Looks can be deceiving (Mapi León x OC)

Chapter 8 - team dinner

A few hours later, our whole team, including Jonatan and Rafel Navarro, one of our assistant coaches, was sitting at a long table in an Italian restaurant. I had just finished a whole salami pizza and my stomach felt like it was literally about to explode at any moment, so I tried to undo the top button of my jeans.

Next to me, Alexia laughed softly. "Better undo those pants all the way, Jonatan ordered tiramisu for all of us. "

"Thank God, I don't like tiramisu" I grinned. "Otherwise, I'd really have a problem right now."

Horrified, Alexia looked at me with her big, green eyes. "What do you mean, you don't like tiramisu? What's wrong with you?"

"I should be the one asking this question, you said my pizza tastes like crap!"

She rolled her eyes. "That's something else. Pineapple just doesn't belong on a pizza, everyone knows that. It makes me sick" Alexia defended herself.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Well, at least I'll never have to invite you over to my place for dinner."

Alexia grabbed a small bowl of tiramisu from the waiter's tray. "And you really don't want any?" When I shook my head, she grinned in satisfaction and grabbed a second portion. "Better for me then, but don't tell Jonatan!"

Meanwhile, I was thinking about how I was going to get home from here. I had no idea where exactly we were in the city right now. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried to find the nearest subway station, but the screen stayed black. "Fuck" I cursed quietly. Of course, my phone just had to run out of battery now.

"What's wrong?" Alexia asked curiously.

Annoyed, I showed her my phone. "I don't know how to get home from here. I might just take a cab now."

"Bullshit, one of us will take you." Alexia offered. "Where do you have to go?"

I told her the closest station to my apartment and the number of the subway I usually take.

"Okay, that's really far. I'd take you, but I'm going to Jenni's later. Wait a minute."

She bent over the table and talked to Claudia Pina, one of our best forwards, and Mapi. As hard as I tried, I couldn't understand a word she was saying because of how loud it was in the restaurant.

Alexia sat back into her chair and clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Problem solved! Mapi will take you to the metro station because she lives nearby. I told you she'd come around if you let me handle it!"

"I thought you had nothing to do with it." I winked.

"I'm speaking hypothetically, of course."

I sighed. The thought of walking through dark alleys with Mapi for I don't know how long made me feel quite uneasy. Surely, she hadn't agreed to be my personal tour guide out of friendliness, because as far as I was concerned, she never did anything for that reason. Would she even take me to the right station? I secretly hoped she would forget about it and just leave without me, but shortly after, as everyone had already stood up and was saying their goodbyes outside the restaurant, I heard her distinctive voice behind me.

"Would you allow me to accompany you to your castle, Princesa? "

I winced. Why did she always have to sneak up on me.

Mapi motioned for me to follow her. We were walking next to each other in total silence. I couldn't help but notice how effortlessly beautiful she was. She had tied her hair into a slightly messy bun after her swim earlier. One strand had come loose and danced up and down in front of her face with every step she took. She wore white fabric shorts and a loose crop top, in the same color, under which her dark bikini top showed through. While looking at her gold necklace, I thought about how to put an end to the awkward silence, but she beat me to it.