Best of the Best

Chapter 19: Girls Like the Belt

"Of course Camila gets lost," Sofi went on with a laugh, undeterred by her sister's glare and the sharp kick to her shin under the table. "And she forgot her phone. She ends up in one of Canada's buildings and spent the rest of the games getting propositioned by half their women's soccer team."

Lauren wrapped her hands around her warm mug of coffee, and tried to suppress her chuckles.

"Are you done?" Camila asked, she would have crossed her arms if Thomas wasn't sitting in her lap, occupied by his colouring book.

Sofi sat back, smirking. "You know I have at least a hundred more. Like what about that time-"

"Nope. No," Camila cut her off. "I don't know where that was going, but I think one embarrassing story is enough," she said.

"But there's so many," Kelly chimed in.

Camila huffed. "Don't you start too. Someone's got to be on my side."

Lauren rubbed Camila's leg. "I'm on your side, darling. Though I'm a bit curious now about your Olympic exploits outside the ring."

Camila rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened. It's not my fault I'm irresistible. Girls like the belt."

Smiling Lauren, leaned in to kiss her cheek. "We certainly do."

"It's too cute," Kelly gushed, letting out a soft sigh. "I can't handle it."

Sofi groaned, and Camila was quick to stick out her tongue.

"Camz," Lauren chided, reaching out as their server arrived with the cheque. "No," she insisted, cutting off Sofi's objection. "I've got it."

"Wait," Camila interjected, shifting Thomas so she could pull her wallet from her pocket. "I've got it."

"Will you stop," Lauren pleaded, procuring her credit card, and handing it over to their patiently waiting server. "Just because you signed that new endorsement deal, doesn't mean you have to pay for everything."

Camila was about to comment that Lauren didn't have to pay for everything just because she was super loaded, but Sofi and Kelly both spoke before she could.

"Wait. What?"

"Endorsement deal?"

Camila caught one of Thomas' crayons before it rolled off the table. "Oh yeah," she started. "Well I haven't actually signed it yet, but apparently now due to my affiliation with a certain somebody, and with all the good press the club is getting," she explained, bumping her shoulder against Lauren's. "I'm a little more marketable."

"That's amazing, Mila," Kelly said. "Who's it with?"

"Adidas still," Camila answered. "It just won't only be for taekwondo stuff anymore. So you're going to be seeing this," she said, gesturing to her face. "In magazines and on billboards and buses everywhere you look soon enough."

"Just what I want," Sofi lamented, but with a wink. " But good job, sis," she added, and it was easy to tell by her tone she was referring to much more than an endorsement.

"Thanks Sofi."

---

"Can't see, Camila," Thomas complained, trying to adjust the headgear that kept falling over his eyes.

She tried not to laugh as he looked blindly from side to side. "I got it bud," she reassured him, pulling it back and readjusting the strap under his chin. "There you are."

"Hi!" He chirped, turning towards the chairs where Lauren was watching. "Look mama," he said, holding up the ends of his tiny, white belt. "I'm like Camila."