PRIVATE, NEVER SECRET
pairing — jaxson dart x reader
synopsis — you are John Mara’s granddaughter, the one and only grandchild belonging to him. It was no surprise that you were spoiled by him. He took you with him to appearances for the Giants, which is exactly how you met Jaxson. The doting rookie quarterback with an ego the size of Texas, and a soft spot even bigger for you.
warnings — this is so soft so none.
requested — yes !
Jaxson Dart had a love-hate relationship with you. He loved the way you held yourself to a high-class standard, but hated the way you’d beat yourself down if you didn’t reach that standard. He hated the way you ignored his longing glances and attempts at conversations, but loved the fact that you cared about your family reputation. It truly infuriated him.
You would waltz around events, speaking on your grandfather’s behalf. You were young, barely twenty-one, but held the presence of an older woman. You were mature, never easily swooned by shitty attempts at flirting. You took so much under your wing when it came to the New York Giants. Your grandfather, John Mara, never expected that of you. But, he truly appreciated the fact that you would go out of your way to take care of things.
John had one singular rule for you, you couldn’t fall in love with a player. He knew how the boys were, he especially knew how the single boys were. John could never trust you with one of his players. This rule started to become harder and harder to follow. It all started during the one unfortunate Monday.
You sat on a bench in a hallway of the practice facility. John had sent you here on some kind of business venture, but instead the man just tried to make you his personal sugar baby. You hated when guys would do that. John always sent you on these things, stating that it would show what kind of person someone truly was.
“Grandpa, he was a complete womanizer. He kept calling me a pretty young thing and telling me I shouldn’t be worried about pressing business ventures.” You ranted, speaking into your phone. You heard your grandpa let out a gruff sigh.
You could practically see how your grandpa was adjusting his glasses. He always messed with his glasses when he was dealing with pressing situations. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that baby doll. Don’t let it make your head drop, you know you are a smart woman.”
A group of players left the locker rooms, beads of water still dripping down their bodies from an after practice shower. Jaxson’s eyes locked onto you immediately, noticing the distress that contorted your face. You quickly hung up the phone, waving a goodbye to the players that left. Jaxson stood back, waiting until his teammates were out of earshot.
Jaxson furrowed his eyebrows, sitting down next to you. You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest. “You good?” Jaxson spoke quietly, his head turned to face you. “You seem upset.”
“Just business things.” You replied simply, not giving him any kind of important response. “Nothing of importance to you.” You added, shrugging slightly.
“Well, since it’s of importance to you, it’s pouring and I know you don’t have the top on your Jeep.” Jaxson smirked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. He wasn’t lying, it was absolutely pouring outside, a storm was racking the area.
You quickly shifted, whipping your head to look at him. “Are you serious?” You spoke quickly, eyes wide as you listened to the rain on the roof of the facility. “Fuck- I’ll just have my grandpa come get me.” You grumbled, turning on your phone to call your grandpa back.
“I’ll take you home, don’t worry about it.” Jaxson pursed his lips, the smirk growing on his lips. "You don't want to bother Gramps about it." Jaxson nudged you, his elbow lightly tapping your side.
You rolled your eyes, scooting away from him. "First of all, you don't call him Gramps. That's your boss; he signs your paychecks. Second of all, that's the worst idea." You stated, voice firm in your decision.
Jaxson tilted his head at you, eyes narrowed. "Why do you just hate me so much?" You could hear the accent in his words. It was like a small southern accent, but you noticed. Maybe it was where he was from, Utah or Arkansas or something.
"I don't hate you. I just think that you have an ego through the roof just because you got a pretty penny from NIL checks." You sharply replied, eyes staring straight at the ground. "Plus, you know the only person you are fighting for a spot against is Russell Wilson, and he isn't shit."
Jaxson scoffed, taken aback by your words. "So, just because I'm a decent football player and got played to play college football, that makes me the worst person in the world?"
"Did those words ever leave my mouth?"
Jaxson let out a huff, choosing to sit in silence instead of admitting you were slightly correct. He did hold himself with a cocky demeanor; he knew it. Jaxson was very confident in his athletic abilities, which makes him come across like he has a big ego.
"I only act like I do because of how I was treated in high school," Jaxson admitted sheepishly. You turned to look at him, the look on your face urging him to tell more.
"I always got looked down on in high school. I had the dream of making it here, but nobody believed that I would make it here. My coaches, my teammates, no one believed in me. So now that I made it to the NFL, I act cocky as a way to prove that I'm meant to be here." Jaxson hesitantly continued, his hands fiddling with the zipper on his bag.
"That's deep." You stated, nodding along to his words. You sighed, ready to shut down his efforts to open up to you. "I'm still not letting you give me a ride. My grandpa will kill me, then bench you."
