Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(43)

“Nothing. It looks like nothing because it’s nothing.”

She shook her head. “It looks like something. Clearly, I am a total idiot.”

“Trihn, come on.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I told you that Neal cheated on me and that I have trust issues. You should have…I don’t know…just f*cking known better. This”—she gestured between them—“must mean nothing to you. Fuck!” She spun on her heel and wrenched the door back open.

She couldn’t stand there and let him spout bullshit to her. He was with someone else, some stupid f*cking blonde bimbo who had to flaunt her enormous breasts for attention. It was no wonder he was interested in someone else if that was what he was into. Trihn was pretty much the opposite of that girl—physically, mentally, and emotionally by the looks of her.

Ugh! She wanted to scream. She hated that she was being a bitch and judging that girl.

It was Damon’s fault in the first place. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near another girl, no matter what she f*cking looked like or what she was f*cking wearing. Blaming the girl for her clothing felt contrary to Trihn’s core belief system, but anger kept pushing rational thought out of her head.

With her head up in the clouds, she was halfway down the stairs to head out onto the dance floor. She doubted Damon would follow her. Guys didn’t fight for her. Preston hadn’t. Neal hadn’t. She wasn’t worth enough for them to do that, and she was f*cking tired of it. She didn’t even have the energy to go back up to the VIP section to hang out with Chloe. She just needed to be alone to process. This had officially ruined her night.

“Trihn!”

She whipped around in confusion, not recognizing the voice. Standing in front of her was Damon’s friend, Jimmy.

“I’m really not in the mood right now.”

His face fell. “I was just seeing if you had talked to Damon. I was glad to hear that you guys had worked things out.”

“Yeah—until he had some chick up in the DJ booth with him.” She rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

“Wait, what?” Jimmy asked, following her.

“You heard me.”

“There’s no possible way that he had a girl up there. He’s extremely professional. The only girl I’ve heard of him having in his booth since shit went down a couple of months ago is you.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem to be true anymore because I was just up there, and some blonde chick was hanging all over him. What happened a couple of months ago anyway?” she demanded.

Jimmy shook his head. “That’s a question for him, but I’ve known him a long time, and there’s no way.”

“Whatever,” she said, brushing him off.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Damon called, hurtling through the crowd.

Trihn’s eyes widened as Damon approached her and Jimmy. She turned to keep walking away from him, but he latched on to her arm.

“Please don’t leave,” Damon pleaded.

Jimmy melted into the background, but in solidarity with his friend, he didn’t go too far.

Trihn just shook her head at the both of them. “I can’t do this, Damon.”

“Don’t leave. I’m not doing anything with Cadence. I swear to you,” he said. He grabbed her hands in his own. His eyes were wide and terrified. “I promise with everything that I am, nothing is going on with me and Cady.”

“Then, what the f*ck was she doing up there?” Trihn asked.

She wanted to believe him. He looked so earnest. But didn’t that fool me in the past?

“She’s another DJ.”

“Really?” Trihn rolled her eyes. “She really looked like another DJ, sitting practically on top of you.”

“I know that must have looked bad to you, but she’s just another DJ. I’ve seen her around at other venues. I’d already turned down the gig tonight before you canceled to go to the concert, but they said I could come back in anyway. Cadence was the DJ who had come in to fill the spot. We were both here, so we were just working together.”

“Working together,” Trihn said. “I’ve heard that one before.”

He heavily blew out his breath and flipped off his baseball hat. His hair was a wild mess. His eyes looked crazed. “I’m not into her. In fact, she felt so bad about what happened that she’s holding down the fort in the booth until I get back, and then she’s bailing. You can talk to her yourself.”

Trihn held up her hand. “Really not necessary.”

“I get that you’re upset because you think something was going on. That happened with your last boyfriend, but I’m not him. At some point, you’re going to have to see that I’m not like the guy who messed you up.”

“How could I see that after what I walked in on? I’ve been made a fool of in the past. Twice! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I won’t be fooled a third time, Damon. I’d rather be alone than have someone stomp on my heart and leave me in a f*cking mess all over again!”

“I won’t do that. I couldn’t do that to you!”

He reached out for her, but she took a step back away from him. She wasn’t ready for him to be consoling.

“What happened a couple of months ago?” she asked.