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She has to know I did, I liked the post. I like all her posts. “Yeah, babe. Just because we broke up, doesn’t mean I unfollowed you. I’ve seen all your posts, many times. I think it was some kind of…I don’t know, way for me to stay close to you.” And torture myself for being such an idiot to let her go in the first place.
“I never unfollowed you either,” she whispers.
I laugh. “I know,” I say. “I saw when you liked my shit too,” I tell her, not admitting how every time she did like one of my posts, my heart flipped in my chest, like it was a tiny bit more hopeful that maybe one day, me and Lis would find our way back to each other again.
“God, we really made a mess of things, didn’t we,” she says, sniffing a little.
I switch the call over to FaceTime, knowing I want to see her. When her beautiful face fills my screen, I can see her eyes are shining. “Babe, we’re good now, okay.Reallyfucking good.”
“I know,” she says, nodding as she smiles back at me. “It’s the pregnancy, hormones,” she adds, waving a hand.
“Horny or crying, huh?” I tease.
Lis laughs. “Yeah, I just try to have the horniness line up with when you’re around, otherwise…” She trails off with a smirk and I can’t help but laugh.
“Okay, good to know,” I say with a wink. “So tell me about this reporter.”
Lis fills me in on everything she told the reporter about the team and the missing jumpers and what happened with Lucas. She didn’t say anything specific about me to the reporter, not wanting to drop me in it before she’d let me know, but she does say how the reporter is interested in doing a story on it all and promises not to reveal her sources and how Zoey and Ethan are going to pay for everything too.
“Wow,” I eventually say, blowing out a breath.
“Yeah, I know. I kinda hate that our friends are doing that, but you know what Zoey’s like.”
I laugh, nodding as I say, “Yeah, so about that. Max actually texted me after I left, offering to buy out my contracts. Said he was good for it and I didn’t need to worry about paying him back.”
“Harper said he wanted to,” Lis admits.
“We have amazing friends,” I say. “But I turned him down. I know it would solve everything, Lis, but I just can’t let him do it.”
“I know and I agree,” she says, nodding. “What do you think about the reporter though?”
I suck in a breath, letting it out slowly as I shove a hand through my hair. “Honestly, I kinda like it. I think I probably need to tell Gerry about that and the HR complaint, especially because he’s looking into some clause in my Holden contract, but I like it.”
“Me too,” Lis says, smiling.
The next morning,I wake feeling more positive than I have since I came back here. After my phone call with Lis, where I filled her in on what Gerry told me, I also sent him a text asking about me filing a complaint with HR. I didn’t mention the reporter just yet, because at this stage, she was just doing some research, but Gerry did say that I should hold off on filing the complaint for a bit, at least until he could look into Holden being the ones to file it on my behalf, sort of protecting me a little more.
After I shower and dress, I skip breakfast and head over to the hospital where I had my surgery after I first fucked my knee. After I get the MRI done, I head back to the training facility and over to the PT for my rehab. Even though the doctor supposedly cleared me to go back to jumping, he did still agree that I should continue with PT a couple of times a week.
I’m not sure if these guys are on the coach’s side with everything too, but they never seem too concerned about my knee hurting or the swelling. When I texted Mandy a picture of it, she lost her shit, texting me back in all capital letters before eventually calling me to yell into the phone instead.
I got it, she was pissed. So was I. But there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it right now. I have to just let this all play out, hope to hell that Gerry finds me that loophole. In my team contract or my sponsorship contract, I don’t care.
I just need him to find it.
After lunch, I’m supposed to train, practice this triple kicker the coach wants me doing. It’s the jump I was hitting when I fucked my knee in the first place, so it’s pretty much the last thing I want to do right now.
I send the coach a text, a lie about heading over to the simulators to practice there, because I know he’s going to be on the platform all afternoon with the rest of the team.
I expect him to rip me a new one when he gets it, but instead he surprises me with his reply.
Coach:Great! We can debrief on the footage tomorrow morning and then get you out here for real tomorrow afternoon. Good to have you back, Nick!
“Dick,”I mutter, sliding my phone into my pocket as I head back to my room.
I spendthe afternoon reading over all the shit I’ve sent to Gerry, as well as scouring the internet for articles written by the reporter Lis contacted. By the time my cell phone rings, I realize it’s dark and I’m fucking starving.
“Hello?” I say, not recognizing the number.
