sweet surrender | pulisic ✓

second

Hohenbuschei's locker room was abuzz with the bickering of the Borrusia Dortmund players who had just completed an intense training session. Christian was ambling over to his locker, which was conveniently right beside Erik's. He had been wanting to ask about Erik's sister since he first laid eyes on her yesterday.

Erik looked up from his phone when he heard Christian approaching. Noticing how smartly Christian was dressed, Erik raised an eyebrow curiously. "Going on a date?" He queried, flashing the younger man a sly grin.

Christian laughed as he took a seat beside him. "My family's in town," he clarified, stuffing the last of his belongings into his bag. Erik raised his eyebrows, nodding. "Need a lift?" He offered.

"Felix is driving me," Christian told him. He then realized it was the perfect opportunity to ask about Erik's sister, who Erik had been complaining about yesterday. "How's your car, anyway?"

Erik guffawed at his question, "thankfully, it's okay. She returned the car at 3 in the morning, and I'm not even the slightest bit surprised." Christian chuckled, remembering how Alex did look like a pretty daring individual. Not to mention really adorable, too.

"She always does that?" He probed, subtly wanting to know more about her. Erik answer a swift yes without hesitation. "I don't know why she doesn't use our parents car, and hogs mine instead," he lamented.

Christian shook his head disapprovingly, even though deep inside he wanted to burst out laughing from how exceedingly needy Erik looked. At that moment, Felix appeared in front of them. "The chauffeur has arrived," he announced.

Felix turned to Erik, and they began chatting about some game on the PlayStation as Christian waited silently beside them. Once they gave everyone a bro-fist goodbye, the two headed to Felix's car.

"We still going to the bakery?" Felix asked as he got in. Christian nodded, buckling up, "of course! Grandma always loves a good slice of cake." Felix smirked cheekily at his friend, "such a dutiful grandson."

"I know," Christian agreed. His family had, after all, flown all the way from America just to see him for a few days. They deserved nothing but the best.

⦁⦁⦁

Felix stopped his car in front of the bakery, which was adorned with soft pastel colored wallpapers. Christian surveyed the shop, which had a few customers inside enjoying their desserts. "Never tried this before," Felix revealed.

Christian glanced at his friend before climbing out. "Well, there's a first for everything," he said. "Get me a slice too!" Felix shouted as Christian disappeared into the store.

When he entered the store, the sweet scent of freshly baked pastries immediately attacked his nostrils. "Welcome to Bake the Cake!" A cheerful voice greeted him, emerging from behind the counter.  The brunette paused when she saw who the customer was.

"Hey," she blissfully sang, "you're Erik's teammate!" Alex beamed at him, happy to see a relatively familiar face in her bakery. It wasn't often Erik's teammates came over to her cafe. The last person she recalled coming over was the handsome Swiss goalkeeper.

Christian smiled at her, very pleasantly surprised. "Hi," he replied. "You work here?" He asked curiously, positioning himself in front of the display of colorful cakes. Alex nodded, "my day job. Night-time job is annoying Erik," she joked, earning a laugh from the both of them.

"I'm Alexandra, if you don't already know," she introduced herself gleefully. "Erik's complained about you," Christian teased. The young woman ran a hand through her hair, chuckling quietly, "that's expected."

He smiled before introducing himself in turn. Not only did he find Alex charming, he also found her extremely amiable. It was Alex's turn to smile at him. Just from the few words they had exchanged, she already had a feeling she would click very well with him. "So what brings you here, Christian?"

He turned his attention to the cakes on the display. "I'm looking for your best flavor," he said, studying the selection in front of him. Alex's eyes lit up at that. "I have just the thing," she gestured to the luscious looking red velvet cake.

They spent the next few minutes talking about red velvet as Alex gushed about how she was in love with the flavor as Christian listened intently. He was, to be very honest, in awe at this woman in front of him.

When he finally exited the bakery, he was greeted by a disgruntled Felix, who immediately made a fuss. "What took you so long?" He demanded as Christian climbed into the car, cradling a huge paper bag.

Christian beamed at him, "let's just say I'm very impressed." He glanced down at the bag, thinking to himself how he would definitely be coming back to this bakery.

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