Chapter 21
Landon
Rori gets all the way to the finals of her warm-up tournament in Eastbourne, England, before barely losing.
This gorgeous woman, secretly FaceTiming with me every night for weeks now, is cooking with gas on the court.
Now that Wimbledon has started, coverage of her matches is broader. I not only watch her early round wins on TV, but also get treated to the highlights again during my regular sports news programs.
Watching her matches is one thing, but it’s almost a more surreal experience to see your girl on the screen of your favorite sports news show. Yeah, you guys don’t even know how amazing she is, I think as I listen to them chat about her play.
The highlights show how on fire she is right now, as she stalks the court with full confidence in all the action shots.
Her curly hair braided back like she is in battle mode, legs flexing with the movement, eyes crinkled in focus.
And then when they show her waving and smiling to the crowds after her wins in the early rounds, she looks so happy and proud.
I’m proud of her too, watching her. I cannot wait to get to London to see her in person.
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.
I smile at the memories that flood in, prompted by his question. “So many. Singapore is such a beautiful place and a very interesting blend of different cultures. And then I got to see some of the Australian Open tennis tournament, that was fun.”
Be careful, Landon, my inner voice says.
“I’ve always wanted to go down under,” Terry says, nodding.
“How about those young American tennis players?” Justin adds. “Malcolm Solomon was a surprise result at Paris, and this year Rori Reilly’s winning so often. Did you see either of them at the Australian tournament?”
Careful. “I didn’t see Malcolm play, just practice on one of the side courts. But I did see Rori, yes. We actually have an ad campaign coming out together.”
I think my voice pitched up a little on that last sentence. Shit. Red alert, caution, say less, the inner voice says more loudly.
“That’s cool,” Terry says. “What’s she like?”
Double shit. I can’t not answer.
“She’s obviously a killer on the court, but she’s also really fun and genuine. We had a great time.”
DON’T SAY MORE, that pesky inner voice shouts.
God, I think I might be blushing. Mercifully, Terry seems to accept that answer.
“Okay, man, well, we wish you the best for the new season. Maybe come back mid-season so we can break down how it’s going,” Terry says.
I sign off, and Molly, who has been watching off camera, takes care of disconnecting all the tech.
“That went well,” Molly said, smiling. “I was watching the comments in the chat room, and they were generally positive.”
“Generally,” I respond with a laugh. “That’s sports fans for you.”
I walk out of the office and head downstairs to see who is in the linebacker room. Each position has a space where we can gather as a group, which is a nice way to create a community vibe as a leader. Finding the room empty, I step out and run into Johnson in the hallway.
“Hey, you looking for your guys?” Johnson asks.
“I was just seeing who was around,” I explain. “I was on The Bros Know just now and I don’t have any agenda for the day, other than getting a lifting session in.”
“And maybe watch some tennis?” Johnson says, wearing a smirk as he lightly slaps my arm.
“Nope,” I snap back, looking around to make sure no one is listening. “With the time difference, all the matches are over now.”
“Yeah, the fact that you knew that and I didn’t says it all,” Johnson replies. “There’s always replay.” He walks away laughing.
I’m glad he didn’t stick around to make me reply.
Because watching Rori’s first round match on replay is exactly what I plan to do.
When I get home, true to our pattern, I FaceTime Rori after I stuff down some dinner. It’s right before she’ll go to sleep because of the time difference.
When I connect the call, she’s under the covers, makeup free and ready for bed, which somehow makes it feel more intimate.
“How was your team stuff today?” she asks with a yawn after we’ve been talking for a few minutes.
I tell her about dodging and weaving during the podcast interview and then, happily, make her laugh with some of the hilarious crap that went on at the gym.
“Everyone was so punchy today. They kept doing ridiculous positions with the weights, and it kept getting stupider, but we couldn’t stop laughing. Like one guy had his leg twisted around a rope pull, then wrapped it around his arm.”
“OMG,” she says, cracking up.
“Then we convinced one of the rookies that whipped cream and peanut butter sandwiches were the secret go-to meal for all the top players,” I add, unable to stop chuckling.
“I wish,” she says. “That actually sounds delicious.”
Our chats no longer stuck being “friends only,” I let loose my unfiltered thoughts.
“I wish I had you and some whipped cream right now.”
“Okay, that sounds even better,” she says, her voice taking on a slightly deeper tone.
It takes a little longer to hang up that night.
Another four days of solid workouts, as well as a three-day OTA, follows. By the time I land in London, there are a lot of numbers in the mix from the last week:
33400 – the amount of calories I’ve consumed
46 – the hours spent training or practicing
5 – the hours spent talking to coaches
4 – the hours spent dealing with Orlando and national press
4 – the amount of matches Rori has won to make it to the Quarterfinals
87 – the number of texts Rori and I’ve sent each other, despite the time difference
My body has finally reset to its in-season baseline, so I brought one of my personal trainers, Ryan, to stay on track. Truthfully, if it wasn’t for Rori, I might have bailed on this trip and stayed in Orlando to keep up the momentum on my preparation for the season.
For my time here, Grace managed to find a rental house near Rori’s, even though she’s staying in Orlando because of business school. Thanks to Ryan’s own planning efforts, the house is stacked with portable workout equipment and healthy foods.
Once our taxi driver drops us at the house, I throw my things in one of the bedrooms and sit down in a chair.
Priority number one is texting Rori. It’s been three weeks, and I’m so fucking excited to see her.
LANDON: Here
RORI: Okay yay! I’m going to try to escape the army of people in the house and walk down there. Julie said she’ll cover for me with my dad as long as I promise to be back home by nine.
Did I mention that Grace, goddess that she is, had found a place not only near Rori’s rental but also only ten houses away?
LANDON: Let me meet you so you don’t have to walk alone.
RORI: I’ll send you our address! I’ll meet you in my backyard. I already scoped out the fastest route to walk.
It’s getting real. I’m going to be able to hold her, kiss her, soak up all things Rori. I head to the bathroom mirror and do a check. Deodorant on, check. Hair reasonably neat, check. Nothing in my teeth, check.
You’re smooth, Battle, I think, internally teasing myself.
Ryan says goodbye a minute later. When I asked him to come, I had explained that this first night I would be busy, so he made plans to head to a pub for a few hours to meet a friend and watch a soccer match.
The house will be empty for Rori and me.
After making sure that I have the keys to the place, I step outside. In typical England fashion, the skies are overcast, but the July air is warm.
I walk in the direction of Rori’s house and pull down the baseball hat I threw on to mask my identity.
Granted, the everyday Londoner is going to have no clue about who plays linebacker in “American” football.
However, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear the paparazzi are stalking Rori’s house if they’d located it.
My feet move quickly past the ten houses separating us. I see Rori’s silhouette in the backyard. She’s wearing a miniskirt and t-shirt combo, but I can’t make out the details. What stands out more is that she has a bucket hat on, and has seemingly stuck her curls under it.
I cannot help but smile at the idea of Rori trying to disguise herself in a bucket hat and miniskirt.
She turns, and her eyes find me. “Landon,” she says in an excited half-whisper.
“Baby, you look so cute,” I say as I close the final steps between us and take her in my arms.
Our hug is tight and firm. We both stay quiet and hold each other while breathing in and out in tandem.
I smell the lemon scent of her favorite soap cutting through the air, and with our bodies locked together, she’s lined herself up against me.
All the nerves I felt about seeing her again fade to nothing. What’s left behind is a word I’ve never spoken about a woman in my life.
Mine.