Secret Moves (Secret Dreams Contemporary Romance 3) (17 page)

*******

Trey listlessly checked his phone as the taxi drove him back home. He had a missed call and a text from Dylan.

*Call me please. Important.*

He frowned with concern as he dialled Dylan's number.

"Hey, bro. Where are you?" Dylan asked when he answered the phone.

"In a taxi. What's wrong?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Dylan said.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you cancel on Kris earlier today?"

Ah, damn. He didn't want to talk about Kris right now. He wanted her out of his head and this wouldn't help.

"I didn't want Kris to think I was still interested in her so I decided it was best not to see her. You know how it works, Dyl."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I thought you liked Kris," Dylan said quietly after a long pause.

"Sure. But the latest events had me reconsidering. It made me realise how much I prefer the bachelor lifestyle—less hassle, less aggravation."
Less heartache.

"But—"

"Dyl," he interrupted. "I'm not interested in being with Kris anymore."

"Don't you even want to hear what we talked about tonight? Ari and I had dinner with her and Sam."

He considered for a couple of seconds before answering. "No. There's no point carrying on about this. If you don't mind, I'd like to drop this topic."

At that moment, the taxi driver hit the brakes hard to avoid a car that ran the red light. Trey lurched forward, swearing in surprise.

"Sorry," the driver said. "Did you see that idiot? I almost hit him!"

"What was that?" Dylan asked.

"An asshole ran the red. We almost hit him."

"Where are you going, by the way?"

"I'm going home."

"Oh. Where did you go?"

"I just left the place of this chick I met tonight," he answered, glad of where this conversation was heading.

"You went home with someone tonight?" Dylan asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"Yup."

"Right," Dylan said with resignation. "I guess there is no point talking about you and Kris."

"No. There isn't," he confirmed.

*******

Trey frowned as his intercom sounded. He was expecting Adam and Dylan for a meeting but he wasn't expecting them to buzz.

"Hello?"

"I'm here."

"Dyl? Why didn't you just come up? Did you lose your key?"

"Have you forgotten? You told me not to use it anymore," Dylan responded.

"It was only because…well, you can use it again. Come on up."

Trey shook his head, annoyed at the emotions that swamped him. Yes, he had recently asked his friends to not just walk in. But that was only because there were days when Kris had hung around his place until the guys arrived, and they could have been in the middle of...

He forcefully pushed that thought aside and prepared himself instead for some intensive grilling from Dylan and Adam. He hadn't completed some tasks that the guys were expecting him to deliver in today's meeting. He'd really tried to get them done, but he just found it impossible to concentrate.

The guys would wonder what the hell he'd been up to in the last three days. Well, he might not have done what he was supposed to do, but he had been road-testing their latest games app. Sure, that wasn't his job, but it was something that took his mind off the woman who haunted not only his dreams but his every waking hour.

The door clicked and Dylan strolled in. "Fuck, you look terrible," Dylan said.

"Gee, thanks." True, he hadn't shaved in a couple of days and his eyes must have shown his severe lack of sleep. But he was hoping no one would notice.

His buzzer rang again. He groaned. That must be Adam. What was the matter with these two? Couldn't they tell Kris wasn't in his life anymore?

Dylan was closer to the intercom and let Adam in.

Trey turned on the coffee machine, aware that Dylan was staring at him. He refused to acknowledge the attention, knowing where the conversation would lead. He didn't want to go there.

Adam arrived and Dylan pulled him aside to whisper in his ear.

Trey frowned at them suspiciously.

"All right, Trey. Let's hear it," Adam said as he and Dylan went to get their cups of coffee.

"Okay," Trey said, "I'm afraid I'm not quite done with some of my tasks. But I'll be working intensely to get them finished." He mentally crossed his fingers that he'd be able to do just that.

"How far away are you from finishing?" Dylan asked.

"Um. I don't know. Two days? Three?"

Dylan shook his head. "We agreed we can't be late with this, Trey."

"I know. But we're not due to present till the end of next week."

