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."