad had found me, dumbstruck on the back porch.
The only reason that I hadn’t told him or Mom what I’d done was because, if Mr. Kemper couldn’t make it happen, then there would have been no point in mentioning it.
After our college conversation, I’d told both my parents that I had planned on following Roxie to wherever she had committed to, and they had supported my decision completely.
Luckily, I had parents who wanted to see me happy more than they wanted to see me raking in millions.
“You know, Royce, we have always allowed you to control your own future, but this...if this were to ever get out, it could cause a lot of problems,” he said, telling me something that I didn’t already know. “And not only for you. This is Roxanne’s future that we’re talking about, too.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” I asked, eyeing him.
“I know that, Dad. I’m very aware of the ramifications.
However, who’s going to tell? Mr. Kemper would never risk his career by admitting to such a thing, and me and Roxie aren’t going to say anything.
So...yeah, it’s unethical and all that, but I just can’t do that to Roxie without exhausting all other options. ”
He straightened, his hands sliding inside his pockets. “Do what to her?”
“Dad, I have no problem going to Grandstone or wherever she chooses,” I told him.
“I’ve made it clear that my degree is more important to me than sports.
Yeah, I’m good at football, and a lot of people would have plenty opinions about how I’m not taking my talent seriously enough, but you know that football’s never been the goal. ”
“I do,” he agreed. “However, what does that have to do with Roxanne?”
“It’s the selflessness in her that would be the problem,” I explained.
“Roxie loves me too much to let me follow her to Grandstone, a decision that will most likely change the trajectory of my future. And since I won’t give her a choice, she’ll start to feel guilty, and that’ll eat at her.
” I let out a deep breath. “The last thing that I ever want to do is make that girl unhappy, Dad. It’s just not something that would be acceptable to me.
” I shrugged. “So, I thought that I could...find a way to get a win for the both of us. She just wants a school that’s equipped to support her academic challenges, and I just want to be with her.
Extorting Mr. Kemper into getting us both into USC was the only thing that I could come up with. ”
“I see,” he muttered. “So...what’s got you so upset right now?”
My lip twitched in a grin. “Nothing, actually,” I admitted. “I just got off the phone with Mr. Kemper, and he said that all Roxie has to do is apply, and she’ll be in.”
“When sports are such a big deal for a school, it’s amazing the strings that they can pull,” he replied, but he also didn’t sound like he approved, which he shouldn’t.
“I suppose,” I agreed.
“So, what does Roxanne have to say about all this?”
“I haven’t told her yet,” I admitted. “I hadn’t wanted to get anyone’s hopes up if it wasn’t going to happen. Plus, we still have about a month to discuss it some more.”
“What if she doesn’t want to go to USC, son?” he asked. “What are you going to do if that’s the case?”
“What I had always planned on doing, Dad,” I answered. “I’ll go to Grandstone with her. I’ve already applied.”
My father didn’t say anything for a long time. I watched as he absorbed everything that I was telling him. I watched as he fought against his parental instinct to tell me what to do. I watched as he let me decide for myself what made me happy.
Finally, he said, “I’ve never worried about you or your brother. You both have good heads on your shoulders, and I’m proud of you both.”
I grinned. “Well, you raised us, so isn’t that like patting yourself on the back?”
He returned my grin. “Touché,” he chuckled, but then after a bit, he got serious again “The point that I was trying to make was that I’m not bothered by what you did as much as a parent should probably be.
” I arched a brow at that. “You’re putting the woman that you love first, and that is something that I’ve always thought that every man should do.
I’ve always chosen your mother, and I will always choose your mother.
I’m glad to see that you are doing the same. ”
“No matter how unethical?” I joked.
“I would murder an entire village if any of them ever hurt your mother, so I’m the last person to talk about ethics when it comes to love, son.
” That surprised me. My father usually never advertised his inner caveman.
“Your greatest accomplishment in life will be your wife’s happiness. Don’t ever forget that, Royce.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I replied, meaning it from the bottom of my heart.
“Well, it helps that we absolutely adore that girl,” he added. “She’s positively beautiful, inside and out, and she’s going to give us stunning grandchildren.”
“Just her, huh?” I teased.
“Well, you’ll have a little to do with it,” he teased back.
I let out another deep breath. “Well, I better get going. I need to let Roxie know what’s going on, then pray that she’s onboard with it all.”
“That girl loves you, Royce,” he said seriously. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
After giving my dad one of those man hugs, I left to go see Roxie. I knew that her parents were home, but privacy wasn’t an issue. They trusted me with their daughter, and I just prayed that they trusted me with her future, too. Especially, since Roxie was my future.
~
Roxanne~
Looking down at my phone, I smiled. While Royce and I were usually attached at the hip, his surprise visits always made me smile.
Royce: I’m parked out front
Me: I’ll b right out
While it did seem rather odd that Royce was waiting outside, I wasn’t going to question it too much.
As much as he got along with my parents, their presence hung heavy whenever they were home.
