Page 5

Chapter 5

Logan

Mystery Girl is sitting next to me. Her name is Evie Moreno. She doesn't look at me like she wants to dissect me anymore, she doesn't seem to remember me, and my limbs have gone stone cold. After years of wondering what her name was, why she left like she did, and if she thought about that night as much as I did… Now she sits next to me, impassive, unaware of the questions multiplying in my mind.

My heart beats fast, doing everything it can to pump blood into my extremities again. It barely works. Worse, I don't have the time or space to process the shock. My stomach is on the floor, because Selena wants to push the TV special further than I expected.

It's one thing to have every move I make on the field recorded, exploited for social media and the Sunday shows. Another is to have a TV crew following me off the field and making a spectacle of this year. Worse, if the interviews they want ask for more than I'm willing to give.

I already have the attention of everyone on staff, of fans in their homes, hell, even my teammates. That's something I've learned to live with. It's part of the job. All I have to do is help take the team to the playoffs, and everything else will fall into place on its own.

The part I dread is being accosted on the streets, dealing with people who think they get to know my deepest secrets because I play their favorite sport. I want to excel at this game I love, have a team to be loyal to, and a small circle of friends to call my own. Beyond that, people get to enjoy the game with me, not question who I am. I doubt a TV crew would honor my boundaries.

I study Selena's face carefully, seeking more clues— or an exit— and keep still so as not to show my reaction.

"I'm listening." My words are about buying myself time more than anything.

I grew up with the few family meals we had disrupted by the demands of the team and the public. Every outing resulted in being swarmed by my father's fans. Plans cancelled because of an interview. Learning who he was from the write-ups in magazines, rather than a chat between father and son. This is to blame for how detached we are from each other— it robbed me of having a close knit family. My whole life has been distorted by my father's fame, and I've been trying to detach myself from it for a decade.

It's ironic, really. Football was supposed to pay me back by giving me a team to be close to. A family of sorts. All I had to do was find the right people, and prove myself my own man. Discovering how powerful I felt while playing was the gift I didn't expect, and what kept me going despite every frustration. The game became my refuge, when teams fell apart and people compared me to my father.

My career is my own. I've learned from how my dad handled things, and I've kept the media at a distance. If I don't give them extra material, no one gets to see me for more than what I can achieve on the field. It's the one thing I can do to prevent the intrusion.

I badly need time to work something out. I can't lose that distance from the media now.

Selena is serious as she speaks. "I don't want to lose this project. I want to take it farther, and that's why you're here, Evie. The show is one thing, and we definitely need to keep an eye on it to make sure it fits the story we're telling, but we can do more."

The owner turns to the woman I've thought about for years, sitting so casually next to me. Sunlight shines in the office, and it casts a glow on her I could get lost in.

Evie. I like the sound of it. Finally putting a name to the memory comes with a shake to my foundation. She's sitting next to me, and I have no reason to believe she remembers me. What the fuck am I going to do about that?

No time to make a decision about that just yet. Especially when I can sense she'll join forces with the boss before it happens.

"For sure." Evie nods and jumps in, like she's waiting for her chance. "We can set up a few things with the in-house media offices, and reach out to a few podcasts and newscasters."

"What about community events?" Selena asks. "Maybe some handpicked sponsorship deals to really sear Logan in their brain?"

"Definitely. If the fans learn to love him, we'll have brands knocking at the door."

"A couple of comments." I interrupt with the first few things I can cling to, if I hope to do some damage control. "Brand deals are for me and my agent to discuss, as long as I follow the league and team's rules. Also, I'm not a subject fit for a documentary— or fit for other media outlets either. Maybe that's why they haven't been getting the material they want."

Both women give me calculating looks. Evie's eyes, a beautiful shade of brown, reach deep into me— it's a harpoon to my memories, and suddenly I'm remembering how good it felt to kiss her. To have her in my arms.

Fuck. No. Nope, not going there. All recollections will be ruthlessly corralled into a corner of my mind, and chained there until they're not tempt— distracting anymore.

I don't bother straightening in my chair. I can't show how all of this affects me. My reaction is limited to raising a challenging eyebrow at her .

She echoes it. "Unless there's an exception I'm not aware of, my understanding is that all contracts include the standard clauses requiring participation with the media."

I return her scheming stare. With the years, details had frayed. Now I have her next to me, and my memory is sharp again. She's still beautiful. Her makeup and hair are different, but I can still see the girl I remember.

