Page 69 of Stealing Home

I roll my eyes at him, but it’s seriously adorable how he planned everything for tonight. I look to the other side of the couch one more time to tease him, knowing damn well I’m going to go cuddle with him.

As I walk the few steps to him, he smiles with his teeth and all like he won. I don’t think he realizes I’m the one winning here. He’s a damn giant teddy bear. Cuddling with him isn’t a hardship. There is something about being in his arms. The comfort and safety that I feel in his arms has me feeling like he would go to the ends of the world to protect me.

He is absolutely the opposite of Toby. Even in our first few months of dating, when Toby laid on the charm to hook me, he never went to this length. He did nice things for me, but not even a fraction of anything as thoughtful as Cole has done tonight.

Cole scoots over until his back is against the arm of the couch. He has his arm stretched out for me. I sit down and toe my shoes off before placing my legs on the couch and turning my body to face his.

“Come here often?” I ask with a laugh.

“Only with you.”

Casanova, what the hell was Layla thinking leaving you?

“I guess I should tell you,” he says.

Oh shit, I said that out loud.

Cole sighs. Am I making him talk about this when he isn’t ready to tell me? Shit, now I feel bad.

“We started dating shortly after the season ended for the Grizzlies. I was around a lot more. Once spring training started and I had to go down to Florida, that’s when the problems started. She would get upset if I couldn’t make it to parties or events if I had practice or games. I called, texted and we wouldvideo chat, but it wasn’t enough of an effort for her. I offered to pay for her to come down to be with me, too.

“We had talked about what my schedule would be like once I had to report for spring training and the season began. Initially, she said we would figure out long distance where she would come visit me and if I could, I would come visit her when I had a few days off clustered together.” He takes a breath after he finishes. He looks like he’s questioning himself.

“You don’t have to tell me anymore. The question was supposed to be inside my head and not out of my lips.” I tell him.

It’s the truth. I really meant to say it in my head because from what Cole has showed me with his texts and tonight is that when he cares, he makes the most fucking effort.

“It’s okay, because I wanted to ask about Toby at some point, so don’t think you’re getting out of it now,” he says with a knowing look.

“That’s fair. I’ll tell you the entire story.” I confirm.

“Layla was all about being seen, so when I wasn’t around, she felt like people didn’t care about her when she went to red carpet events and such alone. I feel now that it was more about my name and what came along with it than who I was as a person for her. While I think she cared about me, I realize now it was more in a friendship way and not at all romantically.

“About five or six months ago, she would only answer me by text. She didn’t call or video chat me back if she missed them. She started to hang out with a crowd that was helping her be seen. A week or two into being in with this new crowd a photo made it’s way to a gossip site, and it picked up traction. Can you guess which photo?” he stops talking.

“The one with her walking out of a club and it was another guy with his arms around her shoulder?” I ask.

I remember seeing the picture while scrolling on social media. The comments were unkind, with Cole being so popular.I almost felt bad for her. Almost because she had to have known that something like that could or would happen.

Cole nods his head to confirm my answer is correct. I beat him to speaking.

“So she was unhappy but didn’t talk to you about figuring it out together or breaking up with you?” I ask.

“Yeah. It sucked seeing that. She finally called me then. She was crying, saying how sorry she was and that nothing happened with the guy. The backlash she got was tremendous. Turns out the guy was actually just a friend and his boyfriend was with them. But it made me recognize I didn’t want to be with her any longer.

“I let her get what she needed to say out and then told her we shouldn’t be together. Clearly she was unhappy, but I wasn’t giving up baseball for someone that wouldn’t even talk to me about their feelings. She wasn’t happy with me expressing my feelings, but she agreed. I basically got the blame because I wasn’t home and if I was, then she wouldn’t have been out with her friends. In that moment, I knew I was making the right decision.”

“So she didn’t take any accountability for her actions?” I ask.

“Nope, and that’s not even the worst part. She yelled at me and told me I was heartless since she was being attacked by my fans. Told me to go fuck myself, hung up on me and then went out with her new friends and got shit faced and caused this huge scene that was covered by the media,” he tells me.

I nod my head because I know what article he’s talking about. She was outside of a nightclub being spoken to by police officers making a scene. It was everywhere.

“Well, because of the backlash she was already getting from the first photo, that night didn’t make it any better. The next day, she called me and I reluctantly answered. She was a mess, telling me she was going to a two week intense treatment center so shecan get herself together. She asked that we not give statements about the breakup because everyone will think she cheated and it would only make things worse for her. I agreed to that because at the time I didn’t think it would be months of pretending. I’m happy she got the help she needed to deal with what was going on, but I’m even happier now that I get to move on with my life.” He states, finishing.

“Wow, that’s a lot. That’s really shitty. You truly are a good man, Cole. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.” I tell him.

“Thanks babe. I appreciate that. Now just remember that if I ever make you mad.” He laughs.

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