"But we still have to check and double-check everything," Adam said. "That's cutting it fine."

"Sorry," was all he could say. "I'll get it done."

"Fine," Adam said. "Okay, like I said earlier, let's hear it."

"Hear what?" he asked.

"Stop bullshitting. Look at you."

He sighed his acquiescence. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell us how you feel," Adam said softly.

He snorted. "What? Are you guys going to psychoanalyse me?"

"You don't want to talk about it? If you don't, we'll leave it," Dylan said to Trey's surprise.

"Thank you. No, I don't want to talk about it," he responded. "There's really nothing to talk about."

"Okay, fine," Dylan said, as he sat on the couch. "Since you're not done with your stuff, it might be better if we cancel this meeting and let you work. We'll just reschedule for Monday."

"Good idea," Trey said with relief.

"You will finish in two days, right?" Adam asked.

"Yes. I'll work all weekend."

Adam turned to Dylan and said in a low voice. "He's not going with us tomorrow, is he?"

"No," Dylan answered.

"Where are you guys going tomorrow?" Trey asked.

"We're having a get-together at Kane and Jazzie's place for Sam and Kris' last day in Sydney," Dylan said with an impassive expression.

Trey involuntarily swallowed. "Cool," he croaked. "Say goodbye to the girls for me."

"Sure. I'll tell Sam."

"Do you want to go with us?" Adam asked.

But Dylan shook his head. "Sorry. He can't."

"Yeah. We've just established I have work to do," Trey said wryly.

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

Dylan sighed loudly. "Kris wouldn't want you there."

Trey smiled mirthlessly at Dylan's comment, his eyes hardening. "Well, I suppose that's good. I don't want to go anyway."

"Yeah, we know. You don't have to worry about bumping into her on the streets either," Dylan commented.

"Isn't Kris coming back in a few days to start working at Blake's studio?" Adam asked.

"No," Dylan said simply.

"No?" Trey asked before he could stop himself.

"No."

"Well, when is she starting?"

"She's not."

Trey stared at Dylan, trying to digest his answer. "What do you mean she's not?"

"She's not working for Blake. So she's not coming back."

"Blake changed his mind about hiring her?" Trey asked in astonishment.

"No. Kris quit."

"She what?"

"She quit."

"Why? She hasn't even started yet." Trey didn't know why he kept on asking questions, but they burst out of him without his permission.

Dylan looked at him straight in the eye, his gaze intense and watchful.

"Since Blake's studio is so close to your home and to the clubs where you pick-up, Kris didn't want to work around here anymore. She didn't think she could bear seeing you get in a cab again with another woman you're going to have sex with."

All air left Trey's lungs in a whoosh. "What?" he asked dazedly.

"That night when you went home with a chick, Kris saw you getting in a cab with her," Dylan explained. "Apparently, you had your arms around each other and Kris assumed—correctly, if I may add—that you were going to the girl's place to sleep with her. That's why I'm not pushing this issue with you, Trey. Kris was utterly devastated, and if you really don't want a relationship with her then it's better she forgets about you."

"But…I didn't sleep with Connie," Trey mumbled, his mind in a jumble and his heart beating a thousand times a minute.

"What do you mean? You went home with her. When you called me back from the taxi, you'd just left her place." Dylan contented.

"I left as soon as we got there."

"Why?" Dylan asked suspiciously.

"I couldn't go through with it," he whispered.

"Why not?" Dylan pressed.

He shook his head, unwilling to say the words to answer Dylan's question.

"You're in love with Kris, aren't you?" Dylan said softly.

Trey raked his fingers through his hair. "What about Blake?"

"What about him?" Dylan asked. "Blake might be interested in Kris, but she doesn't want him. It's you she wants!"

"I saw them at a coffee shop one afternoon," he said in his defence.

"When you saw him wipe something off her face?"

He nodded.

"Kris told us about that. That was all Blake. She told him off for being inappropriate."

He gaped at Dylan. Come to think of it, he didn't see Kris' reaction to Blake's gesture. He was in too much of a hurry to leave the vicinity.

