Ten minutes. They were just ten minutes away from the hotel now. Lauren had arrived a few minutes before and described the area she was waiting for Camila. She hadn't been this excited to see anyone before. Santa Claus, maybe, but even that was a stretch.
Camila was the first one off of the bus and bustled through that huge ass revolving door as quickly as possible. Lauren was standing there in her tee shirt and sweats with her hands in her pockets, looking adorable as ever. Camila couldn't get over there fast enough. Before Lauren could be ambushed with a hug or a kiss, she presented a small red flower to her. Just one, just enough to make Camila melt.
"Aww, Lauren," Camila gushed at what had been thrust out to her.
"More's gotta start somewhere, right?" she grinned so widely, her cheeks ached. When Camila went in for the hug that time, she didn't dare stop her. Their bodies fit together just as perfectly as they recalled.
"You're very thoughtful, Nugget," Camila took it from her and the butterflies within just would not settle down. She kept glancing at Lauren, then down at her flower.
"I try to be," Lauren replied modestly. Camila's reaction was more rewarding than she'd initially been thinking.
"What kind of flower is this?" Camila asked as she brought it to her nose. No one had ever given her a flower before, much less for no apparent reason. It probably wouldn't last long, but it was the thought that counted.
"It's called a peony," Lauren granted.
"Who knew you were into botany?" Camila said, pleasantly surprised that she'd been able to provide an answer to her question. If Camila had to answer, she probably would've said a red one.
"I'm definitely not," Lauren chuckled at the wayward inference. "I just read the little tag there while I was waiting for you."
"Oh, well," Camila shrugged her indifference with her eyes trained on the flower. "This is so cute. How did you even get this? When did you have time?"
"I ran to the store really quick and tried to get a burgundy or like, a reddish one for you. You said you liked burgundy that one time and I've never really heard you say anything else about colors so, yeah," Lauren explained as she twisted it gently between her fingers. "And I didn't wanna be basic and give you a rose, so there's that."
"This is sweet. So sweet. Thank you," Camila took it back from her delicately and gave her another hug that was just as soft. Coach Sylvester and all of her precautions were far from her mind. Everything else was peripheral.
"You're welcome," Lauren happily received her again, then initiated the first kiss between them. Camila grasped her, flower still in hand, and gave into Lauren's pull.
"I've missed that," Camila sighed in such close proximity, her breath still tickled her lips.
"You're telling me," Lauren beamed back at her and was actually quite hesitant to let her go. She looked past her for a moment and saw the other USF players gathering around, then her crazy coach up at the counter situating their rooms. It threatened her in a way she rejected, then she dropped her arms from around Camila.
"What?" Camila noticed her distant stare.
"Your coach is over there..." Lauren informed her.
"Oh," Camila mumbled without turning around.
"I don't want you to get in trouble. Maybe you should go back," Lauren suggested.
"Does your team have anything planned today? Coach actually gave us the day off," Camila asked proactively.
