Page 60 of Best Year Ever
Just a few more days to go.
We text a lot during the days, helping them move quicker. The guys are constantly roasting me for being on my phone when we’re hanging out and begging me to tell them why I keep checking it.
“Battle, bro,” said Carter during one of our recent group meetups. “What’s up with you? You trading crypto or something? Why do you keep checking your phone?”
Chad looked quizzically at me too, waiting to see how I answer. Johnson—who thankfully kept his mouth shut about the real reason I’m watching for messages—sent me a look with one eyebrow raised.
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty heads about, boys,” I said to deflect his comment. “What’re we doing for Coach’s birthday tomorrow?”
I was able to divert their attention that time, but even if they kept teasing, nothing would stop me from watching for more of Rori’s messages.
The first few days she was overseas, I was bummed about missing a couple of times when she was online and available.
I haven’t let myself think about it too deeply, but my phone has stayed by my side now whenever possible.
Which gets to another new development—we’ve finally started exploring phone sex. With the new direction of our situation, we realized on her first night in the UK that there are other benefits while she’s traveling.
Initially, it was awkward, because neither of us had ever done it before, with anyone. By the third day, however, we found our groove.
Now it’s my new favorite daily activity while she’s away. If I have to use my hand for weeks, at least it’s with Rori on the other side of my phone.
This morning marks five days left in Orlando before my London trip. Coming off of my lifting session in the Waves gym, I eat lunch quickly.
Now that we’re in the more serious stretch of preparation for the season, I have to be mindful of my calorie intake. I need about 4500 calories a day to fuel the demands of our days. It takes planning, so a trainer steps in during the season to make sure I have proper meals on hand.
After lunch, I get a text from the team’s PR assistant, Molly, saying that they’ve freed up an office for my afternoon interview on a popular sports podcast, The Bros Know.
The hosts are two brothers, former football players who like to keep things lively and to break news whenever they can. Hey, I can’t blame them—they were able to sell ownership of their podcast for over $100 million last year. That kind of bank is worth a little pot-stirring.
As my team’s Head of PR would be the first to tell me, my job is to break zero news and cause no waves, pun intended. At this point of my career, I’ve had extensive media training to prep me for these types of interviews. Over the years, I’ve gotten even better at being myself—entertaining and amusing—without revealing anything that’s meant to stay quiet.
Still, I’m wary of what could slip out unintentionally if I don’t stay on my guard. With the Trinity situation over, I have a green light from the PR folks to be in front of the press as much as needed.
But they don’t know that I’m in a secret relationship with America’s newest tennis star.
“Hi, Landon,” Molly greets me as I enter the dedicated office for my remote interview. “Let me get you set up.”
After she has all the tech in place, I say hello to Justin and Terry, the two hosts, whose faces are now on the screen in front of me. I’ve been on their show twice before, so it’s a comfortable start as we move onto the interview.
“Landon Battle, so nice to have you back! How’s your offseason been?” Justin asks.
“I went on a few adventures, a little of this and a little of that,” I say with a wink, before turning more serious. “But it’s almost football time now. I’ve been pretty locked down in Orlando lately. You can usually find me in the team facility these days.”
They give a small laugh. “Well, I’m sure the Orlando fans love the sound of that. Can we talk about your new draft picks this season? How is Manny Lachance going to impact your defensive lineup?”
I respond with a solid PR-approved answer, and they continue to focus on football, asking about our game plan on defensive formations and some of the competition in our division.
This occupies a solid ten minutes of the interview. Then Terry jumps in with a new topic.
“Landon, let’s go back to some of your adventures earlier in the offseason. I’m sure our listeners would love to hear more. You went to Asia and Australia, I believe?”
I nod in response. “Yeah, I try to get out to see new places when I can. Growing up the way I did, in a middle-class family with four kids, traveling overseas was an expense we couldn’t afford. So it’s really amazing to be able to take those trips now. Took my brother too.”
“It was Rawley, right? I can’t help but ask—is he coming out for the draft next year?” Justin prods.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that, as you can guess,” I say with a laugh.
“Justin, leave the man alone, we’re not getting that out of him. So back to the trip, Landon. What were some of the highlights?” Terry asks.
