Page 27 of Offside Rule

NINETEEN

XAVIER

“I’m sorry about this morning,” Arianna said over the phone, a few hours after I had landed. I was about to take a shower, and fly to Germany tonight.

“I’m sorry it happened that way. I swear, I planned to do everything right for you,” I replied.

She and Giulia deserved more than me being introduced to her family ten minutes after she’d sucked me dry under a blanket. At this point, I couldn’t change or improve their first impression of me. I could only accept the defeat, and make sure I worked on it moving forward.

Arianna sighed into the phone. “It’s okay, at least we don’t have to hide anymore.”

I stood still in front of my bathroom mirror. “What do you mean? I’ll never sleep at your house again.”

“Oh, come on, my mamma is not that scary.”

I laughed, because shewasa bit scary. “That’s not what I meant, but I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do for Giulia or your mother. At least, not this soon.”

Arianna remained silent for a couple of moments. “You’re right, I know. I just … I have no idea how to act, or what to do. If anything, today proved to me that I want you close. It also mademe understand why I hadn’t wanted us to go to a hotel. It was never about the money, Xavier. I know you can afford it without noticing the difference in your bank account.”

“It’s not?” I asked, genuinely surprised, because that’s what she had kept repeating every time I’d mentioned it.

“No,” she said with a faint laugh. “It’s not. It’s because, deep down, I knew you weren’t the type of guy I should spend the night with in a hotel room, or hide like you’re something I’m ashamed of. In one way or another, I realized you belonged to the closest part of me—my family.”

I leaned over the sink, trying to control my breathing. “Are you confessing your love to me, Arianna Esposito?”

She laughed into the speaker. “Not yet, but … I no longer think it’s impossible.”

We’d known each other for less than two months, yet hearing her say those words out loud felt like the most important day of my life. I couldn’t control the grin stretching across my face.

“You know, I’m grateful I found you at that bar,” I said, glancing down at her name on my phone screen. “And also that you humiliated me.”

She laughed, and the sound warmed me from the inside out. “Humiliating you was the best thing I’ve ever done, and I don’t regret it one bit.”

I walked down the staircase of my house in Madrid, bags in hand, and came face to face with my mother. She was sitting on a chair in our living room, her eyes shining with unshed tears. We’d barely seen each other over the past few months, and I knew she had missed me. I had missed her too.

“Don’t cry,” I teased her, knowing the second I said those words, tears would run down her cheeks.

I placed my bags at the end of the staircase, and made my way to her. She got to her feet, and as expected, her tears began to fall. Her hand stroked my shoulder as she watched me through blurry eyes.

“How did you grow up so fast?” she asked. “It seems like it was yesterday when you begged me to buy some new football shoes for your training after class. You were so young, yet so determined.”

I smiled. “And that hasn’t changed.”

She nodded at me. “I know,” she replied as she wiped her tears, and pulled me into her arms. My mother was much shorter than me, but it made her give the best hugs in the world. “You guys better win this. I know you have it in you,” she said encouragingly.

My arms held on to her tighter. I was an intimidating grown man except when it came to my mother. Whenever she was in the picture, I turned into a softie, and I had a feeling it would be the same with Arianna and Giulia.

“Love you, Mom,” I said into her hair.

“Love you too, hijo.”

I kissed the top of her forehead, and returned to get my bags. She followed me to the exit, and just as I stepped out of the house, her voice stopped me.

“Who is she?” she asked.

I frowned, not understanding the question at first. I looked at her over my shoulder. “What?”

She leaned on the doorframe, a small smile on her lips. “The girl you’re falling in love with.” My eyes might’ve expressed my surprise, because she laughed and explained, “It’s written all over your face, Xavi.”

---