Chapter 30
Johnson
“Four and oh, baby,” Bailey yells at me as we slap hands in the hallway the following Monday. The offensive players are set to meet with the coaches to review yesterday’s game in thirty minutes, and we both just arrived.
That’s right, our team is undefeated after week four. The games are still too close for my liking—we won by less than five points each of the last three weeks—but a win is a win.
“Johnson, Bailey, come talk to me,” Marshall calls out from a different meeting space off in the corner.
Once we’re in the smaller room he’s occupying, he closes the door. Huh, I wonder what’s up?
“I’ve got news you’ll both like, but it won’t hit the press for a bit, so keep it to yourselves.”
Okay, curiosity peaked. “Sure thing,” I respond.
“We’ve signed Paul Graves off waivers to a one-year contract.”
I watch Bailey’s eyes light up. “Fuck, yes,” he says.
I’m not surprised at his excitement—this is huge for both of us.
Graves is an experienced, reliable, former All Pro wide receiver.
Maybe toward the end of his career, but he’s still producing.
It’s great for me, of course, because he’s a much better second option at receiver than we currently possess.
But it’s also major for Bailey because defenses won’t be able just to focus all their coverage on him.
“We want to make that playoff push,” Marshall continues. “And hopefully this is the last piece of the puzzle.”
“Awesome news. When does he get here?” I start calculating how much time we’re going to need to get him up to speed, and how I can help accelerate that.
“He’s on his way now. He won’t suit up this weekend, though.”
I turn to Bailey. “You want to see if he can come to my place tomorrow and we can have an informal practice session on my field? I know it’s technically a day off, but…”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“I never heard any of that.” Marshall chuckles. “But I’ll send you his cell.”
Four wins, undefeated and now truly fit to run for the playoffs.
If I can make it through the dinner with Landon, Rori, and Grace tomorrow, without screwing things up.
Grace and I have been working out how we’ll handle the dinner since Landon’s text came through. So when I wake up Tuesday, I at least have a plan to follow for tonight.
The first thing we decided was that it wasn’t time to tell Landon about us yet. Well, Grace decided, speaking up first on the topic—but I didn’t disagree with her. It’s been almost four weeks, but she hasn’t even spent the night yet.
Which, incidentally, might start tonight, based on her text this morning.
GRACE: I’m bringing all my stuff with me, in case we go back to your place tonight.
Rereading that text shoots a thrill through me. The thought of her sleeping next to me, getting to see her when I wake up—I’m hungry for that with her.
The other thing we decided was to try not to lie about anything else that may come up. Be vague, change topics, whatever it takes as the conversation bounces around subjects. Just don’t lie. Because the more lies that pile up, the harder it may be to come back when we do tell the truth with Landon.
A final pact I’ve made with myself is to keep myself physically separate from Grace. Because, as I showed at Carter’s house, I can’t help touching her if she’s nearby.
When I pull up to Landon’s a few minutes after five, I see Grace’s car is already here. After I knock on the door, it’s Rori that answers, though.
“Johnson, it’s awesome to see you again.” She smiles as the door swings open, Grover at her feet, tail wagging at the new guest.
“Hi, Rori.” I give her a quick and shallow hug. We don’t know each other well yet, having spent little time together because of her traveling on the tennis tour.
And then I nod at the beautiful blonde a few steps behind her. “Hi, Grace.”
Grace sends me a sly look. “Hi, Johnson.” I allow myself to take her in for the briefest of moments.
She’s wearing a form-fitting pale blue polo and tan cotton shorts, along with strappy sandals.
Her hair is down, straight this time. It’s a normal look for a school day, but I don’t want to turn away.
She’s so pretty, and it’s been a week since we hung out.
I make myself snap out of it though, focusing my attention on Rori.
“Landon’s in the kitchen if you want to come back,” Rori says. Okay, here we go.
The three of us walk to the kitchen area, where Landon is tinkering with some knobs on the oven. He looks up and sees me. “Hey J. Thanks for coming today.”
