Spain, Soccer, Love?

Chapter Nine

Gavi's Perspective

Meeting days were always my least favorite. I'd much rather be outside actually playing football. Sadly, it was something that we had to do so I forced myself to suffer through it.

"Our game tomorrow shouldn't be too challenging. We'll be playing Elche who are at the bottom of the table." Xavi says, snapping me out of my boredom. Tomorrow's game will be fun.

Finally, after about 30 more minutes, the meeting ends, and we are allowed to leave and head over to our training facilities. Since we have a game tomorrow, we have a light training session followed by a recovery session.

As I head over to the locker rooms to get changed, I'm suddenly surrounded by Pedri, Alejandro, Ronald and Raphinha.

"I see you're still wearing the same clothes as yesterday," Pedri points out.

Oh great. Here comes the questions.

"I'm assuming it isn't just because you really like those clothes a lot." He adds.

"What do you think?"

"Did you actually go home with her?" Alejandro blurts out, clearly eager to know what happened.

"Yes guys, ok. I mean why else would I be wearing the same clothes? It's not a big deal though," I say, trying to play it cool. I really don't want them questioning everything. These guys are hella nosy.

"No big deal? NO BIG DEAL?" Ronald exclaims. I think he had the least amount of faith in me.

I quickly rush into the locker room, eager to get away from this conversation. Most of our teammates are already in there changing.

"Wait so you like, actually hooked up with the emo chick?" Raphinha practically announces loud enough for everyone to hear.

Just great. I rush to put my cleats on, hoping to get out onto the field before this conversation spirals any further.

"Wait what?" someone asks.

"Gavi went home with some random emo chick last night," Raphinha continues, obviously loving how embarrassed he's making me.

"He actually went through with the dare?" someone chimes in.

Lucky for me, I'm ready for training, and immediately rush out of the locker room and onto the field. I find Robert juggling the ball. I head over to him, and ask if he wants to pass the ball, and he agrees.

When I first met Robert, my English was pretty much nonexistent. I never really got the chance to learn since I was always so focused on football. When I met him, we instantly became close. He's always been my mentor and was the one who encouraged me to learn English.

It's sad to think about how he'll be retiring soon, since he'll almost be 40. I'm just glad he was given the chance to stay at Barca, even if it means he doesn't get much playing time.

As we pass the ball around, more guys come out to the field and join us. Thankfully, no one has mentioned anything about the conversation in the locker room, but I'm sure it will come up soon.

Once training starts, I immediately switch gears. My mind moves away from anything not related to the ball. The drills we go through are easy, and mainly focus on our touch and passing. It's something we are all skilled at, so we move through the drills with ease.

Once training is over, we head over to the gym where we stretch and massage out our muscles. This is always so rewarding after a training session.

I'm sitting in the corner, alone, trying to focus on using the massage gun when Pedri starts to make his way over to me. I'm grateful that it's just him. He takes a seat next to me and starts to massage out his muscles.

"So what was her name?" he asks, breaking the silence between us.

"Mae."

I simply answer the question, in no rush to give him more information until he asks for it.

"Was she nice?" of course Pedri asks that. And I'm glad he does, because I know anyone else would ask a question about the intimate stuff. I'd much rather talk about if she was nice.

"Ya, she was," I smile, thinking back to playful personality and funny jokes. "She was honestly really amazing."

"Well that's good."

"Oh, I also got her number," I add.

"No way! You got a girl's number?" he's shocked.

"Don't be so surprised. I told you I had game." I roll my eyes in annoyance. I know he's just messing with me.

"I know, I know," he laughs, giving me a pat on the back. "Have you texted her yet?"

Truth be told, I thought about doing it during the meeting, but I didn't want to get in trouble. Then, I never got the chance to before heading out to the field, thanks to the harassment from my teammates.

"Not yet, but I definitely will once we are done" I decide.

Once the quick recovery session is over, I sneak into the locker room and change quickly, hoping to avoid any questions from my teammates. To my luck, I manage to get in and out without anyone noticing me.

I head out to the garage and find my car parked. Once I'm inside, I pull out my phone along with the piece of paper Mae gave me. I open the message app and type her phone number in. What am I supposed to say?

The realization that I've never done this before hits me. I really have no clue what I should do. I decide to keep it simple and say "hey, it's Gavi!" Is that too simple? Should I say something else?

Before I can doubt myself anymore, I quickly hit send. I shut my phone off and throw it into the passenger seat. Why is this so scary?

Gavi in his scaredy cat era? I know in reality Robert may not be at Barca for much longer, but a girl can hope, okay? Next chapter coming out on Wednesday! (4/26/23)