Page 19 of Running
His eyes take me in with unexpected softness and understanding.
“Let’s change that.”
CHAPTER 6
Johnson
Of course, I don’t need to be on this run, but I couldn’t resist offering to join Grace when she mentioned it. The idea of her continuing to avoid me didn’t sit right after the other day at my house.
And now, there’s a possibility I can help with a solution to her problem, so the run has a purpose after all.
I don’t want to get her hopes up before I have real information to share, so I hold my tongue until we get back to the house.
Once I step out of a quick shower in Landon’s bedroom, I throw on spare clothes I had in my car and text Lara, whose number I have saved in my contacts for any pressing PR issues.
JOHNSON: Are you still looking for Molly’s replacement for the auction?
A minute later, an answer comes through. Lara’s never far from her cell phone.
LARA: We are. I’ve barely had time to work on it this week.
I click on her number so we can have a phone conversation.
After she greets me, I get right to it. I need to see if I can pull this together before Landon and Grace want to start dinner.
“Thanks for answering, Lara. I have an idea.” I proceed to explain Grace’s project, and how it could be the perfect fit if she picks up the auction planning.
Predictably, Lara’s PR brain goes right to Grace’s last name. “So we’d have a Battle working to get the donations lined up—a Princeton grad and Tolliver Business School student no less—and the foundation may not even need to pay her depending on her school rules for her to get credit?”
I was pretty sure Grace couldn’t accept a paycheck if she was getting course credit. Money wasn’t the issue on either end anyway. “Yes. It seems ideal.”
“That it does. How can I get in touch with her?”
I pause. Sending Lara straight to Grace may seem overbearing. Our relationship arguably hasn’t even earned the title ‘friends’ yet.
“Let me speak to her first. I’m at Landon’s house with her now, so it won’t take long.”
“Excellent. Send her my way if she’s interested.”
I hang up and get all my dirty things from the bathroom, crumpling them up and throwing them in my gym bag I’d grabbed from the car.
When I step out of the bedroom, I steer towards the kitchen where Landon’s moving around.
“You ready to eat?” He’s put out three place settings and there are a couple of serving dishes in his hands as he walks to the dining room table.
“Definitely.” I walk over to the table and grab a seat. “Grace not out yet?”
“No, she’s still in her bathroom getting ready.” Apparently Grace has her own suite since she’s here so often.
“So everything went well with Rori in London? I mean other than her loss earlier.” In the Wimbledon finals this morning, she’d lost pretty handily to a British teenager.
“We didn’t get a ton of time together, but it was fuckingincredible.” Landon takes his own seat. “I like her so much, J. More than I’ve even told her yet.”
Studying him, I notice he doesn’t seem stressed by that prospect, just excited.
“Yeah, probably would’ve been hard to talk much about your relationship when she’s fighting to win a tournament.”
His brow crinkles. “Now that she’s lost, I’m trying to be there on that front for her too, athlete to athlete. She’ll bounce back, but it went down in the finals in a pretty shitty way.”
