Since I was a kid, making it into the World Hockey League was the ultimate goal. No relationship could match my first love, and after my rough childhood, I wasn't putting my heart on the line.
When Bellerive makes a successful bid to move the Califo...
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Tamiko doesn't book an appointment or send me a text, she just shows up at my office. Bituin has just left for the day, and I don't have any pro-bono clients coming. The Bellerive Bullets plane, with Logan onboard, departed for their streak of away games this morning.
"Can we talk?" Tamiko hitches her purse higher onto the shoulder that isn't propped against the door to the workout room.
Feeling a bit at loose ends, I've been disinfecting the equipment while I consider how I'm going to fill all the free time I have with Logan off the island. It's been strange to realize the way he's seeped into my life. All the nooks and crannies that once had other side projects or charity work have been superseded by the Bullets, and more specifically, Logan. The last time this happened to me, I ended up regretting making someone else the focal point of my life.
"If you lock the front door," I say, wiping down a weight and setting to the side, "you can have all the time I've got—which happens to be a lot today."
She leaves and returns a second later, wandering around the space, taking in the equipment. "I'm not judging—"
"You came to talk about Logan?"
"You and Logan. Hard launching at the stray animal fundraiser at the palace? Do you have so little respect for what I do?"
Her tone is teasing, but when I stop cleaning to look at her, I realize the tone is the lie.
"He asked, and I just... I didn't think about the optics." I did, but more in relation to me than the organization or Logan's life or what Tamiko would have to deal with as the manager of Logan's image. Forgetting all those pieces makes me feel like an idiot. Selfish, even.
"I asked Logan what's going on, and he told me that you two are super casual and not serious at all." Tamiko huffs.
My stomach sinks at her words, even if they're true, even if they're the ones I would have said if anyone asked me.
"But I know you're smarter than that. Bellerive society isn't going to take the appearance you two made at the charity event as casual."
"I haven't been on social media to see what's being said."
"Would not recommend," Tamiko confirms. "A cesspool of misogyny and ageist comments that wouldn't be made with the same vitriol if the age gap was reversed." She stops at a weight bench and sits down. "If you two are happy, I just need to know how to spin it. I'm assuming this has been going on for a while?"
"Um..." This is where I have to admit all the rookie mistakes I've made—let him make—even though I know better.
Tamiko drops her purse to the floor like a weight, and her eyes widen. "No, no, please tell me this isn't new? That you didn't leap into the spotlight without considering all the consequences? When I saw the photos, I was pissed you didn't loop me in, but then I thought that it was okay because you knew what you were doing. You were raised in this world. Am I the idiot here? Now I feel like I'm the idiot."