"She chose to go to dinner and a party with Blake instead of going with me to Mum's engagement party," he continued, although a feeling of dread started to settle in his stomach.

"Blake called her for a meeting. That was why she cancelled on you. She didn't tell you the real reason because she wanted to surprise you if the news was good. As for the dinner and the party, if you'd let her explain, you'll see it was all about work. It wasn't a date." Dylan sighed. "Trey, I can understand why reacted like you did. I understand you want to avoid being hurt again. The irony is, by shutting Kris out of your life, you're hurting anyway. Not only that, you hurt her, too. Badly."

Trey buried his face in his hands, tears close to the surface.

Kris saw him get into a cab with Connie…a woman who had her arms around him…a woman Kris thought he'd slept with on the same day he refused to see her.
Oh, God.

And then she gave up her dream job.

"How could she throw away the role Blake gave her?" he asked in anguish. "She was so excited about that job. She really, really wanted it."

Even though it was like a knife in his heart, he truly wanted that stint for Kris. It would do wonders for her career.

"Because of you, you dummy," Dylan said gently.

Trey squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't let Kris give up her future just like that. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing she was still slaving in her office job when she could be getting paid to teach dance and interact with high-profile people.

He sat up straight and looked beseechingly at his best friends. "Guys, I'm afraid I won't be able to do any work today. I have to find a way to get Kris her dream job back. But, please, let me deal with this alone. Don't tell her anything until I've spoken to her."

He didn't want to disappoint her any further if he couldn't pull it off.

Kris plastered a smile on her face as she helped Sam and Ari prepare food in the kitchen for their mini-party while Dylan and Adam looked after barbecuing some meat and sausages outside. She couldn't believe her Sydney break was almost over, and by tomorrow, she'd be back in Melbourne.

It was funny. Just a few days ago, she was desperate for a way to stay there a while longer. Now she couldn't wait to leave. She should have listened to Sam and Ari when they said it was a bad idea to get involved with Trey. God, she missed him so damned much. But at the same time, she didn't want to see him ever again for hurting her so badly.

Not only did he not trust her, not only did he not give her a chance to explain, but he quickly went back to his playboy ways as if
they
never happened.

She did try to understand him, knowing of his issues with his mother. But if his reaction to every fight or misunderstanding was to shut her out and have sex with some random woman, then she simply couldn't be with him.

That fact hurt like hell.

The doorbell rang and she frowned. As far as she knew, they weren't expecting anyone else.

She went to answer the door and froze as she stared at the man who rang the bell.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I want to talk to you," Trey said softly.

She gaped at him—she couldn't help herself—and noticed the dark bags under his eyes and the sadness in their depths. Sadness mixed with…fear?

It tugged at her heartstrings, but she refused to succumb. He'd slept with another woman, damn it!

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked coldly.

"Us."

"There
is
no 'us', Trey."

Trey swallowed visibly and rapidly blinked, as if he was trying to maintain composure.

"I didn't sleep with that woman," he whispered, his eyes pleading.

"Oh? So by that I presume you mean you didn't stay overnight? So what did you do then? Screwed her for a couple of hours then left before midnight?"

He winced. "No! I did get in the taxi with her. I did go to her place, but her front porch was as far as I went. I did plan to have sex with her. But I couldn't, Kris. I felt like I was cheating on you, and I couldn't go through with it."

Her mind was in a whirl. "Why did you plan to sleep with her in the first place?"

"I was hurting and I wanted to forget. I thought you wanted Blake instead of me."

"How could you think that after the time we spent together? Did you think that was all a lie?" she half-shouted.

"Well, Blake owns a dance studio, he introduces you to celebrities—"

"You thought I'd cast you aside for that?"

"I thought you already had when—"

"Shut up. Just shut up," she said angrily. "You didn't even bother to talk to me, Trey. You don't trust me. And you know what the worst part is?" Her eyes flooded and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling. "The worst part is you were willing to just walk away without a fight."