killshot (bradley bradshaw)

XIII

17 DAYS UNTIL THE MISSION

Jenna woke up excited for the day ahead. Maverick texted the pilots last night to let them all know that they were going to have a special training day at the beach. He also said to forgo their usual uniforms and just wear comfortable clothes. Jenna rolled out of bed and grabbed a black pair of athletic shorts and pulled on a dark green sports bra. She spotted Rooster's shirt that he gave her a few days ago hanging on the back of her desk chair, so she threw it on. As she was putting her hair up into a bun, her phone went off.

Rooster: Hey, any chance you can give me a ride? My car's back at HD.

She texted him back that she'd be on my way in a few minutes, and looked around the room for her bag. After finding it in the corner, Jenna snagged a protein shake from the fridge for breakfast, then turned around and grabbed a second one for Rooster, just in case.

Soon enough, she was waiting outside of Rooster's apartment. Jenna checked her phone for the time and realized that if he didn't hurry up, they were gonna be late. She honked her horn, and a few seconds later his door opened and Rooster rushed up to the car.

"Sorry I'm running behind," he breathed, sliding into the passenger seat.

"All good, no worries," Jenna said with a smile, pulling out of the parking lot. Then Rooster's stomach grumbled, and she laughed.

"Somehow I just knew I was gonna need this," she said, tossing him the second protein shake.

"You are a lifesaver, Kill," Rooster said. cracking open the drink. Not long after, they pulled up to the Hard Deck parking lot. Rooster's car was still sitting there.

"Thanks again for last night," he said. "I owe ya one."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jenna said with a wink. Rooster smiled at her and they both got out of the car, and headed over to the group standing in the middle of the sand.

"Nice of you two to finally join us," Maverick said with a smirk. He turned and addressed the group of pilots as a whole.

"Today's exercise is Dogfight football. We will split up into two teams, Red Team and Blue Team," he announced. "Your captains today will be your lucky latecomers, Killshot and Rooster!" Maverick tossed Jenna a red football, and Rooster a blue one.

"How are we supposed to play with two footballs, sir?" Phoenix asked.

"You'll be playing offense and defense at the same time," Maverick responded. "Therefore, teamwork and communication are the most important aspects of this game. Killshot, you pick first."

Rooster and Jenna separated from each other, and she picked Phoenix first. Rooster picked Fritz. They continued back and forth until the teams were set. Jenna's team also had Bob, Hangman, Maverick, Omaha, and Yale. Rooster ended up with Coyote, Payback, Fanboy, Halo, and Harvard.

The two teams set up on opposite sides of the sand. Jenna pulled her team into a huddle, and they devised a strategy. After finalizing their last thoughts, they broke from the huddle and got set behind where the balls were placed in the sand. Jenna lined up directly across from Rooster.

"You're goin down, Killshot," Rooster said, pointing at her.

"Yeah, good luck with that, Bradshaw," Jenna said, laughing. She pointed back at him. "You're toast!"

The second they started the game, it was absolute chaos. Playing offense and defense at the same time required some serious attention. Rooster was on Jenna at all times, barely giving her room to move. Finally, she was able to squeeze past him when he looked away, and she broke out into a dead sprint. She turned her head around and saw Maverick with the football.

"Mav!" Jenna shouted, trying to get his attention. "Throw it deep!"

Maverick heard Jenna and pulls his arm back, launching the ball in my direction. She kept running and had to dive to catch the ball. Jenna slammed into the wet sand, clutching the ball tightly. Hondo blew his whistle and put his arms up, signaling that she scored a touchdown.

Jenna heard her team cheer as she started to get up from the ground. Rooster's hand stucks out in front of her, and he pulled her up off the ground easily.

"Thanks for getting my shirt all wet," he said with wink.

Jenna blushed, but was ready with a comeback. "Thanks for playing awful defense. Looks to me like your team's losing."

As they ran back to the group to continue playing, Jenna noticed that some of the pilots had taken their shirts off because of the heat. Immediately, she pulled Rooster's t-shirt over her head. Turning to him, she caught him already glancing at her.

"Keep this safe for me, will ya?" she said, handing it to him. He laughed, trying to cover up the redness on his cheeks.

"Yes ma'am," he responded, before pulling off his shirt too. Jenna stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open.

"Hey you two!" Coyote yelled. "Stop drooling over each other and let's get on with the game!"

Jenna blushed as Rooster winked at her, leaving to go drop their shirts by their stuff. The game started again, and the scoring went back and forth. At one point, Coyote tossed the ball to Rooster and he ran backwards, laughing as Jenna's team tried to stop them. When Rooster scored, the two guys ran and did a chest bump. Jenna turned around to run back to her team, looking back to see Rooster shimmying his shoulders and laughing.  Jenna slowed to a walk, admiring the view.

By this point she'd lost track of the score. After Maverick scored another touchdown, he bowed out of the game. The pilots begged him to keep playing, but he leaves to sit in a chair he set up further up the beach to watch. Jenna caught him wave to Penny, who must have come outside the bar to watch them at some point over the past hour. She smiled to myself, thinking about what Penny told her the other night. Turning around just in time to see Bob catching a pass from Phoenix, Jenna raced after them, helping to guard Bob so he reached the end zone. He scored and both teams converged on him, cheering. Rooster hoisted Bob up onto his shoulders, and the group chanted his name.

The game ended a short while later, and Maverick dismissed the group for the rest of the day, citing the reason as "it's a Friday". He told them that they also had the day off tomorrow, but not to do anything stupid. Jenna snorted to herself as she watched him run up to the Hard Deck to go talk to Penny. Friday my ass.

"Harrison, you ready to go?" Jenna heard Rooster ask.

"Yep, sure!" She said. They grab their stuff and start walking across the beach. By now, the sun was high in the sky and the dry sand was really hot on Jenna's feet. She limped across the sand, trying not to make it noticeable that her feet were burning.

Rooster looked down at her, then crouched in the sand. "Hop on," he said, gesturing to his back. Jenna climbed onto his back, laughing. He stood up and started towards their cars. Jenna pressed her cheek onto the back of Rooster's head, his hair warm from the sun. She smiled to herself. Penny was right. This might actually work.

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AN: Thanks for reading!!! Hope you like it!!