Lover II- ML

327. Betrayal

Barcelona had 24 first team players with them on their preseason tour of Mexico, a mix of proven world class players and upcoming talents.

The year ahead was looking promising, with Camp Nou set to be finished in the next year and personally for Kaia, she couldn't wait until she was back to day-to-day life with her brother now in the same city, twin babies and Fabian being a big brother while playing for the club she loved.

Next year were the qualifying rounds for the Brazil 27 World Cup, so Kaia was going to make damn sure that she continued her form into the new season while having time for Mapi and their growing family.

Having her wife as a fellow teammate was a blessing for Kaia. Because they spent time together while working their arses off to be better, every single late night gym session was together, every rest day was together, recovery was together.

They were together.

Except when Kaia had to sit on the bench for their first friendly against Arsenal, watching the starting players walking out at Banorte Stadium. 

It was a humid late afternoon, meaning cooling breaks were in order and the two teams had the option of five substitutes for this game.

All of these preseason games were about chemistry building, tactical tweaks and finding the correct formula to take into their respective seasons.

Patri was captain today, while Vicky and Giulia started in attack, Laia and Mapi in defence to build their bond and Ellie was trusted in goal.

Roebuck

Batlle   Aleixandri      María León Aïcha

Guijarro (C)

Aitana Vicky

Dragoni Pajor Graham Hansen

Mapi's brother Javi had flown over for the week, so he was sat up in the stands with Fabian with plenty of water and shade to keep them cool.

"Clara, give me your foot." Kika requests, holding her hand down towards the teenagers feet.

Clara almost shies her feet away. "No, why?"

"Because," Kika makes a wild gesture with her hand like that was enough reason. "I want to see if you have really hot feet."

"You're an idiot." Kaia informs Kika from three seats down, her own boots covered by ice packs.

"Kika, leave her alone." Alexia says at a similar time, grabbing a fresh ice pack and holding it out to Clara. "Here, put them over your boots and try to keep your skin in the shade."

Clara takes the ice, only because Kaia and Alexia both had ice packs over their boots, only because they seemed to have a genuineness unlike Kika who seemed to want to tease her about her hot feet.

"You're all such babies." Kika laughs, aiming her water bottle down at her feet. "Just squirt them with water, it cools you down so much quicker."

"Yeah," Kaia agrees dryly. "Let's all spray our feet with water before we go out and run for however long, that's not a breeding ground for fungal infections and chafing."

"Chafing." Kika laughs to herself.

"Plus, I don't want to ruin my boots." Alexia adds on, leaning down to pluck a piece of grass off the clean white surface of her APKM's. "It makes the sole dislodge." She explains when Clara looks to her for an explanation.