Lean on me

Chapter 26

Jensen and Sloan didn't wait for the others to eat. They simply sat down and ate quietly. "So what do you have planned?" Sloan asks as she gets up and puts her plate in the sink. 

"Just get dressed in your workout stuff and meet me outside." He instructs. Sloan nods, still curious, and walks upstairs to her room. 

Sloan grabs her usual workout clothes and tosses them on her bed. She locks the door before pulling off her tank top and shorts. She pulls on her grey sports bra and black leggings that have a white design spiraling down the legs. She brushes out her hair and goes downstairs, carrying the brush with her.

"Can you braid my hair for me?" She asks Jensen, sitting on the couch next to him. He nods and Sloan hands him the brush before turning sideways. Jensen puts her hair into two dutch braids before standing up. 

"Ready?" He asks.

"I just need to get my shoes but then I'll be ready." She tells him. Jensen shakes his head. 

"You don't need 'em." He says. 

Sloan stands up and follows him to the backyard where she sees a skateboard that was missing its wheels balanced over a wooden board that was elevated by two bricks, two more boards on either side of it. Sloan raises a brow at the setup. 

"You are going to stand on that skateboard and try to balance while staying up."

"Seems easy enough." She says with a shrug. "How long?"

"Sam as yesterday. Ten seconds." He answers. Sloan nods and walks up to the boards. She puts her hand on Jensen's shoulder as she steps up onto the skateboard. "Move your feet out some." He instructs, kicking at her feet. The teenager huffs and moves her feet until he stops kicking them, standing with them almost shoulder width apart.

"Better?" She asks. Jensen nods, stepping back and crossing his arms as he inspects her footing.

"Perfect." He says, stepping forward again. "Now, I'm gonna move these boards," he says, gesturing to the two outer boards, "and I want you to stay up for at least ten seconds." Sloan nods and braces herself.

Jensen walks forward and yanks the two boards away at the same time. The skateboard wobbles slightly and Sloan almost falls. "Adjust your footing if you have to." He instructs. "You can move as much as you want on a surfboard. This is just to help you get your balance back." 

Sloan nods and slowly inches her feet inward until she feels like she's balanced enough. She moves her right foot too far to the left and makes the board wobble violently. Sloan is unable to recover fast enough and the board flips over. Sloan falls and hits her shoulder on the ground, causing pain to spread through the stump. She cries out and sits up, grasping her shoulder. Within a second, Jensen's on his knees in front of her.

"Are you alright?" He asks worriedly. Sloan nods, blinking away the tears. She can't tell if they're from pain, embarrassment, or frustration. Probably all three. "I'm sorry. Maybe we should have started with something easier." Sloan shakes her head and stands up.

"I'm fine." She tells him. "How long was that?" 

"Five seconds." Jensen tells her with a sigh, standing up. 

"Let's go again." She says, walking to the board. Jensen sighs again but doesn't argue as he follows her to the boards. 

He places the outer two back in their places before putting the skateboard back on top of them. Sloan steps up and adjusts her footing before nodding. Jensen slowly pulls the boards out and Sloan wobbles slightly before adjusting her footing again, bracing her legs like she would on a real board.