KICK IT | JENLISA

103

Lisa

"We'll finish today's set by watching K-drama episodes."

I grunted, wiping a sweaty hand over my forehead. The grey gym floor blurred behind the haze clouding my vision. Snaps of racked weights faded into the background music. Today's workout was pointless unless entertaining Bambam by tripping over a pylon during SAQ drills was considered productive. Worst part? Smashing nose-first into the AstroTurf reminded me of when Jennie dropped me on my head.

I thought prepping for football refocused me on a much-needed distraction. Slivers of my life returned: the stability, the regimented schedules, and my football family reunited. Endless planning meetings, play and film reviews, physical assessments, and light workouts with Bambam borrowed my attention. Seeing my teammates again, the ridicule, and even the locker room pranks brought a smile to my face.

Outside the team's family confines, the same superficial shit existed. Sports casters argued if my shoulder was worth the contract extension. Fans came out with their usual excitement and support subdued from the off-season shit, but I threw out constant, 'New season, new start' words until I believed them. Women dangled their bodies at me, and I looked away.

In the background, while Bambam gabbed away, I grabbed my phone and skimmed over the pile of today's messages. None from her.

What? I snapped off my phone to stare at Bambam. A vacant look in my eyes reflected on the black screen.

"I said let's wrap up. I want to freshen up for my lunch with Jennie. Can't do that with your broody stink permeating my breathing space. You need a deodorant endorsement, Lisa."

My neck pinched with how fast I turned my head to his smug smirk. "What the fuck are you talking about, Bam!?"

"What?" His meaty shoulders lifted. "You don't believe I have a lunch date with Jennie? Pre-season camp starts next week, so I'm done training your sorry ass. And we text all the time."

Palm up, I flicked my fingers. "Give me your phone."

The overhead lights danced over his blonde head as it shook. "Private conversations, dude."

"Your phone, Bam." I palmed the mats under me and stood with a grunt. His messages included a long, one-sided wooing of Mina whose details I buried under dude code. Sure enough, he had one from Jennie.

Lisa's Crush: Thanks for everything Bam. Good luck!

It's a joke to him. I lifted my eyes in a glare at him and threw his phone at his chest. "I don't need this bullshit."

"She doesn't need time or space, Lisa." Bambam's serious tone stopped my feet from leaving. "And she doesn't need your stubborn melodrama. She needs a hero moment."

I frowned at his wide, and cheesy grin. "A what?"

"Hero moment." He lifted his arms into a giant wingspan, excitement radiating off him in waves. "A big confession. Every romance movie and book has one. A grand gesture, all your cards laid out, bare your soul, spew your guts, to assure her of your feelings."

Bare my soul and spew my guts? Why did he clench his hands at his heart on the word soul? I scanned around the gym, where thank fuck no one overheard this insanity, and rubbed the ache pulsing between my eyes.

"You've got to stop with the K-dramas."

"Enact a hero moment." he declared with a puffed-up chest, dropping his arms. "Maybe Jennie would believe you then."

"How can you convince someone who won't listen?"

"Go big. Go bold, or..."

"Or go home." I muttered, dragged my hands through my hair, and released a sign. With no other options, I teetered on the same level of insanity for even entertaining the idea. "Hero moment. What the fuck would I even..."

His hand palmed my shoulder and squeezed it. "What's important to her?"

Yoga was, but not her regular class. Her therapy class helping soldiers was her true passion. Her truck. That's not it. Think, Lisa.

My silence prompted him, "Or what does she need?"

"Jennie deserves the strongest person in the world award for being able to get herself out of bed."

Irene was partially correct. Jennie deserved more than anyone acknowledging her strength. She needed a shoulder for support when she broke down, a voice that assured her it was okay for her to not feel okay, and that what she grappled with was not her fault. Jennie needed someone who recognised that pain was a part of life that shouldn't be pushed away, who accepted her heart being big enough to love multiple people, and who understood that moving forward from losing someone you loved didn't mean forgetting them.

She needed... a golden retriever. No, a Blue Lacy.

I pulled my phone to my ear. "Jackson, where does Jennie go when she needs to decompress?"

"It's hard to explain." My phone buzzed with an address located in the middle of nowhere. "Why are you using a tone of voice like you're going to do something crazy?"

Because I was crazy. My stupid brain's wheels spun with the stops I needed to pull out first. The crazier, the better. I smiled so hard that my cheeks pinched.

"Lisa?" The hesitation in Jackson's voice mirrored the wary look that Bambam shot me. "What are you planning?"

I smirked at Bambam. "Not planning, I'm doing."