Trey peered over at her.
“I removed your paycheck from the system. That’s why it didn’t go through.”
Magnus was about to say something, but Ava held up her hand and looked at Trey. “I needed to get you out here so we could talk. This seemed like a good option.” She shrugged. “Well, theonlyoption, really. What with you not responding to my messages.”
Fuck this and fuck them.
Trey shoved Magnus back and reached for the door handle.
This time Ava stepped up, placing her hand over his. He glanced down at it but couldn’t look her in the eye.
“Please stay so we can talk.”
“Nothin’ to talk about.”
“Well, I have some things,” she charged on. “And if you won’t talk, then you can listen.” She squeezed his hand. “Please.”
When Trey looked back at Magnus, he saw the man staring at Ava’s hand on his. Was that jealousy? Served the fucker right.
Trey released the door handle and dropped his arm.
“Thank you,” Ava said softly. “Now, you two go in the house and figure out something for lunch. I’ll let Gia know we’ll be out of pocket for a couple of hours.”
A couple of hours? Try ten minutes because that was all Trey was willing to spare. He wasn’t even sure he could commit to that long.
“Go. In the house. Both of you,” she repeated.
Trey frowned, glancing at Magnus. The man looked as bewildered as Trey felt. Since when had Ava started calling the shots?
Rather than argue with her, Trey headed toward the house. The least he could do was hear her out.Thenhe could go home and wallow in his self-pity. After that, he’d go to Moonshiners and drink his pain away. And perhaps he’d give another twenty-five-year-old a go.
After all, they were fun for a minute.
Provided he didn’t go and fucking fall in love with them.
***
Magnus wanted to throttle Ava, but atthe same time, he wanted to kiss her. And not because he genuinely liked kissing her. He did, but that was beside the point. If he hadn’t spent the past week mourning the end of his relationship, perhaps he would’ve come up with the idea to lure Trey out here by not paying him his final check.
Then again, unlike Ava, Magnus would’ve known that would only piss Trey off, as had been the case. If Ava hadn’t admitted it was her idea, without a doubt, Trey would’ve already hightailed it out of there. But for some reason, he was sticking around to hear her out. And Magnus wasn’t above taking advantage of that.
“Trey, I didn’t mean what I said,” he told him again, closing the back door behind him. “It was the heat of the moment.”
“Doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it.”
Easier said than done. If Magnus hadn’t seen Trey’s expression as soon as the barb left his mouth, he never would’ve believed the man had reacted that way. It was as though Magnus had punched him in the solar plexus. And that pained expression on Trey’s face had nearly sent him to his knees. The last thing Magnus ever wanted to do was hurt Trey. Although he hated that things had turned out this way, he wouldn’t trade a single second of what they’d shared.
“You know what? I really can’t stay,” Trey said as he pivoted on his heel and headed for the back door. “Just keep the money. I don’t fuckin’ need it, and I’ve got shit to do. I’m sure you and Ava do, too.”
“It’s not like that, Trey.”
Trey stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked back at him. His eyes were tormented, more so than usual. “It sure looked likethatthe other day.”
Magnus cocked his head. “Because I kissed her after she kissed you?”
Trey’s jaw clenched, the muscles bunching.
“If it makes you feel better, Ava beat herself up about that when she realized you saw us.”
