CHAPTER FIVE:
Sergio's POV:
I pulled my car into the driveway and carefully parked it in my garage, putting the door down before making any move to get Iris out of the car. With my slow rise to fame over the last few years I've come to learn that paparazzi like to camp out, outside my home to see if I'm bringing anyone with me.
"Iris, you awake?" I asked, opening the door and unbuckling her seatbelt. She groaned and started moving after I did that. "Let's get you inside, are you hungry?" I asked as she slipped out of the car and rested her arm on my shoulders for support. I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her steady as she stumbled into my house. Sergio, what did you get yourself into?
"It's probably good if," Iris paused, searching for the words as she slurred them, "if I eat something." She finished.
"Pizza helps me when I drink too much, I could order some, there's a place that delivers late night." I offered and she nodded as I helped her to sit on my couch. "Alright I'll call, stay here and I'll get you some water." I calmly instructed, pulling out my phone to call as I walked to the kitchen.
"Pizza's all ordered." I said as I walked back into the living room, seeing Iris slumped on the couch. "Iris?" I called out, approaching her, noticing she had fallen asleep. I didn't want her to fall asleep yet, I wasn't sure if she was going to throw up or not, but by the looks of her it seemed like a very likely situation.
I gently shook her for a few moments before she stirred and awoke. "Joey just let me sleep." She mumbled and turned away.
A little sting pinched my stomach as she called me by his name. "Iris, it's Sergio and I need you to stay awake for a little bit, at least until the food comes and you've had some water. I need to make sure you're going to be able to sleep through the night without getting sick." I instructed, handing her the glass of water. I continued to nudge her shoulder.
"I'm fine, I wanna go to bed." She whined before taking a small sip of the water.
"You're not fine, I think you've had a little too much and I'm worried." I responded, sitting next to her. "Just humor me and eat a little bit when the pizza arrives and then I'll let you sleep." I added as she leaned against my shoulder, sipping the water slowly.
"Why do you care so much? You're being nice but we could have just slept together." Iris asked, breaking the silence between us. She was right I guess, we could easily be hooking up right now, but I couldn't imagine doing that with her in the state she was currently in.
"You are very drunk and consent matters to me." I offered, dancing around the truth.
Iris made a noise before looking at me, "You're a famous footballer, you could get away with it, what's the real reason?" She pressed, nudging me slightly.
"I care about you because we're friends and I look after my friends, you didn't need to do something you'd regret. You have a boyfriend to worry about and a budding career." I explained, still unsure that she bought it based on the expression on her face. "Okay and maybe I have a small crush on you." I admitted, blushing as I did, the odds she would remember me saying that were low.
Iris just smirked a little and sipped her water, "You have a crush on me?" She asked and I nodded.
"But I understand that you have a boyfriend, so I will not be a homewrecker and sleep with you, no matter how much you begged me in the club." I teased her and she laughed a little.
She was no longer smiling, now it was more like a grimace, "Iris? You alright? You need a bathroom?" I asked as she turned a little pale and nodded. "Let's get you up to mine then so you can go to bed right after." I stood up and she stumbled to her feet; I scooped her up bridal style and carried her up to my bathroom. It was going to save time and keep her from puking on my carpets. At least that's what I told myself.
I set her down gently and lifted the seat up before she leaned over it and gagged. I took the water from her hand and set it down next to the toilet before I moved to hold her hair back. Iris heaved a couple more times before she actually threw up. Gently, I rubbed her back and kept her hair out of her face.
"Oh god I am so sorry, this is so embarrassing" Iris said as she sat up and used some toilet paper to wipe her mouth.
I just smiled and handed her the water, "Don't worry about it, you're not the first drunk friend I've had to look after." I winked, "But you are the cutest." I added and I swear she blushed slightly.
A large hiccup erupted through her, causing her to splash most of the glass down the front of her shirt. It stuck to her awkwardly and she squealed at the feeling. "It's chilly."
I chuckled slightly at her pout on her face. "Do you want another shirt?" I asked gently as she unraveled nearly the entire roll of toilet paper trying to mop up the water. She nodded drunkenly as I quickly stepped out of the room. I returned with a simple t-shirt shortly after. She thanked me and took it, moving to take off her shirt. I quickly turned around, hiding my face in my hands. A few moment went by before she spoke up.
