Page 58 of Running
I know this may be a loaded question, after my confession of how lonely I get sometimes. But I don’t want that to be a focus of tonight’s conversation.
JOHNSON: Yes, I’m about to turn on some baseball. I’m good.
My fingers stroke the keys, deciding where to bring the chat next. I’m the one who texted her after all.
Set up some time to talk to her after the game.
There’s a flash of uncertainty whether I should since I don’tknow yet exactly how I’d want to move forward with us, but it doesn't last long. If anything, I wish she were here with me at this moment.
JOHNSON: I meant what I said last night. Do you want to come over Monday night?
Five seconds pass before the response comes in, and I hold my breath waiting, before the three dots turn into words.
GRACE: Yes, that works.
Okay, this is good. At least I won’t have to stew over when we’ll see each other after the game.
The next challenge is that I promised we’d figure stuff out, and I still have no idea what that looks like.
JOHNSON: Awesome, I should be home from practice by six thirty.
She puts a heart emoji on my message.
My heart twists a little when I realize I should text Landon next, make surehe’sokay.
JOHNSON: Hey, sorry we didn’t talk much today. Hope things went how you wanted with Rori. I’m here if you want to chat.
He never gets back to me, which is a little off. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about Rori yet?
At practice the next day, he seems better, though. We still don’t have any private time to speak, but he’s loud and cheery, and throws me a wink when he breaks through the line to tap me during our scrimmage.
The next night, the team stays in a local hotel, typical for NFL teams even for home games. Being together the night before the game helps minimize distractions and keep everyone focused.
I also enjoy it for some major team bonding. After a few hoursof hanging with the offensive linemen in Carter’s room, I head back to my suite. With the quiet enveloping me as I lie down to fall asleep, I feel the urge to text Grace again and ask about her day.
This time, I resist.
Take it slow, Samuels.There’s so much to figure out and I don’t want to move faster than Grace.
As my eyes close, I try to stay concentrated on tomorrow, giving myself a pep talk about the game. But the memories of kissing a certain beautiful blonde are what flash in my mind as I finally drop off to sleep.
I wake up that morning to a message from a different Battle though.
LANDON: Wanna grab breakfast?
Finally.I can see what’s going on with him.
JOHNSON: Yeah, give me 20.
LANDON: Just come to my room actually. 615. I’ll order us food.
That’s a little weird. Normally we’d be downstairs in the player dining room the hotel organizes. He must want to talk privately.
A wash of nerves sweeps over me. He couldn’t have heard about my conversation with Grace, right? I mean, how would he?
This has to be about Rori?
It turns out the second guess is right.
