I didn't hear a peep from Cameron until the next day, and it was through a text.

Cameron: I'm so, so sorry. I accidentally hung up and then realized what my last words to you were, and I freaked.

When I didn't reply within a few minutes, another message came through.

Cameron: You're pissed, and I can't blame you. Maybe we should take a few days apart to cool down. I need to think, and I bet you're not too keen on seeing me right now.

I wasn't sure how to answer without snapping at him or breaking up with him on the spot. Twice in the space of a few weeks he'd demeaned me and been cruel; that wasn't the Cameron I'd been falling in love with.

Me: Okay.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I ruminated over what else to say. But what else was there? How many times could he apologize for his brash behavior before I had enough?

He didn't send any other messages; he got my meaning and wouldn't be speaking to me again until he was ready to. Or until I was ready to.

We had a lot of thinking to do.

***

In the weeks that followed, I continued with my research and typing up mock-ups of articles. I spoke with Daphne often, and she offered up advice, lists of people to talk to, suggestions of trends to look into. When she asked me how I was doing, I dodged the question.

"You're not okay, are you?" I heard the clack-clacking of the keyboard in the background; she was at the office. "I've seen the tabloids, your nice little glow-up. But I know you. Your smile is still forced."

"Yeah, it's fake dating." I took a bite from my sandwich. "Those who know me well would know that it's not quite real."

"Don't get snarky with me," Daphne's voice sharpened, "because I know there's more going on with Leo, there always has been. Do you need to talk about it?"

I'd briefed Daphne with the highlights, but I hadn't confirmed to her that Leo had confessed his feelings to me. Getting her involved would only mess me up more, because she'd tell me to go for him. She'd remind me that being with Leo, for real, would open more doors than dating Cameron, who had little pull in the industry. And as much as I cared for Cameron, my career, my passion was always my priority.

"I don't need or want to, Daph. Thank you, though."

I hung up, put my notes away, and exited the coffee shop where I'd been eating; an isolated place where the paparazzi didn't follow me or get in my face. Outside, the sun coated me with warmth, but a chill breezed through my hair. I zipped up my coat as I swung my purse over my shoulder and breathed in the fresh air of the nearby park.

I had some time before I needed to get home, so I figured a nice walk amongst the trees would do me good.

Leo and I weren't on rocky terrain like Cameron and I were. Due to my obligations towards him, I did have to see him more often, in our staged events. We'd attended a gala together, a concert for a fellow rockstar friend. We'd gone out to eat once or twice, and earlier that morning, we'd had coffee at his favorite spot.

He'd asked me about Cameron, and I'd turned red in the face.

"What about him?" I'd sipped on my way-too-hot coffee to avoid asking more questions.

"Have you spoken to him lately?" Leo eyed me suspiciously; he was getting to know me quite well through all this. But I'd kept him hanging. I still hadn't told him what my decision was. Cameron didn't even know he was waiting for me to choose, but Leo did, and I assumed it was eating him on the inside. He could have anyone, anyone in the world, but he wanted me, the woman his closest friend and assistant was dating.

"We've been texting back and forth, and I saw him once since you guys returned from that tour." I wouldn't get into details; he didn't need to know that Cameron and I were taking some time due to our arguments about Leo and his emotions.

"Wow, so he's being distant with you, too?" Leo rubbed his forehead, then tucked his hair behind his ear. The silky, dark blond strands were getting longer.

"Distant?" I frowned and set my coffee down. "He's being distant with you?"

Leo shrugged. "Since that thing in L.A. he's been so weird." I nodded so fast it hurt my neck, and I hurried to look into my lap before our gazes connected. "Doing the bare minimum of his jobs, refusing my personal calls...not like him at all."

Leo wasn't dumb; he must have perceived that Cameron's attitude was due to his attitude towards me. But our date ended and he never mentioned anything about his feelings being too evident, and Cameron catching on.

Later that day, and a few minutes after I got home from my stroll in the park, I got a knock on my door.

I checked the peephole, and my heart launched into my throat as I opened. "Cameron?"

He stood there, hands in his pockets, shoulders raised. "Hey, Emma." He squinted at me. "Is it okay that I'm here? Can I come in?"

