Page 53 of Lucky 22

“Were you a baseball fan before the two of you met?”

“So, did you meet him through someone on the team, or was itlike a random thing?”

“Has Christian warned you about how crazy the fangirls get?”

“You’ll learn. It’s a very different world dating aballplayer.”

I’m only halfway through my glass of orange juice, and myhead is already spinning. The questions come at me in rapid-fire succession.They’re all smiling, but I can already tell that they’re sizing me up andtrying to decide whether or not I’ll fit in.

“And you’re an…actress? It’s going to be reallytough for you to see each other if you’re working.”

I don’t miss the hint of disdain in that question.

My smile never falls, but I’m completely relieved when I’mdone answering their questions and can finally sit back and listen to who theyare. By the time lunch is served, I’m mentally exhausted and just want to goback to my room and cry. Christian is at practice, so I need to have my minimeltdown before I see him. There’s no way I’m going to burden him with this.Maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but I get the feeling that I won’t make anylifelong friends here.

Even with a ring on my finger.

I know he warned me it could be like this, but I reallythought he was overreacting.

Now that I’ve experienced it firsthand? I don’t know if I’mgood enough of an actress to pretend I’m okay with it.

It’s a completely different world, and I’m utterly out of myelement.

I think I’m totally pulling off the I-had-a-great-dayvibe when Christian and I meet up for dinner, but he takes one look at me andimmediately knows something’s wrong. We don’t even make it to the elevatorbefore he turns us around and heads back to my room.

“What happened?” he asks gently.

“What do you mean? Everything’s fine,” I lie, but he seesright through me.

“Ella Rose?” And then he sits down on the corner of the bedlike he’s got all the time in the world to wait.

Ugh…

“Fine. I got the feeling that…” I groan, totally aware ofhow this sounds like I’m whining, but I do it anyway. “It felt like I was underthe microscope, and no one really liked what they saw.”

He doesn’t say anything, so I go on.

“I’m used to people asking me all kinds of questions aboutmyself, and I don’t have a problem with it. But this time, it was like…”Another groan. “I don’t know, Christian. Maybe I’m wrong, but…” I sigh and sitbeside him, waiting for his response.

His expression is fierce. “Were they mean to you?”

“What? No. No, everyone was very nice. Everything they said,they said with a smile. I can’t really put my finger on it. It was the waythey asked the questions. I felt like I was on the witness stand and they werethe jury. I could feel their judgment.”

He nods.

Pulling me into his embrace, he holds me. “I’m sorry, EllaRose. I was hoping it wouldn’t be that bad.”

“Me, too.” We stay like that for a while, in our littlecocoon, away from the outside world. This is where I want to stay. I’m donesocializing for the day. All I want to do is order some room service, curl up,and watch TV—just the two of us. That’s our thing, our safe space.

Unfortunately, I know that’s not going to happen. He madedinner reservations at a fabulous restaurant, and up until a little while ago,I was really looking forward to it.

Maybe it won’t be so bad to get out.

That’s what I tell myself as I look up and meet his gaze,kissing him softly on the lips.

“Do you feel better now?” he asks.

I nod, even though I’m not really sure.