Walking around the kitchen island, I square up once I’m on the same side as him. “Happy to be here, man. What are you cooking?”
He leans against the countertop beside the oven, grinning. “Oh shit, you know me, I’m just reheating some pre-made meals I bought. But they’re really good.”
Rori hangs back on the other side of the island, but Grace swings around to our side, walking towards the fridge. “Do you want something to drink, Johnson?”
Our eyes lock, and I try not to give anything away in my bland reply. “Yeah, water is fine. Thank you.”
But when she lifts the drink towards me, I mess up.
I grab it in a way that makes our fingers brush against each other during the hand off…
and a jolt runs straight up my arm, just from that simple contact.
Grace’s eyes widen slightly, like she’s reacting too, and I think she might have a flush on her face.
I can’t totally see because she pulls her hand back and walks around to the other side of the island quickly.
Why am I so bad at this?
Luckily, it seems like the other two don’t notice.
“Here are some veggies and cheese, if you’re hungry now,” Rori offers, gesturing to a couple of plates on the countertop. “My skills only extend to putting together appetizer platters.”
“We’re a match made in heaven, babe,” Landon teases her.
Grace now safely sitting on Rori’s side of the island, I decide to make small talk. “So, Rori, are you done with your tennis season?”
“Almost done. Just two more tournaments, including one next week. It’s been bananas since winning the Open. I’m ready for a break.”
“Totally get that.”
She reaches for a piece of cheese on the platter in front of her. “The other tournament I have left is the WTA Finals, which is always at the end of the season. There’s some decent points involved for my ranking, so I wouldn’t miss it.”
Landon comes to stand by me, facing Rori over the counter. “It’s her first year qualifying for the Finals. Just the top eight players go.” The pride in his voice is palpable.
Grace turns to her, smiling. “So cool.”
“Yeah, it feels good.”
Having only heard about Rori through Landon for the most part, I like what I’m seeing now. She has a quiet confidence, no doubt—how can she not, being an athlete of her caliber? But she’s also very relaxed, friendly, and open. Exactly what Landon needs.
There’s a brief pause in the conversation while Landon goes back to check on the state of the food he’s heating up. He must like what he sees, because when he pops back up, he says, “Hey, let’s sit down.”
We make our way to the table, which already has four place settings, and I take care to watch where Grace sits. I’m not making the mistake of sitting next to her. Instead, once she claims her seat, I sit on the opposite side.
Only now I realize I’m going to spend the meal staring at her.
“How did the session with Paul Graves go today?” Landon asks, interrupting my train of thought. He’s sitting at the head of the table, and Rori has taken a seat next to Grace.
This is one topic I’m glad to update him on—once the signing became public yesterday, I texted Landon about my plan for the practice session.
“Fucking great. Bailey and I spent about two hours with him. He seems cool. He’s very serious about it all, but we need that.”
“Definitely. He’s probably happy to be back on a winning team.” His previous team, New Jersey, was stuck in the gutter.
“For sure.”
We fill our plates with food from the serving dishes Landon placed on the table, and then comes a question from Rori. “How was your day, Grace?”
“A pretty typical Tuesday.” I almost spit out my water, because I’d bet that’s an inside joke aimed at me. “I ran with this Tolliver undergrad I’m kind of mentoring and then had class.”
I don’t let myself look at her, taking a bite of the manicotti on my plate.
“This is your last semester, right?” Rori asks. “How are you liking your courses?”
“It is. I’ve started applying for jobs for after graduation, actually. There’s a database of openings the Tolliver career office maintains, so that’s helped a ton.”
“What jobs?” Landon pipes up.
Yeah, what jobs? We’ve talked about her wanting to look, but I hadn’t realized she’d begun the process.
Her eyes flick up to me, but then she turns to Landon.
“I haven’t mentioned it because I just started applying Friday, and I’m not super interested in anything I’ve found yet. Lots of entry-level MBA jobs are in the finance industry. But I’ve still submitted a few applications.”
Ah, well, that I understand. Sucks she hasn’t found something she’s interested in.
