Page 61 of Stolen

“I love you, Leo.” Keith smiled again. “I want to be with you. I want to treat you right this time?—”

“It’s too late.”

“What?”

“It’s too late for this, Keith.” I tried to push him away from me, but he wouldn’t move. “It’s over, okay? What we had between us.”

“Why does it have to be over?”

“Because you were fucking other guys, Keith!” I said, a little louder than I’d intended. “Because I know I’m worth more than to be the guy you cheat on. I’m sure you can find someone else who’d love to fill that role for you but it’s not going to be me?—”

“He’s never had a serious relationship in his fucking life!” Keith shot back. “I paid someone to do some digging on Jacob, and they couldn’t find much about him because all he does is run his company and nothing fucking else. Did you know that?”

“He told me that he usually just hooks up with people?—”

“And you expect him to be better for you than me?” Keith scoffed. “Fuck, Leo. Has he even said anything about committing to you? Or is he just fucking you to pass the time before he goes back to his sad, little life?”

“We haven’t had a chance to have that conversation,” I murmured.

“Stop. Stop doing this. Stop wasting time,” Keith pleaded again. “Just try again with me?—”

“No.”

“Leo—”

“No!” I finally managed to push Keith away from me. “And that’s my final answer, so you don’t need to ask me about it again.”

“I’ll show you,” Keith said, his gaze stuck on mine. “I’ll show you how little he cares about you, tater tot. Maybe that’ll get you to appreciate what you have waiting right in front of you. Your snowed-in boy toy doesn’t really give a fuck about you.”

It was the last thing Keith said before he headed back toward the lobby where the photographers and the rest of the guys were still assembled. I watched him go, my mind racing with thoughts of Jacob, a crack in my heart forming right down the middle.

Because even though I would never go back to Keith, maybe he’d had a point about Jacob.

Has he even said anything about committing to you?

My angry tears slowly but surely turned into the typical sad ones, as they silently rolled down my cheeks.

As I cried over a man who had never even said if he wanted to keep me.

“We heardabout the condo in Paris,” Diego said, while offering me a hot chocolate. “Is it true? Or is that Keith just starting rumors again?”

It was pitch black outside now, with the photography team working well into the night on the edits from the rest of the week. The guys had been hanging around, too, all except for Keith, who’d been missing ever since our last conversation.

“You’re not really going back to that jackass, are you?” Andrew added to the conversation, standing in front of me. “I can see the appeal of spending your vacation days in Paris, but with Keith? Why?”

“He’s an asshole, mate.” Chris shook his head, walking up to the couch I was sitting on. “There’s no two ways about it. He sucks as a boyfriend, nothing more to it.”

“I don’t want to be with Keith.”

“So, you want to be with Jacob?” Chris seemed excited about the possibility. “Not going to lie, I’ve been rooting for that one.”

“I don’t think it matters what I want,” I said, mostly to myself. “I think there’s a pretty good chance that I spend the next year alone. And the one after that. And the one after that…”

“At least you’ll have this photoshoot to your name, then. That should be enough to keep you warm during those cold, lonely nights?” Diego shrugged. “You’ll be able to check social media and see everyone praising you for your editorial direction and vision.”

“Which Jacob helped with,” I murmured. “So, I’ll have to still be thinking about him, even when I’m drowning in the loneliness of those cold nights.”

“What is going on with this pity party spiral?” Andrew quirked an eyebrow. “Sorry, Leo, but you don’t seem like a quitter to me. Is there some reason you and Jacob can’t make it work? Like distance or something?”

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