Looks can be deceiving (Mapi León x OC)

Chapter 12 - date night

A/N: oh oh, y'all aren't gonna like this;)))

Today was our last practice before we'd official start the 24/ 25 season by playing against Levante on Saturday at 12:00. I've always hated those early games, but at least our match was the first one of the Liga which kind of felt like a big honor. 

For once, the weather was on my side as the thermometer didn't climb over 30 degrees for the first time in weeks today. Instead, we were blessed with a fresh breeze and occasional rain, just what I was used to from my time at Bayern.

I placed the ball between two cones and shot Mapi a questioning look. "Are you ready?"

"Always, princesa" she smiled eagerly from a few meters away. My task was to bring the ball from the cones to the other side of the pitch into a small goal which Mapi was supposed to defend.

I started dribbling the ball towards the goal while was feeling Mapi's eyes on me, probably wondering what my next move would be. In an attempt to throw her off, I faked going to the left, but Mapi didn't fall for it. Within a second she got hold of the ball.

"Ha got it" she triumphed laughing and stopped next to me.

"It's unfair" I sighed. "You're too good for me."

"Oh, shut up." Mapi jokingly nudged me. "Let's try again."

This time, I spinned around when Mapi was running towards me which led to her trying to get the ball from behind me. Without thinking about it, I pulled an Alessia Russo and nutmegged her using my backheel. Afterwards I turned around, ran after the ball, and shot it into the goal with one kick. Mapi, who had run after me, shot me a speechless look.

"That was freaking amazing" she finally said. "I'm honestly glad you play for Barca, because if you had pulled that against me in a match, I would have been forced to retire afterwards."

Jonatan blew the whistle which meant that practice was over for the day, and I walked to the water bottles with Mapi.

"Are you excited for your first game?" She wondered.

"For sure" I replied as I tried to find the bottle with my name on it. "But I'm extremely nervous as well."

Mapi nodded thoughtfully. "I understand that. When I think back to my first game at Barca... God, I was a mess, but it will get better as soon as you're stood on the pitch, believe me."

"I hope you're right, but I'm not gonna be starting anyway" I shrugged while taking a big sip out of my bottle. The cold water seemed to be doing wonders to my exhausted body and I felt my energy returning.

"Jonatan never lets newbies start, don't think too much into it. Even when Lucy joined us, he barely put her into the starting XI for ages."

"Hmm, I guess that's true."

"Are you free tonight?" Mapi asked me after a short moment of silence. "There's a really good Tapas restaurant not far from here. It could be the 5th thing on your top 5 list."

Her question threw me off guard as we hadn't really been speaking that much since we went to the beach on Monday.

"I wish I was, but I've got a date to attend" I answered truthfully. "Maybe another time?"

"Yeah, sure thing" Mapi shrugged, but her gaze told me differently.

I was just heading to the changing room when Ingrid appeared next to me. For some reason she hadn't really been talking to me since the night at Mapi's and I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with the fight they had that night.

"Hey, how are you?" I smiled at her.

"I'm good" She replied coldly while walking next to me. "Listen Em, I hate to ask this, but is there something going on between Mapi and you?"