“You could still intern with Aiden, too?” Landon offers.
“Yeah…” I know why she doesn’t want to, but I keep my mouth shut.
We all go quiet again briefly, and the only sounds are our clinking silverware as we eat and Grover padding around under the table, looking for droppings.
“It sounds like a lot to juggle,” Rori finally says to Grace, who shrugs.
“I’m used to it, to be honest.” Her tone is placating, not bitter.
Landon puts his fork down emphatically, a little dramatic for him.
“Well, we have a bit of an announcement that might make life easier for you, Gracie.”
She looks curious, and I know I am. “Oh, what is it?”
“Rori’s going to train the rest of the year here, instead of at the Pinnacle facility in Tampa. Her coach and dad are finding a rental nearby, and I’m going to help her find a physical trainer since hers has to stay on the gulf coast.”
“I even talked to the men’s tennis coach at Tolliver about some of the seniors helping me as hitting partners,” Rori says to Grace. “Since it’s my offseason after the WTA Finals, and Landon’s in the thick of his season, setting up here made a lot of sense.”
“This is so great!” Grace responds enthusiastically.
“I’m really excited. I’m only here for a couple days this week, but after the tournament next week, we should have the whole thing set up.
Other than the WTA Finals, I’ll be able to stay put and be with my guys.
” She glances at Landon and then Grover, who’s gone back to sleeping on his bed in the corner.
I just have one question, based on what Landon said earlier. I probably shouldn’t ask it but I can’t hold myself back. “Congrats, this sounds great, Rori. How does this impact Grace?”
Landon nods, like he knows this is a missing puzzle piece to fill in, and then swivels to look at Grace.
“Well, you know I’ve got your back financially, but I think it’s time for you to retire as my ‘personal assistant.’ With Rori here for the rest of the NFL regular season, she’ll be able to take care of Grover, run any errands, etc.”
“So I’m fired,” Grace jokes.
“Yeah, I’ll write you a good letter of recommendation though,” he teases back. “No, seriously, Gracie, focus on finishing school and finding a job you like.”
She smiles at him, and I can see she doesn’t mind this news at all. “Thanks, Landon.”
He looks satisfied with her response as well, and glances up at Rori displaying a level of happiness I’m not sure I’ve ever seen. Maybe when we won the national championship at Alabama.
The emotion on his face makes me turn to Grace, and I find her already looking at me, wearing a sly expression again. Suddenly, I discover—specifically, feel—why. Underneath the table, her bare foot touches my ankle and slides up my leg to my knee. She must have taken off her sandals.
Of course, my dick is immediately responsive to our skin-on-skin contact, and the promise of more. But I shake my head at her the slightest bit, knowing this is too dangerous, and try to convey the warning message, “don’t start, Goldie,” with my eyes.
I can’t wipe the grin off my face, though, at the thought of Grace wanting to push those boundaries with me. And when her foot drops off my leg, I shoot her a wink so she knows I’m not upset at the gesture.
“So what are you doing with your two days here?” Grace asks Rori as the moment is broken.
Rori shares their agenda for her visit, and the rest of dinner is filled with small talk about all the places Rori should explore in the area, now that Landon and her are public. Grace and Rori even make plans for a hike when Rori’s back in town.
Once dinner is over, we hang out another forty-five minutes until I see a pointed look from Grace. Message received.
“Hey guys, I’m going to take off, with practice tomorrow and everything.”
Grace follows the cue. “Me too, I’ve got class in the morning.”
We spend five minutes collectively saying our goodbyes before Grace and I leave the house.
When we reach our cars, I breathe a literal sigh of relief. Grace looks over at me, having heard the sound, and smiles.
“We made it,” she teases.
“No thanks to that move under the table, Goldie,” I say back. “But you can make your apology at my place, if we’re still hanging there?”
“Yes, please.”
I never get that apology.
But I do have fun paying her back in my big whirlpool bathtub, with the removable nozzles that gush water at high pressure at all the fun places on her body…