Page 30 of Best Year Ever
I let her enjoy those first few sips after joining me at thebreakfast table in this monstrous kitchen. She looks at my phone, which still has the screen lit up.
“You reading on the kindle app?” she asks, teasing more than serious.
“No,” I say with a chuckle. “Checking out sports scores and such. Some of the veterans across the league may be announcing their retirements soon. Once you’re facing mini-camps and training camp, it creates a reckoning of whether you have another season in you. So I was seeing if there was any buzz about a few people.”
“Football gossip, in other words,” Rori says, winking at me.
“Something like that,” I say. “So when do you have to leave? When’s your flight?”
She checks the time on her phone. “I still have about forty-five minutes.” She looks up at me for a beat. “Normally I would see if you wanted to have some sexy shower time, but I need to move quickly to clean up, get ready, and organize my things. Most of my stuff will be with my dad, but I did bring a couple of bags to Miami. We’re going straight to Austin from here.”
While I’m sad about missing everything that “sexy shower time” would have involved, I don’t want her to stress or feel pressure around our dynamic. I promised her I was only asking for one night.
“No worries at all,” I say to Rori. “Go shower, get ready, get your bags packed. I’m going to chill with my coffee, if that’s okay.”
She gives a big smile as she stands up to start getting ready. “More than okay.”
Forty minutes later she comes out of the bedroom. She has on light pink capri pants and a white loose tank. She apparently washed her hair, because it’s loose and down, shiny and bouncing. Glossy lips are the only indication that she has any makeup on.
I stand up from the kitchen table and walk to her. Still feeling a little grungy from my own lack of shower, but I ignore it.
When I reach her, I give her a hug—warm and two armed,but not super tight. I don’t want her to feel like I’m being emotional.
After a few seconds, we step apart again.
“You ready to crush it? You feeling good?”
“I need about eleven billion hours of sleep after last night,” she says, giggling. “But yes, ready.”
She starts to pick up her bags and pauses. “Thanks for last night, Landon. Another one I’ll not forget.”
The smile on my face widens. “Me neither.”
Then I can’t help giving her a reminder of what she promised yesterday. “And seriously, Rori, text me anytime if you want to stay in touch.”
“Yes, I want to keep talking,” she says, keeping her eyes locked on mine, as if to show she really means it.
“Am I still ‘New Years’ in your phone?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Oh, that’s not changing, superstar.”
And she gives me one last grin with that remark before walking out, clicking the door shut behind her.
Next stop, Texas.
CHAPTER 11
Rori
Iboard the airplane to find Julie and Dad sitting inside already, next to each other. It’s otherwise empty.
“I can’t believe you got us a private plane, Dad,” I say as I approach their seats.
“A direct result of your success, sweetheart. This client was so excited to hear I was Rori Reilly’s dad,” he chuckled. “I had to practically beg him to take some money for fuel and the pilot’s time.”
“This is perfect, Rori,” Julie agrees. “You can stretch out and we can talk over some of the strategies I’ve got in mind for the first match.”
“It’s perfect for us, but not for the environment,” I jump in. “Let’s just make sure the carbon credits are taken care of too, Dad.”
