Page 126 of Running
We spend a few beats in the hug and then separate.
“How about that run now, Grace?” she says.
“Let’s go.”
My heart warms up before my body—I think Jasmine’s going to be alright this season.
Sunday comes quickly, and around noon, I head to Landon’s house to meet Rori and my brothers, who are in an Uber from the airport.
“Look, we match,” she says with a laugh as she opens the door. She has on a jacket with a large #55 (Landon’s number) on the back, made by the clothing company she and Landon represent, Triumph—and so do I, because Landon had them make me one too.
“Oh shoot, do you want me to change?”
“No, no, I don’t care about things like that,” she says to me, smiling. “It’s fun to be twinning.”
That’s what is great about Rori. She could be a mean girl—she’s so tough and competitive in her tennis—but in reality, she’s been super friendly and genuine in our interactions. Funny and a little sassy, yes, but not at the expense of others.
When the boys get to the house all tired and grumbling from the airport, I hand cups of coffee to them and they perk up.
“I fucking love when we get together for our birthdays,” Rawley says as he gives me a bear hug post-coffee. “Even if I’m dragging here.”
My birthday is in the football off-season, so it usually involves more of an outing, but for Landon’s birthday, we’re just doing a family dinner tonight with Rori after the game.
“Everything’s all set for tonight,” Rori says. “Food orderedand all that jazz.” It’s nice not to worry about the logistics with her around.
In the meantime, there’s a game to be played. Not wanting to deal with the crowds right around game time, we leave the house early, at two.
“This is cool,” Connor observes as we enter the suite at the stadium. It’s his first time in one, since we always sat in the general family seats when he was here previously.
At an NFL stadium, a suite is no small thing, either in terms of size or cost. There are multiple rooms, including the “deck” type area with twenty-four seats banking the end section towards the field, and two other spaces further back where it’s easier to be private from the crowd and cameras.
“Con, let’s go sit over here,” Rawley says, pointing to a space in the back of the suite. They peel off to do their own thing.
Rori and I hustle down to the front row of the deck to sit and then Jessica walks in shortly after. Johnson had also given me carte blanche to invite friends, so I asked her if she wanted to watch the game with us.
It turns out that Rori had met Carter earlier in the year when he’d joined Landon at a match in Miami, so she and Jessica bond over that connection quickly.
“Oh yes, he was talking about the concerts you have been to with my bestie Maggie!” Rori remembers. “Sleep Token was one, right?”
Jessica’s voice goes up two octaves as they talk animatedly about music, and I take the time to check on Pam, who settled in the opposite section of seats. Lainie had decided to stay home with the kids, since she doesn’t like watching Johnson get hit. Pam and I catch each other’s eyes, and she smiles.
“You want to join us over here?” I ask.
“Sure, that would be great!” She walks over and sits behind me, and I introduce the other ladies to her.
The game doesn’t start perfectly, but it’s not bad either. Johnson is able to make a few key short throwsbefore finally finding Bailey for a thirty-five yard play. They can’t convert the gain into a touchdown though, with the Dallas defense smothering the receivers for the rest of the downs. The Waves kicker Del boots the ball through the uprights, so we take a 3-0 lead.
“Better than nothing, better than nothing,” Rori chants quietly to herself as if trying to calm her nerves.
The next three sequences are equally intense. Unfortunately, Dallas gets a touchdown when one of the Waves cornerbacks slips, leaving a wide receiver open. 7-3, Dallas is up.
But then we come back and score a touchdown in return, our running back breaking through a few times for some larger gains. Johnson himself runs it in from the eight-yard line. 10-7, we’re up.
“Look at your man scoring a touchdown,” Jessica teases me in a whisper.
“Shhhhh,” I say to her, covering my mouth to hold in my giggle.
We finally hold them in the next sequence. Landon gets a sack on a third down, setting up Dallas’s punt and giving us the ball back.
