Soccer. Something Ricardo's fallen out of practice with between the move and his back injury. But on a rare afternoon to himself, he searches and finally finds a park with the necessary field size and netting for it. He laughs to himself, dropping down into the grass and just staring. He'd grown more accustomed to Texas- a new apartment, a new place to train students at, more bookings. The only thing left had been this- a way to bring back his other one true love in soccer to his life in some shape or fashion.
He knows he's going to be feeling it in the morning because it's been so long but he drives back to the apartment long enough to get his equipment and then drives back to the park. Kicks ball after ball into the goal, shifting it between his feet and slowly regaining his confidence with each movement he makes. His teeth flash in the pale sunlight as he kicks again and again and again, eventually content to sit back down and reflect. He's going to be sore in the morning, but it's the good kind of sore.
He eventually rolls over and grabs for his phone, staring at it with a curious look on his face. He almost has to laugh when he sees a tweet quoting an interview with Alberto about having another run in WWE, burying his face in his arms as the sun attempts to warm his sweat-soaked back. "Of course," he mumbles, not entirely surprised. At least this time he has no wild hopes locked in with Alberto's position in the wrestling world- they live close enough that sometimes they may do things together for charity, but the only reason Ricardo had decided ultimately to move to Texas was because he'd been certain he could handle things independently of Alberto, just in case.
He sighs and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the grass against his skin and the soft wind tickling through his hair. He has more training to do this week, and he'd like to do more soccer drills, then Sabotage wrestling is having an event that he has to be involved in, so it's going to be a busy week, and he's looking forward to it, truthfully. Between Alicia and Maryse continuing to work out every tiny detail of the wedding no matter how ridiculous and this still weird sort of place he's in with Alberto, where he's not sure if he should trust him or not, he's relieved to have his own things to focus on.
Of course Alicia has her own drama to contend with, her arm still sore and aching, which is only made worse when Ronda wins the women's title from Alexa, and she's still talking about it days later, along with how Ronda had attacked Stephanie McMahon and walked off with no punishment. Instead Angle had been taken away from his job, because that made sense. Ricardo sighs and sits up, brushing his fingers through his hair. "Like anyone should be surprised when things in WWE isn't fair."
He sighs, rubs his hands on his pants and turns back towards his car, a faint smirk still playing at his lips. "Here we go again," he mumbles to himself, tossing his soccer ball back into his car and casting a happy glance back at the field before driving off towards the wrestling school after realizing more time had passed than he realized.
Training goes well, Alicia calls to inform him that she and Maryae had just finished the last of the seating chart and it was safe for him to go home, so he does. Kicks the soccer ball around a few minutes, smiling over at Maryse as she leaves the house and walks towards her car with that smug pride that always leaves her and Alicia butting heads. He's tempted to ask, but ultimately lets it go, venturing inside a few moments later. "How'd it go?" he wonders, pressing a quick kiss to the sun-kissed skin of her shoulder.
"Really good," she says with a smile, turning to lace her arms around his neck. "Only thing left is that we have to pick dresses for ourselves and our bridesmaids. We have our first fitting later in the day!"
Ricardo grimaces. "You're going clothes shopping wth Maryse? Well, I'm going to really miss you for the next few weeks." She swats him and laughs, but he continues to stare at her. "You think I'm joking..." he says, letting the silence speak for itself. "Sorry to say I'm not."
"It won't be that bad," she insists, leaning in to give him a kiss. "I'll see you soon. I love you."
He stares forlornly out of the window as she gets in her car and heads out to meet up with Maryse at a local bridal shop. "We hardly knew her," he says to Harley with a soft tsking sound, before walking off, shaking his head.