Trey huffed. “You can’t fix it.”
“Sure I can.”
Trey shook his head, his tone firm when he said, “No, you can’t.”
Magnus couldn’t contain his frustration. “Why the fuck not?”
Trey’s eyes narrowed, his words coming out in a gravel-rough rasp. “Because it’s who you are.”
Magnus staggered back from the harshness of the words. “What does that mean?”
“Jesus, Magnus. Don’t play dumb. It’s beneath you.”
He glared at Trey, refusing to respond. Yes, he knew what the fucking problem was, but damn it, he wanted Trey to admit it. It was the only way they could address it and find a resolution.
Trey sighed, then slid his hand over his hair. “It means you want Ava,” he said, his tone cooler than before, “and you deserve to be happy.”
“I wantyou, Trey,” he declared. “I’ve always wanted you.”
“Well, to have me, you can’t have both.”
Magnus thrust a hand in his hair and turned away. There wasn’t room to pace, so he took a single step away from Trey. “That’s why you’ve been retreating? Because you think I want Ava?”
“Are you tellin’ me you don’t?”
Magnus met his eyes. He knew what the correct answer was, but he also knew that would be a lie. And he couldn’t lie to Trey. He wouldn’t. “That’s not what I’m sayin’.”
“Exactly.” Trey exhaled heavily. “I’m headin’ out. I’ll be back in the mornin’.”
Magnus grabbed him again, this time in the hallway outside the office. He jerked him back, then pushed him up against the wall. “Just because I want her doesn’t mean I can have her, Trey.”
Trey swallowed, and Magnus was sure he saw something flash in his eyes. Hurt? Resentment?
“And I can’t be your second choice, Magnus. Maybe you don’t get Ava in the end, but you’ve told me from the beginning that you want both. I’m just not built that way.”
“That was before I…” Magnus choked back the words. He couldn’t tell Trey he’d fallen in love with him. It would send the man running before the last syllable was out of his mouth. “Before I met you.”
Trey leaned his head forward, bringing their mouths close together. “Tell yourself whatever you need to, but we both know nothin’s changed.”
That wasn’t true. Everything had changed. However, Trey was right. Magnus hadn’t changed in that regard. In fact, with Ava and Trey here, he’d never felt more complete. And while he thought he could find happiness with only one of them, he still wouldn’t be whole.
Funny how that had never been a problem for him before. He’d dated plenty of men and women over the years, never looking for anything serious. Until Trey, monogamy had been a word deleted from his vocabulary. Now, it had become his way of life, and he wasn’t sure he could go back to his old tomcat ways.
“What can I do?” Magnus whispered, taking advantage of Trey’s proximity. “I’ll do anything, Trey.”
“Anything?”
Magnus nodded.
“Then step back so I can leave.”
Magnus swallowed past the tightness in his throat. He forced himself back a step, allowing Trey the space he needed to leave. And when the man turned and walked away without so much as a single glance back, Magnus felt the last thread snap. This thing they had was over, and there wasn’t a damn thing Magnus could do to salvage it.
And if that weren’t enough, the fucking ache in his chest would be a steady reminder.
***
“Did you call Dr. Briggs?”
