I'll Be Thinking of You

Chapter Thirty-Four: Meeting the Friends

Neymar grinned as he pulled his jersey over his head, he was excited for the match and he was sure the team would do well; it was the first match that Meena would attend as his girlfriend.

Neymar had begged and pleaded Meena to attend the match and it had taken some convincing to get her to agree; he had even managed to get a couple of tickets for her friends so she wouldn’t be sat alone.

“You look happy,” Lionel mused noticing the look on Neymar’s face, everyone had noticed how cheerful he had been recently and it made them all curious about what was going on.

Neymar paused and looked at his friend, he knew that people were curious about what was going on and he did feel a little bad that they thought he was dating Gabriella.

“My girlfriend’s here to watch me play,” Neymar admitted with a smile, he was tired of hiding his feelings and he hoped that he would get to show Meena off soon.

Dani looked at his friend confused wondering what he was talking about, he knew that Gabriella was back in Brazil so it made him wonder who he was talking about.

“I thought you were dating Gabriella Lenzi,” Dani commented wondering what on earth Neymar was doing, he didn’t think the younger man was playing at; he hoped that he wasn’t cheating on Gabriella since it would only end badly.

The locker room was silent as they waited to hear what Neymar had to say for himself, they hoped he wasn’t doing something that would create bad publicity for the club and himself.

“Only for publicity… my pai’s idea,” Neymar reassured, he had no intentions of hiding that fact and he was happy with Meena; he liked her a lot and he knew most of his team-mates knew her.

***

“I can’t believe you managed to get us tickets,” Erica squealed excitedly, she had never been to a football match at the Camp Nou before and she had been shocked when Meena had invited them along.

Meena shrugged her shoulders, she had managed to convince Neymar to get them tickets in the stalls instead of a private box; she didn’t want that sort of attention no matter what was happening.

“It’s nothing,” Meena replied with a smile, she shrugged off her black shearling aviator jacket to reveal her Barcelona jersey that she had paired with slim boot cut jeans and black canvas lace up pumps.

Neil watched Meena, he knew that she was dating the footballer and he wanted her to be happy but he was sure that he would be a better match for her.

“So do we get to meet Neymar after the match?” Erica asked smiling, she was curious about the footballer and she knew that if he made Meena happy then that was all that mattered.

In the weeks since they had found out that Meena was dating Neymar, Erica had noticed how happy her friend was and she was sure that Neymar couldn’t be that bad if he made Meena so happy.

“He wants to take us all out to dinner,” Meena said a little nervously, she wasn’t sure how her boyfriend would react to meeting her friends for the first time but she knew that it had to happen sometime.

Connor peeked at Neil, it was no secret that the blonde had feelings for Meena and the last couple of weeks had been hard on him; he refused to talk about it with anyone.

“That’s great news,” Neil forced out, he was going to be on his best behaviour for Meena’s sake and he hoped that he would be able to hide his feelings better before he did something stupid.

***

“You played well,” Meena congratulated wrapping her arms around Neymar and kissing his cheek, the match had ended 7:1 aggregate and the team were all celebrating their last home game before Christmas.

Neymar grinned holding Meena close, he was thrilled that she had been there to watch and he was a little nervous about meeting her friends for the first time.

“Are you ready?” Meena whispered hoping that her friends wouldn’t scare her boyfriend away, she knew how protective Neil was and he was the big brother that she had always wanted.

Neymar nodded peeking over her shoulder at the three people that he knew so much about but had never met; he swallowed hoping that they would like him.

Meena laughed softly and laced her fingers with Neymar’s, she was sure that it would all be fine; she doubted that they would actually scare her boyfriend off.

“Ney… these are my friends, Connor, Erica and Neil,” Meena said introducing Neymar to her friends, she squeezed his hand hoping that this was okay; she hadn’t introduced him to anyone yet and she was a little nervous about it.

Neymar smiled as he moved to greet each of Meena’s friends, he was sure that they would be welcoming and he doubted that they would be rude to them.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Meena has told me so much about all of you,” Neymar said politely, he noticed that Neil was glaring at him and he was curious if he had done something to offend him.

Meena watched as Neymar spoke with her friends, she was glad that they seemed to like him and she was hopeful that things would go well from now on.

“So I hear that you’re taking Meena to Brazil for Christmas,” Erica teased a little, she was sure her friend would have a great Christmas in Brazil with Neymar and it would be a nice way for Meena to relax.

Neymar nodded his head, it had taken some convincing but Meena had finally agreed to join him for the holidays; he was sure that she would love her time with him in São Paulo.

Neil blinked surprised as he looked at Meena, he hadn’t known that she wasn’t going to be around for Christmas; he had hoped for some time with her away from her new boyfriend.

“It’ll be great… Davi’s missed her,” Neymar said looking at Meena with a smile, he had no idea what would happen when they were in Brazil but he hoped that it would be okay.

Neymar still hadn’t told his father that he wasn’t dating Gabriella but he would do when the time was right; his sister was thrilled at the idea of seeing Meena again and had quickly accepted the fact that the brunette was dating her brother.

Neil swallowed trying to calm himself, he knew he had no right to be jealous and he had never told Meena how he felt; he hadn’t wanted to make her uncomfortable after what had happened to her.

Now Neil regretted it, he had thought that after what had happened with Rafa that he would have a chance but that hadn’t happened since Meena had moved onto Neymar.

Meena smiled as Neymar wrapped an arm around her, she was glad that her two worlds could finally met and they were blending so well; she doubted she could have asked for anything better.

“Excuse me,” Neil said excusing himself, he couldn’t bear to spend more time around the footballer that had what he wanted; he just wished that he had made a move before she had fallen for Neymar.

Neymar looked at Neil as the blonde walked away, he didn’t like the look on Neil’s face and he knew that it only meant one thing; Neil had feelings for Meena, something that made Neymar worry about his own relationship.