Secret Moves(42)

She sat up in bed and snatched her phone from the bedside table, only to sniff in disappointment. Trey hadn't responded to her text.

Without hesitation, she dialled his number, but he didn't answer. She left a message on his voicemail for him to call, fervently hoping that he would soon. The worry she had when she left the restaurant last night had returned in full force.

Maybe he's just busy this morning.

She rang Ari.

"Hi, Kris," Ari greeted.

"Hi, Ari. How are you doing?"

"Good, thanks, but panicking a little bit. There's been another delay in the delivery of materials for one of my customers' wedding dress, but the supplier did promise my orders will be here tomorrow."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she soothed. "Um, do you know if the three boys are busy with work today?"

"They're always busy. Dylan's been holed up in his study since eight this morning. Why?"

Kris sighed. "Do you have time for lunch today? I'm heading there to pop in at Trey's."

"Sure. Ask Sam if she wants to come too. I'll see you soon."





*******



"But it wasn't a date!" Kris protested as Ari relayed the conversation Dylan had with Trey that morning, after she and Ari had talked.

"I'm sure you'll have your chance to set things straight," Ari consoled.

"I should have explained last night at the restaurant. I knew he wasn't happy but I thought we'd be talking today," Kris said worriedly. "What else did he say?"

"Well, when we were encouraging him not to give up on you, he asked who would we prefer for you? The two choices were a guy with whom you have a lot in common and who could support your career in dance, and a guy who didn't know anything about the industry so he couldn't help in your career. Basically, Blake or him."

"What did you say?" Sam asked curiously.

"We said the choice was Kris'. Then Trey said we should back off and let Kris make her decision."

"Wait," Kris said. "You said you were encouraging him not to give up on me? What does that mean?"

Ari was quiet for a long time, seeming to think about how she could answer the question.

"Ari, please just tell me everything," Kris pleaded quietly.

Ari sighed heavily. "Well, he sort of said you guys are not together so you could go out with whomever you want. Then Dylan said to cut the crap because he could tell Trey has feelings for you. Trey admitted that he did—"

"He did?" Kris interrupted excitedly.

A flicker of emotion crossed Ari's face and Kris' elation deflated like a burst balloon.

"Everything, Ari, please," she urged her friend.

Ari nodded. "What he said was, 'Yeah, so what?' Then he said it was time to move on, and he had no hard feelings. So Dylan and I told him not to give up on you. I even said to him that you liked him. That was when he said we shouldn't butt in if you wanted to date Blake."

"I don't understand," Kris said, close to tears. "He admitted he has feelings for me but he didn't care if I went out with someone else?"

"Well, it was more like he thinks Blake is better for you," Ari said.

Kris bit her lower lip and looked down at her plate, trying to fight tears. So Trey's feelings were not strong enough to want to fight for her? Not that he even had a fight in his hands. There wasn't even a contest. But…he had been prepared to simply give her away to someone else.

"Kris…" Sam said, running a soothing hand up and down her back.

She looked up and smiled bravely although her eyes were swimming in tears. "He doesn't want me enough, does he?" she whispered.

"Oh, Kris," Ari cried. "I don't think it's that. But I think it's important that the two of you talk."

"Well, he doesn't want to talk to me. Maybe he's moving on. That was what he told you."

"Look, I can ask Dylan to arrange something so the two of you can have a private conversation. Would you like me to do that?"

Kris nodded gratefully at Ari, not trusting herself to speak.





*******



"Do you want to walk with me to Trey's building?" Kris asked Sam after their lunch with Ari.

"You think he'd be there?"

"Well, he works from home, so unless he has a meeting somewhere else, he should be there."

"You really want to do this? You don't want to wait until Dylan's set something up?" Sam asked.

"No. We're here already. I might as well try again. I just need to know exactly what he's thinking, Sam. You know me. Not knowing will drive me nuts."

"Okay, I'll walk with you."

When they reached their destination, Kris pressed the buzzer to Trey's apartment. Her heart was racing, and she took deep breaths to calm her nerves down.