Colliding Love - Tucker Billi...

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 All the nooks and crannies that once had other side projects or charity work have been superseded by the Bullets, and more specifically, Logan.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."

"Why can't we just tell people that we're casual? Having fun?"

"Those are the kinds of relationships that stay in the dark when you're famous on the island, which you both are. A Tucker and the star player? Did you really think this would stay out of the spotlight? And you showed up to the palace when the press was already there? Sawyer, honey, this was a launch. A clumsy one, but a launch nonetheless."

"He didn't want to hide."

"There's not hiding and then there's what you two did."

I sigh and sit on another bench on the opposite side of the room.

"You're really not serious?" She holds up her hands. "I'm not judging."

"We're not serious."

"Can we pretend like you are?" Tamiko lets out a shaky laugh. "Get Logan to actually start commenting to the press and other people in a way that'll be helpful."

"What's he been saying?" Now that we're together, I don't obsess over his interviews anymore, trying to read into every little thing he says. As soon as he can get away, he comes straight home to me. I hear it all in person.

"No comment. He's got "no comment" out before a reporter even gets past the first syllable of your name. He told me, and I quote, 'I don't give a flying fuck what people think.' But his refusal is damaging his brand, which is also bad for the Bullets' brand."

"Right." I run my hands along my thighs. With Dalton, I had to watch everything I said and did in public, which I'd been used to considering. You can't be raised by Celia Tucker and not think about those things. But it was tenfold with Dalton, partly because of his intensity, and partly because I wanted to please him. I never worried as much about that with my mother. No matter what, even if I let her down, she was still my mother.

I never really considered what I was letting myself sink into with Logan. My life under a microscope—again.

Maybe I did realize, at least subconsciously. I haven't touched any of my socials since that night at the palace. If I don't look, the judgement doesn't exist. Terrible logic. But when you're happy, it's easy to dismiss anything that brings you down as unimportant.

"I'm really not sure I want the spotlight," I say.

"You've already got it," Tamiko says. "Is that why you and Dalton broke up?"

"What do you want Logan and I to do? What does "pretending to be serious" in a media strategy look like?"

"He needs to talk about you when asked, and he can't seem grumpy about it. People will interpret that as him being unhappy with you, not the question."

"I'm sure if you ask him—"

"Come on, Sawyer. He's still the same guy."

"I'll ask him."

"Thank you."

"And?"

"Consider yourselves a public property couple. Assume there are cameras on you at all times, especially on the island. And for god's sake, avoid confrontations with your ex-boyfriend that end up plastered all over local news, please."

I stare at her as I realize what she means. Oh, god.

"You really have been holed up with him, haven't you? None of your family's said anything?"

The only one who'd mention my foolishness is my mother, and I blocked her number. Maybe Maren, but only if it made me look bad. My father believes that all press can become good press with the right spin, and he's probably delighted I appear to be with Logan making him "happy".

"Camera caught the exchange between you, Logan, and Dalton. The press have gone with variations on jealousy—Logan's jealous, Dalton's jealous, you're torn between two lovers. Stupid shit. But there's no counter narrative, and the two of you left me out to dry."

I close my eyes, and I cringe at any version of a love triangle being out in the world.

"That narrative, if we're not careful, will only get larger if Dalton takes over Alex's position in dealing with the team."

"That won't happen."

"Actually, it might. I've been hearing it's between him and Klaus. The Advisory Council likes the idea of a naysayer keeping the team's budget in check instead of a yes-man who lets the cash flow."

"Dalton having anything to do with the team is a recipe for disaster."

"I'm more concerned about how it looks between the three of you. What I'd like to see is you and Logan established in the media and the court of public opinion as a completely solid, genuine couple. Make Dalton the interloper."

"And how would we do that?"

"I have a plan," Tamiko says with a wry grin. "But I'm not sure if you or Logan will like it."

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