It starts with a photo.

Not even a good one — just the two of you caught by a fan account in the background of someone else’s Instagram story. Blurry. Cropped. Enough to set the internet on fire.

By morning, the headline’s everywhere: HOLLYWOOD’S NEW IT COUPLE?

JJ finds you in a studio hallway, phone in hand, eyes dark.

“You see this?” he asks, shoving the screen toward you. “They got us soft-launched like it was planned.”

You shrug, unbothered. “Welcome to the ecosystem.”

“Yeah, well,” he mutters, “my ecosystem used to be a dock and a cooler.”

He scrolls again, face tightening. Comments speculating. Digging. Someone’s already mentioned the Outer Banks — beach rat turned heartthrob.

“You know how this ends, right?” JJ says. “They don’t just want the romance. They want the damage.”

He looks at you then, really looks — someone who’s learned how to play the game without losing herself.