I just saw the score—so exciting!! Wish I could have been there. Hopefully I can make a game in the next round and we can catch up some more!
It’s been nice having Hannah to chat with about some of what’s going on.
Kennedy
Hopefully you can make a game in Milwaukee, so I won’t have to leave early! Stupid job stealing our girl time, but a girl boss never stops! See you soon!
A few of the flight crew peek in after hearing my screaming, immediately joining in on the celebration. We can’t drink champagne, so we toast our coffees and Diet Cokes and freak out in this small space, unbelievably excited for our clients to make it to the next round. We work hard to make their travel as seamless as possible. Early mornings. Late nights. Insane turnarounds. But seeing it from the other side—seeing how exhausted Jordan is after a game, how many bumps and bruises he has—the team makes my job feel easy.Hemakes my job feel easy.
Funny enough, the one person not here is Chadd. He’s usually here by now, annoying everyone in his wake. He doesn’thaveto be at the FBO right now, but now that the game is over, we need to get the plane ready for departure.
Not waiting around for him, I shrug and head to the jet. Stepping onboard, I hear a voice, the tension in my shoulders lessening. I should have given Chadd the benefit of the doubtthat he was here preparing for the flight. Then I hear a second voice. And that second voice is not speaking. It’smoaning. My eyes bulge out of my face as I turn to see Chadd sitting in the Captain’s seat with Mara on his lap. Thank God they are both fully clothed, but there is a significant amount of grinding going on. And dirty talk I could’ve gone forever without hearing. I quickly take a step back, my hand balled into a fist at my side as I assess my options here. They are in a heavy makeout-dry hump session inmyfucking flight deck.Doesn’t he know he could get fired for this?
Okay, option one: I do nothing.I hide in the shadows and wait for someone else, like Theresa, to come in and start being loud while getting snacks ready for the team.
Option two: I confront them.I’ll probably seem like the bitch, but then again, I don’t care what Chadd McAsshat thinks of me at this point. He’s being unprofessional, and I’m going to call him out on it. I grit my teeth, cracking my knuckles in a moment that would make Jordan proud.You know what? It’s on.
I walk in confidently, hang my hat up on the hook behind my seat, and start building my nest.
“Oh! Hi Chadd. Nice to see you again, Mara. Let me know if you’d like to deploy the oxygen masks since you two are clearly out of breath.”
They instantly pull away from one another, but only Chadd seems mildly shocked as he shoves her and adjusts himself. Mara stands up, leaning back slightly to give me a good once-over. “Hmm.”
Oh, she did not just ‘hmm’ me. That’smyline.What the fuck is with these two?
“Well, if you two are done, I’m going to need your friend to head out. As the captain,youshould know we need to doour pre-departure briefing and get this jet ready for takeoff, not whatever you two were doing.”
Mara gives me the ‘you are a giant bitch’ look as she straightens her shirt before leaning down to grotesquely kiss the fucking douchebag with full-on tongue.Let me go find a barf bag.
“I’ll see you later,” he says, smacking her ass as she makes her way out.
“Bye. Sooo nice seeing you, Kennedy!” she throws over her back on her way to her actual seat in the cabin of the plane.
I snap my head toward him. “What the hell, Chadd? I have to touch those buttons.”
“Don’t be jealous, sweetheart,” he snorts, “you had your chance.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart. Can we just get on with flight prep, please?”
He smirks. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
Fucking fuckhead prick; I hope he impales himself on a stick and not in a fun way. My jaw clenches. He’s calling me sweetheart now just to get on my nerves. He knows I can’t do a damn thing about it either.Fuck.
With our pre-flight checklists done, I scroll through the Riders’ social media accounts as I hear applause behind me. They’re here.He’s here.The team files onto the plane, and I hop up from my seat to greet them all as they enter. If Chadd can have his girlfriend mauling his face in the flightdeck, I can at least give my boyfriend a hug as he walks on the plane after winning a big game. As I step into the galley, I see fucking Mara sitting in the front row with her sunglasses on.What the actual fuck is with the sunglasses?I feel my brows touch my hairline.Chadd sure knows how to pick ’em.
I see player after player walking in as all the flight crew, including myself but excluding Chadd, come out to high-fivethem. Hayes and Zack both stop to give me a hug as they pass by. Vladi gives me a nod, which seems on brand.
It’s agonizing waiting for him, but finally, that dark hair and million-dollar smile make their way through the forward cabin door. Biting my cheek, I can barely stand it as Colton Taylor takes his sweet ass time, walking at turtle speed past the crew. Jordan’s eyes finally meet mine, and I don’t give a shit if I’m the pilot on this plane or not. My eyes burn with tearsagain. He shakes Theresa’s hand, his eyes continually flicking toward mine. The minute she lets go, I grab him, pulling him in for the biggest hug ever. Without even thinking about it, my lips are on his. I can’t figure out what’s possessing me to do this, but every cell in my body wants me to keep going. How did I go from finding this guy to be the most annoying person on the planet to not being able to keep my hands and my heart from him?
We finally pull back. “Hi,” he says shyly.
“Hi.”
“That was a hell of a greeting.”
I slap him on the arm. “It was a congratulatory hug. Don’t get too excited.”
“Hugandkiss. What kind of congratulatory greeting do I get if we win the Cup?”
