Magnus didn’t bother to deny it because Ava was the most precious thing.
“First time I saw it, I wondered why you never looked at me that way,” Trey grumbled, most of the words incoherent. “I was never enough for you, Magnus. You told me so yourself.”
He’d never said any such thing, but he knew Trey was referring to the fact Magnus stood by his claim that he needed to be with a man and a woman. That never changed, despite how much he loved Trey. For a short time, he’d even tried to convince himself Trey had changed him because Magnus couldn’t imagine his life without the man. This past week had been torture because it was the first time in a year and a half that he hadn’t gotten to see him every single day. The physical ache in his chest had nearly taken him out at the knees more than once, but he was trying to push forward. After all, what other choice did he have?
“You should fuck her some more,” Trey mumbled, his voice getting softer. “I don’t give a shit anymore.”
“Trey? Listen to—”
“Fuck you, Magnus. I don’t love you anymore. That should make you happy.”
The call ended, and Magnus sucked air into his lungs as he stared at the screen. He breathed past the pain as his heart shattered. Not once in all the time he’d known Trey had the man admitted that he loved him.
Not until he told him that he didn’t.
***
Ava watched as Magnus lowered the phoneto his side. He looked like someone had just told him one of his dogs had died.
She didn’t think before she crawled into his bed with him. She didn’t ask if he was okay with it when she pressed up against his side, draping her arm across his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and held him tightly. His heart beat fast in her ear, and his breaths were coming more rapidly. It was apparent he was trying to hide his pain.
“Was that Trey?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.
He nodded. “He was—” Magnus cleared his throat. “He was drunk.”
“What did he say?”
Magnus’s arm curved around her back, and he pulled her tighter against him. She clung to him as much as she could, wanting to alleviate every ounce of pain and heartache he suffered. She knew it wouldn’t be enough, but she didn’t want him to be alone.
“That he doesn’t love me anymore.”
Tears formed in Ava’s eyes as she clutched him tighter. Her heart was breaking for Magnus. She’d never heard either man speak those words between them, but she didn’t have to hear them to know how they felt about one another. Even when they were drifting apart, she’d witnessed those longing glances. Trey would stare at Magnus when he didn’t think anyone was looking, and Ava could swear she could feel his pain. And Magnus … the way he’d talked about Trey, sharing stories about how they met when she would ask … there was no doubt in her mind they would stay together. How could they not with that much love between them?
And then she’d come along…
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“Go to sleep, Ava,” he rasped.
The torment in his voice was enough to have her closing her eyes. She imagined Trey was somewhere else suffering the same fate as Magnus. Two stubborn men were unwilling to open their eyes and see what they wanted was right in front of them.
She could never replace Trey, didn’t want to, but she loved Magnus, too.
For now, she hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Eleven
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
On Tuesday afternoon, Ava found herself backin Dr. Briggs’s office, sitting in the same spot on the same couch, recounting the same thing she’d said the last time she was here. When Dr. Briggs had asked her how she was doing since the last time she was in, she blurted out that Trey and Magnus had officially broken up, and it was all her fault. From that moment on, she’d been rambling incessantly, never giving Dr. Briggs a chance to weigh in.
But now, as she’d run out of things to say, she could feel the psychiatrist’s weighted gaze looming.
“Ava?”
“Hmm?” She didn’t look up from where she was wringing her hands in her lap.
“Do you realize you’ve been talking about Magnus and Trey for the better part of forty-five minutes?”
