Page 63 of Lucky 22

And hope my curiosity doesn’t get the best of me.

Two weeks later, we land in Orlando, and I’m shocked when alimo picks us up.

“Christian. What in the world…?”

He’s smiling, clearly enjoying my joy.

My next surprise is when we pull up at the most deluxe hotelof the Wonder Land Resort. “Are you kidding me?” I ask excitedly. “We’restaying at The Grand Brightwater?” I cannot hide my wide-eyed wonder.

This is like…top tier. It has always been my dream to stayhere, but it’s completely out of my budget. I’ve come here to just walk aroundso many times, dreaming of the day I’d be able to afford to stay. I can’tbelieve I’m going to be staying here.

We walk into the lobby, and it’s just as magical as Iremember. The Grand Brightwater blends Victorian romance with storybookelegance. I feel a little like royalty as I walk in. The decor is all softblush and champagne tones, antique gold filigree, creamy marble floors, andcascading chandeliers shaped like floating glass petals. The architecture feelsgrand but intimate, less palace and more enchanted lakeside manor.

The hotel’s signature scent of white magnolia and vanillamusk with a faint note of honeyed amber greets guests in the lobby. I alreadyknow they sell candles and lotions with the scent, and I will want to take themall home with me. I’m already wrapped up in the ambience and feeling right athome.

But one of the coolest things about this resort? At night,the entire lobby glows in rose-gold light from hundreds of tiny sconcesdesigned to look like fireflies in glass.

It’s magical.

And I’m staying here!

I think I know what Christian has planned for us, but Idon’t want to jinx it and even say the words to myself. This is wildlyromantic, and he’s making one of my dreams a reality.

By the end of this trip, I have a feeling that one of my biggestdreams will have also come true.

He gets us checked in, and we walk through the atrium—asweeping glass-roofed conservatory at the heart of the resort, filled withliving greenery, a trickling fountain, and moonlight that spills in after dark.A pianist plays soft instrumental Wonder Land and Storyteller classics that Irecognize from my childhood. The music drifts up through the balconies of theguest floors.

Magical.

Our suite is positively decadent and has a perfect view ofthe storybook castle right in the middle of Wonder Land’s signature park. Iopen the door that leads out to the balcony, feeling like a kid on Christmasmorning. I don’t think anything could be more perfect than this.

Then I turn around and find Christian down on one knee.

Oh, my goodness…

My hands immediately fly up, covering my mouth as I lookdown at this incredible man who clearly knows my every wish.

He lets out a soft breath. “I never thought my hands wouldshake like this.” Then he seems to relax. “Ella Rose, I’ve played in front offorty thousand people. I’ve stood on fields where every breath feels like itmatters, and every mistake echoes for miles. I’ve faced pressure, expectation,noise…and somehow, this moment is louder than all of it. Because it’s you.”

His lopsided grin is so freaking endearing that I don’t evenlet him say anything else. I’m instantly in his arms, saying, “Yes! Yes!”

We’re both laughing, but then I realize he probably plannedto say more. I sit back on my heels, holding his hand, and smile.

“When I met you, I thought I was pretty solid. I had mycareer. My plans. My future mapped out like innings in a game. But then youwalked into my world, and somehow everything—everything—got better.Brighter. You turned the spotlight into something warm instead of blinding. Youmade all the miles, all the airports, all the games feel like they led mesomewhere worth arriving.

I’ve always talked about being a team. That’s how my brainworks. Wins. Losses. Commitment. Showing up. Pushing through the slumps.Celebrating the victories. And I realized somewhere along the way that everytime I thought about the future, it wasn’t just me on the field anymore. Youwere there, too.”

I reach up and caress his powerful jaw as he continues.

“You, laughing in the stands. You, singing in the car intoan inflatable microphone. You, reminding me I’m more than what I do. You, beinghome…no matter where we are.”

Tears sting my eyes, and my heart feels ready to burst.

“I don’t want us to be two people trying to balance separateworlds. I want us to build one. Together. I want to face the noise with you. Iwant to come home to you after the great games and the terrible ones. I want tocheer for you when you shine and hold you when the world gets unfair. I wantevery chapter, every season, every impossible, beautiful, ordinary day…withyou. So, this is me, right here, heart wide open, doing the scariest andeasiest thing I’ve ever done all at once.”

I know what’s coming, and yet I still hold my breath.

“As I look into your eyes—the same eyes I saw for the firsttime by chance on a plane and then at a baseball game while you were wearing myjersey—I see the same ones I want to look at for the rest of my life.” Hepauses. “Ella Rose…will you be my teammate for life? Will you marry me?”