Page 8 of Penalty Shots
She nods slowly. “So… did he deserve it?”
“Redmond?”
She nods again.
“I mean…” I shrug.
Izzy purses her lips in thought. “I trust Keelan. I don’t always think he makes the best decisions, but he’s a protector. So if he doesn’t want to apologize, Ri. Don’t make him.”
“I think you and I both know I can’t make that brother of yours do anything he doesn’t want to.”
“Facts!” she says, pointing at me. “Well… I hear the press is gathered and waiting.”
“Of course they are.”
"Should be fun." Izzy hops off the desk and grabs her camera. "Oh, and Rina?"
I look over at her. "Yeah?"
"Don't ever keep something like that from me again." The look in her eyes is feral. "You're my daughter's godmother. Itrust you more than anyone else with my own feelings. But this friendship is not going to be a one-way street. We don't keep secrets, you got it?"
Oh, Izzy.
If she only knew that keeping secrets is what I do. What I've always done. But I have enough to deal with at the moment, so in true Rina Lopez fashion, I smile and nod.
"Good," she says, making her way to the door.
And as I watch her leave, the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach grows.
No secrets? I wish I had the luxury.
Chapter 2
Keelan
18 years old | New Year's Day
Ryker and Jenny are both late.
I’m standing outside in a robe at the edge of Austin's most famous natural pool, surrounded by hundreds of college students ready to take the plunge to welcome the new year–and my girlfriend is going to miss it.
“Plungers! Are you ready?” JR, the soccer captain with the megaphone beside me, yells out. Our fellow students in the crowd go insane. Probably because they're trying to stay warm. We had an unusually cold winter this year which makes this plunge that much more exciting.
I nudge him. “Jenny’s not here yet.”
He lowers the megaphone and says to me, “Well, we can’t wait all night for her, Landry. Some of us have parties to be at.”
It’s a school tradition that the head captains of each sports department are the first to take the plunge. Then, the rest of the student body will join in.
And thanks to a few of the upperclassmen losing their spots over a scandal on my own team, I'm now the unofficial Batties team captain.
“Wait! I’m here, I’m here!” Jenny’s voice calls out from somewhere in the crowd. People are moving aside to make way for her.
“Ey! There’s our girl,” JR says.
I shoot him a glare.Ourgirl?
“Sorry, I was trying to get Ms.I-don’t-do-school-activitiesout of our dorm,” she says in a hurry before going on her tippy toes and planting a quick kiss on my lips.