"Uh, Sergio?" She spoke so softly I would have missed it if anyone else was in the room.
I turned, peeking through my fingers to see her arms over her head, tangled gracelessly in her shirt. Her chin was the only part of her face that was visible. My cheeks turned hot as I tried to clear my throat. "Um-" my voice cracked, "What's, uh, what's wrong?" I was looking anywhere but at her. She was bare aside from the black bra she was wearing and it put me in a position I was trying to avoid tonight.
Iris's voice was muffled through the shirt, "I'm kind of stuck, can you help?" I nodded as if she could see him right now and walked over to her.
Hesitantly I reached out, my hands shaking slightly as I did so. Why was I acting like I'd never touched a girl before? Iris had a way about her that made me act like a fool whenever she was around. Why couldn't I just be smooth and charismatic like I usually was? I had liked girls before and had never behaved this way.
"Pull your head down and I'll pull the shirt up." I instructed and Iris followed what I said. Slowly but surely we were able to get her out of the wet top she was wearing.
Once she was free I turned my back again, giving her a little privacy to pull on the shirt I brought in.
"What are you doing?" Iris asked, causing me to turn back around. She was just moving her arms through the oversized sleeves and adjusting the shirt.
"I- uh, I was just giving you some privacy." My voice cracked again slightly and I couldn't help the bright red color my face began to take on.
"You didn't have to, I had a bra on." She shrugged off my comment.
"Yeah but-" I started but Iris held a hand up before quickly turning and hunching herself back over the toilet bowl. I moved quickly to her side and held her hair back again. After a few minutes she was able to calm herself down enough to stop throwing up. I softly rubbed her back some more before I left to refill her glass.
Iris used some of the water to rinse her mouth out before flushing the toilet and sitting against the wall of the bathroom with me next to her. "This is so gross, you don't have to stay here and watch." She said, clearly embarrassed to be seen in such a state.
I just shrugged and looked at her, "Nah, I don't mind, I gotta make sure you're alright." I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"Thank you." She said quietly, leaning her head on my shoulder again but this time, I rested mine on top of hers. I was enjoying the closeness and warmth we were sharing but it came to an end too soon.
Iris shot up again and leaned over the toilet once more. I quickly moved to hold her hair back again like the gentleman I was and wanted her to know. I rubbed her back again as she finished, wiping her mouth and rinsing again before flushing it all once more and sitting back.
"So, what made you decide to drink yourself into oblivion tonight?" I asked, realizing maybe that was an inappropriate question. "Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I added nervously.
"Joey." Iris mumbled and we sat in silence for a moment before she continued. "He wanted me to play happy housewife at some event for Santander Group in hopes of him getting a promotion. He was making all these comments saying my job was easy because all I do is play dress up and match colors. Then he told me I should just skip the debut of my first full line for Mango tomorrow on the west side of Madrid so I could talk to the other wives about hair and makeup. I mean seriously can you believe that? He said his job was tougher and that I was pretty enough to just be a stay at home girlfriend." She finally finished, setting the now empty water glass down.
"He said that to you?" I looked down at her and she nodded. "That's fucked, he should know you better than that. I'm sorry he acted that way." I said and she thanked me quietly. "And what's this about your own line of clothes? That's fantastic, you're well on your way to being a huge designer." I smiled and nudged her slightly.
"Y-yeah I guess, I pulled inspiration from all around the city to compile an exclusive Madrid line and it's only at that store." Iris spoke and I could see the smile creep across her face and hear the excitement in her voice. Seeing her so happy made my heart swell, even after I had just watched her throw up. She was so real, here on my bathroom floor at almost one in the morning, and it made me like her even more.
"It's probably not gonna sell much, it was more of a creative project I came up with." Iris shrugged.
"I bet it sells out in the first two weeks." I immediately responded and she looked at me hopefully.
"You really think so?" She asked and faced me.
"Totally, when people see how passionate you are at the opening tomorrow, they're gonna fall in love with those clothes and you. People love seeing others passionate about something, it excites them. Just sitting here listening to you talk about it now I can feel how proud and excited you are and you absolutely should be." I answered honestly, a smile I couldn't help sat on my face as I looked at her.
