Soccer imagines

•Dele alli•

By fortheloveoffutbol

He had to have been the most quiet being in the room, his hand touching the curls atop his head whenever he seemed to feel as if he was just sitting there awkwardly quiet. The few teammates that had coerced him into entering this stranger's home for a party of sorts had found themselves liplocked with the random women that had grabbed their attention for the evening.
That wasn't him.
At least, that's not what he seemed to be.
I didn't know him. Hadn't even seen him before this evening. Again, at least, not in person. He had been on the screen of my brother's television many times whenever he would be screaming for his striker to make better use of his feet. He had been paraded around the city like some sort of trophy to show off but I had only seen him from being in the crowds of admirers he couldn't even make out face by face.
His hand comfortably rested against the crotch of his Balmain jeans while the other grabbed for the iPhone in his pocket, ready to make use of his boredom by scrolling through the Twitter mentions he rarely ever read. Only in moments like this when he had nothing better to do.
Meanwhile my hand continued to rub against my bare thigh, ready to decide whether it was worth the risk to get up and introduce myself to the man who wasn't as much of a stranger as I liked to think. I was smitten by the thought of being able to say I introduced myself to Dele Alli, even had small conversation that made a shy smile spread across his face. I could only imagine how my friends would have reacted to that bit of news.
I watched as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration while his thumb did the continuous scrolling for him. It wasn't rare for me to see famous footballers now. They hung around the women I knew, the men I knew but I hadn't bothered trying to speak to them.
Until now I realized as I hopped down from the bar stool I sat on and walked over to the couch he was on. "Hey. Making good use of that phone, eh?"
My attempt at a joke didn't gather a laughing reaction from the star, his brown orbs instead lifting to look at me as if I had just interrupted a damn good time of his.
"What?" That confused look stayed planted on his face as he tried to speak above the music that had seemed to blare ten times louder than it was a moment ago. Rather than awkwardly standing over him, I plopped into the seat next to him.
"I said you're pretty busy on that thing." I motioned to the phone in his hand and he looked down at it as well, pulling the phone to his chest to now hide the fact he had been reading praise of his recent performance in a match.
Couldn't come off too arrogant, right?
"I was just..trying not to look too bored."
"Yeah. I don't think that method helps," I chuckled.
"Do you need something?" The new voice interjected into the conversation caused both of us to look up at the towering figure standing there waiting for our acknowledgement. I knew who it was immediately. I could recognize my boyfriend's voice at any time but the anger clouding his eyes was something I didn't. His eyes didn't even bother to look at me once he had Dele's attention, the two in what was a heated one-sided staring contest.
"Jacob," I sighed, standing up to go by his side. "Relax."
Dele seemed lost, trying to figure out why this man was in his face for doing what he thought was a friendly gesture of trying to return the conversation of the woman that had been scoping him out for the last ten minutes. "I'm sorry? Do you need something?" He replied to Jacob which only got him even more upset.
"Is there a reason you're talking to her?"
"Come on," I interrupted but Dele was soon speaking.
"Were you sitting over there waiting for her to say something to me?" Dele shed that shy persona and laughed as he shook his head. "You're a joke."
The madness that ensued from there happened too quickly for me to register it all as it was happening. I could remember my boyfriend's hand cocking back to land a loud punch to Dele's face and the shocked gasps of those that had caught the moment with their own eyes, the sound of the unexpected collision a distraction from the beat that rocked the room.
I had been quickly pushed out of the way as one of Jacob's friends approach to try and contain the large figure I couldn't. Dele's teammates had begun rushing into the room to try and protect him though the damage had already been done and their desire to bash in my boyfriend's place was postponed as he was carried out of the room.
One of my friends approached in a panic, spouting off questions before I could even answer them but my eyes simply followed both parties as they were taken their separate ways. I was conflicted on who to follow but I knew I had to at least offer my apologies to the innocent one in this situation. I eventually caught up with him just as he was taken outside, his hand covering his eye as he bent down wincing.
"Oh my God. I am so sorry! He doesn't usually act like that. I would have never..." I couldn't finish my sentence as I bent down next to him to try and inspect his eye.
"Guess I'll have a good time explaining this to the staff tomorrow," he chuckled in disbelief as he stood up to look at me or at least try to with one good eye.