Game of Temptation

self out of sleep and answered. "Va

ped, stripped of anything I could read. "Use

feet hit the hardwood, and in two

said. It wasn

es

my w

d dropped her stylus, I'd picked it off the wet asphalt, and we'd parted with a nod and a tired sigh. We'd been arguing about weak-side screens. Some

ack team hoodie, and sneakers I didn't bother

ridor in a charcoal suit, pale, her hair pulled back, her shoulders set like she was bracing for a hit.

eady," she s

six-foot-six I blocked out the down

're heading to a f

sideways, it will be m

ake sure i

lass door without w

ook up from his

happened lighting up the internet. The HVAC hummed. The legal team kept typing. I let out a quiet scoff, dropped into the armchair across from Marcus, and crossed my ankles like I cou

oing to explain it. You're going to listen. Then you'll decide whether you want to save

Lena. "Go ahead, V

line between us, vo

to void your incentive clauses, and the press wants you framed as a liability. If we call the photo purely professional, the media will say Apex is covering for misconduc

the pu

r ownership that we've been quietly dating for a month. We

still. The t

flexed. "You want us to l

the anti-fraternization clause. A relationship changes the story from misconduct to lifestyle PR. It e

airy tale end?" I ask

re eliminated, we put out a joint statement that our careers made a future impossible. We part amicably.

n she was working me. My whole life I've been surrounded by handlers and coaches and suits

arcus. "If I tell you to take your f

Vale gave you preferential treatment on your fines and arbitration hearings. Your shoe deal invokes its morals clause and suspends quarterly payments. And management bench

d about the title, with a singular obsession that ate everything else in my life. This

the sarcasm drained out of

she said

y felt too small. I looked

condi

me

tory media tours. No dragging it out so your PR friends can get magazine covers. Win or lose

ena said, n

th the exact operating rules, and you'll follow them to the letter. No uncoordinated statements. No stray posts on social media. No devi

rnings and a reluctant yes, and walked out. My sneakers sque

p beside her and was speaking low, only for her, one finger raised. I couldn't he

the engine off. Ten minutes later she came out. She walked to her car, got i

part was over. The lie was alive now, and it was going