Page 57 of Best Year Ever
When we get to the house, everyone else is already there, waiting for us. “Welcome to our home,” says Maggie with a very bad fake British accent.
“Ha, stick with tennis,” I tease her. Nevermind that I’d been harassing Landon with a terrible fake accent all week myself.
Once we’re all in the house, everyone hugs each other in welcome. I stop in front of Malcolm and give him more of a half hug, since we aren’t really friends yet. He’s undeniably striking—dark brown skin, eyes beaming with warmth, lean muscles carved into a classic lithe six foot two tennis frame.
“Thank you for letting me stay here, Rori,” Malcolm says as we step back. “Peter was saying it’s much nicer than being at a hotel.”
“Yeah, as soon as Wimbledon starts, there will be fans waiting around the big player hotels to try to get autographs,” I explain. “It can be exhausting just getting in and out of them.”
“Speaking of exhaustion,” Julie jumps in. “I’m going to go unpack and take a nap so I can work on the jet lag that’s going to hit us.”
Maggie steps in. “Let me show you guys around. There are seven bedrooms total, and I thought Julie and your dad could grab two of the bigger ones next to each other, Rori? The other rooms are all about the same.”
I give Maggie a pointed look. She knows exactly what she’s doing by suggesting those two be in rooms next to each other.
“I don’t need anything fancy,” I say. “I can grab one of the smaller rooms.”
We claim our rooms officially, and I start to settle in. Unlike Julie, I have no interest in sleeping. The thought of what’s to come has me wired instead.
The grass court season marks one year from when I came back to the circuit after my recovery. I started slow last year, only winning three matches total across the two grass warm up tournaments I played. But then I made it to the quarters of Wimbledon. It’d been huge, my biggest result in a Slam yet.
The wins had done wonders for my belief that I could still compete. I was overcome with relief on the way back to the statesafterwards, with Dad hugging me repeatedly in his own excitement.
This year I’m feeling ambitious. A whispering voice in my head promises that I can win it all. My body’s juiced with adrenaline as I sit here on my bed. I want to win this tournament—badly.
Unlike clay, grass courts work well for my game. So, winning feels truly in the realm of possibilities.
I try to unplug my brain from tennis for a minute, knowing it’ll be a long four weeks before the Wimbledon finals are even a possibility. Checking my phone for the first time since getting to the house, I see a message waiting for me from Landon, with a cute picture of Grover mugging for the camera.
NEW YEARS: Grover wants to know if you find any hot lady dogs over there.
I laugh and write back.
RORI: I see—like father, like son…I mean dog.
Within a minute he responds.
NEW YEARS: Hey, I already have a hot lady over there.
I roll my eyes but cannot keep the smile off my face. This will be the first tournament where Landon and I talk without a “friend-zone” filter on, and I’m excited to have our texts be more like our real conversations, flirting and all.No distractions from guys indeed, I tease myself.
Once I worked up the nerve to ask Landon for something more—exclusive ‘no label’ status, as he joked—I felt calm about where we stood. It seems best not to worry about labels, and enjoy the time we have together.
There was a momentary blip of uncertainty when he shared about his situation with Trinity. I actually knewwho she was because Maggie had sent me some of her viral videos breaking down one of our favorite shows. But after hearing Landon out and knowing nothing had come of it, I decided not to let it get to me. Things are good—and we both have other people in our past.
Otherwise, I’ve been a little shocked at how well we fit into each other’s daily flow. I would’ve thought Landon would get bored not going out to clubs and bars. He’s a twenty-three-year-old guy who could get any woman on the planet. But no, he seems completely content having dinner and couch time with me at my house.
And then the really fun times…are out of this world.
Like Landon said, sex has never been like this before.
Beyond the physical though, I love how intently he listens to me talk about training, prepping, strategy, and how the tour works. He really wants to understand my world and totally appreciates the work involved as a fellow athlete.
That’s true of my tennis friends too, but we’re all sort of jaded about the normal tour routines, so we actually don’t talk too much about them. It’s all fresh and new to Landon.
Admit it, Landon is not what you expected, I think to myself.
Stepping back out to the living room area after I unpack a little, I see Maggie and Peter in the kitchen. They are speaking quietly between themselves, so I can’t hear what they are saying.
