Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(42)

Shaking off the strangeness of their non-conversation, Trihn accepted the shot that Maya had handed her. All of the girls clinked their shot glasses together and then downed the alcohol in one quick motion. She hastily reached out for a lime and shook her head as the tequila burned down her throat.

“I’m going to need a few more of those,” Chloe said, energized from the shot.

Maya poured out another, and after they downed that, Trihn knew she was going to need a break or else she’d get plastered even though she was pretty good at holding her liquor.

“I’ll be back in a minute. Damon is working tonight, and I want to say hi,” Trihn said, standing.

“Say hi to the BF for me,” Bryna said with a wink.

“You’re a bitch.”

“The one and only.”

Trihn hopped out of her seat and left the VIP section. She was on her way down the stairs when she ran into Eric.

“Hey, Trihn!” he said, enveloping her in a hug.

“Hey. You going to see Bri?”

He nodded. “She seemed out of it when she texted me.”

Trihn leaned forward to talk to him even though she doubted anyone could overhear her. “She’s up there with Chloe Avana. I don’t know their history, but Bryna is in a horrible mood and drinking heavily. You and I both know where that leads with her.”

He furrowed his brow and nodded. “Hopefully, I won’t have to throw her ass into the pool again.”

Trihn laughed. “I hope it doesn’t get that out of control. She’s better when she’s with you.”

“Thanks.” Eric beamed.

“All right. I’m going to go see Damon now, so take care of her until I get back.”

“Is that the guy who lives at the place I have to keep picking you up from?” Eric asked.

Trihn nodded. “That’s the one.”

“Y’all together now?”

“We’re dating, but it’s not serious.”

Eric smirked, and Trihn could see why Bryna had fallen for him. He totally saw through Trihn.

“It’s always serious with you, Trihn.”

“Don’t remind me,” she said warily.

People had been saying that about Trihn her entire life. She took everything too seriously—dance, modeling, fashion, and relationships. Compared to Lydia, the hippie flower child who preached free love to anyone who would listen, Trihn was the polar opposite. And she had hated that until she had moved to Las Vegas and realized that being serious about her work was a good thing. Even being serious about her relationship with Neal had seemed like a good thing.

But at the same time, she knew something was blooming between herself and Damon, and she couldn’t ignore it. Her head told her to be careful. Damon could break her into pieces all over again. But her heart said to throw caution to the wind and just be with this truly incredible guy.

“You’ll make the right choice for you. You always do,” Eric said. “Now, I’m going to go rescue my crazy girlfriend.”

With a sigh, Trihn watched Eric leave. If Bryna could find Eric Wilkins, then surely someone was out there for Trihn.

She moved over to the stairs leading to the DJ booth and climbed them with her mind clouded. The same bouncer who had been there the first night was standing guard.

He recognized her and nodded. “Hey, Trihn.”

She startled. She didn’t think that he’d know her name. “Hey. Can I go in to see Damon?”

“Sure thing.” The bouncer opened the door and stepped back to let her pass.

“Thanks.” She practically skipped forward into the room. With how amazing her night had been going, she was ecstatic to see Damon. “Damon, guess what?” she cried.

Then, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Damon wasn’t alone.

A busty blonde in a tight-fitting corset top with her breasts nearly falling out of it and a micro miniskirt with black pleather heeled boots was sitting next to him. She was facing Damon with her arm draped across his thigh, and her ear was plastered to one side of the headphones he was wearing.

Damon jerked around at her voice. “Trihn?”





TRIHN STOOD, FROZEN, IN DISBELIEF. She wanted to bolt. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to kick it into high gear and get the f*ck away from this moment. She had been here before. Between Preston and Neal, she’d had her fair share of cheating boyfriends. With a girl like that hanging on Damon so casually, it couldn’t possibly be innocent. This was the exact reason she had been taking things slow. Nice guys didn’t exist.

“What’s this?” she demanded, her voice rising an octave.

Her breath was uneven, and her hands were shaking. She felt tears welling up and tried to stop them from spilling by taking a shuddering deep breath.

Even if she and Damon weren’t officially together, she hadn’t expected this. They had been moving in the right direction, and it had suddenly come to a screeching halt.

“Trihn,” he said again, standing abruptly and tossing the headphones down on top of the soundboard.

The girl leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. She looked smug, as far as Trihn was concerned.

“This is not what it looks like,” Damon said.

“And what does it look like?” she managed to get out.