But that night she ran away when I couldn't stop her, leaving me with a million questions. And she clearly stands on Selena's side. Her beauty and our brief history are something I can compartmentalize.

I'll just go back to thinking of her randomly as I live my life, or sometimes when I'm alone in bed using my hand.

My jaw tightens. It's fine. I'll cope. I'll find a way.

"There is no exception in my contract." My concession is reluctant. "But I don't want anything affecting my concentration."

"I can help you handle it." She seems resolute.

"It's not that I can't. It's that it doesn't make me better at my job, so I avoid it."

My goals are simple. I want my performance to speak for itself. I want a close knit team, dammit, and not just one ring. I want at least three.

Within two years, I will call my teammates brothers. People won't see me simply as my father's son, and a player who had promise but never got the minutes on the field to earn anything.

The Strike's offer is the ticket to finally proving I can stand on my own. It means getting free of the weight of my last name, being known for who I am, and finding the place where I belong.

It's not the time to be sucked into the spectacle of the sport I actually enjoy.

"Helping the Network's crew do their job will help the narrative not only around you," Evie argues, "but the whole team. With the fans' support, the team will have a better morale. That means a closer team. That helps you do your work better. "

I frown. I don't like where this is going. It's true that things were never right with my old team. The coach had a vendetta against my dad I didn't learn about until too late. Rather than giving me the chance I deserved, he relied on the starting quarterback instead. Plenty of alternative reasons were provided. He insisted I was too high a risk for the success of the team and fought the GM over it for years.

"Not to say anything about supporting the start to my tenure as an owner," Selena adds. "With a redemption story like this, we can kickstart the new age of the Strike."

I clench my jaw and gaze out the window. Fuck.

Charlie may have been a senior PR exec, but he never pushed me. The whole TV special deal was annoying but not too bad. What Selena wants will radically change that. Considering how short football careers can be, this run with the Strike may be my last chance. To have it televised to a greater degree than the standard game broadcast…

"I know how I come off," I say as a matter of fact. "Eighty percent of the content they'll get is me glaring at something. Or someone."

I don't mind my personality too much. Most people see my frown as intimidating and that helps— if I'm a little scary, people give me a wide berth. I may need to curb the effect if I want the brotherhood of a team, but I prefer it that way.

I'll tone down the grumpiness with my teammates. People on the street are a different matter, and one I don't want to think about.

"We can give it a spin." Evie gazes at Selena, as if she doesn't share my concerns. "We can call it focus, or passion, or…"

"Yes, that's the whole idea." Selena leans back on her leather chair. Her crossed arms make her look confident. "Evie— I brought you here because with Charlie gone, there's a spot open on the Senior Exec team. I need to think about who I really want in the PR team at large, and who's going to replace him. I know you don't have the tenure, but if you can help me with this project… "

"Absolutely!" Evie practically beams with excitement. "It will be my pleasure."

"I'm giving you this project as your top priority," Selena says. "Remember I'm making decisions on the PR staff as a whole depending on how this goes. Make sure the story I want is what we get."

"You can count on me," Evie responds.

Mystery Girl's eyes lock with mine. She studies me like I'm a challenge she's ready to tackle.

Deep in my belly, a small flame sparks to life— again. I enjoy being provoked. A person who defies me and makes me work for it will keep me in her bed for several nights. A few mornings. A handful of afternoon escapades.

Except I can't afford the distraction this season. That person can never be Evie again, not now that she smiles more than she challenges me, and not the way she left. Not now that we work together, and she's not on my side.

Selena studies me. "I'm sorry, Logan. I will have to insist on this. It's a choice I'm making in the team's interest."

I purse my lips and stare out the window. Fuuuck. It seems I will have to find a way to survive the scrutiny… and the proximity.

I will not think about that night. Simple as that. It's fine. It will be fine. I'm too damn stubborn to break for the ghost of a memory, and the reality of a beautiful woman. Everything I want is on the field.

I can play Evie's and Selena's game if it means a better season and a closer squad. I'll do anything for the team. But I will draw the lines on the playing field.

"Understood." I give Selena a single nod.

I've always known I would be in the spotlight, if not for my last name, then for my performance alone. I've fought it my whole life, but I won't let the camera be the thing to derail me, either.

My whole career, I've tackled one challenge at a time. Joining the Strike has its fair share of trials, and media would be the tribulation.

I will tackle them one at a time, too.