Play like a culé: A Cristian Tello Fan Fic

Chapter 13

...We smushed into his two-passenger Mercedes, Ale in the middle, to get to the party. When we got there, Cristian introduced us both to all his friends. I looked over to Ale when he mentioned Álvaro, who was wearing these big-framed black glasses looking hilarious, and noticed she got all red in the face. Thank God it was dark and he didn't notice. She waved to him and looked at the ground when he half-smiled at her. It was so cute to watch.

I waited until everyone dispersed and I got Álvaro alone. I took Ale by the elbow and pulled her to me. "Come on." "No, not yet. I'm not ready." "You're as ready as you'll ever be. Stay cool. It'll be fine." I encouraged her under my breath as I walked towards Álvaro. "Hi, Álvaro. Um, I doubt your dad or brother said anything about me but I sat beside them at the final and I had a blast." He frowned and suddenly opened his eyes as if recollecting. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Raúl told me about you. He said you knew too much about football for a girl." We laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment." I faked that my phone was ringing and looked at it. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's my parents. I gotta take this. One second." I stepped away from them and fake-answered my phone.

I was looking away from the hustle of the people just outside the locale as I faked talking through the phone to let them mingle. After a while, a pair of hands slips around my waist from behind. I can't help the smile that appears on my face. He nuzzles my free ear and whispers. "Leaving them to mingle?" He scares me sometimes. Then again, I'd already told him about the plan. I put my phone away in the clutch I shouldn't have spent Cristian's money on and he pulls me closer to him, burying his face in my neck. I put my hands over his and we just stand there, enjoying each other. The bustle starts getting louder because they're starting to let people into the club.

We turn around and find Cristian's group to go in with them. Ale touches his glasses and she looks like she's making fun of them. Álvaro slaps her hand away and they both start laughing. I smile to myself. You've done a good thing, María. Our fingers intertwined, Cristian and I go into the club right after his crowd. The music is really loud and Marc Muniesa points over to a group of armchairs facing each other. Cristian nods and the whole group directs itself toward the same area. Cristian and I smush together in one chair, Marc and Sara in another, Martín couldn't bring his girlfriend so he sits alone in a bar stool that stands right next to our armchair. There's only one bar stool and one armchair left in the circle. Marc Bartra came alone so the only logical thing was for him to sit in the bar stool. Also, that would mean Álvaro and Ale would have to squeeze together in the armchair. "Let Marc sit in the barstool." I scream over the music. Everyone nods so Álvaro has no choice but to offer the only available chair to the lady, the gentleman thing to do. She sits down but he stays put. She looks over at me and I make sure he isn't looking when I open my eyes and gesture: "Invite him to sit.", with my head. She immediately gets it and beckons him with her hand, patting the space available beside her. He moves toward the chair and squeezes in. Yes. Perfect.

I wink at her and start talking with Martín who sits to my right while Cristian has his arm around me from my left. It's sort of hard to talk in here but we enjoy a good conversation for a while. Then, Cristian starts talking to him about something and I feel out of the loop so I sit back and take a glance at Ale. She and Álvaro, who is still wearing his glasses, are taking a picture together with his phone making some weird smirks with their faces. They've always shared the same crazy smirks. Thing is, he didn't know about it until today.

After he does something with his phone, presumably posting the picture, she takes his glasses from his face and puts them on. She uses her own phone to take another picture of them making a different smirk. She then takes her phone and works with it. I notice Álvaro's hand move and he places his palm on her bare thigh. I take a sudden breath and can't help smiling. She looks up at him and smiles broadly. She goes back to her phone and when she's done, she places her hand over his. He flips his palm and takes her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. An exchange of awkward, flirty glances followed. It was so cute to watch them be together and knowing I'd had something to do with it.

After a while, the music starts getting even louder and the DJ starts turning on the colorful lasers and the smoke machines. The dance floor starts getting filled up and some woman invites Bartra to dance. The dance floor was now almost full of bodies moving to the dubstep beat. Álvaro stood up, still hand-in-hand with Ale, and directed her to the dance floor. Women were falling all over the only other man that was alone, Martín, but he was having none of that. Martín is too honest a guy to cheat on his long-time girlfriend with what anybody else would classify as a 'harmless dance'. Cristian directs his mouth to my ear to tell me something. I get closer to him to try and hear over this unbelievably loud noise. "I'm gonna go get a drink. You want something?" I was not one for drinking but I felt like letting go tonight. I nodded. "Anything sweet." He kissed my cheek and stood, going toward the bar. The amount of bodies moving rhythmically with the music was sort of getting me in the mood to party. Martín excused himself even though talking had been almost impossible for the past half-hour and went to the bar.

Cristian was coming back with a beer and a blue drink in his hands. He squeezed into the small available space beside me and handed me the drink. I didn't really care what it was. I just sipped through the straw and it tasted great. I didn't care about anything else. Cristian took a swig from his beer. Feeling daring and in the mood to party, I folded my legs over his. He smiles at me mischievously and strokes my bare legs with his free hand. We both keep drinking and I finish mine faster than I should. He still has a quarter of his beer left so I turn and put my empty plastic cup in the small table beside us. The pairs of bodies pressed together moving to the beat are intoxicating and the drink is starting to take effect. Cristian starts looking over at the dance floor and bopping his head to the beat. I turn his face back to me forcefully and kiss him deeply. He reaches behind me to put his beer on the table while pulling me closer to him. His mouth tastes like a very strong beer and it's delicious; even more intoxicating than the music. I was groping his shirt with my hands, starting to get hot from the environment and our encounter. I stop kissing him and put my lips right beside his ear. "Let's dance." I don't wait for a response as I stand up and pull him toward the dance floor.