Page 104 of Best Year Ever
She stands up and walks over to me, giving me a big hug. I wrap my arms around her in turn.
Grace and I’ve been through so much together at twenty-three and twenty-two. She knows exactly what I need in times like this. Nothing better than a Battle family hug.
“I’m here if you want to talk about it,” Grace says inside the embrace. “Love you so much.”
I stay silent, and after another few beats, we break apart. She sits back down at the dining table, and I grab a bottle of water from the fridge before sitting down next to her.
Letting out a pained groan, I bring my hands up to my face,then push them back over my hair before they drop back down to my side.
“I don’t know what to think anymore, Gracie,” I whisper, unable to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Maybe I’m meant to be alone.”
Grace’s face twists in sympathetic pain. “Oh, Landon.”
I sit back in the chair, bending my head slightly back, and close my eyes.Just keep breathing.
“I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it yet.”
Suddenly I hear Grace clicking on her phone. She sets her phone back down, and I hear a ringing sound, indicating she put the phone on speaker.
“Hey,” Rawley says through the phone.
“One second,” Grace tells him. “Let me add Connor.” Within a minute, he’s joined the call.
Grace has called in the cavalry.
“Boys,” she says. “Landon’s had a rough week. Let’s pick him up a bit.”
“Shit, whatever’s going on, I’m sorry, Landon,” Rawley jumps in. “I know we’ve texted a bunch, but I just gotta say how grateful I am. You did everything you could to fix my situation.”
The interview with Jalen hadn’t gone perfectly, with Rawley not hitting his talking points as well as Jim had wished. But we’re hoping that his clear-eyed and passionate words about loving football will be what sticks, as long as he doesn’t screw up during the rest of his time in college. Only time will tell what the NFL teams will care about come draft day.
“Just doing my brotherly duty,” I say back, my voice more muted than it would be normally.
“You do a lot of that,” Connor says. “Love you, Landon.”
Neither of my brothers know about Rori, but that doesn’t matter. We spend fifteen minutes catching up on everyone’s lives, including Rawley and Connor’s preseasons so far. It’s exactly what I need.
As we start signing off, I share as much. “Thanks guys, this helped a lot.”
“‘Better together,’ right boys?” Grace adds, referencing our rally cry when we were going through everything with our parents.
When we finally hang up, Grace studies me. After a beat, she puts her hand lightly on top of mine.
“We’re the Battle family, Landon. You’re never alone.”
I give her a small smile, and she heads into the kitchen, grabbing something before walking by me again.
“C’mon,” she says, gesturing to the living room, holding two bowls in her hand. “Let’s watch a movie.”
I follow her there, willing my brain to forget all that had happened over the last few days.
Being at home, with Grover and Grace to keep me company, my body recovering from the rigors of camp—the combination of those things work to balance out my hurt a bit.
Most of the time though, it’s like I still haven’t even accepted Rori and I are over. Like Rori’s on a trip to a tournament or something, and busy. Denial in full effect.
However, I still feel a deep emptiness in the moments when my mind slips back to her. When I want to talk to her, but remember that she isn’t here, isn’t reachable. Which is way too often.
Basically, I’m an emotional shitshow.