Jaxson shrugged, standing up from the bench. "Suit yourself, drive home in the pouring rain and get soaked." Jaxson started to walk off, his duffel bag draping from his shoulder.
You let out a quiet huff, weighing your options. John doesn't like to drive in the rain, you didn't want to get soaked, and your parents don't live anywhere near here. So, with the utmost annoyance, you stood up and followed Jaxson.
"What a great decision, princess."
You followed Jaxson to the door, wincing as he pushed it open to reveal the pouring rain. You scanned the parking lot, finding your jeep with soaking wet seats. "That's so fuckin' bullshit."
Jaxson snorted, letting out a laugh. "I drive-" Jaxson paused, pressing the lock button on his keys to reveal his truck. "That red truck. On the count of three, we are running out there."
You knit your eyebrows together. "Okay?" You deadpanned, words dripping with confusion.
"If you beat me inside the truck, I'll leave you alone. If I beat you to the inside of the truck, you let me take you on a date." Jaxson proposed, holding his hand out to shake on the deal.
"Joke's on you, I'm a four-time state champion in track." You muttered, shaking his hand.
Jaxson counted down. Once he hit one, you both broke into a sprint to try to get to the truck. You beat him to the door, but realized the truck was locked. Jaxson let out a laugh as he pressed a button on the door to only unlock the driver's side door. Once he was inside, he unlocked the truck, letting you get into the passenger seat.
"That wasn't fair! You're an asshole." You grumbled, body shivering from the rain that was pelting on your body. "You may be a track star, but I'm way too clever for that." Jaxson laughed, reaching into his back seat to grab a hoodie for you to wear.
"No." You grumbled, shoving the Ole Miss hoodie back to Jaxson.
"Just take it, just in case you decide you are cold." Jaxson held his smirk, blasting the A/C in the truck. You rolled your eyes, forcing yourself to take the air blowing from the vents.
Jaxson handed you his unlocked phone, the maps app already opened to plug in your address. "Hmm, what else is on an NFL athlete's phone?" You hummed, voice interrupted by Siri telling Jaxson where to go.
You opened Instagram, sliding over to the DMS. You haphazardly opened a random image that some girl sent him. A loud gasp fell from your lips. "Oh my god! Do girls really just send you their nudes? That's insane." You spoke out, shoving the phone back over to Jaxson.
Jaxson shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't ever open them, so I wouldn't know," Jaxson answered. He kept his focus on the road, but he didn't miss when you slipped on the hoodie to battle the A/C.
"So, since I won that bet, I'll text you the details of our date." Jaxson quirked, he gaze moving to look at you.
You just rolled your eyes. You were kind of shocked by how the hoodie quickly warmed you, and how his scent lingered on the fabric. "Yeah, yeah. Hope you like riding the bench for your rookie season." You grumbled.
Jaxson pulled into your grandpa's driveway, slightly shocked that the owner of the New York Giants would live in such a normal, suburban home. "Don't you guys have like billions of dollars to your name? That generational wealth type shit?"
You let out a snort, a small giggle falling from your lips. "When you have that generational old money, you don't ever flaunt it." You spoke. "Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it." You sighed, starting to feel less annoyed by Jaxson's presence.
"Don't worry about it, princess."
John Mara was waiting for you in his reclining chair. His eyes immediately looked at your soaked figure, then locked onto the Ole Miss sweatshirt you forgot to give back to Jaxson. John tilted his head, letting out a sigh.
"Okay, I swear I have a perfectly reasonable explanation, Grandpa. I promise." You immediately put your hands up in defense, ready to explain the situation. John raised his eyebrows. "Let me hear it, baby doll."
"Okay, well, first of all, rain was not in the forecast, so I didn't put the top back on my Jeep. Then once I hung up on the phone, I ran into Jaxson, and he told me it was pouring outside. So I let him give me a ride home, and grandpa! He blasted the air conditioning after I got soaked, and I was cold." You quickly rambled, trying your hardest to defend your reasoning.
"I like Jaxson, he's a very nice kid," John replied simply, his voice steady. You were taken aback by this. Your grandpa was usually so hard on the no-fraternization rule. So, for him to be this calm about it, scared you.
"You aren't mad?"
John sighed, gesturing for you to sit down. You sat on the couch, curling up into the soft fabric. "I told you the no boys rule because I didn't know if I could trust them to not hurt you." John paused, letting out a sigh. "Jaxson, I've known him since he started at USC. He has been one of my top prospects. I trust him."
You swallowed harshly, lips pursing together. "So you won't bench him if I tell you he asked me on a date?" You spoke meekly, voice quiet as you admitted the situation to your grandpa.
"I'll only bench him if he breaks your heart."
JD#6 So about that date?
Y/N Give me the details. And I lied.
JD#6 You lied ab what?
Y/N Gramps isn't going to bench you, you are lucky. He convinced me to go through with this date.
JD#6 I told you gramps loves me.
