"You think Trey's just busy, Dyl?" she asked. "I know he was on a conference call before he was supposed to meet me."
"Something may have come up," Dylan replied.
She nodded again. She wanted to ask Dylan to give Trey a call to find out why he'd changed his mind about meeting her. But she didn't want to come across as some desperate chick, although that was exactly how she felt. She just couldn't shake off the dreadful sensation that something went horribly wrong.
*******
"Are you sure you don't want me to give you girls a lift home?" Dylan asked. "It's quite late already. It really is no trouble."
"No, thanks, Dyl. We'll be fine," Kris answered. "It'll be good for me to see what nighttime public transport's like from here to Kane and Jazzie's, if I'm to stay with them during my three-month stint."
"You know, you're welcome to stay here with me and Ari, too," Dylan said. "You can easily walk to work from here."
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "But I don't want to intrude on your privacy."
Dylan chuckled. "I know this apartment is not as massive as Kane and Jazzie's house, but it'll be more convenient for you, so think about it. Ari and I seriously don't mind, as long as you can put up with the constant noise coming from our bedroom. We can get pretty loud."
Ari lightly slapped Dylan's arm, giving him a mock frown.
Kris laughed. "I'm used to bedroom noises. Jaz and Kane aren't exactly quiet, either. But thank you for the offer, Dyl. I'll think about it."
*
"Let's walk this way so we can burn off more calories," Kris said to Sam as they left Dylan's building.
Sam looked at her suspiciously. "You just want to pass by Trey's place again."
Kris answered her with a shrug.
"You do remember that you and Trey haven't spoken about officially being a couple, right?" Sam asked gently.
"Yes. Why?"
"I hate to say this, but what if Trey really only wanted a fling? So when he saw you with Blake last night, he decided it was time to end it because it wasn't really serious?"
Kris was silent for a second. "Trey told me I was the first girl he'd ever invited to his place. I was also the first he'd slept with overnight since his last serious relationship almost six years ago. He said he broke his rules for me."
"Really?" Sam asked in wonder.
"Yes. So you see, even though we didn't exactly talk about it, it seemed to me like we were headed somewhere as a couple."
"You think it wasn't just a line?" Sam asked.
Kris glared at her cousin. "Are you calling Trey a liar?"
"I'm just saying it's possible," Sam said defensively. "Ari told you he was the biggest playboy she knew, didn't she? Don't playboys have lines they use on women?"
"I can't believe you think that. But just to satisfy your curiosity, let's go back to Dylan's and ask him. He's Trey's best friend, so he would know."
"Oh, come now, Kris," Sam said exasperatedly.
But Kris was already heading back to Dylan's apartment. She didn't want to admit it to Sam, but she also wanted to know if what Trey told her was the truth.
She pressed Dylan's buzzer when they got there. "Hi, Dyl. We're back," she said through the intercom. "I just need to ask you a couple of questions."
*
"We don't need to go in," Kris said as Dylan opened the door wide open for them. "Just two quick questions then I'll leave you alone."
"Shoot."
"Just the honest truth, please, Dyl?"
"Sure."
"Apart from me, has Trey ever invited a girl—apart from friends and family—to his place?"
Dylan took a deep breath. "No," he answered definitively.
"Has he ever stayed overnight with a woman?"
"Apart from you, not in the last six years."
Her face broke into a wide, happy smile. "Okay. That's all. Thank you."
"Wait, Kris," Dylan said. He regarded her for a long moment before continuing. "Trey has deep-seated reasons why he doesn't want to get involved in serious relationships. I'm not sure if he has changed his attitude on that, even though he's broken a couple of his rules for you."
"What reasons? Does it have something to do with how he sees his mother?"
"You know about that?" Dylan asked in surprise.
"Yes. He seems to think of her as a gold-digger."
Dylan stared at her, seeming to decide what to divulge. "I'm sure his mother's antics have a lot to do with his view of relationships," he finally said. "He never knew his dad and he was only eight when his mother first left him and Rebecca in the care of his grandparents to run away with a rich Frenchman. She'd done that more than once—going back to them, only to leave them again and again."