Tugging Heartstrings | Cristiano Ronaldo

Chapter 14

Fucked.

That is what Cristiano felt like after the teams were drew. He was complete and utterly fucked.

I mean yeah it was a good thing that he got put together in Catalina's team but the bad part was that James, Antoine, and Neymar were also partnered in said team. The grouping was not one that pleased him but for the viewers it certainly did. The teams were already set in motion so there was no way he could change or negotiate some players way out.

Now not only did he have to work with Neymar who he didn't particularly get along with, but he also had to withstand seeing James and Antoine fight for Catalina's attention which he was also trying to do but less straightforward. The only thing that kept him from blowing up on the two other men was Neymar as he was playing his role as Catalina's brother well and keeping them away as much as possible much to his enjoyment and the other two's disappointment.

"What's his problem" zoning back into the real world he forgot he was in a conversation with James.

"Huh" he responded back having forgot what they were discussing as they did basic warm ups.

"I said what's Antoine's issue with me" currently the two were having a little stare down moment as it was nothing but fearless glares.

"Well you two are pinning after the same girl" he motioned to Catalina who stood stalking with some other women from their team while she waited for Neymar to return from the bathroom.

"Yeah but it's not like I'm making digs and remarks towards him. I'm being fair with giving him his chances to speak with her and backing off when she is" oh how innocent James was to the real world.

"Jammy whether you realize it or not you're in a competition. It doesn't matter how fair you are because at the end of the day someone is going to want to take her from you" he may not or may have been indirectly implying himself but what James doesn't know won't hurt him.

"So no matter what him and other people are going to hate me because I simply like Catalina" coming to think of it he has been receiving a lot more glares today when he was talking with her.

"Basically" there was no other way to put it besides bluntly.

"Great" James's tone was pure sarcasm.

•••

"I don't like the way all the players from Madrid look at you" Neymar stated as he shot nasty looks at anyone who even slightly looked at Catalina with lust in their eyes.

"Neymar it's not just them" she meant to imply that as a relief for Ney but instead he panicked even more as he notice players from different regions staring at her.

"Here put this on" he threw his Barca jacket at her.

"I'm not putting this on" she held it up for him to take it back.

"Why not" he groaned in protest.

"I don't know Ney maybe because it's like 90 degrees outside" right now she currently had on a sports bra with some black football shorts as they were going to be handed custom made jerseys for the charity game.

"Well then at least put on a shirt so they'll stop staring at you" she had a tank top on earlier but somewhere along practicing she must have misplaced it.

"I'm not going to do that plus every girl here is dressed exactly the same except for a few" it wasn't uncommon for women to be dressed like this when exercising and they weren't going to change just because they were warming up with men. In their defense some of the male players were also shirtless so why couldn't they be so as well.

"Well there not Catalina Messi" Neymar stated.

As much as people may have seen her last name as a blessing it was more of a curse to her. She was criticized for almost everything she did and was compared to her brother every time reporters got the chance to do so. It's not like she ever did anything bad it's just some people didn't like that she got this far in success without the help of her last name and would imply she did use it. In cases like this she wishes she could buy a private island and just live there for the rest of her life with no social media or contact with the outside world besides her family.

"Well I'm still going to do as I please" she shrugged not bothered even the slightest.

"By the way what's up with those two" Neymar motioned to the two boys that were currently making it obvious that they were fighting for her attention.

"I don't know" she had an idea but didn't want it to be correct so she kept quiet.

"Well they look stupid for whatever reason that it maybe" he wasn't wrong as every time one of them would do a skill move or tricks they would look over at her to make sure she saw.

"I don't know I find it entertaining" they both looked over at each other at her statement and let out a laugh in sync as she wasn't wrong.

•••

"You know what I actually like our jerseys" Cristiano admired the work of art as it brought out his complexion even more.

"Well at least some likes there's" James hinted at there other friend who was far from happy at his teams jersey.

"It's horrid" Sergio bit back.

"It's yellow Sergio" Cris said not seeing anything wrong with the jersey.

"Well yellow makes me look completely washed out" he tried to deny wearing the jersey for as long as he could before he was forced to put it on.

"Yeah it really does" Cris couldn't hold back his laugh as he turned to look at Sergio who wasn't lying when he said it washed him out.

"Laugh it up just be lucky you guys got red jerseys" much to James and Cristiano's luck they got a color they quite liked.

"Alright everybody finish up last minute details you got about a few minutes before they want you on the field" one of the people who helped organized the events yelled into the locker room to give them a warning.

"So James how's it going with little Messi" Sergio asked his friend seeing if there's anything he could help him with.

"Alright except I have to compete with Antoine for her attention which she gives very little of to guys that don't play for Barcelona" he groaned just barley now seeing how difficult it was actually going to be.

"Well if any guy could get her attention it would be you James" he encouraged his friend while completely missing the way Cristiano got tense.

"You know what guys I actually have to go do something real quick but I'll be back" whether he was about to be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid relied all on this moment.

"But we have to be on the field in a few moments" James said but it all fell death to the Portuguese as he rushed out of the locker room.

Making his way through the stadium he greeted people who waved to him and put a little bit more speed behind his steps as he realized just how last minutes this was. Approaching the locker room he knocked on the door knowing how unprofessional it would be if he just barged in without warning.

"Hi could you grab Catalina Messi for me it's important" now he just had to hope she wouldn't completely ignore him.

•••

Sorry this chapters a little bit shorter but I've been sort of in a writing slump.