Chapter 9

Jennie

I lost all control of my body and let my head fall back on Lisa's shoulder as she softly kissed her way down the side of my neck. Her fingers lightly raked up and down my arms, covering them in goose bumps as I let out a soft moan.

"I've been wanting to do this for two days," she murmured against the base of my neck. "And now that I've finally touched you, I'm not going to be able to stop."

Her words were intoxicating and my body was already drunk with lust. My breasts felt heavy, my nipples poking against the constricting cotton fabric of my bra. She continued kissing my neck as she slipped one hand inside my bra, teasing and kneading my swollen, needy breast. When her fingers clamped gently around my nipple, I let out a hiss and reached around behind me, feeling her excitement through her jeans.

"You keep making noises like that, this isn't going to last very long." She growled as she spun me around to face her. I grabbed at her jean button and fumbled to get it open.

Her eyes were on fire, egging me on with their blaze. "Slow down, Jennie."

"Jennie! Jennie!" I heard my mom calling. Lifting my head off my pillow, I cracked one eye open and looked over at my mom standing in my bedroom doorway.

"It's past ten o'clock. You never sleep this late. Are you sick?"

I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand, and sure enough, it read 10:07.

"No, Mom, I'm not sick, just tired. Are the girls still asleep?" I asked.

"No, I got them up and dressed and fed them so you could sleep a little longer. This isn't like you."

"I'm okay, Mom. I'll be out in a minute, okay?" I said in a groggy haze, desperate for her to leave quickly so I could fall back asleep and pick up where Lisa and I left off.

"Sure, honey, take your time. I just wanted to check and make sure you weren't sick." She smiled and closed the door gently behind her.

I buried my face in my pillow the way it had been when she woke me and pinched my eyes shut tight, determined to get back to sleep fast and have Lisa's hands exploring my body again.

I lay there for about ten minutes then gave up, flopping over onto my back in frustration and staring up at the ceiling. That was the most action I had seen in years and I wasn't even conscious for it.

I looked over at the clock again … 10:19. Coffee was going to be my best friend today, but I guess that's what happens when you stay awake until 3:00 in the morning, talking. How could I not want to stay up late and chat with her after seeing her standing there with that charming, boyish grin on her face and her jeans around her ankles? Her body made it next to impossible not to stare. She was irresistible and she knew it.

I wasn't sorry though. We had a great night with even better conversation.

We spent hours snacking on Twizzlers and talking about everything … books, movies, our families. I didn't have much to contribute to that part of the conversation. While my little family was happy, we weren't going to be on a poster for the typical family any time soon. I was an only child. My parents divorced when I was 10, and I haven't seen my dad since, end of story. Lisa's family sounded like the exact opposite of mine. Her parents were happily married for over thirty years, she had one sister and she still went home to visit often, when she wasn't traveling for her sales job. We talked about her job briefly, though she seemed pretty bored with it and changed the subject whenever I brought it up.

It was sweet that family was so important to her. I loved the way her face lit up when she talked about her mom and her sister. She had all the qualities I was looking for and her sexiness factor was off the charts. I started thinking that maybe I should tap into my inner Jisoo and go for it for once. Constantly playing it safe only seemed to be prepping me to be the crazy old cat lady with an extensive collection of NASCAR kitchen plates.

I decided right then to throw caution to the wind and make an effort with Lisa. I jumped out of bed with a sudden burst of excitement for the day and hurried for the shower, thankful Fred had fixed it last night so there were no repeats of yesterday.

Though if it would lead to Lisa in her undies again, it might be worth it.

Twenty minutes later, I threw on my favorite jeans and some makeup—which was in itself a rarity these days—and composed myself before I headed out to the kitchen.

Deep breaths, Jennie, deep breaths.

"Mommy!!!" Ruby threw herself into my arms and wrapped herself around my neck.

"Hey kiddo. Have you been good for Gigi?"

Jane bounced over and I pulled her in close to me too.

"Yes, we helped her make breakfast. I was in charge of pouring." Ruby beamed at me.

"I was in charge of mixing!" Jane squealed.

I kissed both of them and they went back to making paper flowers at the island.

My mom turned from the stove with a plate of pancakes for me. "Here, I saved you some-" She stopped and looked at me funny.

"What?" I said defensively.

"Nothing, you just don't usually wear makeup. You look very pretty." She walked over and set the plate down on the island and kissed my cheek.

I was overcome with a sudden shyness. "Thanks, just thought I'd try something new."

She nodded with a small smirk, like she knew exactly what I was doing. I was just thankful she didn't make a big deal out of it and embarrass me more.

"So, where's everyone else?" I tried to sound nonchalant.

"Fred's out back cleaning up sticks and other garbage that washed up from the lake. Everyone else left early this morning when we got news that the bridge was open."

"Everyone else is gone?" I blurted out in a panic. My stomach dropped through the wood floor. No way would she have left and not said anything, right? Last night, we were so comfortable talking to each other—neither of us wanted to go to bed. I thought for sure she'd stay and have breakfast before she left.

