Page 18 of Totally Fanatic

“That’s awesome. Is that why you go to all the barbeque places when you’re on tour?”

“I like to see what good barbeque is out there, yeah. Umm, how did you know that?”

“You posted about it last year. Remember, you had that picture of you and some of the guys from the team at Brend’s Steak House. It looked great, but I bet yours is better. You’re great at everything you do, that flip you did to catch the fly ball the other week was insane. I got it on camera, too. Did you see it?”

“That was you that posted that video? I knew it. You’re Kittyball100.”

He blushes a little, and it’s too freaking cute.

“Yeah. I umm, I just wanted you to see how cool it looked from where we were. The crowd loved it. It must be hard learning all the dances, plus trick plays on top of practicing the actual baseball, too. You’re amazing at it all, though.”

His words send a rush of energy through me, similar to what I get seeing all the posts and comments online but amplified somehow. I don’t hate it.

“I try to visit a new place in every town we hit on the tour. Do you cook?”

“Sort of. I make things. I work at a cafe in town, Mary Beth’s cafe. You met her at the restaurant the other week. She’s my boss.”

“What cafe?” I ask, and he sits on the side of the lounge, the sun rising behind him illuminating him in a golden glow. He looks like a god. A really fucking gorgeous god. I should probably be freaked out that he knows where I live. Duckie thinks he could be dangerous, but he’s not. I don’t know how I know that he’s not. I just do. He’s sweet, and he cares about people. About me. I like being cared about. I’ve been on my own for so long, looking after myself has become the norm, and it feels nice to have someone else want to do it.

“The cafe’s called Sweet Blossoms.”

“Oh, I know that place, it always has the flowers on display.”

“I do those. I make the fresh sandwiches, too. Mary Beth does the coffee.”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s great. I get to work every day with my best friend, and she’s already approved every day I need off for Banana Ball season. I have one of the Big Banana season passes, so I’ll be at every game this year.”

“Wow, so you’re traveling along with the tour, then?” I knew he was a fan, but every game? That’s commitment. If he’s only working at a cafe four days a week, how can he afford to travel to all the games? She can’t pay that well. Maybe he saved up for it or has another income. Maybe he plans on hiding out on the tour bus with the team, like a stowaway in the luggage compartment. Okay, that’s not likely, and we’ll be flying to a bunch of the games, not like he could hide out on a plane. Not that he could hide anywhere. He’s the kind of guy who stands out in a crowd.

“Yep. My sister and brother got it for me. It comes with two passes, though, so she’s lining up fans who couldn’t get tickets to join me at each away game.”

“That’s cool.”

“Yeah. I mean, she is totally going to try to use it to set me up on dates. I don’t want to be set up, so hopefully she starts choosing women or old people, they are loads of fun at games.”

“Yeah, they are always fun to hang out with pre and post games, too. I met an old guy last year who used to play ball back in his hay day, he said he wished it was this much fun back then. I should have seen if we could have gotten him more involved in the game, I reckon he would have loved it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, next time you have a great idea like that, you should go for it.” His stare moves to the horizon, and the light catches his hair, making it shine like a golden mane, and I imagine running my fingers through it.

“I will,” I say, and Lion stands.

“I better get going or Mary Beth will try to organize the display again. I hope you’ll be well enough to play this weekend. I’ll be there, I have a BnB booked for three nights.”

“Yeah, me, too. Thanks again for the soup. It was really sweet of you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He heads down the fire escape, and I move to the edge to watch him go. His broad shoulders barely fit inside the cage surrounding the ladder. He jumps the last few rungs down to the ground and lands in a soft thud. He pulls on a helmet before jumping onto his push bike and riding toward town. I watch him until he turns a corner, and it’s only then I realize I was hoping he would look back my way.

Chapter eight

LION

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