Page 18 of Lucky 22

When I open my eyes again, I still feel a bit nervous, butmostly, I’m good. Perhaps even a little excited. I turn off the car, toss mykeys into my purse, and climb out. The door creaks loudly as I shut it, and Icringe with embarrassment.

It is what it is I remind myself as I follow thethrong of people and make my way up to the ticket office.

Here we go.

Chapter Four

I see him in the distance.

At least I think it’s him.

When I head toward the clubhouse after the game, he walks myway, and I just know. I smooth a hand over my hair and then along my hip as Iwalk, giving him a small wave.

The corner of his mouth curls into a smile. He slows hispace, his eyes never leaving mine, and for half a second, I swear he’s fightingback a grin.

My stomach flutters. That subtle, knowing smile—like he’sboth happy to see me and amused by me all at once—makes my pulse skip. I biteback a grin of my own, suddenly hyperaware of how my heart is hammering, andthink, OMG, he’s even better up close.

I suddenly wish I had taken everyone’s advice and looked himup online so I would have something to say, because right now my mind iscompletely blank.

Well, except for the part focused on how handsome he is.Blond hair, a lean, athletic build, and the closer we get, I notice his smilemore and more. My heart skips a beat.

Is this what it’s like when you meet your person? The one?

“Ella?” he asks when we’re close enough.

I nod. “Hi, Christian.” Not sure whether we should shakehands or hug, I go in for the hug and say, “I’m a hugger.” We embrace, and Inotice that he smells good. He’s not wearing any cologne as far as I can tell,but just his natural scent is worth bottling and selling.

“I’m glad you made it. I know stadium traffic can bebrutal.”

We step apart, and I miss the feeling of our closenessimmediately. “It wasn’t too bad. I made sure I left early so I wouldn’t belate.”

“Would you like a tour?” His smile seems genuine, and I aminstantly lost in his bright-blue eyes.

What did he ask? Oh! A tour.

“Sure. That sounds great.” I answer, and his eyes crease inan almost smile.

For the next few minutes, I get to experience the Magic’scomplex with my own personal guide as he gives me a behind-the-scenes tour. Hishand lightly brushes mine and lingers, and I do my best not to sigh dreamily.

There’s only a handful of people lingering after the game,and it’s cool experiencing this without all the noise and crowd.

“Do you want to go onto the field?” he says, his voicecarrying a hint of excitement. He puts his hand on my lower back and guides metoward the outfield gate. When he touches me, I instantly get full-body chills.I wish he would keep his hand there and pull me in for another hug. “There’s nobetter view in the entire stadium than when you’re standing on the field. I’veplayed in hundreds of games, but this view never gets old.”

We walk onto the outfield grass, and the view is beautiful.“It takes your breath away,” I say, in complete awe of the stadium around meand also the man standing right in front of me. We keep walking toward centerfield, and he pulls out a baseball.

“I heard it was your birthday, so I wanted to give you agame ball to remember this special date. I hope it’s okay that I signed it toyou.”

I am truly speechless in this moment and cannot get over howsweet and thoughtful this man is. I look at the baseball on which he wrote: Happy22nd birthday, Ella. Best wishes, Christian Lucas.

I look up at his blue eyes and give him a big hug. “Thank youso much, Christian. This is such a kind gift. I didn’t tell you it was mybirthday because we were already meeting under unusual circumstances, and Ifigured if I threw the whole birthday thing out there, you’d probably run awayas fast as you could,” I joke. “I didn’t want to add any additional pressure toour date.”

“Well, my sister googled you, and she gave me strict ordersnot to show up empty-handed,” he says with a slight laugh.

Suddenly, there’s silence between the two of us, but it’snot awkward. There’s a palpable energy, as if the rest of the world has pausedand we’re the only two people in it.

I break the silence. “Remember when I mentioned how I washere for a game a few weeks ago?”

He nods.