Iris didn't say anything after that and it worried me that I had gone too far. She had an expression on her face that I couldn't read and I was about to say something when she leaned in. Iris's lips met mine in a soft embrace. I felt my heart flutter slightly as she rested a hand on my shoulder and I moved one up to cup her cheek. Her skin was so soft and our kiss was so gentle. It was an innocent kiss, only our lips involved, slow, almost cautious pecks. I felt like I was floating, I didn't know how long it went on but I never wanted to stop. Iris was kissing me and I couldn't help but kiss her back, it took my breath away. Her lips were delicate, in fact I was coming to the realization that this entire situation was delicate. Her hand moved from my shoulder to my neck as we continued to kiss slowly. I wasn't sure how long this was supposed to go on, but I just couldn't stop, she was addicting and all I had done was kiss her.
Iris pulled away first, her hand slowly sliding off my neck and down my chest before she drew it back to her body. She bit her lip as we locked eyes. I had no idea what to do next, with a simple kiss she had rendered me useless. I wanted to go back for just one more, but as I shifted my weight to do so, Iris heaved and had to turn back to the toilet bowl once more. Retching violently, she vomited for another few minutes before laying down flat, her face pressed flat against the cool tile floor. Kissing, then a quick puke; nothing more romantic than that.
***
"You're kidding me, an entire horse farm?" Iris looked at me incredulously as she nibbled on her pizza. Shortly after our kiss, the pizza delivery guy was at my door. I brought it back up to my bathroom and that's where we found ourselves for a while.
"Yeah I own a stud farm in Sevilla." I said nonchalantly, this wasn't anything unusual for me or those who knew me.
"What's it called?" She asked, reaching for another slice.
"SR4 stud farm." I said quietly, looking down and biting back a smile.
"You're joking! Of all the names." Iris laughed out loud, covering her mouth that was full of pizza.
"I don't see why this that funny." I laughed along with her, taking a bite of the slice of cheese pizza I had in my hand.
"Because that is such an odd thing to tell someone, 'oh yeah hey I own an entire fucking horse farm and I named it as if it were a Twitter handle.'" She laughed some more and I couldn't help the smile on my face. It was so easy talking to her, being open, vulnerable even.
"I really don't think it's that weird, it's a straightforward name, people know what they're getting. I'll take you someday. In Andalusia, we love our horses." I responded. "I love my horses." I added and Iris giggled some more.
"I guess it's a cultural difference between America and Spain." She shrugged, calming down a little.
"Must be, you've got your fake football and ridiculous fast food." I teased from across the small bathroom we sat in.
Iris fake glared at me, "that's not all that we have in America." She stuck out her tongue.
"I've been a few times and that's all I recall. And these massive stadiums with huge parking lots. America is built funny." I said, leaning back against the wall.
"Oh is it?" Iris raised her eyebrow.
I nodded, "it is, the cities are set up weird, like there's no real center with all the roads leading out. At least here in Madrid all roads take you back to the city." I shrugged. "In Los Angeles you can get lost in five minutes with all those freeways." I added and she laughed a little.
"You're funny." Iris said quietly.
"Oh well I'm glad you think so, you're.... interesting, in a fun way of course." I responded noticing how tired Iris now looked. She hadn't thrown up in almost an hour, it was probably safe for her to go to bed.
"What do you say you finish that water while I make up the bed for you." I gestured to the cold water bottle I brought up with the pizza. Iris nodded and I moved into my bedroom to fix the mess of sheets my bed had become.
Slowly Iris made her way out to my bed, clearly still drunk, but on the way back to being sober. I smiled gently at her and pulled back the sheets. I extended my hand and helped her get into my bed. Once she landed on the soft silk sheets, she shuffled around underneath them.
"What are you-" I started but stopped as I saw her pull her underwear from the sheets and throw in to the floor. I gulped as the black lace hit the floor. "You sure you don't want to keep that on?" I asked nervously.
"Nope, this shirt covers me plenty." Iris smiled and immediately pulled them up to her chin and exhaled deeply. "Thank you." She said quietly, her eyes closed.
"Of course." I responded, running a hand soothingly through her hair, trying to keep my cool. Within minutes Iris was fast asleep. Delicately, I removed my hand from her hair and leaned down, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "Sweet dreams." I whispered.
