KICK IT | JENLISA

120

Jennie

Jackson's going to kill me. A flicker of satisfaction sparked in me.

"I should've told you, but Jackson texted me this morning... building what I have in mind is going to take a shit ton of work and money, and a puppy is a lot to take care of, but I..." Her grin widened. "I like a challenge."

My lips twitched. "Do you?"

She angled her head down and parted her lips. How close she stood registered in my mashed potato brain. One of her hands dropped the plans, which fluttered into a loose rolled-up shape. Her nose bumping mine caught my breath. "I know you had comfort here, and we can leave it untouched, but I have bigger ideas that I think can help people."

My lips cut her off with a soft press. I lingered close to tempt her but clutched her shirt because the ground wasn't stable under my feet. "You're crazy."

"You have no idea." Her natural taste filled my mouth. One of her hands found my cheek. Her returned kiss was soft but absent the hesitation that started our other ones, her bare skin grazing mine.

Sweet, sympathetic, and gentle flowed between us, with a backdrop of stubbornness in the firm presses and nips. "But I'm your crazy. You already have me, but say yes, be crazy with me."

"Be crazy with you." I mumbled. What the fuck did that mean?

"What do you say, darling?" She tapped the tip of my nose with the plans. "Up for a challenge?"

The fact she asked me this question, while I cradled a puppy, was unreal. "Before I answer that, I have to ask you the same."

My hands shook so much, I handed Lisa the puppy. She arched her head back and flicked her tongue over Lisa's fingers. She responded with cooing noises so sweet, they gave me cavities. "Hang on, glue-sniffer."

The beats in my chest spiked into my ears with each step to my truck. Sweat tickled the skin at my hairline. Heat rushed up to my cheeks, and my scrunched-up face's uncertainty reflected in the window. I reached with trembling fingers and dragged my purse to the seat's edge. My blue notebook was warm from the car, the dimpled moleskin smooth and worn.

I returned to Lisa's side with heavy steps and the notebook clenched over my pounding heart. She set the puppy down, who bounded for the nearest patch of grass and marked it. Handing my notebook to Lisa, the ache crushing my chest dropped my warning to a raspy whisper, "It's heavy."

I wasn't handing over the worn edges, the smudged ink, my yoga class lessons, more voodoo stick figures, or my heart's admissions spilled inside the blue exterior. How I felt about Lisa was in there, but I also handed my darkest moments, the evil, self-sabotaging thoughts my guilt twisted out of the dark corners of my mind. Jackson hadn't read it. I shared snippets of it with Irene, the more positive ones, but I handed Lisa all of my darkness. A cold thrill rushed through me, equal parts uncertainty and fear at how deep my darkness fell. She deserved to know what she was signing herself up for, so if she wanted to back out, then...

Lisa's hand curled around mine, calming the shakiness. She didn't accept the notebook and didn't open it but allowed it to fall between us. With a playful wink, she pushed the notebook into my chest. Her simple answer was more than I knew I needed.

"Then we'll carry it together."