Page 89 of Best Year Ever
In the meantime, all I can think about is Rori. I don’t want her to hear that this has gone public first from a social media post or gossip page. But I’m already late for our daily defensive player meeting, and then I’m due on the field for a two-hour practice. No time to have a real conversation with her, if she’s even available.
I do the only thing I can think of.
LANDON: Baby, whatever crap you hear online today, please know my people are on it. I’ll explain when we can talk. Can I call you at 6ish?
I stare at my phone for a few seconds, but no response comes. She may be practicing right now. I turn my attention back to Lara as she addresses both Jim and Aiden.
“Okay, I think that all works. Hopefully this story will vanish quickly from the headlines. Let me get Landon back where he’s supposed to be.”
She dismisses me quickly after they hang up, and I head out to the hallway, peeking at my phone. Still no response from Rori.
None comes when I’m in the player meeting either, and I’ve got to leave my phone in the locker when I go out to practice.
After a half-assed run through of some new formations withthe guys, I come back inside. I check my phone quickly and I see she’s finally texted.
RORI: ???
RORI: I see it all now. I’ll be free at 6 PM.
In addition to her response, I’ve gotten an email from Jim that includes some links to the now public story—including a response from Trinity that has over half a million views already.
Jim tries to be reassuring. “Trinity has only nice things to say about you in her video, and all the articles are confirming that you’re not the father. I think this will move through the media cycle in just a few days.”
Only I know that isn’t the real problem. I can’t help but hang my head. I hope I haven’t screwed everything up with Rori.
It was one thing when the Trinity situation was a private issue from before we were together. It’s another thing when we’re supposed to make an explosive public announcement that we’re dating in a matter of weeks.
Especially with Rori, who hates the gossip side of public scrutiny.
Fuck.
I walk into my assigned hotel room at 5:45 PM. The complimentary player dinner is open now at the hotel restaurant, but that is not my priority, so I eat a protein bar quickly to hold myself over. Six o’clock cannot come soon enough.
She picks up right away when I call.
“Hey, Landon.” Her voice is soft but neutral in tone.
“Hey, how was your day?” I say, rubbing my hand down my face.
“It was okay,” she responds, her tone still unreadable. “Sounds like yours was a bit rough.”
I chuckle without feeling it. “You could say that. Look, Rori, I feel terrible. If I’d known it was going to go public, I would havegiven you more warning. I thought it wasn’t ever going to get out.”
“I know you didn’t mean for it to happen,” Rori says, her voice a little softer. “How areyoudoing?”
“I’m fine on all the media stuff. Talking points are written, and my team knows how to handle this kind of story. I don’t really care what people say about me. It was you I was worried about. Us. And what the headlines would mean for us.”
“I mean, I’ve known about this, and I trust you,” Rori says. Thank god I told her when I did. “I’m sure it’s not fun to have this story out there.”
“No, it’s not,” I respond, though I’m really thinking more about her than myself. “So you saw some of the online stuff?”
“Yeah,” Rori says, a hint of hurt bleeding into her voice. “Maggie sent me like a million videos about it.”
“Shit. Shit, I’m sorry, Rori.” I grimace at the thought of her having to go through all those texts. I can only imagine what Maggie found online.
I don’t know what else to say at this point. Half of me wants to jump in a car and show up in Tampa so I can hold her until I know she’s genuinely fine.
There’s a two-second pause and I hear her sigh.
