MY HANDS CLENCHED SO HARD that my nail marks were engraved in my palms. Neymar lined up to take a penalty. I couldn't see him from here, but he reeked of confidence from here. Rafaella was next to me with a smirk on her face as she calmingly patted my leg.
"You're more nervous than he is," I let out an anxiety-filled sigh, but that wasn't enough to break my gaze from where Neymar was standing. He shook his shoulders and moved his neck around as he sized the goal up.
"I don't want him to miss," I mutter as I watch him.
"He's not going to. When does he ever?" Neymar's run was big and wide. His short taps before the ball met his foot and swiftly into the back of the net. Embarrassingly, I was out of my seat so fast, screaming as loud as my body would allow me.
I never cared about what other people thought because I knew how much each goal meant to Neymar. Especially for the national team.
My eyes watched as he immediately celebrated. His teammates immediately praise and cheer for him. Shaking his body as Marquinhos jumps on the back of him. Neymar's smile was ear-to-ear as he gently turned to face toward my seat. His laugh was radiant as he held onto Marcos, trying not to let him fall.
Marcos slid off his back as Neymar shielded his eyes to look around. He chewed his lip as he searched the crowd, now making me realize he was looking for me. His beautiful smile shined brighter as he spotted me. But soon after, his smile turned into a smirk.
Thousands of people and yet, his gaze made me feel like the only person in the arena.
Emotion flooded my body as I watched him pull his hand up to his face, kissing his ring finger as he stared at me. I knew before anyone else could catch on. His way of dedication to me.
When we walked through crowds, we linked our ring fingers together to stay together. It was now just a tradition that no one else could grasp, but we were okay with that. It started off as an accident, but it stuck because of how special it was.
And now that he's doing it in a packed stadium in his home country. I felt my body fill with an intense feeling of excitement and a sense of tears of joy. I'm not sure why my eyes welded with tears, but maybe because it was the first time I'd seen him dedicate a goal to me in person.
Neymar winked and blew a kiss to me as he began to jog back into position. I smiled with another flush of red on my face. Everyone around us stared as Rafaella hip-bumped me, bringing me back to a sense of reality.
We sat back down as she leaned onto me. "I told you he wouldn't miss," she laughs.
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