“When you get asked about us, you’ll have to act like you like talking about me, you know.”
“Not going to be hard, doc. You’re my favorite subject.”
“Other than hockey.”
“Combine them both, and there’s nothing better.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“My agent and manager think it’s the right career strategy. Off ice, I’ll do whatever you and Tamiko want. The only thing I’ve ever cared about is what happens on the ice anyway.”
My initial joy sours at his last sentence, even if it’s honest. He cares about me—I know that—even if hockey and his career come first. I can’t begrudge him his truth.
Besides, this relationship is my reset button. A chance to figure out who I am again. What I like, what I want. We don’t have to want exactly the same things, and maybe it’s better if we don’t. Going into this, we knew we were at different points in our lives and careers—even if we’re more public than I intended, nothing else has changed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sawyer
Logan Bishop is the best public-facing boyfriend I’ve ever had. Actually, he’s just the best boyfriend, period. For the last week while we’ve traveled together, it’s been as though Tamiko’s strategy unlocked some piece of him that’s been waiting for permission to exist.
After the games, he’s taken me out with the team and their wives and girlfriends to the bars they frequent, and he never leaves my side. His hand is constantly locked with mine, or on my hip, or he’s using it to tug me into his lap at whatever table the team has. I used to think that much contact was suffocating, insufferable. With him, I’m not penned in, I’m cared for.
Whenever there’s even a smidgen of time where he can whisper something in my ear, he’s calling me beautiful, or telling me how glad he is that I’m there, or describing in scorching detail what he intends to do once we’re alone in the hotel room.
All of those things make me feel cherished and deeply appreciated, but that’s not what gives him the honor of best boyfriend. It’s what he’s telling people when I’m not around. Isn’t that the true test? What does he say when he doesn’t know I’ll see it or hear it?
Tamiko sent me a fan video of Logan signing autographs on his way into the stadium earlier today, and when he’s asked about me, he grins—which is such a rarity—and he tells them I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to him, says he’s lucky to have someone so supportive. It’s clear he doesn’t see the other person filming him while he’s interacting with the autograph seekers.
So far, they’ve won two games and lost the game tonight. Logan has maintained his high goal-scoring streak. He’s not just in the top ten scorers in the league; he’s now number five.
Then tonight, as I’m waiting for him outside the dressing rooms, Tamiko sends me a screen recorded video of Logan talking about me after their loss to a reporter from one of the major sports networks. The first time I watch it, I don’t have sound or closed captioning on, and it amazes me how happy he looks. Lit up. As though he’s just scored a major goal, not as though some reporter just asked him about his girlfriend.
You’re magic. Tamiko sends the messages right after the video.Remember the guy we watched before the season? No trace.
I glance around, but no one is that close, so I turn up the sound to rewatch it.
“For the first time in your career, you’re in a public relationship. She was here again tonight, cheering on the team. Seems like she might be a bit of a lucky charm for you, personally.”
“It does seem like that doesn’t it?” Logan’s grin is wide. “I keep telling her that.”
“A billionaire physiotherapist is a bit of a strange combination,” the interviewer says, clearly leading Logan to comment more.
“She uses her wealth as a powerful tool to help people on the island. I’ve seen it. She’s selfless. Would do anything for anyone. The Bullets’ organization is better for having her, and I’m better for knowing her—both on and off the ice.”
“That’s a pretty potent endorsement given the season you’re shaping up to have.”
“She deserves it. With her, I’m leveling up. Given where I was already at, that’s saying something. She rose to the challenge, and she’s pushing me to rise higher too. Couldn’t ask for anything more from anyone.”
Chills streak through me at the sincerity in his expression, at the praise he heaps on me about my career, which is what matters most coming out of my disaster of a relationship with Dalton. To hear him tell other people how good I am at my job is a salve to my soul. A job he wasn’t sure Icoulddo a few months ago, and look at us now.
After a slow start, Logan is accelerating through every marker from last season. If his trajectory continues, he’ll be in contention for the highest scorer in the entire league. He hasn’t explicitly told me he wants it, but I can feel it every time we work out and he forces himself to go a little further than he did the time before. Every time I give him a treatment, he’s almost religious about the follow-up care. All professional athletes must have a bit of that intensity in them, or they wouldn’t reach the high levels of play. The desire and relentless pursuit of excellence is so strong in him that I’m a little in awe every time he reaches a new benchmark.
“You were very vocal about not wanting to go to Bellerive. Is it safe to say your fears have been allayed?” the interviewer asks.
“We all know the kind of season I’m having,” he says. “Do I wish the team was doing better on the whole? Of course. One person doesn’t win a team championship. For my career, going to Bellerive has been much better than expected, and the biggest factor is Sawyer Tucker. No question.”
I press my palm to my heart. Tears well up, and I have to raise my gaze to the ceiling to hold them back.
