Book 1: It's Time for Africa

Chapter Seventeen: Important Decisions

Alyssa sighed as she sat on the coach to Johannesburg, she couldn’t help but feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the feeling of someone staring at her.

Glancing back Alyssa’s eyes meet with Joan’s, he smirked at her; she quickly turned around and took a deep breath to calm herself making Monica look up from her book that she was reading concerned.

“You okay?” Monica asked as Alyssa took a deep breath, the older brunette glanced back but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary; she wondered what could have made the brunette next to her nervous.

“Alyssa,” Monica said as she took the woman’s hand trying to comfort her, she could see she was uncomfortable and she wondered if maybe it was a lady problem or something.

The brunette spared a look back before she sighed and turned back to Monica, she felt a little on edge and she was sure that it wasn’t just her imagination.

“It’s probably nothing but I think Joan is watching me,” Alyssa said quietly as she spared another glance back at Joan, who was now whispering with Javi about something.

Monica looked at her concerned, she knew that Iker, Fernando and Sergio wouldn’t take it well if they knew someone else was interested in Alyssa.

“Watching you how?” Monica asked her to be sure, she didn’t want to do anything if it was just Joan playing a silly joke; she knew that some of the footballers weren’t as mature as other men their age.

Alyssa swallowed as she looked at Monica, she knew Joan was playing innocent since she had caught him and she didn’t like it; his stares made her feel uncomfortable.

“He just stares at me when no one’s looking,” Alyssa said making Monica frown in worry, she knew that this wasn’t a good thing since it was clear that it was making Alyssa uncomfortable.

The two women sat quietly as Monica took in what the young woman had said, sitting forward she smiled stiffly at Alyssa; she knew just who to tell about this.

“I don’t want you going anywhere alone… make sure your with one of the boys at all times,” Monica said concerned for her friend, she knew that if Joan was being creepy then it couldn’t be a good thing for Alyssa.

Alyssa nodded knowing that Monica was concerned about her safety; the older brunette glanced back at Iker who was reading a book, she wasn’t going to let anything happen to her friend.

“Perdón,” Monica said politely as she passed Alyssa and made her way back to where Iker, Fernando and Sergio where sitting; she was on a mission to ensure everything went okay.

The three footballers looked at Monica as she approached them, wondering what she wanted; they knew that they couldn’t discuss their relationship out loud right now.

“So Iker you have a press conference when we reach Johannesburg about the match against Honduras…” Monica said to make some of the team stop listening as it was official team business and nothing interesting that they would need to hear.

Iker perked an eyebrow at her, knowing that she had already told him about the press conference; Sergio looked at her concerned as he leant forward, it was obvious that this was linked to Alyssa.

“Joan’s watching Alyssa,” Monica said making the three of them look at their team-mate, who was staring quite openly at their girlfriend thinking that no one was paying any attention.

Monica flinched at the sound of Fernando’s cracking his knuckles; she looked back at the Spaniard concerned, she could see the fury that lay in his eyes.

“Easy El Niño,” Iker said as he looked at the other man but even Monica could hear the anger that laced his voice; everyone knew not to cross Iker when he was angry.

Iker was the one to watch if he was going to lose his temper, it was never pretty and he would certainly do some damage.

“We’ll deal with him Monica don’t worry,” Sergio said making her look at him; she knew the boys were protective of Alyssa, she just hadn’t thought they were this protective of her.

***

Alyssa yawned as she entered her hotel room, she was exhausted after the trip and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep until tomorrow morning.

However she didn’t even get to close the door when Fernando slipped into the room, she looked at him confused as he shut it for her.

“Nando?” Alyssa asked as Fernando smiled at her, Sergio had taken his suitcase back to their room so he could talk to Alyssa; they wanted to pass on a message to her.

Fernando pressed his lips to Alyssa’s making her look at him confused as she wrapped her arms around his neck; he smiled at her knowing that she hadn’t seen much of them lately.

“Hola,” Fernando said making her smile at him as he ran a hand through her hair and pulled her closer to him; his brown eyes searched hers for a moment before he pressed another kiss to her lips.

The footballer hated that training was keeping them busy but they needed to win their next two matches if they wanted to go further in the world cup.

“We’ll deal with Joan soon,” Fernando said knowing that it was worrying her, Alyssa looked at him gratefully; he was starting to freak her out with his staring and she knew that he had something important to tell her about their relationship.

“We also would like you to make a decision… it doesn’t have to be now but when the time comes,” Fernando said trying to keep this from being awkward but it was a little hard to talk about especially with Alyssa.

The brunette looked at him confused as they moved further into the room; Fernando sighed as he looked back at her as he tried to think how to say this to her.

“When the time comes and it feels right for you… we want you to decide who sleeps with you first,” Fernando said making Alyssa blush at his words, he knew that they could be over before that happened but the ball was in her court.

They didn’t want to rush her for anything and the footballers wanted her to know that; Alyssa was their top priority and that was that.

Fernando chuckled and moved to cup her face, he ran a thumb over Alyssa’s cheek as he pressed a kiss to her lips; she looked down shyly making him smile at her amused.

“Lissa,” Fernando murmured making Alyssa blink and look up at him surprised by the nickname that he had given her; everyone else called her Aly and it was strange to hear that from Fernando.

The footballer pressed another kiss to her lips as his hands slipped down her back and rested on her hips, he knew that he wanted things to be special between them.

“Won’t that bother the two of you who I don’t choose?” Alyssa asked as he started to kiss down her neck, she knew he wasn’t trying to seduce her and it made her feel special.

Fernando shook his head as he pulled back from her and smiled, the three footballers had talked about this and they knew that whatever happened only Alyssa was important to them.

“We want you to be happy Lissa… whoever you choose it’s your choice,” Fernando said as he decided to keep the nickname, it was unique and he knew it wasn’t something that everyone called her.