Greyhound [Marcus Rashford]

11

Jesse is leading us to a small bar food restaurant just outside of Navy Pier. On the way we make small talk. He shares about his experience growing up with united, and even recalls a few embarrassing stories from when Marcus played up with the older age groups. Out of spite, Marcus shares some equally hilarious tales regarding Jesse's past. I can tell just how close they are by the amount of times they've tried to hit each other.

"And here we are," Jess announces as we enter the restaurant. He goes up to the hostess, and says, "We have a reservation for Lingard, but some of our friends might already be here."

"Right this way. You're up on the rooftop bar area," she tells us as we follow her up a few sets of stairs. When we reach a patio door, she tells us to enjoy our night, and leaves us. Marcus holds the door for Jesse and I. As I enter the rooftop space, my eyes open wide. It's beautifully decorated and the views were amazing. You could see all of Navy Pier along with the city skyline. Before I can head over to the balcony, Marcus pulls me over to a group of his teammates.

"Everyone, this is Peyton," he says while wrapping his arm around my waist. "Peyton, these are some of the guys: Rom, Paul, Juan, Ander, and Ashley." He labels them all while pointing, but most of their names have already been lost into a black hole in my brain.

"Nice to finally meet you all," I greet them, "Marcus has told me so much about you guys."

"If you think you've heard a lot about us, you have no idea how much Marcus has told us about you. It's great to have a face to the name for now on when Marcus babbles on and on and on and on and..." the guy I recognize as Lukaku goes on until Marcus cuts him off.

"She gets it, Rom," Marcus interrupted to get him to shut up. He's obviously embarrassed now that I know he talks about me to his team. I think it's really cute. I can't help but giggle.

We sit down between Paul and Juan and Jesse sits across from us. They ask me a bunch of questions about university and my major while further trying to embarass Marcus. Juan and I argue about who likes spicy food more. He claims that because he's from Spain, he automatically wins. I refuse to believe that being American makes me weak. This ends in us challenging each other to a race to finish a dozen of the hottest wings at the bar.

"There's no way you can beat me," Juan challenges.

"I grew up with this kind of stuff. I don't think you'll be able to take the Chicago fire," I sass back.

"Shut up the both of you," Jesse stops us, "we'll know in about 5 minutes who can handle more spice. Honestly, I think you're both stupid for trying this, but it should be funny to see you try."

The guys then count down from 10 for us to start eating. Luckily we ordered boneless, so I don't look even more like a savage human being while scarfing down these wings. When they yell go, we both dunk our first wings in ranch as fast as possible before eating it. It was really hot, but I've had hotter before. Juan seems to have been more affected by the spice than I was. I knew it.

In less than 4 minutes, I finish. It would have been faster but i had to take breaks to laugh at how much Juan is sweating.

"That's my girl!" Marcus yells after I tap in my win. I get a round of 5 fives from the very surprised footballers.

"No way you just did that. You're way cooler than Marcus said," Ander tells me with wide eyes.

"I'll drink to that," Ashley jokes while taking a big sip of his beer. Marcus and I both being underaged didn't stop the other guys from drinking tonight. I didn't mind. I'd be lying if I said I was a saint in high school.

The rest of dinner is super fun, and all the guys seem really awesome. I'm glad Marcus brought me to meet them. In the past, I've had boyfriends keep me away from their friends. As established before, Marcus isn't like any other guys. Before we know it, the restaurant is kicking us out.

"It was really great hanging out with you guys tonight, hopefully we can do this again sometime," I tell them as everyone before we all head our separate ways.

"Of course, especially when you come visit in Manchester!" Jesse tells me, "Now take care of our boy Rashy, and get him to the airport in time tomorrow. While you guys are grossly cute together, we need him to get back for another match."

"Don't worry, he's in safe hands," I reassure them. We all hug and say our goodbyes. Marcus and I head back to my hotel to spend our last bit of time together alone.