The Screw Ball (Indianapolis Lightning Book 3), Samantha Lind [the unexpected everything txt] 📗

with a large cup with piping hot water in it, along with a small basket of assorted teas and the tiniest little bottle of honey that I’ve ever seen. It is so little and cute; I can’t get enough of it. It reminds me of getting the mini ketchup bottles when you order room service at a fancy hotel.

“Do you get to travel with the team often?” Lucas asks once we’re in the air.

“Playoffs are usually the only time I go, unless we’ve got a special event going on over a road trip. Otherwise, I just do my job from the office,” I tell him.

“What made you want to work for an MLB team?” he inquires.

“I interned for the Lightning when I was still in college. I loved the atmosphere, and all that came with working for a professional sports team, that when they offered me a job after I graduated, I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been with them for the last six years already and was promoted to my current position about a year and a half ago, when the former manager left for another company.”

“So, like me, your hard work paid off,” he muses.

“I guess you could look at it like that. Those first few weeks as an intern were brutal. I didn’t know anything—anything—about baseball. I’d probably been to two, maybe three games in my entire life before getting the job, so I had a large learning curve when it came to the game, and hell, I still don’t know everything there is to know about the sport.”

“That’s pretty funny, the girl that knows nothing about the sport gets an important job within a sports organization.”

“My friends and family were all a little shocked. My brother, although not a huge baseball fan, is still a bit jealous, if I’m being honest,” I tell him. I don’t know why it all of a sudden feels natural to open up and talk to Lucas. Maybe because he’s the one that initiated this conversation and has opened up to me some already.

“What does he do?” he asks.

“He’s in the Army, has been for around twelve years already. Went in straight out of high school.”

“Cool, do you have other siblings?”

“Nope, just my bother. He’s married to his high school sweetheart, Heather, and they have my nephew, Simon. What about you, you’ve got any siblings?”

“I do, my sister, Tiffany, is basically my best friend. She’s married to my brother-in-law, Brad, and they also have a little boy, Milo, who is about three.”

“Oh, that sounds like a fun age. My nephew is about nine months old, so still is a little on the innocent side.”

“Milo is a fun little kid. He’s an uncle’s boy, that’s for sure. If I’m around, he won’t listen to anyone but me. It drives my sister and brother-in-law crazy. He’ll sometimes cry for me, which breaks my heart when it happens and we aren’t in town or I can’t go to him.”

“Oh, they live in Indianapolis?” I ask, a little shocked that he has local family. “I didn’t think you were from around here,” I tell him.

“I’m not but it’s been fate, I guess. Brad was offered a job in Indianapolis shortly after he graduated with his MBA, so they packed up and moved here. Then, when I was drafted, it felt like fate was at it again, and again when I was called up to actually play for the big team and not in the minors.”

“Definitely sounds like a lot of fate working in your favor.”

“It really was.”

“Does your sister work, or does she get to stay home with Milo?”

“She’s home with Milo,” he tells me, but the way he says it, I can tell he’s holding something back.

“That’s great! Have they made it to any of the games?”

“A couple, but the evening ones make it a late night for Milo, and they are a bit long for his attention span.”

“I can understand that.” I chuckle. “They’re sometimes long for me.”

“Blasphemy,” he says dramatically. “So, what do you like to do outside of work?”

“I sometimes forget what it’s like to have a life outside of work. When I’m not putting out fires from Friday night shenanigans,” I tell him, giving him a pointed look, “I like to start my weekend off with some yoga. Other than that, the normal things, reading, hanging out with friends and family, traveling.”

“What is number one on your wish list of places to visit next?” he asks.

“Well, that depends on what the trip is for. If I’m looking for an exploration type trip, I’d love to go down to Peru and hike my way around for a week or two, or maybe down to Africa and go out on a safari or go to one of the giraffe sanctuaries. If it’s a relaxation trip, maybe with a lover, then somewhere that we can just lay out on the beach and be in the water. Book a bungalow that’s out over the water, like in Bora Bora. I’d also love to make it up to Alaska at some point and spend a few weeks just exploring.”

“I take it you don’t get to travel as much as you’d like to?” he asks, breaking into my thoughts.

“No, I don’t like to take time off during the season, as that is when I’m busiest. That leaves the off season, and well, that doesn’t leave me with all that much time, and some of the places I’d like to visit need to be visited during the summertime. So, until I either decide that it is okay to take off time during the season, or move on to a different job, I’ll stick to traveling during the off season.”

“I can see how that would be limiting.”

We fall into a bit of comfortable silence, long enough that I open my laptop back up and take care of a handful of emails. Most are simple things I’m able to easily answer.

I sneak a few peeks at Lucas while I