ANTOINE
"i can't wait till i can turn over and kiss you good morning instead of sending a text"
~isla~
"YOU WHAT?!" sofia yells, catching the attention of many other bystanders in the cafe. she smacks her hand over her mouth after realizing how unexpectedly loud she was.
"quiet down, would you?" i cover my face in embarrassment and carlos starts to rapidly tap my shoulder, leaning across the table. i sigh and look up at him. "what carlos?"
"your getting married?" he asks for confirmation, completely shocked. i roll my eyes and throw my head back against the leather booth we are situated in.
"kinda."
"you cant get married, we havent even met this man before, let alone heard of him!" sophia slams her hands against the table as she speaks, confusion etched in her features. alejandro pinches my arm from beside me and i turn to glare at him. he's grinning at me with this goofy smile that makes the corners of my lips tilt upwards.
when i was younger i used to have the biggest crush on alejandro. his radiant smile, his floppy hair, and his golden retriever personality drew me to him in ways that i couldn't even explain to myself.
except after years of secretly longing for the touch of my best friend, i realized that someone as beautiful as ale, would never feel the same for the girl he saw as his younger sister.
it took me almost six months for my heart to stop rapidly beating against my chest when his fingertips would brush against me in the slightest ways, but i got over him. i have always had a soft spot for the boy, but luckily i realized not everything revolves around a guy in my life.
"i can't believe you're getting married before any of us, and you're the youngest." it's weird for me to imagine myself getting married to someone, especially to someone i've only known for a couple days.
last night i barely slept because my head was too loud with thoughts. the bad ideas bounced around in my skull, reminding me how absolutely absurd this all was. my stomach twisted into knots at just the thought of me in a traditional wedding dress.
as sofia, carlos, and alejandro continued to spit questions out about my mysterious fiancé, i start to zone out. i hold my chin in my palm, nodding along with whatever sofia was saying.
the door to the café flew open so quickly it made me flinch backwards, enough for the rest of my friends to notice. i watched the back of the man who made such a ruckus as he makes a bee line towards the pick up counter.
his back muscles move vigorously against the tight fabric of his shirt. he is wearing a dark blue matching set paired with slightly stained white socks and slides. his floppy blonde hair vaguely reminds me of a little puppy.
he picks up two coffees and sends a quick wink to the waiter, who giggles and blushed. he turns around and starts walking towards the door. the guy looks so familiar and i couldn't take my eyes off his, even when his eyes met mine briefly.
he stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows narrowing together. our eyes stayed trained on each others for what felt like ages, the identity of the man sitting on the tip of my tongue.
his eyes are absolutely beautiful and i had myself finding it very difficult to look away. the man cranes his neck slightly to check out the window before speed walking towards me and slipping into the seat next to me.
surprised, i scoot over closer towards alejandro to make room for the unknown presence. "you're isla." he deadpans, pointing a finger towards me.
i seem to completely forget my friends sitting in the chairs next to me as i stare into his crystal eyes. "yeah." he looks so familiar but i just can't seem to recall who the gorgeous man is. as i ponder on his identity, i realize this complete stranger knows my name and i screw my eyebrows together in confusion. "and you are?"
"antoine." he has this look in his eyes like he knows who i am, but he's also completely baffled. "antoine griezmann, i'm joãos friend." a flash of realization shoots through me and i suddenly feel stupid and nervous in the presence of football royalty.
"oh yes, of course." i give him a weak smile, still not fully understanding how he knows who i am.
"i didn't realize how gorgeous joãos fiancé is." he sends me a playful smirk and grabs my hand, kissing the top of it gently, before letting it fall back onto the table. "he hasn't been able to stop talking about you for the last couple days. to be completely honest, i didn't even know he was seeing anyone before he mentioned you last week."
my heart is beating so fast, i wouldn't even be surprised if it flew out of my chest onto the table in front of us. i'm not even able to reply because i'm too busy fangirling over the fact that antoine griezmann just kissed my hand.
my father is a huge barcelona fan, and if he knew that i was currently sitting with an ex barca player, he would probably go mental.
"joãos actually waiting in the car if you want to come say hi." antoine suggests, picking up his drink to take a sip. i ponder on the idea for a moment and then almost gasp. i forgot about my friends.
i quickly turn to them, to catch all their jaws basically on the floor. "um." i look back at antoine with a surprised smile. "i don't think that's a good idea, i'm actually having breakfast with my friends." i motion towards the three other silent people at the table, and antoine lets out an airy laugh.
"they can come aswell if they'd like, i have a large car." he nods towards the door and stands up, extending his hand out for me to take.
i really don't want to drag my friends along with me to something they don't want to do, but the deal is almost impossible to say no too. i grab onto antoine's hand and stand up, dusting off my leather pants.
"do you guys want to tag along, it will be fun." i barely get to finish my question before the group is out of their seats, shoving their items into their purses and pockets. i give them a strange look and then follow antoine out of the cafe and onto the busy sidewalk.
the two of us talk amongst ourselves for a couple minutes on the way to his car, while my friends whisper behind us. i'm eager to know what they are talking about, and i finally get an answer when someone tugs on my shirt and i fly back into the trio.
