Page 123 of The One for Me
Tears fill Austin’s eyes, but he doesn’t let them drop as Sean makes introductions and we move farther onto the field.
“Oh, wow!” Austin’s voice goes higher. “You’re friends with Easton Wylder?”
“Yeah, he and I have trained together. He thinks he’s better than I am, but you know...” Sean winks, and Austin goes back to staring at the field.
“Is that Chase Stern?”
“It sure is.”
“He’s the best shortstop in the whole league!”
“Don’t let Knox hear that . . .”
Austin covers his mouth and then looks around. “This is the best day of my life.”
In the wake of the most horrific tragedy, Sean was able to give him a miracle. Instead of Austin being closed off, stuck inside, and remembering all he lost, he was given a gift. A moment where all the world could be okay again.
Sean lifts him into his arms. “I’m glad, buddy. I really am. Now, let’s go give these guys a run for their money.”
He takes off, running toward the base, and the tears that didn’t fall from Austin’s eyes drip down my cheeks. In that moment, I know that my heart will never be the same again.
* * *
“You ready to see where I live?” Sean asks as he pulls the car into the underground garage.
“We are!” Austin answers. “This is so cool. I’m getting to go to Sean Arrowood’s house and see where he lives and sleeps and dreams of baseball.”
And Sean’s back to being a hero and baseball god, not that he ever really lost that status. Hell, if anything, he’s probably reached walk-on-water status. Austin and Sean are two peas in a pod. They speak the same language, and it’s incredibly endearing to watch.
“None of that crap, we’re friends,” Sean tells him and then parks. “Also, no snapping or gramming or whatever it is you kids do. This is a social-media-free zone.”
“He doesn’t have social media,” I say and then turn to him, suddenly not so confident. “Do you?”
He laughs. “Dad said I wasn’t allowed until I was forty.”
“Good plan,” Sean agrees.
The three of us head into the elevator, and he punches in a code. “If you want to go in or out of the apartment, you need the code, okay?”
“My birthday?” I ask him.
He doesn’t look the least bit embarrassed. “It’s a date I never forget.”
“Because you stole my last cupcake?”
Sean smiles and then gives me a brief kiss. “I’ll steal a lot more than that.”
He’s already stolen it, but I don’t tell him.
We ride up to the top floor, and when the doors slide open, we walk out and right into his apartment.
Wow.
I try to take it all in. This place is magnificent. The floors are white marble with plush rugs in areas to define the spaces. There is a huge television on the wall with a sectional that looks as if it were made for the place.
Sean walks deeper into the apartment, and I follow. The kitchen is one hundred percent him with the dark gray cabinets and white countertops that make it masculine and soft at the same time.
“Want anything to eat?” He opens the cabinet and grabs a bag of chips, holding it up.