Even if it wasn’t about sex, privacy was still a comforting thing when you were hanging out with your boyfriend.
Sure, we’d hung out in my bedroom before, but the door had always remained open, and that was a Royce rule, not one that my parents had implemented.
Slipping my phone back in my pocket, I made my way out of the house, and as I shut the door behind me, I saw Royce leaning up against his car, huddled in his warm jacket.
The middle of January was no joke, and I knew that there was only one reason that Royce would be waiting outside his car for me; to open the door, so that I didn’t have to.
When I reached him, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him, and after kissing me thoroughly, he reached back, then opened the passenger side door for me. After securing me safely inside, he walked around the front to get into the driver’s side of the car.
Once we were both inside, Royce adjusted the vents, so that the heat was warming me. I hadn’t grabbed my jacket, though I should have. However, in my defense, I figured that we’d be going into the house after I greeted him. I didn’t think that he’d want to talk in his car.
“What’s up?” I signed.
He looked serious enough that it gave me pause.
“We need to talk,” he signed back, and I immediately felt the pit of my stomach down in my feet.
Nothing good ever came from that sentence, and my biggest fears started ricocheting inside my head.
Was he going to break up with me now that he’d gotten what all guys wanted?
Had I really misread him so badly?
Doing my best to tap down my nervousness, I signed, “Okay.”
Royce looked edgy, and it was all that I could do to stay seated in his car.
There were all kinds of debates about breaking up with someone through a text message, but screw dignity.
If Royce was dumping me, I’d rather he’d have done it through text.
This was not something that I was eager to experience face-to-face.
I was fine being dumped through a cold text.
Who in the hell wanted to look into the face of the person that they loved just to hear that person tell them that it was over?
Not me.
“I did something that...I did something questionable,” he said and tried to sign.
The word questionable didn’t come out quite right. Still, who cared about that, right? If Royce was here to tell me that he cheated on me, who cared about how accurate his signing was? After today, he probably won’t have any need to ever sign again.
Taking a deep breath, I bit the bullet. While he might not deserve to get off easily, I didn’t want to be here for this. I didn’t want him to see me fall apart. “It’s fine,” I signed. “No hard feelings.”
Royce’s head jerked back, and his brows knitted, angry confusion on his face. “What does that mean?” he asked and signed.
I shrugged, doing my best to remain strong. “If you’re here to tell me that you cheated on me or that you want to break up, it’s fine,” I said, using my voice to showcase my seriousness and foolish bravery. “I won’t cause you any drama at school or anything.”
“What the fuck?” While he hadn’t signed it, I could read his lips perfectly.
“You said that you did something questionable,” I reminded him. “What else could it be?”
“Not that I fucking cheated on you!” he yelled, and I knew that he was yelling because his body language was screaming out his anger. “What the fuck, Roxie? I would never fucking cheat on you. Ever.”
“I-”
“I’m here because I got us both into USC,” he snapped, clearly still angry.
“I went to see my recruiter and told him that the only way that I would commit to USC is if they accepted you, too. That’s the questionable shit that I’ve been up to.
Not fucking cheating on you or contemplating breaking up with you.
” Royce ran a hand through his dark hair, his frustration clear.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he swore, spearing me with an intense stare.
“Let’s get something straight here, Roxie.
” He reached across the console, then grabbed my face by my chin.
“You are stuck with me. Do you understand that? I don’t give a fuck if there’s a marriage certificate or not to accompany that statement, but just know that you are stuck with me. For-fucking-ever.”
“Royce-“
“No,” he snapped. “You don’t get to talk.
You’ve said enough.” He was so upset that my heart ached at hurting his feelings like this.
“I will never cheat on you or leave you, Roxie. And if you ever get it in your head that you can leave me, I’m going to show you an entirely new side to Royce Cameron that you do not want to meet.
” No lie. I was getting turned on. “I will never let you leave me. That’s not how this is going to go down. ”
“I’m sorry, Royce,” I said. “I just-”
“I came here to tell you that we have a chance to go to USC together if you want.” He let go of my face, then leaned back. “Well, guess what? It’s no longer ‘if you want’. We’re going, and you’re going to like it. End of story.”
I blinked at him for a few seconds before I choked out a laugh. “‘And you’re going to like it’? Who talks that way?”
He shook his head at me, but I saw his lip twitch before he tried to hide it. “I’m serious, Roxanne,” he said and signed.
Instead of answering him, I crawled over the console until I was straddling his lap, his beautiful face in front of me. “I’ll follow you anywhere, Royce Cameron,” I told him. “And I’m sorry for my minor lapse in judgement. It’ll never happen again.”
His hands squeezed my hips. “It better not,” he said, his lips still twitching.
“How do you propose I make it up to you?”
Royce closed his eyes before dropping his head back on the seat. “Lord, help me,” he muttered.
“Royce?”
He opened his eyes and looked at me. “Yeah?”
“I love you,” I signed.
He brought his hands up to sign, “Never as much as I love you, baby.”