Quietly I shuffled around my room, cleaning up the bathroom, taking the pizza box downstairs. While I was down there I grabbed another bottle of water and headed upstairs. Fishing through my medicine cabinet, I found some pain killers. I took two of them and placed them and the bottle of water on the bedside table. I smiled down at Iris who was in a deep sleep. She looked so cute like this, angelic, innocent, maybe even naive. She must be somewhat naive to go home drunk with a footballer with a reputation like mine. I sighed and peeled my shirt off, making my way to my closet and searching for some fresh boxers and a t shirt to wear to bed. I had a small couch in my room and decided it was better if I just slept there for the night, I could keep an eye on Iris from there. As I brushed my teeth I gathered a couple blankets and pillows and created a makeshift bed. I took one last glance at Iris before turning the lights out.
***
Iris's POV:
I woke up with a splitting headache and my vision foggy. I reached up and rubbed my eyes, yawning as I did so. I heard the sound of a shower, must be Joey getting ready for the day. I blinked a few times, not remembering how I made it home. I sat up and was hit with the realization that I wasn't at home at all. I was in a bedroom I did not recognize and someone who I didn't know was in that shower.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." I muttered to myself, looking down at my outfit, or lack thereof. I was in a shirt two sizes too big and my underwear, wait, where was my underwear? Hesitantly I glanced down at the side of the bed to see it crumpled on the floor.
"Fuck, oh my god, fuck." I angrily whispered to myself before I heard the shower water turn off and listened as someone shuffled around the bathroom. I gulped heavily as I waited in anticipation for who it would be. Who could I possible have been attracted to that much last night to cause me to cheat? I don't remember a thing, how am I going to explain this to Joey?
My face dropped when the man entered the room in just a towel. "Oh you're up, I didn't wake you did I? I forgot to shower last night, I was too busy with you." Sergio smiled and winked happily at me, wearing just a towel around his waist. That smug asshole, I cannot believe he took advantage of me like this.
"How could you?" I growled at him, my head still pounding. Sergio looked at me confused, his smile disappearing before I gestured down to my underwear on the floor. He knew exactly what he did and him playing innocent was not going to last.
He smiled a little before looking at me again, "I can't control you. You wanted to." He shrugged, not seeming to grasp the gravity of the situation.
"That's all you have to say for yourself? You know you're all talk aren't you?" I angrily asked him, hastily redressing myself. Sergio gave me a puzzled look. "That whole speech about how this 'reputation' you have isn't true and you're not like that anymore." I continued and he tried to interrupt me but I waved him off.
"Seriously Sergio I cannot believe you would think any of this was okay, I have a boyfriend, you know that!" I yelled at him, frustrated he would treat me like some prize when I really thought he cared.
"Iris what are you talking about?" He yelled back at me, following me down the stairs, still in just a towel. I hated how nice his body looked with all those muscles and tattoos, it almost made me wish I had remembered sleeping with him.
"The fact that you don't understand boundaries." I turned around and shoved a finger in his face. "Stay away from me Ramos." I growled, moving towards the front door.
"Nothing happened!" He raised his voice as I opened the door and started to leave. He grabbed my arm, his eyes pleading me to stay. "Can't you just let me explain?" He asked in a softer tone.
"What so you can just sit here and explain to me how it's not like that, and you're not a womanizer. Get over yourself, you can't have it both ways Sergio. Justify it however you like but the fact still remains, you took advantage of me last night when you knew you shouldn't have. I cannot believe I fell for your charm like that. You are exactly like the tabloids describe you. You are a selfish, lying, narcissistic prick." I spat at him and stormed off. I couldn't stand to be near him right now.
"We didn't have sex!" He yelled down his driveway. "You are being ridiculous right now will just come back in here?" He asked, his voice echoing through the quiet, expensive neighborhood.
I turned back quickly and glared at him, "Don't worry I'm not gonna call the cops or the press, your precious image won't be harmed by this." I spat and walked off.
I heard the front door of his house slam and I quickly dialed Lia asking her to come pick me up. I could not believe what I did, what Sergio did. I trusted him. He had me convinced he was a sweet, caring guy, a great friend to have. I guess I was wrong.