Page 116 of Best Year Ever
She doesn’t hesitate in her response.
“Yes, Landon. It’s what I want. Some stuff my family has said to me lately has made me realize that I’ve been using tennis to feel complete and happy, shutting out everything else. But now with you, I’ve learned there’s so much more to a full life,” she says, raw emotion in her voice.
I nod to show I’m hearing her.
“I want all of it—youandmy tennis. And I don’t want to let myself get thrown off by some random press articles, stuff people are saying. Like, who cares, as long as we can be together?”
“I feel the same about that,” I respond. “Always have. The articles, gossip, paparazzi—that all comes and goes. It’s not real life.”
She gives a small smile at my words. “I feel so lucky to have found you,” she continues. “So blessed that you came into my life. You’ve become my best friend, in addition to the sexiest man I’ve ever met.”
“Luck is the starting place, and friendship for sure too,” I reply. “But we’re going to have to grow together in this thing. I’msure I will screw up as well. Both first-timers at relationships and all.”
Her smile grows. “To be honest, I think you’re going to be a natural at being a boyfriend, the way you take care of everyone. Take care of me.”
Then her face goes serious again. “You can trust me, Landon. And I do trust you. Completely.”
I walk over to where she is sitting on her stool and rest my hands on her hips.
“Then that’s that,” I say, giving her a soft kiss, sealing our understanding.
Rori leans in again to grab another kiss.
“I needed another one,” she says as she sits back up.
“There may be more in the works,” I say, finally feeling ready to flirt with her. “As long as I’m still the sexiest man you’ve ever met.”
She laughs and wraps her arms around me. I reciprocate, pulling my hands from her hips to wrap them around her body. Our hold on each other is tight and firm.
I pull slowly away a few moments later. “I plan on more of those too. In the meantime, let’s eat before I overcook this rice.”
“Yessir,” she says, getting up and heading to the cupboards. Out of the corner of my eye, as I get the food plated, I watch as she sets up two table settings at the dining table. Looking like she belongs here.
My heart swells. I’ve got Rori back.
Our conversation at dinner flows easily. I fill her in on all the pot-stirring Johnson did during the auction, which makes her laugh. She gives me the play-by-play of all the Tessa insanity, which I had only seen in passing. We also talk about schedules, so we can maximize our time together for the next few months.
“After the U.S. Open, my schedule will ease up so much. We’ve got a couple remaining tournaments. Otherwise, I’ll only have a handful of appearances and commercial shoots, that kindof stuff,” she explains. Then with a giddy tone, she says, “I can start going to your games.”
“You better,” I tease. “You owe me after all these tennis matches.”
“You love watching them,” she teases back.
“I do,” I acknowledge. “But yeah, we’re going to be stuck navigating football for the next few months. It’s pretty inflexible through the playoffs.”
“We’ll do what we have to do,” she says with a soft look on her face that sends a bolt of warmth to my heart.
Suddenly, it feels like she is too far away. I grab the wooden bar on the base of her chair and pull it so that her chair comes closer to mine. Without skipping a beat, I bring my head down to hers, locking our lips together.
This time the kiss feels more emotional. When she subtly parts her lips, I slip my tongue in, feeling the softness of her mouth. As she moans in response, I circle my arms around her.
This kiss feels like a promise to each other, building from all of the spoken assurances we have given over the last twenty-four hours.
Another piece of my heart mends.
When we finally break apart, we look at each other for a moment and smile.
CHAPTER 43
