Page 22 of Hold Me Closer
I've only avoided it thus far by keeping my life as uninteresting as humanly possible. I've always kept the focus on the music. I don't go out. I don't date. I'm a good girl in a city full of people far more scandalous. They sell magazines and generate clicks. I just sell albums.
He's back in my life for one day, and all of that is over. I'm right back there again, staring at the wreckage of my past. And it's no less painful for the distance.
"I need to see the photos," I whisper to Zoya.
She chews on her bottom lip, clearly hesitant.
"If you don't look, I will."
"Dammit," she mutters, dragging her phone out of her pocket.
Not even five seconds later, mine vibrates.
I pull it out to see my manager's name flashing across the display.
"Hey," I whisper, placing it to my ear.
"Teo Kirby? You're fucking Teo Kirby?" she practically shrieks in my ear. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"I'm not sleeping with him."
"Oh no," Zoya whispers beside me, her face blanching.
"What?" I growl, not liking that tone or that look—at all.
She bites her bottom lip, slowly turning her phone around for me to see it. But I don't need to read the headline to know I'm going to kill Teo because Olive is already delivering that news.
New Duo: Football Bad Boy Confirms He's Dating Pop Princess!
"He stopped outside the arena an hour ago to talk to the paparazzi camped out there," Olive says. "According to him, the two of you are an item."
"Oh my god. I'm going to kill him," I whisper-shout, my heart slamming against my ribcage. "Why would he do that? Has he lost his freaking mind?"
"Did he ever have one to begin with?" Olive sniffs, clearly unimpressed by my former best friend. "Causing problems is what he does best, Nadia. It's precisely why he'll be out of the league come the end of the season."
"Wait. What?"
"Yep," she says. "Rumor is that they're fed up with his antics and the bad press he generates for the league. Unless he gets his shit together, this will be his last season."
"Crap," I whisper, my heart sinking. I didn't know he was at risk of being dropped from the league over his behavior. I shouldn't feel sorry for him. He did it to himself, after all. But…I feel sorry for him anyway. Football is the only thing in his life that seems to be going right. Everything else is a mess. What happens if he loses it?
"What is she saying?" Zoya whispers, sitting beside me to lean in. I angle the phone so she can hear too.
"Starting bar fights isn't going to help keep him on the roster," Olive continues. "You know I love you, so this comes from a place of concern, but are you really sure you want your name linked to his like this, Nadia? You've made it this far without courting scandal or bad press. Getting involved with someone like him is a surefire way to break the image you've built for yourself."
"We aren't involved," I mutter defensively.
"You were making out in a parking lot, hon. That seems pretty involved to me."
"It's complicated." I expel a sharp breath, squeezing my eyes closed. "I'll take care of it, Olive."
"You sure? I can put out a statement, say he was just messing with the paps to get a rise out of them, and you two are just old friends…"
"No," I say quickly. "Let me handle it."
The last thing I need is for them to realize that there's more to the story than we're saying. At this point, the press figuring out that Teo and I grew up together feels inevitable. But I don't want my own damn manager to be the one shining a light on the whole pathetic story of the pop princess who got left behind and never got over it. I don't need her to be the reason they find out about the accident and the PTSD and rehab. Those are pieces of my past I never wanted to share—things that are my business and no one else's. I do not need them coming out because of my own damn manager.
"Okay," Olive says reluctantly. "But be careful with him, Nadia. You don't want Teo Kirby to be your defining moment after all the work you've put in."
