How hard can it be to fall in love with a football player when you're afraid of footballs...?
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Helping out her best friend by playing the lead in that music video project for university had seemed like an easy enough feat for art student Lorelai...
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They stared at each other for a long moment. Lorelai wasn't sure how to react; she hadn't seen Neymar in quite some time, hadn't received the promised mail with the pictures. Hadn't expected anything in regards to him, really. Hadn't expected to see or hear from him ever again. Well, there was the picture-posting story the other day, when she hadn't googled his Instagram account as soon as she had gotten home, no. And if anyone asked, Jane had already said she was good with the denial.
»Hey,« Neymar finally broke the spell that had been holding them rooted to the spot in the middle of the sidewalk. A smile appeared on his face.
»Hi,« Lorelai returned, uneasily smiling back.
He took the last few steps towards her, eyeing her dogs with caution. »Wow, they look just as huge in real life as in the pictures,« he said, coming to an abrupt halt as Khan moved one step forward and regarded the human newcomer with interest. Dante watched Khan's reactions, the younger wanting to learn from the older.
»Pictures?« Lorelai asked, hand automatically moving to rest upon Khan's head to indicate he needn't be wary of the new person. Immediately the hound turned to look at her before he calmly sat down on his behind. Dante copied him, earning himself a soft stroke over the head by Lorelai.
»I googled them. When you told me about the breed,« Neymar answered. »Can I...?« He motioned to the dogs and only after Lorelai's nod of confirmation squatted down to their level (he didn't have to squat down that much) and slowly pat them on their backs. In return, they started to wag their tails and sniff the footballer's... well, that was how dogs usually surveyed or greeted each other or any sort of newcomer.
Neymar almost toppled over, yelping in surprise at the action.
Lorelai hid her grin behind a hand. »Sorry, that's just how they get to know you,« she explained.
The footballer laughed good-natured. »I know, it's just, ah, it's different with their size and all.«
»You mean their teeth?« Lorelai giggled. »Don't worry, your private parts are safe. They're dogs like any other.«
»I agree. They're just... unusual. I mean, I don't mean that in a bad way! You don't see dogs like that very often,« Neymar replied, gaze fixed upon the hounds.
He looked happy with continuously moving his hands up and down their backs, patting them here and there. Dante and Khan had completed their survey and were now content to receive further caresses by the newly checked-out guy. They were panting happily, their large tongues hanging out of their big muzzles.
»Thanks, I guess,« she responded, not really knowing where to put his words. She was so used to people judging her dogs by their size when seeing them for the first time that it was rather unusual to hear people talk kindly about them. But as her thoughts went back to Dani at the café the other day, she had to re-evaluate that theory. Dani hadn't had the slightest problem with them either, now that she took notice of the fact. Maybe that was a footballer trait. A really weird one, but who knew, right? Right. Insert face palm here.
