Page 73 of Totally Fanatic

Lion turns in his seat, smiling up at me and passes me the black pen we used for the hat. The guy’s eyes go to Lion, then tome, and I swear his face goes three shades brighter red than it was when he walked up.

“Thanks, babe, won’t be long. Hey, fellas, we got another one,” I call as the Banana-Rama guy hands me a poster he’s picked up at the game concession stand. It’s a photo of the whole team dancing on the field taken earlier in the year after one of our wins against Animal Control. I sign close to me on the poster and pass it down. “So, did you like the game?” I ask him.

“It was… great. Umm, the double out was cool. I’ve never seen a win that way.”

“You were in the section where the Big Banana season passes were, right?” I ask, and sweat starts to dot his forehead as he tries to avoid looking at Lion.

“Yeah, umm, I bought them for my ex, but I kept them when we split.”

“Sorry to hear that,” I say, checking on the poster that’s making the rounds. “That explains the empty seat beside you all night, then.”

“Yeah, umm, home games I can usually find a friend to come with, but the away games are harder. You know, people have work and stuff.”

“I get it. Hey, Lion, your sister finds people for your spare ticket every week, maybe she can hook… sorry, what’s your name?”

“Stuart,” he says with a nervous grin.

“Do you think Mouse can hook Stuart up with people to fill the extra seat?” I don’t know where this comes from. But true to form, Lion doesn’t even hesitate.

“Sure, I mean, she’s already doing it for me. You want me to give her your number? I will warn you, though, if she knows you’re single, she’ll choose people she thinks you will match with, like on a date.”

“Oh. Umm, that’s okay. I… why?”

“She’s a romantic, and she’s also making this app thing, so she’ll—“

“No, why are you offering to help me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I wasn’t exactly… nice to you today.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

The poster gets handed back to me, and I step closer, passing it over to Stuart.

“Because Lion is an amazing guy, who doesn’t judge people. Here’s your poster. I think we got everyone.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, and Lion stands to shake his hand. The whole team is watching us now.

“No problem. Pop your number in and I’ll send it off to Mouse. She’ll get in touch about the ticket for your next game, and hey, I guess I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, umm, sounds good. Thanks again,” he says, and he puts his number in Lion’s phone and leaves.

“I totally thought you were going to go off on that guy,” Duckie says when we sit. “I saw him saying shit to Lion all day.”

“I wanted to,” I reply, and Lion’s hand rests on my thigh under the table.

“I’m glad you didn’t. He seems alright,” Lion says.

“You say that like you want to be friends with the guy now or something,” Duckie says, and I laugh a little, because I know Lion. He’ll have this guy blown over by his awesomeness in no time.

Lion shrugs. “Who knows, a guy can always use more friends. Oh, hey, did you guys see the smoker Tim got?” he asks, opening his photos on his phone, but then he locks the screen when he sees the only photo he has of the smoker also has him sitting on it like he’s riding a bull.

“We can show them in person next week in Savannah,” I say, nudging his side. “Game night at my place next week, who’s in?”

Chapter twenty-six

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