Out of bounds -Neymar fanfic-

Chapter 14:

"How did you even know where I was?" I asked Cristiano as he drove down a quiet Brazilian street.

"I was watching the Brazil vs. Croatia game on tv and the camera focused on you sitting on the sidelines. I remembered Marcelo saying that you had been to multiple practices so I put two and two together." Cristiano said. "What are you, Brazil's cheerleader?"

"No, but I am their junior assistant coach." I retorted proudly.

Cristiano smirked. "Is that even a real position?"

"Shut up, it is now. I've helped out with some of Scolari's drills at the practices and he decided to make me a more permanent part of the team." I told him.

"Good for you."

There was a pause in the conversation. I looked out the window and noticed that we were driving along side a beach. I gasped when I saw the beautiful clear water and the white sand. I was used to the beaches in the US so I was shocked when I saw how clean and pure the beach in Brazil looked. There was no comparing the two. Cristiano pulled his car into the parking lot and got out.

"I thought you said we were just going for a drive? This was only supposed to take 10 minutes and you've already used all of them up." I reminded him as I got out of the car.

Cristiano put back on his shades and threw on a hat before replying. "Just spend some time with me. I promise I'll drop you back off at the stadium soon."

"Fine." I muttered.

Cristiano grabbed my hand and led me onto the beach. He walked with his head down, trying to make sure that he didn't draw attention to himself. The beach wasn't too crowded but it would be if people recognized Cristiano. He purposefully picked a secluded area for us to talk away from everybody else. He sat down on the sand and gestured for me to sit next to him. When I did he started to talk again.

"So you and Neymar are lovers." He led with.

"Why would you say that?" I shrieked.

"Oh come on Jourdan," Cristiano rolled his eyes, "You guys left the club together the morning after the party. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. The question is, are you together?"

"Why do you care?" I mumbled. I picked up a handful of sand and let it slowly pass through my fingers. I wasn't looking forward to having this conversation again. First David Luiz and now Cristiano. Maybe Neymar was right, maybe I was sending a lot of mixed messages?

"I like you Jourdan. But I can see that you have your hands full with Neymar so I'll back off. I don't really want Neymar Jr's sloppy seconds anyways." Cristiano said.

"Thanks." I muttered sarcastically.

"I'm kidding," Cristiano laughed. He pushed me lightly on my shoulder and I reciprocated. When we busted out laughing afterwards I realized how easy it was to talk and to be around him. For a celebrity that the media paints as an asshole, he was really easy to be around.

"So if you don't want to be with me, then what do you want?" I asked him.

"You are a good person. I like spending time with you." Cristiano shrugged.

"So does that mean that you want to be friends?" I raised an eyebrow.

Cristiano wrinkled his nose distastefully and made a face. "I'm not just friends with women. Friends with benefits maybe, but never regular friends."

I shot him a warning look.

"But I guess I'll make an exception for you." Cristiano sighed with a smile on his face.

"You know, you're not as bad as I thought you'd be." I admitted. "Reporters always make you seem like a jerk."

Cristiano frowned. "I know. It's really frustrating when people who don't know you, judge you. Nobody but my family, friends, and the people I work with know who I really am. And yet there are people who make up their minds about who I am without ever meeting me once."

He words made me think of the way I treated Neymar the first time I met him. Because of the tabloids always showing him with different girls, I assumed that he was one of those athletes that sleeps around. I got it in my head that he was a womanizer that was incapable of being in a monogamous relationship so I treated him badly. I felt guilty about judging him when I had no idea who he really was.

"That sounds horrible." I admitted.

"It is. I'm a competitive person and I hate losing. So I play dirty sometimes. I take dives so that I can be fouled and get a free kick. That's who I am as an athlete, not a person. I actually think that I am a good guy. But people will never know that." Cristiano shook his head. "Anyways, what do you think of the world cup so far?"

"It's definitely interesting, that's for sure." I thought about the matches that have happened so far. "Marcelo made history as the first Brazilian to score an own goal, so that sucked."

Cristiano nodded his head in agreement. "I know that people gave him hell after that. I know I did when I called him on the phone. He's my team mate on Real Madrid and one of my closest friends in life so I felt bad for him."

"The US beat Ghana for the first time in a decade." I went on. "And Portugal…"I trailed off and looked at Cristiano.

He grimaced. "You can say it. I've already gotten out all of my anger."

"Was massacred by Germany." I finished.

"It was a horrible game." Cristiano hissed. "Now we have to beat the US or we're going home."

"It's a good thing you have the best player in the world on your team." I looked pointedly at Cristiano.

"Thank you Jourdan. Normally I would challenge you by bringing up Messi's skills but I'll take the compliment. I need an ego boost." Cristiano acknowledged.

I noticed that the sky was beginning to turn pink and looked at my watch. I was stunned to see that an hour had already passed since I left the stadium. David Luiz was probably wondering where I was and what was taking me so long when I said that I would be right back.

"As fun as this conversation is, I have to get back to the stadium now." I told Cristiano and stood up.

Cristiano agreed and walked me back to his car. The drive back was filled with easy conversation between Cristiano and me. It was then that I realized that we could actually be friends. We got along naturally. Before I knew it I was back in the parking lot of the Maracana.

"Thank you for the company." Cristiano said as he parked his car.

"Thank you for the drive that I never wanted to take." I countered jokingly. I got out of his car and Cristiano met me on the outside. He pulled me in for a quick hug before letting me go.

"I'll see you later." He exclaimed before getting back in his car. "And good luck with Neymar."

Cristiano sped away after that, blasting Portuguese music from his car. I turned around and felt my heart rate go up when I found David Luiz leaning on the outside of the building. Why was this man always catching me off guard?

"What was that all about?" David narrowed his eyes at me. "What did Cristiano mean when he said good luck with Neymar?"

And yet again, I'm forced to lie.

"I told him about the problems that I was having with Neymar. He gave me advice on how to handle his type of personality." I covered. "Why do you ask?"

David pushed himself off the building and came to stand in front of me. "I really like you Jourdan, but I also know that Neymar likes you. If there's something going on between you two I would prefer to know about it now."

Do I open up and tell him the truth? Do I risk him not wanting anything to do with me? The answer in two words, hell no.

"There's nothing going on between Neymar and me. He hit on me, I turned him down, now we argue a lot. That's it."

"I believe you." David said finally after a moment of silence. He put an arm around me and pulled me in for a kiss.

Crisis successfully averted.