Page 61 of Lucky 22

We landed in St. Louis an hour ago, grabbed our luggage atbaggage claim, and then picked up our rental car.

It’s a little like déjà vu.

We went from the warmth of the California sun to the ice andwind of a St. Louis winter. I think my body’s in shock.

Now, we’re driving through the frigid January wind that’swhipping through the streets. Everything is gray, wet, and gloomy. And then itstarts to snow. It’s like when Dorothy woke up in Oz, except we went fromTechnicolor to black and white.

Of course, that’s a bit dramatic, but it was that drastic achange.

We’ll be here for a week. The Archers have several eventsthey want Christian to take part in, but that doesn’t start for another twodays. We wanted a few days to ourselves to get acclimated.

And from the looks of things, we are going to need it.

We check into our hotel, and it isn’t until we’re in ourroom that I start to warm up.

Literally.

I sit on the bed, and Christian’s immediately there besideme. “So? What do you think so far?” He takes both of my hands in his largerones to warm them up, a lopsided grin on his face. I look up into those blueeyes I love and want to pretend we’re anywhere but here right now.

But that won’t help anything.

“Um, it’s…cold,” I say with a laugh. Luckily, he laughs,too.

“Yeah, that one’s going to take a while to get used to.Although I’m already looking forward to spring training being in Florida.” Hegrins. “But it’s not bad, right?”

“It’s hard to tell anything about the city yet,” I reason.“Once we go out and explore, I’ll share my opinion.” I playfully nudge hisshoulder. “But I think I’m going to need to wear more layers if we walkanywhere.”

He laughs again. “Same.”

When he gets up and shrugs off his coat, I sigh withappreciation. I don’t make a habit of openly ogling him, but…come on. The manhas a very attractive physique, and I can’t help but sit back and admire itwhen the opportunity presents itself. He stretches and goes over to the windowsto look out at the city, and I follow. “What about you? What do you think sofar? You know, other than the cold. Do you think this could feel like home?”

“It has to. The contract is signed, and this is home for thenext three years.” He’s very casual about it. Like it’s no big deal.

“Oh.”

When he turns his head, I realize what I did.

“Ella Rose?”

That’s it. Just my name. In that deep timbre of his.

“Okay,” I begin after letting out a shaky breath. “I’mnot…I’m not loving this. Not right now. I’m sure I will in time, butthis truly rocked our world, Christian. It popped our perfect bubble.”

He leads me back to the bed to sit down. “Believe it or not,I feel the exact same way. This wasn’t part of the plan, but everything gotripped out from under me. This is something I have to do. Maybe I should havediscussed it more with you, but I thought you were okay with it. I hate thatI’ve upset you.”

“I’m not going to lie, I was devastated. Everything Ithought we were working toward changed.” I sigh. “Plus, there was just so muchgoing on between everything with the Magic, your dad, and the holidays. It wasa lot to take in.” Another pause. “But I know change can be good. It’s allabout how we look at it, right?”

He nods, his expression tender. “I’m hopeful that after thisweek—once we meet the team and tour the stadium and find an apartment—all ouranxiety will be gone. If you think about it, it’s kind of exciting.”

Is it?

“When we met, we were both established in California. Youhad your life in LA and Hollywood, and mine was in Newport Beach and Anaheim.It was easy to slip into each other’s lives because everything was there. Butthis? This, we’re building together. We’re making a home here. You and me.”

“I love the sound of that. But…I’m not going to be livinghere a lot of the time.”

“It doesn’t matter. This will still be our home. Not memoving in with you, or you moving in with me. It’ll be ours.”

I feel the first twinge of excitement.