Never Let Go (Of Me) • Ferran Torres

Chapter 28: Ferran's Dinner Adventures

🎶 Love Again — Dua Lipa 🎶

Ferran POV

"No Cata?" my sister asked disappointedly when I arrived at our table at the restaurant I had chosen for tonight to celebrate the start of a new season with my family and best friends. Even though I was pretty sure we weren't just best friends anymore, I had wanted Cata to be here with us, with me. But she had been pretty steady on her decision and I respected that, I would never want to make her feel uncomfortable. But it made me sad that I couldn't provide enough comfort for her to still feel happy and wanted here.

"No, and it's thanks to you" I snarled at Joan.
"Me? Why?" he asked with a surprised face.
"Maybe because you've always degraded her to a gold digger and she didn't like that?" I asked back, furrowing my eyebrows as the tension thickened on the table. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen on one of the few evenings I got to spend everyone, but I needed to defend Cata. She shouldn't be sitting alone now just because my best friend was an overprotective idiot.

"Dude, I was just looking out for you! You've been single for less than two months and now you're back jumping into something. Have you healed? Are you ok?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned, but I was just annoyed that he was treating me like a child.
"I've been going to therapy and processing it. Thanks for your concern" I replied sternly.
"Ok, ok, let's all calm down for a minute. Joan, you could try being nice to Cata for once, but you have to tell us what this is, Ferran" my mum now tried to sort things out.

"I like her. A lot. And I think she likes me too. But we haven't... put a label on it yet" I admitted.
"Good. I must say, she's lovely, but I do think that you should wait a bit before jumping into a new serious relationship. I hope you're being serious, right?" my mum intercepted.
"Yeah, Mum, I'm a gentleman" I huffed, very annoyed because of all the unwanted and unasked relationship advice I was getting.

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The next evening, I was standing nervously in front of the apartment building's address that Cata had sent me. I knew damn well what her friends were up to and after how Joan had treated Cata, they had every right to do the same. I won't admit that I had shaky hands while ringing the bell, but I had shaky hands while ringing the bell.
"Hello?" I heard Cata's bright voice chirp through the speaker.
"It's me!" I replied, my voice almost cracking.
"Fifth floor! There's no lift!" she said as the door buzzed open.

After walking up the five stories, I already saw Cata standing in a door on the floor and all the nervousness fell off. She was here with me, there was nothing that could go wrong.
"Hi" she whispered as I was standing in front of her. Gosh, she was even more beautiful than yesterday, it seemed like she only got prettier with every day that passed.
"Hi" I whispered back before pressing my lips on hers, pulling her closer by her waist. Her body drove me crazy and I fantasised about it every night, but I knew I had to take everything at her time. I did have no rush whatsoever, just a kiss from her was already enough for the time being.

"No making out in our hallway! There are other people living on this floor and they won't get a free porn show!" I heard her friend Sara shouting from inside and we pulled away, both giggling.
"Come inside" Cata chuckled and showed me in. It wasn't a big apartment but the living room was bright with the dining table nicely set.
"Hi" I greeted this Sara girl who eyed me from head to toe. Guess she wasn't as impressed by me as Sira's friends had been by me - those girls had been so fucking annoying, only clout chasers and fame seekers, if you ask me.
"So you're Ferran" she said and tilted her head.
"I am" I replied and smiled at her.
"Hope you're a better man now than you were back in Manchester" she commented before disappearing into the kitchen, shouting at her boyfriend that he was cutting the tomatoes the wrong way.

"Sorry about her" Cata mumbled and Dan walked out of the kitchen, muttering something under his breath.
"Hey!" he greeted me, and we shook hands before hugging quickly. "Your best friend is crazy" he told Cata and rotated his index finger next to his head.
"Well, it's not me who's marrying her" she defended herself and laughed.
"You're right. Actually, I'm the luckiest man on earth" he said and patted his chest proudly. No, you aren't, Dan. That's me. Sara may be great but nobody compares to Cata. She doesn't need a fancy career or a fancy family to be something special - she just is by shining with her beautiful character.

"Earth to Ferran" Cata said as she snapped her fingers in front of my face, pulling me back to reality.
"Uhhh, sorry, what?" I asked confusedly.
"What do you want to drink?" she asked.
"Just water is fine" I replied reluctantly as the start of the season was just around the corner and I was here with my car anyways. She smiled and went to the kitchen to fetch me a glass and shortly after, Sara walked out with an amazing looking beef and she quickly instructed her boyfriend and best friend to carry out the sides.

The table looked amazing and the food was plenty, it seemed that she had cooked for half of Barcelona, but I wasn't one to complain, it was all healthy stuff which seemed to comply with my diet, I was sure that she had taken that into account. We all sat down and started eating while having a very pleasant and fun conversation. I had worried about nothing, they were both just as funny and warm as Cata and probably just wanted to get to know me better now that their best friend had been spending so much time with me. In true best friend fashion, Sara busted Cata by telling me so many embarrassing stories from their childhood and teenage years, which made us all crack up.

I took Cata's hand and smiled at her, softly stroking the back of the hand, finding happiness in the fact that amidst all the mess with her family, she had true friends around her. In the corner of my eyes, I saw Sara shooting her fiancée a smirk and "subtly" nodding at my action.
"Ok, dinner's over! We can go sit by the couch for some chitchat before calling it a night" Sara announced and clapped her hands before standing up and taking her plate back to the kitchen, Cata mirroring her action.

"I can help" I immediately offered, wanting to leave a good impression.
"Oh no, you go sit down with Dan. After that tomato-cutting debacle he put on before, I banned all men from ever entering my kitchen" she snarled at her fiancée. Dan rolled his eyes but walked over to the couch and I sat down across from him.
"Didn't know there was a wrong way to cut tomatoes" I chuckled, starting the smalltalk but he didn't seem to want to talk about cutting tomatoes.
"Ferran, I know football players, I'm around you guys all day and I hear how a lot of you speak about girls and how you treat them. If I ever catch you doing just one disrespectful thing towards Lina, I swear that I will kill you, cut you into multiple pieces and send those to your family. And we don't want that to happen, right?" he said calmly, but deadly. I was actually afraid.

"I... I will never" I stammered.
"I don't know what happened back in Manchester, but I do know how she acted at first when she met you again. Her father is currently being an asshole, so I'm stepping up and doing this talk now. I assume you also know she hasn't been with a guy yet?" he asked and I gulped, nodding. "I guess you're... experienced enough to know about protection, so I will spare you that part. When and... if the time comes, take good care of her" he added severely.
"Got it" I replied quietly.

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"Thanks for picking me up bro" I told Pedri as I climbed into his car the next morning as we were heading to training.
"Thanks for agreeing to come earlier after training to help with the party" he replied and fist-bumped me. "How did dinner go yesterday?" he asked as he started driving.
"Dan and Sara are so nice, really, I'm happy Cata has them. Though he threatened to kill me if I don't treat her right and gave me the Dad-talk but I found that really sweet, how he's looking out for her" I replied and nodded.

"Is it time you treat her right?" Pedri asked and looked at me for a brief moment before turning his eyes on the road again.
"It's always time to treat a girl right" I replied and gave him a quick glare.
"You know what I mean" he huffed and glared back at me.
"I... don't know. Everything's so easy with her right now, I... don't want to ruin it. And I keep hearing from people that I shouldn't jump into a new relationship and that's just making me insecure because I do think that I'm ready for her." I replied and fidgeted with the hem of my t-shirt.
"Dude, I'm going to tell you one thing. She's bomb, like a 100/10. If you don't take her, someone else will. And then you'll really have a broken heart" my best friend said and patted my thigh.