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“Maggie.” The voice came through stronger, and I blinked a few times like I was coming back up to the surface. Tommy stood in front of me, both of his hands on my shoulders.
“You can do this.” His voice was fierce as his eyes bored into mine. He was giving me the kind of pep talk that I had given him the previous night before his at bat. The confidence in his voice seeped in to fill my entire body, banishing any trace of the anxiety I had been feeling before. I nodded my head after a few moments to let him know that I believed it too. That I could do this.
Tommy gently placed my hand in his and laced our fingers together. The way our fingers interlocked perfectly felt more intimate to walk down a red carpet than my hand on his arm. No matter what happened, I realized that he and I were in this together. I wouldn’t have to face any of this without him by my side.
The voices began to shout Tommy’s name as we started up the red carpet. A reporter waited for us at the top of the first set of stairs, a cameraman standing next to her. Tommy and I both knew what we had to do, but I could tell in the way that Tommy’s body tensed and the way he hesitated walking toward the woman that he didn’t want to do this either.
“Tommy!” the reporter exclaimed, ruining any chances we had of escaping. “How are you tonight?”
Tommy finished the few steps up toward the woman before giving her his megawatt smile. He may have been a professional athlete, but he knew how to turn it on for the public. “I’m doing well and so happy to be here.”
It was a perfectly polite response and showed off Tommy’s skills with navigating the press. I knew that if I opened my mouth, however, it would be less than polished. It was best for him to lead this conversation.
“And who is your beautiful date tonight?” The woman flashed me a smile, but it felt more like an obligation than something sincere. Tommy hesitated, like he knew the second he said my name there was no turning back for either of us. My name had been leaked from that very first picture, but Tommy had yet to introduce me in a way that would make us official.
“This is Maggie Redford.”
“You two have been seen out with each other quite a bit, if I recall...” The woman trailed off, leaving an opening for an exclusive. I could feel that neither of us wanted to give it to her, but both of us knew we had to.
“We have,” Tommy replied with one of his normal short responses.
“Are you two seeing each other?” the woman pressed, seeing this as an opportunity and not wanting it to slip away. She wasn’t going to let Tommy’s lack of elaboration stop her. Again, Tommy hesitated.
“Yes.”
There it was, the moment that my name would forever be associated with Tommy’s. There really was no going back now. That one word would lock our fate together in more ways than I would realize.
Maggie
Every eye at the event seemed to trail me and Tommy as we made our rounds before excusing ourselves to our own private table. We were obviously the talk of the night. The exclusive that Tommy had given that reporter probably wouldn’t hit social media for another hour or so, but those inside the event could put two and two together.
Tommy stayed by my side the entire night. He didn’t let me go anywhere alone. Even when I had to use the restroom, he waited for me outside. Any other night and any other person, I would have thought it was a little suffocating, but tonight I was grateful. He was only making sure that nobody had the opportunity to corner me while I was alone to interrogate me about my relationship with him.
I stayed on Tommy’s arm as he greeted people he knew and introduced me to them. It was comforting to watch Tommy ignore the stares or the pointed questions about me. He navigated every question with the intention of protecting me, but gave out enough hints about our relationship to keep Monica happy. It was difficult to find someone that prioritized your needs the way that Tommy was doing so selflessly with mine.
Most of the individuals that Tommy introduced me to were well-known people within the Los Angeles and San Diego social circles. I was grateful that the most famous people at the event tonight were reality television personalities. If I had been rubbing elbows with A-listers, I was sure I wouldn’t have been able to handle the night as well as I had.
It was interesting to watch Tommy take on the personality of someone completely different. He morphed into someone that blended well with the people around him, almost like a chameleon. He navigated conversations with people almost like a politician. It was as if he knew what he should say and when he needed to say it. I knew he had learned how to be among people like this from the years when he had been thrust into the public eye as a professional athlete, but it was still jarring to watch someone you had come to know be a completely different person.
As the night wore on, I watched Tommy’s shoulders inch closer to his ears with every interaction he had. It was like he was taking on a bit of tension in his body with every conversation that he had to fake. I could only imagine how exhausting it was. I wasn’t sure how he survived being in San Diego for as long as he did.
When the event finally came to a close, Tommy led me back out the front door and down the red carpet toward the SUV that was waiting for us. Most of the paparazzi had left already, but a few lingered hoping to get a shot of some celebrity leaving the event wasted.
“Tommy! Your girl is gorgeous.”
“Tommy, give her a kiss for me.”
“Tommy!”
I was sure that I would never get used to the shouts. Their words were like slime coating my body, and I wasn’t sure any amount of showering would ever make me feel clean again. My phone buzzed in my clutch, and I fumbled with the clasp to open it. Tommy must have gotten a notification too, because he was pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket. The two of us stared down at our separate screens, reading the same email.
Monica: Kiss her. You’re on a livestream.
Tommy’s head snapped up, and he scanned our surroundings to find the camera that was broadcasting us. One of the paparazzi had a large video camera perched on his shoulder, the red light blinking at us like a taunt. Tommy slid his phone back into his jacket pocket before offering me his arm again. He led me down a few steps in quiet, the two of us thinking about the same thing. We were going to have to kiss eventually to make this relationship seem realistic, whether that was now or staged later on.
I yanked on Tommy’s hand, pulling us to a stop. His eyes searched mine, finding the decision I had made. He sucked in a breath like he was preparing himself for what he needed to do. My heart sank a little at the sight. It was alarming that part of me wished our first kiss had been brought on by more romantic happenings.
I didn’t have long to think about that thought before he stepped closer to me and his hand came up to cup my cheek. The calluses on his fingers rubbed against my skin as they traced up the side of my face. I watched Tommy’s throat bob up and down as his thumb ran over my bottom lip. My lips parted at the touch, feeling like every nerve ending was on high alert from the feel of his skin on mine.
