Page 109 of Best Year Ever
We quickly get off so I can try to make it a possibility.
First step, I text Taylor:Can you get Grace Battle’s cell phone for me?
Within an hour, Taylor has texted me the phone number as well as a follow-up message:“Not asking any questions, but Landon’s publicist was kind enough to share it.”
Okay, now for the start of the really hard part. This next step could work, or it could go down in flames. It all depends on whether Grace already hates my guts for ending things with Landon.
I take a bite of some pasta salad leftovers that I’m eating for dinner and decide to go for it before I get too nervous.
RORI: Hi Grace, this is Rori Reilly. You may not want to hear from me, I’m sorry. I really messed things up with Landon, and I want to fix it. I could use your help, if you think there’s a chance. Can I call you with an idea I had?
Several minutes later, a reply comes through.
GRACE: Yes, I’m free now.
I click on her name and hit connect.
CHAPTER 40
Landon
I’m at lunch with the linebacker group when Rori’s text comes in.
RORI: Hi. Can you talk?
As the laughter rings out around the table at something Manny said, I consider how to respond to her.
Everything’s going so well on the football field. With team chemistry. With my own play. I don’t want to talk about heavy things with her right now. Dredge all the emotions up from beneath the surface where I’ve currently buried them. Expose myself to get hurt again by her.
So I ignore her message.
And keep ignoring it. Through the rest of practice. Through dinner. Through the next morning and the next day.
And then the next night, it’s finally here—our annual team charity gala. As I get ready, I try not to think about what could have been this evening if everything with Rori had been different. Instead, I want to live in the moment, enjoy this last hoorah with the guys before it’s all business for the season.
The gala is always a shitload of fun. It’s a can’t-miss event thatdraws a huge crowd of wealthy Orlando fans and local celebrities, along with the players and team brass. There’s usually killer music and even better food, and we all cut loose before the season is official.
Making the success of tonight even more important to me is the fact that Grace is helping to organize the auction tied to the event.
She was able to get her work approved as a project for her class on non-profit organizations and has been diligently collecting donations for the auction ever since.
She’s gathered conventional donations like restaurant gift certificates and spa days, as well as more out-of-the box items like having one of our wide receivers mow your lawn. “Hey, I really like mowing lawns,” Bailey said before Grace took him up on it.
I donated a jersey signed by a bunch of us on the team. Maybe not original, but Grace was excited about the prospect of it raising a few hundred dollars.
The music’s cranking when I walk in, a DJ banging out tunes that have everyone bouncing. There will be live music later after the auction, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it that long.
“Hey Landon,” Carter says as we find each other. “Have you met my girlfriend Jessica yet?”
I look over at the pretty brunette on his arm. “I have, at one of our team barbecues in June. Nice to see you again, Jessica.”
She smiles. “Great to see you too. Do you know which table you’re at yet?”
I hold up the card I was given when I came inside. “Yes, table 10? I’m guessing my sister put me at her table too, although she’s co-hosting the auction later so I don’t know how much sitting she’ll be doing.”
“Oh, sweet,” Carter says. “We are at that table, and same with Johnson. Grace put us all together.”
That’s going to be a blast. Grace, the life-saver, again. I excuse myself to get a drink, stopping to say hello to various friends and acquaintances along the way.