I wrinkled my nose; my apartment was an absolute mess, as I was packing things up, anticipating that I'd be moving soon. In my weeks of wandering the city, I'd found a few places I could afford with my new fake dating Leo salary, but I hadn't put any money down since I wasn't sure of the status of our fake relationship.

I'd gotten it in my head that I'd likely be choosing Cameron. Life with Leo was glamorous and fun and thrilling, but it was too much. I couldn't keep up with him and the press and the camera flashes. Everywhere I turned, my name was called, I was followed, I was questioned. I cared about Leo, and probably always would; but I couldn't handle the lifestyle. If I ended things with Leo, my income would stop, and I wouldn't be able to pay for a bigger apartment, not without being sure that my fashion reporting career could pick up.

Cameron was the smarter choice for me, for how I wanted to live my life. He was under-the-radar, didn't throw money at everyone; he saved his money and secured his future. I'd met him first, I was already dating him, and all this crap with Leo could be overlooked and we could move on from it.

To see him standing there in his jeans and light jacket, his hair all ruffled, a bit of dark scruff over his tanned chin and cheeks, I knew I was right.

I let him in, and shoved some boxes out of the way so he could navigate to the couch.

"Sorry," I said, wincing as I sat next to him.

"Spring cleaning?" He peered left and right at my boxes, clustering all over the place. "It's fall."

"Some reorganizing." He didn't need to know I'd been looking at new places; if he found out, he'd assume the fake dating game was still strong, and his suspicions would grow.

"Anyway," he puffed out a breath and turned to me, "I came to apologize again. In person. This shit that's going on, it's...it's between Leo and I, and we keep taking it out on you."

"What shit?" I pushed one box under the coffee table so I'd have more room to stretch my legs.

"The misunderstandings, the lying, the arguments. The doubt." He crossed his legs at the ankles and leaned forward. "The fake dating confusion."

"Right." I picked up the glass of water I'd served myself before he knocked on my door. "You have a history of handling his fake dating stuff, don't you? Is it always this...intense?"

He shook his head. "Well, it's never involved one of my significant others. And also, it doesn't get this far. It's never put such distance between him and I."

I frowned; he was the one being distant, according to Leo. "So what's the issue?"

"By now, he'd have dismissed his fake girlfriend or boyfriend. Or they'd have gotten sick of him and his antics. You, sticking around for so long...it's a shock, and it's put so much doubt in me that I've been acting...erratically."

I arched an eyebrow. "You think?" My frown deepened. I was over Cameron demeaning Leo and treating him like a lesser person, like someone who did nothing but throw fits like a spoiled child. While he did have some fits, they were never as ridiculous as Cameron liked to make them sound. "What antics are you talking about? He's been great to me. Demanding, but it's his right. It's in his contract. I agreed to it."

"Oh, yeah?" Cameron's voice raised, along with one of his eyebrows. "He's been great? Greater than me? Your real boyfriend?"

"Cameron." I glared at him. "Don't be like that. Don't start this nonsense."

"No, no, it's fine." He sat up straight as if he were about to stand, but he remained in his spot. Stiff, heat radiating off him in waves. "Fall for the rockstar then, yeah? Since he's so great. I get it."

"Seriously, Cameron, enough." I was the one to stand first, and I towered near him with my hands on my hips.

He leveled the playing field by also getting to his feet, but he left a sizable gap between us. I still felt the heat of his body, and it wasn't a pleasant sensation. "He has it so easy. He's always been the hot one, the rich one, the one everyone wants. So you'd rather be with him. Of course you would. They always choose him."

I gawked at him. "What are you talking about? And why are you being such a child?" I hadn't meant to say it so boldly, but once the words were out, it was too late.

I'd been seconds away from telling him that I planned to give up Leo, to stop seeing him to save our relationship. But I no longer knew if that was the right thing to do. If he'd come here calmly, stopped being so accusing, stopped acting like an immature idiot, I'd have told him that yes, Leo had feelings for me, but I'd opted to be with Cameron, completely.

Now, I swerved away from that idea at the speed of light.

"Your moodiness lately has been out of control." I took a step backward, feeling speared by his anger. "What's gotten into you? Or have you always been like this and just hidden it super well?"

