"I went to the coffee shop earlier than expected and I saw Blake there with her. And he was doing this." He leaned over to Adam to rub an imaginary spot on the corner of his lips.
"Oh," Adam said, his expression turning to dismay. "Blake was doing that to Kris?"
"Yes."
Adam was silent for a few seconds before continuing. "That was kind of intimate, wasn't it?" he opined, scratching his head. "Do you know what kind of party they went to last night?"
"No," Trey gulped, the feeling of despair returning in full force. "I only know she didn't go home until one-thirty in the morning."
"One-thirty?" Adam asked incredulously. "Who stays out for that long with a boss?"
"Kris did," Trey said in an almost-whisper. His hand involuntarily went to his chest where a heavy sensation was becoming more bothersome. He knew it. He didn't overreact.
Adam slouched back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "Well…as you said before, you two were not really together..."
"No, we weren't. And it was fucking stupid of me to think otherwise," he growled, suddenly angry at himself. "Consider this a short aberration from the norm. From right now, I'm back to the usual."
"What usual?"
He gave Adam a you-should-know look. "Casual sex, one-night stands—the things that don't make you go crazy."
Trey didn't like the sympathetic look Adam gave him. He didn't want sympathy. He wanted his easy, old life back.
*******
Trey settled himself in a comfortable chair as he watched Adam chat up a woman at another table. His buddy was wasting no time enjoying his single-again status.
He surveyed the club, looking for someone to catch his eye. His gaze landed on a blonde girl in a red dress who was staring at him openly. She smiled and he smiled back. With a flirty bat of her eyelids and a flick of her hair, she turned back to her friends.
She's an option, he thought to himself as he continued his visual evaluation of other pretty faces. Well, there were always heaps of beautiful women around and he could really take his pick. Maybe he should just settle for the woman in red.
But he felt too lazy to get up and walk over to her. He was quite comfortable where he was. Besides, the night was still young and there was plenty of time.
And yes, he was just making up excuses.
Truth was he was feeling guilty. Being in a club with the intention of picking up felt like…cheating. On Kris.
"Don't be fucking ridiculous, Trey Andrews," he muttered under his breath.
He stood up and walked purposefully toward Blondie in Red, anger at himself and Kris propelling him to do the very thing he didn't feel like doing.
"Hi," he said to the woman.
"Hi," she answered back, her eyes opening wide and her lips curving into a come-hither smile. She was most definitely interested.
"I happen to notice you're almost finished with your drink. I'd love to buy you another one," he said smoothly.
"Sure," Blondie in Red said readily.
"What would you like?"
"Climax," she answered in a seductive tone.
He smiled at her double entendre. "Coming right up," he said, then headed to the bar to get the cocktail drink.
When he walked back to his date-for-the-night, she was all alone. Her friends had disappeared. Oh yeah, this one knows what she wants.
"I'm Trey, by the way," he said as he handed her his drink.
"I'm Connie," she answered.
"Well, here's to a great night, Connie." He clinked his glass with hers.
"Cheers," she responded with a knowing smile.
They chatted for a little bit about nothing in particular and Trey started to get bored. He was considering making an excuse to leave when Connie touched his hand and leaned close to him, her breast pressing against his arm.
"Trey, how about we continue our conversation at my place," she purred.
Trey stared at Connie for a moment. Did he really want this?
An image of Kris flashed in his head, along with the unprompted, unwanted, highly aggravating thought that she could very well be with Blake tonight. Fuck.
"Let's go then," he answered Connie.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kris pushed the food around her plate, not having any appetite whatsoever.
"I know I'm not as good a cook as Sam, Kris, but it's not really that bad, is it?" Ari asked with a frown.
Kris flushed. "It's good, Ari! Really! I'm sorry but I'm just not very hungry. It's not your cooking. It's…"
"I'm sorry, I was just kidding," Ari said in reply to her flustered response.
"I'll find out what happened, Kris," Dylan said softly.
Kris nodded at Dylan who'd been suspiciously quiet and non-forthcoming since she and Sam turned up at his place after Trey cancelled on her.