The journalist's footballer (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Twelve

Rúben

"Are you good at cooking?", I ask Christina while we put the groceries away.

"Sure. Just a bit lazy. I usually eat pre-made meals. Why?"

"I thought we could cook dinner together", I suggest.

"Yeah, that sounds fun. What are we eating? I'm guessing something healthy, after seeing your fridge".

"You are guessing right", I chuckle. "How about a veggie stir fry with noodles and some shrimp?"

"My body can definitely use the veggies", she giggles. "That sounds amazing. Let's start cooking. It's getting late".

We quickly fall into a good rhythm of getting ingredients and pots ready and chopping and preparing things before cooking them. In no time we got everything cooking and Christina makes herself a cup of tea that she keeps forgetting about until I give the cup back to her. She laughs telling me her place is full of half-empty mugs of cold tea.

When we are done, we sit at the kitchen table to eat.

"This is the best meal I've had since the last time I visited my parents. Thank you".

"You are welcome", I tell her, happy to be able to provide something that makes her happy.

"Do you mind me posting my food on IG? I won't tag you", she asks. As if I would mind people knowing she is with me.

"You don't need to ask. And I mean that for the whole weekend. It's up to you whether you let people know where you are or not".

By people, I obviously mean Matty. And that Lewis guy too, I guess.

"You sure?", she says, sounding surprised. "I mean, footballers don't usually like people showing any aspects of their private life, which I totally respect".

"Most of them do that when they have something to hide", I say, making her laugh. "I would appreciate it if you didn't show my underwear drawer, you know. But I don't mind anyone knowing you are here with me".

She holds my eye contact and I notice her breathing faster. But then she looks down to pick up her phone again and pretends to type on it.

"Remove showing people Rúben's underwear off the to-do list", she says, making me snort. "That's a bummer. That post was likely to get a lot of likes".

I shake my head, which only makes her laugh harder.

Once we finish eating and tidying up, I suggest watching some TV. And that's how we end up sitting on my sofa watching an old rom-com. Christina made another cup of tea, but this time she just holds it in her hands and takes sips every couple of seconds.

I try not to be too obvious with my staring, but I just can't help stealing glances. She looks so relaxed. A massive difference from the girl that was trying not to cry on our facetime call a couple of days ago.

We make some small talk before falling into a comfortable silence. Just watching the movie and laughing at the fun parts. Until I feel Christina's head touching my shoulder, and I turn to find she's fallen asleep. I should wake her up and tell her to go to bed, but I selfishly use this moment to just look at her. To imagine seeing her like that when I wake up in the morning. Every morning.

Christina

One minute I'm watching the movie, and the next I'm being woken up by Rúben. Did I fall asleep on his shoulder? Jesus, how sexy of me. I just hope I didn't drool too.

"Sorry", I say, rubbing my eyes.

"No need to be. Let's go to bed, it's late".

When we reach the door to the guest room, he turns to me and gives me another one of his gorgeous smiles.

"If you need anything, let me know", he says.

I need to get in bed with you and be your little spoon, how about that?

"I will, thanks. Good night".

"Good night", he says, turning to go to his room.

The next morning I wake up feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. I see it's still early, and I don't want to make noise and wake Rúben up. So I just take my laptop and work while I stay in bed.

Half an hour later, there is a soft knock on my door.

"Come in!"

The door opens to reveal a still sleepy Rúben, who asks me if I want something in particular for breakfast.

"Whatever you are doing is fine", I say. "Just give me a second to finish this and I'll join you".

"Ok", he says before leaving. Not very talkative in the mornings. Noted.

When I join him in the kitchen I see he's making some eggs for the both of us. I also see he's only wearing a pair of Calvin's and a t-shirt. I try to keep my eyes above his waist. I have a feeling there isn't much left to the imagination if I look down.

"Are scrambled eggs ok?", he asks me, startling me slightly while I was thinking about where not to look.

"Perfect. Where is the bread? I'll make us some toast".

"There", he says pointing to the container that has the word bread written on it.

I laugh. "I swear I'm smarter than what this interaction might suggest".

"I know", he chuckles.

We eat in silence until I ask him about what he's doing today.

"Well, I got training at noon. And then we'll go to the hotel and just stay there. Pretty boring".

"For you maybe, I find all this fascinating", I say laughing, and I wish I could understand the look he's giving me. "What?"

"Nothing. You just reminded me of something that I was told once. It's just a silly thing", he says. "How about you? Anything you plan on doing today?"

"Sure. I just thought about exploring the city a bit. I have only been here a couple of times and never had time to see much. And I'll do some work too".

"It's still early. Do you want to do something with me before I leave? We could go for a walk around the neighbourhood. It's quite nice, and you could grab a coffee somewhere. I remember offering to pay for one the next time we saw each other".

He remembers that?

"Sounds good".

And so we finish eating and go on our walk.