Page 64 of Penalty Shots

"Fun," Zara says, interlocking her fingers and resting her chin on them. "So you must be the boyfriend," she says casually, turning to me.

Rina nearly spits out her water.

"God, no. Rina is practically my boss. She makes sure I behave so I don't lose my job. Hence, why I'm here," I turn to her with a wide smile.

"But you two recently got into it about her, no?" Zara asks, finishing off the question with the hook from the viral song.

Rina shoots her a look.

"Oh come on, Rina. I won't tell anyone. I know how these things work." Zara motions to the corner of the restaurant where a photographer is not so discreetly shooting pictures of the four of us.

Redmond looks around at all of us. "I'm confused. Are you two not dating?" He motions to Zara and I.

Rina speaks up. "It's a PR setup," she says dryly.

Redmond smirks. "Of course, it is. I should've known."

"So… the fight heard around the world?" Zara asks again.

"We were just working things out," Redmond offers in his most civil voice.

Zara pouts and grabs the napkin off the table, placing it over her lap. "Fine. All I ask is for a little entertainment with my dinner."

"Entertainment. If you want entertainment, then you won't believe how we're all connected," I offer.

Zara perks up again, looking excited. "Ooh, do tell."

"Rina here, apart from being my boss, sort of, is also my sister's best friend."

"Oh wow," Zara says, intrigued.

"And my sister is now married to my best friend who was my roommate in college where I met Rina."

"Okay," Zara says, trying to follow. "Sounds like you've known each other quite some time.

"Oh, yeah. We met in college in Austin over a decade ago. She was my girlfriend's roommate at the time."

Zara shakes her head, trying to understand. "Wait, so, her best friend married your best friend who you met in college who she used to date?"

"No," Redmond and I both say.

Rina shakes her head, too, looking like she's ready to be done with this conversation.

"Her best friend is married to my best friend, who went to college with me when I met Rina. I was dating her roommate at the time."

"And now, that roommate is my colleague," Rina adds. The waiter brings by the champagne, and Rina gulps down her first glass without much thought.

Redmond watches her. "Easy there."

She shoots him a look that says, "You're not the boss of me." And he backs off.

"And to top it all off, I went to the same college before I was drafted into the MLS my sophomore year. Could you imagine if we would've met back then?" He almost whispers to Rina.

Our eyes meet from across the table. It would've been totally possible that they would meet. I remember seeing Redmond a time or two around campus.

"Small world," Zara says, enthralled. "So this fight then… what was it all about?"

"Well," I say. "Redmond here is a soccer superstar. Very well known. Very popular with the fans—especially the ones that have breasts."

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