Anyone but you (Fermín López)

Chapter 1

Victoria and her friend Alicia arrived at the club where some of their friends were already waiting. It was weird they all got to hang out together on a Saturday night but it was the summer. And Alicia's parents were away for the weekend so it was time for a sleepover...that also turned into a night out their parents didn't need to know about. Especially Victoria's parents.

"I'll go get a drink. Anyone want something?"

No one did, so Victoria headed to the bar alone and then tried to get the waiter's attention. The place was so busy, it wasn't easy to be seen or heard.

"Sorry", apologised a guy who moved to stand next to her by the bar and touched her arm without meaning to.

"It's ok. Hi", she told the waiter who finally paid attention to her. "I wanted a vodka with lemon, please".

"I'll get a rum with coke", said the guy and Victoria looked at him. "I had to order before he left".

She smiled at him and finally noticed he was actually a really handsome guy. "That's smart. I'm Victoria, by the way. You can call me Vicky".

"Fermín".

They got their drinks and Victoria wanted to go back to her friends but also didn't want to leave Fermín behind. "Are you here alone or...".

"I'm hanging out with a few friends".

"Cool. Me too. Maybe we could all hang out together...".

Fermín smiled at her suggestion. He had been trying to get Victoria to not leave without him but didn't know how to do it without her thinking he was creepy.

"Lead the way".

Victoria took Fermín back to where her friends were and he called his friend group so they could join them and stay together. Everyone could see how Victoria and Fermín kept looking at each other. Both when they talked to each other or when they were listening to others.

"You're going back to my place later", told her Alicia when Fermín couldn't hear them.

"Yeah, and?"

"Bring him with you", she winked.

"Ali...it's your place. I can't just bring a guy like that. We don't really know him".

"Come on! You're almost on house arrest at home. Live a little! I'm not your parents. I'll allow you to make bad decisions you'll regret. Though...I don't think bringing this one home would be a bad decision. Or that you'll regret it".

Victoria didn't think so either. There was something about Fermín that made her trust him. It was odd because, thanks to her paranoid dad and uncle, she always feared meeting new people and not knowing if their intentions were good.

But Fermín's intentions were very clear. He kept moving his hand slowly until it rested on Victoria's thigh and she looked at him when she noticed the contact. His eyes said it all. They reflected what he wanted. And it was the same thing she wanted, so she took Alicia's offer and invited Fermín to go back home with her. Or, well, back to Alicia's. But her parents were away. So they could pretend it was their place.

When Victoria woke up the next day, she felt so tired...but happy. And the boy sleeping next to her was the reason why she was so happy. She had been with other boys before but never got to wake up by their side so it was a new experience for her and...she liked how it felt. But sadly, she couldn't just spend all morning enjoying the nice view.

"Fermín. Hey!", he started to wake up and smiled at her when he opened his eyes. "You have to go. I mean, I do too. Ali's parents will be back soon. I don't want to get her in trouble".

"Oh...yeah, you're right. Can I have your number? To meet again, maybe".

"Yes, you can".

She smiled hearing his request. There was always the fear that he'd take that as just a one-night stand and Victoria wasn't opposed to that but...she felt she wanted to know more about Fermín. To spend more time together and maybe get to know him better.

After swapping numbers, he called a friend to pick him up and left. Victoria was still smiling when she joined Alicia inside the house.

"Do you think he'll call?", asked Alicia while they had breakfast.

"I hope he does but...I don't want to get my hopes too high, you know?"

"Yeah...but you had fun, didn't you?"

"Too much fun. Don't tell my dad".

The two friends laughed and soon Victoria was ready to leave. Her dad picked her up, because of course he did, and they made their way back home.

"Had a good time with Alicia?"

"Always do".

"What did you do? Watch a movie? Talk about boys?", her dad laughed but Victoria could tell he was trying a bit hard.

"Yeah, watched some movies and spent too long on TikTok. The usual".

Victoria's dad, Oscar, spent that Sunday with his daughter and his wife. They had lunch together and then went to the beach. It was a perfect summer day before going back to work. Back to pre-season and then the actual season and matches and stress...because Oscar was the assistant coach to his brother. His brother who was the FC Barcelona manager.

Fermín was also ready for pre-season and the season...it was now or never for him at Barça. So there was no room for mistakes.

The players gathered in the dressing room and stopped talking when Xavi showed up to tell them about the plan for the next few weeks.

"And Oscar's daughter will be helping us too. At least for the pre-season and we'll see how it goes. So she's off limits...twice. His daughter and my niece. Everyone got that?"

They all nodded, looking at each other with either scared or amused looks. Fermín didn't care about the manager's niece but about proving to him he had what it took to stay in the first team. But then, the niece got inside the dressing room to say hi to the players. And when Fermín saw her, he thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"Fuck".