"Yep, everyone else is gone. Why?"

"No reason," I said back, disappointed.

Mom looked at me suspiciously as she walked over to the island.

"There is something for you on the fireplace bench though, from Lisa. What's going on with that?"

My eyes got wide and I nodded toward the girls who appeared to be elbow deep in colorful flower petals and glue, but there was no doubt in my mind that their ears were open and listening. "There's nothing going on with that. She was nice, that's all."

She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at me. "Okay, if you say so."

I sat at the island, watching Ruby and Jane cut little hearts and flowers out of construction paper, wondering how long I should sit and wait before I could sprint into the family room and see what Lisa left for me. While Mom had her back turned at the stove, I tried to sneak a peek over at the fireplace and saw what appeared to be some kind of a red hoodie folded up with a note on it. I was straining my neck so hard to get a better look I almost fell off the stool.

"Why don't you just go over and see what it is?" Mom said, amused.

I whipped back around and stared at my mom like a kid who just got caught with her hand in the candy jar.

"I knew you liked her. Mothers know these things. Go on." She winked and shooed me away with her hand.

I decided not to argue with her. Instead I rolled my eyes and hopped down from the stool, reminding myself that if I didn't want my mother sending out wedding invitations tomorrow, I needed to act like this was no big deal. As I got closer to the fireplace I saw that it was, in fact, a shirt of some sort. Before I picked it up, I grabbed the note and unfolded it impatiently.

Jennie,

Two days wasn't long enough. Please call me.

-Lisa

My eyes fixated on the phone number on the bottom of the note, the phone number that I could dial and hear Lisa's voice within ten seconds if I wanted to. Just the thought of hearing her voice again sent a jolt of excitement through my body. I set the note aside and picked up the shirt curiously. It was a red jersey with a hunter green circle in the middle that was surrounding a scene of evergreens and a sunset. Two thick green stripes, one on each sleeve, bordered two thin white stripes. Confusion flooded my brain … why did she leave this for me? It made no sense.

I flipped the jersey around to inspect the back and it hit me like a ton of bricks. At the top of the jersey in white block letters read MANOBAN with the number 30 below it. Manoban? That was Lisa's last name. I turned the jersey around again, still having no clue what exactly this was. In the thick green circle on the front, it said MINNESOTA WILD. What the hell was that?

The French doors leading to the back deck swung open and Fred came in, wiping his dirty hands on his jeans. He used his knee to gently close the door.

"Hey, Fred! What is this?" I asked, turning the front to face him.

"Minnesota Wild jersey."

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, bewildered.

"Hockey. Minnesota's professional hockey team. I hear they're really good."

My mouth fell open as the knot in my stomach grew bigger. Lisa was a hockey player? No way. Why would she lie to me? It's not like she didn't have several opportunities. We chatted for hours. I was at a total loss and a little bit sad. If this was true, the chances of anything happening between us just washed away like sticks under the old bridge.

I put the note in my pocket, rolled up the jersey and walked into the kitchen.

"Hockey player, huh?" My mom eyed me skeptically.

My mind was still back in the family room processing what I just learned. It hadn't caught up to my body enough to form a coherent sentence.

"Guess so," I said flatly. I looked at the girls, wondering if I'd ever be able to give them the one thing that should have been inherently natural, a father. I looked over at my mom, who hadn't taken her eyes off me. "Hey, can you keep an eye on them for a minute? I … have something to do."

"Of course, honey."

I got to my room and flopped down on my bed, stretching to reach my laptop. Thanks to the melded combination of Google and our fish bowl world, it was possible to find out just about anything. I took a deep breath and impatiently typed out L-I-S-A M-A-N-O-B-A-N in the search bar.

I stared wide-eyed at the screen while the hourglass spun round and round.

YOUR SEARCH YIELDED 3,270,000 RESULTS.

Three MILLION results? Holy shit! I scrolled down, quietly chanting to myself please-no-naked-pictures, please-no-naked-pictures. A headshot of Lisa appeared at the top of the page that made my pulse race. Her dark chocolate hair was a mess of loose curls that complimented her playful smile and shimmering eyes. She was unwittingly seducing me and every other girl looking at her picture, probably a few guys too. Under her picture were action shots of her blocking goals, high-fiving her teammates and sparring with a guy from another team. The rest of the page was filled with personal stats, team stats and articles with headlines.

MANOBAN'S GLOVE STOPS BRUINS IN THEIR TRACKS

LISA "THE WALL" MANOBAN'S STELLAR PERFORMANCE IN OVERTIME AIDS WILD IN VICTORY

"The Wall?" I snickered out loud to myself. What a nickname. I continued skimming the page but came to a screeching halt when one headline jumped out at me.

LISA MANOBAN ARRESTED IN CHICAGO

Oh God. For the millionth time that day, my stomach dropped. I clicked on the article and started absorbing the words as fast as my brain would allow. Halfway through the article, I chuckled, shaking my head at the computer like it was an old gossipy friend.

She got arrested for that?