It's A Game, But Who's Keeping Score?

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Pepe said with a hard stare.

Fernando matched Pepe’s hard look, “Of course I think it’s a good idea! Think of how happy we were in Austria!”

“HA! You were the reason she -” Pepe drifted off as he realized he had said too much.

“She what? What did I make her do?” Fernando said, his temper rising.

“Nothing just forget about it. Go entertain guests,” Pepe said quietly, guiding Fernando into his mansion.

I stood inside, overhearing the argument taking place between Pepe and Fernando. I brushed it off as they came in with smiles on their faces. Fernando guided Pepe and me to the entertainment room where Xabi, Steven, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel were settling into their seats.

The room was huge, with an L-shaped couch facing a television screen that took up much of the wall. Several smaller couches were placed throughout the room. One bookcase was filled with the latest DVDs, while the other had every gaming system imaginable.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“Impressive, I know,” Fernando said, puffing out his chest.

I rolled my eyes and went to the couch where Dirk and Ryan were arguing in Dutch, it sounded similar to German so I was able to get the gist of their conversation.

“Transformers and Batman are equally amazing,” I said with a smirk.

Ryan opened and closed his mouth like a fish, “How…did you know what we were talking about?”

I laughed, “I took German all through school and it’s similar.” Then I heard someone mutter something about Germans players being cocky. I whipped around to see Fernando behind me. “What did you say?” I spat.

“I said that Germans are too cocky for their well-being.”

Before I could launch myself at Fernando, I felt a pair of arms around me. I was fuming, how dare Fernando say something like that?! As much I wanted to rip Fernando to shreds, things needed to be different. I slowly calmed down and the arms loosened, and Pepe turned me around.

“Don’t let him get to you, he’s just jealous of Lukas,” Pepe reassured me.

I flinched at the mention of Lukas; I had stopped talking to him after Euro… I had no idea how he was doing or even if he was hurt that we weren’t talking anymore.

“Okay. Let’s get this movie night rolling,” Steve said, picking a few DVDs up and walking to the TV.

Somehow, we managed to fit all seven of us on the L-shaped couch. I was sandwiched between Steve and Fernando, much to my enjoyment. We ended up watching Transformers, Batman, Twilight (I forced them to watch), and a Spanish movie with subtitles. Half-way through the Spanish movie, I drifted off to sleep on a certain someone.

The next morning I woke up in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar pair of arms around me. I was internally freaking out; this was Euro all over again. I slowly turned to come face to face with Fernando. I resisted the urge to scream and then attempted to release myself from Fernando’s iron grip.

“No…no,” Fernando muttered. “I can’t let her go, not this time. Rebecca Marie…”

I went frigid, I needed out now. I slowly unwrapped Fernando’s arms and quietly made my way out of his room and into the hallway. I then realized I had absolutely no idea where anything was in Fernando’s mansion. A door opened behind me and I literally jumped ten feet in the air.

“Don’t worry, it’s just me,” Pepe whispered. “Want to head home?”

I mumbled a yes and started following Pepe out to his car where Xabi already sat. The guys respected my privacy and didn’t ask about the night before. I just hoped that Fernando would do the same. When we got home, I rushed into my room and immediately hopped into the shower to get rid of the smell of Fernando.

Afterwards, I laid in my bed contemplating calling Sergio or Rafa because I needed my Spanish best friend.

“Hola?” a groggy voice said.

“Hi Sergio,” I said in a quiet voice, feeling guilty for waking him up.

“Bec, what happened?”

“Iwentovertofernando’sforamovienightandwefellasleeptogetherinhisbed,” I said in one breath.

“Wait, WHAT? You slept with Fernando again?”

“NO!” I said all too quickly. “I fell asleep on him during the movie I guess and he carried me to his bed and I guess we fell asleep together.”

“Seems like someone has a crush on you,” Sergio said teasingly.

“NO!” I yelled, “I can not go through that again.”

“Why? Olalla’s here in Spain, you and Fernando could rekindle your love flame.”

“You’re lucky you’re all the way in Spain,” I growled.

“Oh, feisty. I can see why Fernando’s after you.”

“Good-bye Rammy,” I said, before ending the call not bothering to wait for a reply. “Stupid Spaniards,” I muttered to myself.

“I really don’t think that’s the way to talk to you hosts…and well yourself for that matter.”

I looked up to see Xabi standing in my doorway with a tray of food. “That’s only to certain Spaniards that enjoy getting on my nerves.”

“I bet I can guess who…”

“How bet you don’t and you bring me that food,” I said with a smile.

“Okay, if you say it like that… Oh! And we leave for the team hotel tonight, so pack your gear up.”

“It’s not like I going to play anyways,” I muttered, pouting like a little kid.

“I wouldn’t count yourself out yet,” Xabi whispered before leaving the room.