"i think you forgot to tell us the part where the guy you're marrying is actually an insanely famous footballer!" alejandro claps his hands together dumbfounded, eyes wide.
"i didn't think it was that important." i shrug lightly, making sure to watch the back of antoine's head so we don't get lost in the busy morning crowd.
"it's not important?" carlos whisper screams in my ear and i give him a warning look to shut up. "antoine griezmann just came and chatted up a normal convo with you and invited you back to his car! antoine griezmann?!? what part of that isn't important!?" he waves his hands around in circles making his point very clear.
"i've never even met the guy before, don't ask me how he knows me."
"oh even better!" carlos laughs sarcastically. "antoine griezmann recognized you, a complete nobody!" i send the brunette a harsh glare and he rolls his eyes at me, still completely shocked.
as we turn into the parking lot antoine waves us over, slipping into the drivers seat and i quickly stop to give my friends a talking too. "now hush, don't embarrass yourself, and please do not bombard them with stupid questions because then they'll think you're weird and never want to hang out with you again!"
"oh well that's just so encouraging! thank you so much isla!" alejandro gives me a cheeky grin, the sarcasm practically rolling off his tongue with his words. i roll my eyes while sofia covers her giggle with her sleeve.
"seriously though isla, how are we supposed to act normal when we are in the car with joão felix and antoine griezmann!" sofia groans and i look at them annoyed.
"i don't know, but suck it up." i smile sweetly before turning on my heel and strutting towards the black suv, letting my long braid swing behind me. as i near, i watch joão get out of the passenger seat, the morning sun reflecting off his arms making his muscles look incredibly hot.
he grins when he notices me and slips an arm around my waist to pull me closer. he kisses my cheek but let's his lips linger near my ear. "you look pretty." he whispers, his breath fanning across my skin.
"thank you joão." i smile widely as his face mirrors my own, but with the exception of a faint blush on his tanned cheeks. "i can't believe you're here." his fingers slip into my own and the grin on my face gets even larger.
i noticed me and joão have been very touchy with each other so far and it's making my stomach twist in knots, but i have to keep reminding myself that's it's basically just a setup for everyone around us.
me and joão have been chatting over text and snap a lot the last couple days, and even though i would never admit it to anyone, i always find myself giggling and blushing when he sends me a full face picture on snap.
this is the only time i have seen him in person since our first meeting at the park, except tomorrow is friday, which means the meeting with my family. i've been stressing it all week, and me and joão have been texting nonstop about how nervous we both are.
i'm not entirely sure why im scared because it's just my family, but i've never brought a boy home before and i'm really hoping they don't embarrass me too badly in front of him.
"your friend said he didn't expect me to be so gorgeous." i tease and his eyebrows furrow.
"did he?" he breathes, his low attractive voice making my stomach start to flip. i find myself blushing at his slightest movements, which is not good because i'm not supposed to actually like him in any way whatsoever.
i hum in response, because the way he's staring down at me makes it unable for me to speak words and a mischievous look flashes in his eyes. he opens his mouth to say something, probably to tease me but someone taps my shoulder and i turn to look at my friends standing awkwardly.
"oh!" i smile excitedly. "joão, this is sofia, carlos, and alejandro. and this is joão." i point between the group and joão reaches his hand out to shake theirs one by one.
"her fiancé." he addresses himself and sends me a troublesome look.
"i guess so." i roll my eyes playfully and he knocks my shoulder with his own lightly.
each of my friends look like they are gonna explode at just the sight of him, and i fight back a giggle. joão asks alejandro a question about something and he just mumbles out some incoherent words. i'm gonna make fun of them for this moment forever.
joão nods, clearly weirded out and i roll my eyes at my friends uncommon behavior. i pull open the back door and motion for them to get in, which they all gladly do.
"sorry about them." i rub my crown in embarrassment. "they couldn't believe that i was with someone as great as you." i tease and joão laughs.
"i mean i am pretty hot." he gloats, and i roll my eyes to discreetly disagree. the way the early morning sun is beaming down on us, making his eyes and skin glow, is making it really hard for me to disagree. he looks angelic.
"i guess so." joão grabs my hand and plants a kiss there before gently shoving me towards the back seat. i giggle as i climb into the car next to my friends, who all send me a disapproving death glare.
rory speaks:
so we meet antoine, who btw is one of my many husbands 🤭 i literally hate atletico madrid but i love grizzy with my whole heart.
also an update for all the people who care, i got a solid 53 on my chem test. ngl i thought i was gonna do worse than that so a win is a win 🤷♀️
i've been listening to my old playlists lately and the color violet started playing and i lowkey forgot how good it was. it's also joaos song, it reminds me of his world cup era 🤤
this chapter is boring asf but the next one will be better hopefully 🫡
alr i love all of u guys sm have the best day ever 💗
word count: 2237