He groaned and fell back onto the couch. "Fuck. No." He combed his hands through his hair with a roughness that made me cringe. "I'm not like this. I'm never like this. But since the contract with Leo and the fake dating and...it's history repeating itself, that's all. Every time he meets someone I'm dating, he wants them. He never gets them, and that's great, but this time...it's too close. I'm cursed. Leo is so...you don't understand how hard it is."

"What is your actual beef with him?" I walked around the coffee table, putting more distance—and obstacles—between us. His rage was so strong it made me dizzy. I needed space. "Why even work for him if it's that hard, like you say? If his ways are so shitty and you can't stand them? Why stay on his team?" He huffed, readying to interrupt me, but I swept a hand through the air to stop him. "And the fake dating stuff, Leo being interested in your significant others...why introduce him to them if you know he'll want to take them from you?"

"You think I get a choice in the matter? I told you I don't." He jammed his thumb into his chest. "You think me, the man in his shadow, organizing all his appointments, filling in as his security guard, has any say in who I get to introduce to him or not?"

"So he asked to meet me," my fists tightened, "and instead of sticking up for me, for yourself, you bow down and say sure, yes, by all means, meet my girlfriend and steal her from me?" I snickered at him. "You can't be that weak, Cameron. I don't believe it. You're not a jealous, vengeful, possessive jerk, are you?"

He exhaled and covered his face with his hands. "You still don't understand. Leo owns me, okay?"

"Owns you?" I grimaced. "He told me you were free to go at any time."

"Not like that." He joined his hands behind his neck, stretching. "He owns me because I owe him. When he was at his lowest, years and years ago, I promised I'd stick around. When NEXUS broke up, he was a wreck. And then I had bad times, too. Severely bad. He was there for me, he saved my ass more times than I can count. I'm not kidding when I say I owe him my life."

"Okay." I swallowed. "But why are you so mean to him?"

"Mean?" He widened his eyes at me. "I'm mean? You should hear the way he talks to me."

I crossed my arms. "Well, I don't, so you'll have to do better than that."

"I'm mean because he deserves it. But you wouldn't realize that because you haven't seen that side of him yet, have you? The vindictive side, the cruel temper, the rich kid, money-hungry asshole."

I could envision the rich kid side, because Leo came from wealth, and he was spoiled, for sure. But he was never cruel, never that I'd noticed. He treated his staff and those beneath him with kindness, and even when he was firm, he never showed cruelty.

"He hasn't shown me that side because he might only show it to you. You're," I exhaled, "delusional. So wrapped up in your jealousy that you're trying to make him out as a bad guy when he's not."

"I have every reason to be jealous." He became so stoic, so tense that I wasn't sure what he'd do next. Throw the coffee table over? Storm to the kitchen to break dishes? Stomp out and leave? He'd gone from docile and entertaining, to unpredictably volatile. I didn't want to be around him. Not until he figured his thoughts out, calmed his nerves. "You can't deny that."

I put more distance between us. "I'll acknowledge that jealousy is natural, here, but in that case, why did I do this? Why did you push me into this? I was going to say no, and you made it sound like if I said no, it'd ruin me, it'd ruin you. And now Leo is saying the opposite."

"Leo is—" He tightened his jaw; his teeth were gritted as he spoke. "You have no business discussing our relationship with him. He's not your friend, okay?"

"Oh," I let out a low laugh, "but he's yours?"

"He is. I want him to succeed, I want him to be happy, but I want to be happy too. And to be happy, I'd need to quit. But if I quit," he marched around the coffee table, but stopped before coming close to me, "who's going to handle him and his bullshit? I'm the only one who can."

I shook my head. "You need to leave. Go take a walk, a hike, have a drink or something, and come back when you've chilled out."

He shot past me, headed to the exit. He set his hand on the doorknob and grunted. "I'll go chill out, but I'm not coming back." He opened the door, then paused in the doorway, turning his profile to me. "Apparently you can handle him too, and maybe you should, from now on. I'm done. I'm moving on. Have a nice life, the two of you."

He thundered off, slamming the door. I didn't bother to go after him.

♪♪♪