Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(20)

“What?”

Bryna held it out to her. “It has your name on it.”

“It does not! Who would send me anything?” Trihn asked.

“Open it, and find out.”

Trihn tore the paper off the box and opened it up. Inside was an envelope and exactly one Hershey’s Kiss. She held it up for Bryna to see, and she shrugged.

Trihn opened the envelope and retrieved the note within.

TRIHN,

IT MEANT SOMETHING TO ME.





DAMON


Trihn just stared at the message until it became blurry before her eyes.

“Well?” Bryna demanded. She grabbed it out of Trihn’s hands and then immediately started laughing.

“What’s going on out here?” Stacia asked. “You guys are so f*cking loud.”

“Trihn got flowers from Damon.”

Stacia’s eyes popped. “Really? How romantic.”

“And a Hershey’s Kiss,” Bryna added.

“I guess that counts as chocolate?” Stacia asked.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Trihn said with a shake of her head.

Truthfully, she had no idea what any of it meant. Of course Damon was contradicting the last statement she had made to him before leaving his place the day before. She had just figured that would have been the end of it.

How could a guy who had just met her want to push so hard for her? He hardly knew her. They’d barely talked. Sure, they’d had amazing sex—more than once. She just hadn’t believed him when he said that he was going to try to change her mind. Guys didn’t fight for her. They usually fought with her.

“I’m pretty sure flowers and…chocolate mean something,” Stacia said.

“Plus, the card says it means something,” Bryna reasoned.

Trihn snatched the card out of Bryna’s hand and stuffed it into the box. “Well, it doesn’t mean anything to me. I have to go to class.”

“Forget class. Call this guy, and blow him,” Stacia said. “Guys do not put in effort like this in the real world, Trihn.”

“As ever, Stacia, your logic is impeccably sound.” Trihn shook her head at her friend and then hurried to the door.

“Hey, don’t forget your Kiss!” Stacia called.

Trihn held her hand out, and Stacia plopped the Hershey’s Kiss into her palm. She popped it into her mouth with a tight smile, flipped her two roommates off, and then left for class.





TRIHN’S FASHION DESIGN CLASS reignited her passion for her work. All the art and textile classes she had taken were really helping out with her new classes. A lot of it was basic, but she knew that they would move into more difficult and complicated techniques as the semester went on.

The most exciting part was that all the design majors would get to help with the annual Teena Hart Fashion Show. Advanced design students would put together a selection of their best pieces and would get to feature them on an actual runway. The winner of the fashion show would take their designs to New York City in the summer to compete against the top programs from all over the country. The grand prize was that the line would be picked up by a large market. Last year, it was Macy’s!

Trihn had been selected to help with the models throughout the entire process. She wasn’t all that surprised, given her background in modeling. She just wished she’d have more hands-on experience in working with the actual designs, but her day would come.

The best part about being so busy was that it didn’t leave her as much time to sit around and obsess. Part of her really missed Neal. She knew how much her roommates hated him and that he had been a jerk to her, but she still missed him. And she didn’t know if that was just because she didn’t like to be alone, especially while Bryna and Eric were so happy together and Stacia was always content with the various men in her life.

Not to mention, there was Damon. Nearly a week had passed, and he hadn’t reached out to Trihn since he had sent the flowers. She tried not to be disappointed. She had pushed him away after all, and it was too early to be interested in someone else.

Her thoughts were clouded with their one-night stand when she made it home on Friday afternoon.

“Get dressed, bitch. We’re going out,” Bryna said when Trihn opened the door.

“God,” Trihn said, jumping backward. “Don’t you and Stacia have cheer practice or something?”

“Nope. Canceled for tonight since the football season is over. We’re getting ready for competition, but haven’t really geared up yet.”

“What about basketball season?”

Bryna gave her a blank stare. “Does anyone care about that?”

Trihn laughed. “I hear some people do.”

“Well, we have a B squad for basketball because they suck, and no one here gives a shit. Now, get changed. We’re going out,” she repeated.

Twenty minutes later, Bryna, Stacia, and Trihn piled into Bryna’s Aston Martin and drove to the Strip. The girls generally avoided the madness of the tourist trap, but some necessities could only be found in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

They passed Tiffany & Co., and Bryna shot it a wistful look.

“You really don’t need anything else from there,” Trihn said, grabbing her arm and tugging her away.