Page 124 of My Spanish Love Affair

“They looked so good together.”

I speed up my pace, ignoring the whispers, but when I step into the staff room, my colleagues aren’t much better.

“Morning, Olivia,” Ana says, smirking over her steaming mug of coffee. Heaven knows what time she arrives to get here so early. “Or should I say, Valencia’s most talked-about WAG?”

I groan, dropping my bag onto the nearest chair. “Don’t.”

“Oh, come on, let us have our fun,” adds Marta, scrolling through her phone. “You’re literallyeverywhere, Liv. Spanish media, British tabloids, social media… I mean, this isiconic.”

“It’s just because of the championship. It’ll blow over,” I say with a dismissive wave of my hand. “And I’m making a point of refusing to check my phone.”

Marta raises an eyebrow. “Shit, really? So you had no idea that your name is trending on Twitter right now?”

I roll my eyes and head for my classroom before they can tease me any further, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.

Throughout the morning, I do my best to focus on work. My students are in full exam season mode, their usual antics replaced with nervous energy as exams for all topics dominate their schedule.

Even though I try to keep the focus on lessons, more than a few of them sneak glances at me with barely concealed curiosity.

During my lunch break, I finally cave and check my phone.

The first message is from my mum. It’s a video attachment of Santi kissing me on the pitch.

Look at my beautiful girl! So proud of you both!

The second message is from Laura.

You and Ortiz are officially the hottest couple in sports. British press are eating this up. You’d better send me an invitation to come over when you move into his Spanish villa, aka mansion.

I snort, shaking my head.British press?

I swipe over to Safari and sure enough, a headline pops up from a UK news site.

British teacher steals the heart of Spain’s rugby superstar – Olivia Bennett and Santiago Ortiz’s championship kiss takes social media by storm!

Jesus Christ.

Biting my lip, I finally give into temptation and press play on the video.

There we are, standing in the middle of the pitch, completely oblivious to the cameras. Santi’s arm is wrapped around me, his lips moving softly against mine before he murmurs something and presses his forehead to mine.

It’s so strange to see it - to seeus- in this way, in this light. Even I can’t deny it: there’s something ridiculously romantic about the way that this beautiful man looks at me.

It’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

I sigh, a dreamy smile creeping onto my lips as I watch the video again, my eyes trained on him the entire time.

God, he’s beautiful. Beautiful and funny, smart, charismatic, charming… Never mind successful. How on earth did I get so lucky?!

For once, I feel as though I really don’t mind being all over the internet. It’s not just because of the fact that it’s admittedly a cute video, or that we do look quite good together. I feelbetter in my own mind about everything, because deep down, I know that no matter how chaotic the world outside gets, Santialwaysknows how to make it disappear so that it’s just him and I.

And that is what makes it all worth it.

∞∞∞

“Pack a bag, princesa. We’re leaving.”

I freeze, my fingers still holding the door handle of Santi’s penthouse.

---