Demi lied to us! Despite the Camp Rock star’s emphatic denial that she has not been riding the disco stick of Miley Cyrus’ tattooed and pierced brother, Trace, in an interview with PEOPLE Tuesday,the Metro Station star confirmed that age and distance recently caused the couple to end their clandestine romance.

Can’t say I blame the girl. I wouldn’t want to claim that either. Yuck…

“Demi is one of my good friends and I definitely became very, very close with her in the past few months, and it’s something I really wanted to make work. But unfortunately, we both have very busy schedules – we’re both on tour right now,” Trace told PEOPLE Tuesday. “I’m always on the other side of the world and so is she, so it just seemed like something that can’t work out at this time.”

The four-year age difference between the fully-legal Trace and underage Demi also strained the relationship.

“…She is a lot younger than me,” the 20-year-old says of his ex, who is 16. “When someone is that much younger, you’re looking for different things in relationships. Maybe when she’s older and we’ve both matured, we’ll be looking for the same thing and it can work out.”

“We gave it a shot and that’s all you can do.”

Despite the split, Trace insists there are no hard feelings between he and Demi.

“Every time I hung out with that girl or talked on the phone with her, it was amazing. She’s someone I can totally relate to.”