"What the hell?" I heard Isco whisper.
"Same." I thought in my mind. What the hell did he think he was doing here? I swear it was like some sort of best friend telepathy or something because Isco and I shot each other a glance at the exact same time.
"Relax." I mouthed, knowing how hot headed he was. He just clenched his jaw and nodded.
I took a safe option and sat out of training with the guys. When coach asked, I just told him about my panic attack yesterday and he understood. I know what you're thinking, I probably should've told him all about Luke and how he really was, but was that really my place? As much as I hated him, I wasn't going to be the one who snitched and got him fired.
••••••••••
I left the stadium as soon as I could and didn't even look Luke's way. I usually waited around for my brother but today's circumstances changed that. I felt a buzzing in my pocket as I was getting into my car and saw a text from Cris.
"Hey we're gonna play FIFA at Marcelo's tonight. You're free to come join us but if you don't I won't be home till later. Don't stay up, you have practice tomorrow morning."
I wasn't about to cook my own dinner and obviously Cris wasn't either so I decided on some chinese take out for dinner. I debated on inviting Neymar over but it seemed like a little too long of a drive for him so I settled on the idea of calling him later on. I pulled in through the back of my house and set my food down only to realize, I left my duffel bag in my car. As I walked outside, I felt someone close by. I looked around and saw nothing. "Well I guess the paranoia has really gotten the best of me." I thought. Just as I shut the door and turned, I bumped into a rock hard chest. I felt someone put their hand over my mouth and drag me into the small storage room around the corner of our yard. It was no other than Luke.
"LET ME GO." I yelled, not caring who heard what, "ARE YOU STUPID? IT'S STILL DAYLIGHT OUTSIDE, NOT LIKE YOU CAN HIDE THE WAY YOU'RE GRABBING ME TOO EASILY." As soon as those words left my mouth, I felt a hard slap across my face.
"Listen you little brat, there's no way you're going to rat me out to that stupid coach and I'm going to make sure of it." He spat out. I clenched my cheek and hot tears welled up in my eyes but I didn't to let them fall out. I refused to let him see the weak side of me.
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" I asked, knowing he had nothing to use against me, "I can just confess all that you did to me and you'll never see another day out of jail again."
He grabbed my face with his rough hands and laughed coldly. "If you do say anything, your little boyfriend in Barcelona will pay for it. Believe me, I have lots of friends who are willing to hurt him for the sole fact that he plays for Barca. Can you imagine what they'd do if I paid them? After all, we made some good money off the sponsorships I got for you while you trained with me. You know I always get what I want and right now, money's no issue."
I didn't respond, I couldn't. He was right. I forgot all about my sponsorships with Nike including him. He had more money than before and Luke didn't bluff much.
"That's right, you know I can control you. I can make you mine right now." He began to force kisses onto my neck and grab me by my hips. He knew I hated that and it was all thanks to him. I thought back to how my scars first got there. That night when I tried so hard to run away from him but he held onto me and his gold chain bracelet cut deep into my flesh. I don't know what burned more: the gashes or the spots where he tried to touch me. Right now, I just froze. I knew I should've fought back. I should be running away or somehow trying to prevent this from happening, but I couldn't.
"Luke, please stop." I begged. That was all I could do. He was stronger and right now, he definitely had the upper hand.
"Oh baby, don't you know I'm not gonna hurt you? It would be way too obvious since I just came into town and although you've been bad, I care about you. No one thinks about your well being like me." He spoke in a softer tone, I was pretty sure I was going to throw up from all of this. "Look," he began, "I can look the other way if you just do me a favor, hmm?" He said as he kissed my jaw and slid his left hand onto my lower back. "Just don't open your mouth and nothing will happen." He brought me toward to him and our bodies were as close as they could possibly get. His grip on my hip got tighter and his other hand slid further down to my thigh. "You know, I've always loved your legs. That's probably your best feature besides this." Just as he finished, he spanked me softly and chuckled. "Oh the things I wanna do to you."
I still couldn't manage to move. I stayed frozen, unsure of what to say next.
"You'll come around soon enough and realize that the lust I know you feel for me is better than anything you can feel for someone else. I'll be waiting baby, you'll be seeing me around. And when you're ready to let me show you how a real man should treat you, you'll know where to find me." He gave my butt a harsh squeeze and kissed me on the lips. He then let go and just walked out as if nothing had happened.
••••••••••
I stayed sitting in the corner of the storage room numb. The way Luke touched me made me feel gross. Like I was physically dirty and couldn't clean myself of all that was on me.
"Lina." I heard a voice call out, "Are you out here?" My stomach flip flopped and my heart began to race. It wasn't Luke calling me, it was Rafa.
"Hey, what are you doing in here?" He asked, obviously concerned.
"Why did you look for me out here?" I asked, finally snapping out of the trance I was in. I didn't even know how long I had been in this place.
"Well the light was on and it's kind of dark outside but that's not important. I heard about last night, are you okay?" He asked. I didn't answer. I just sat there and stared blankly at the wall in front of me. "Lina, what's wrong?" He insisted, sitting down next to me. Again, I freaked out a little bit because this Rafa was new to me. I looked into his eyes and saw concern for someone other than himself. I saw loving eyes that just wanted to help with whatever they could. I couldn't resist, I reached over to him and pulled him into a hug. Feeling his arms around me made me feel like Luke's were gone. I felt safe with Rafa, but it was wrong of me to drag him into all of this. He didn't deserve to be in this mess and I don't know what I'd do if Luke hurt Rafa just because he and I had something. As much as I hate to admit it, I love Rafa. His comfort is unique and genuine. And that was the exact reason that I couldn't let him be with me, no matter how bad I wanted him to be mine. He means too much for me to let Luke get to him. I wanted him to be all mine but right now, that's impossible.
