Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(61)

“Whoa! I don’t have a boyfriend,” Stacia said automatically.

“And, well, Eric is worried about you moping around here,” Bryna added.

“No,” Trihn said. “Maybe I’ll go out after Damon’s call, but I have to pick him up early in the morning, so I wouldn’t want to be out late anyway.”

Bryna sighed. “Fine. He’d better call soon then.”

They walked back to their rooms to finish getting ready.

Trihn whispered under her breath, “Yeah, he’d better.”




It was one o’clock in the morning when Trihn’s phone rang.

She had given up on even the semblance of getting work done. Her computer was sitting half-open with Facebook winking up at her. Her design notebook was flipped to a blank page. Her imagination had run away with her but not toward her creative endeavors.

All she had thought about was the time she had waited up all day and night for Preston to call her back and how she had so easily swallowed his bullshit the next day. He’d been at work. He’d been so busy. He’d fallen asleep at his desk.

Yeah, right.

She should have seen it then. He’d been with someone else. The devastating part, of course, was that the someone else had been Lydia, but it would have been just as hard if it were anyone else.

As she reached for her phone, she had a horrible sinking feeling of déjà vu.

“Hello?” Trihn said.

“Trihn!” Damon called into the phone.

She yanked the phone back from her ear. It was insanely loud on the other end of the phone. Music slammed into her ear, and Damon was practically yelling to be heard over the noise.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, love. I’m out at a nightclub with Chloe and some of the production crew. They wanted to celebrate finishing up the album. I was going to call you when I got back to the hotel, but then time just ran away from me.”

“It’s almost one in the morning,” she said.

“I know. I looked down at my phone, saw the time, and freaked out. I hope you weren’t worried.”

Trihn took a deep breath. Of course she had been worried. “Well, I was. Kind of. I mean, you normally call right when you get out of production.”

“Damon, come on!” Trihn heard someone yell in the phone. “I want you to meet someone.”

“Chloe, just give me a minute,” Damon said. The phone was muffled, like he’d put his hand over it, as he talked to Chloe. “Sorry about that. Chloe has been introducing me to a lot of people. She’s been really supportive.”

I bet she has.

Trihn tried to clear the ugly thoughts from her head. Chloe had been nothing but awesome for Damon. And she had been incredibly nice to Trihn. She had spoken to Chloe a couple of times since Damon had been gone. Their relationship seemed entirely professional, and there was no reason to think it was otherwise. That wasn’t the kind of person either of them were.

“That’s good, Damon. I just didn’t think that you’d be out so late when you’re coming back on an early flight tomorrow.”

“About that,” he said so quietly that she barely heard him.

Her stomach sank.

“Chloe set up a few interviews and meetings with people around the city for the upcoming album release. She thought that it’d be good for me to be there to meet people in the business. It’s such a good opportunity that I don’t think I can turn it down.”

“Wow. You’re promoting the album already?”

“Yeah. It’ll come out at the beginning of the summer. Preorders are up everywhere, and the full track listing will go up once they release the title track.”

“That’s fast-moving,” she said. She took a deep breath. “How long are you going to be gone?”

“I think just a day or two. I had to sign a lot of paperwork to record this song, and I need to get my own talent agent and manager while I’m out here. Don’t want to get screwed over or anything.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have to. I’m still missing you like crazy. Can’t wait to get back to you.”

“I know. I can’t wait either.”

“Damon!” Chloe called again.

He sighed heavily. “Hey, I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“All right. I’ll talk to you then. I miss you.”

“Bye, Trihn.”

The line died in her hand, and she stared at her phone.

This was a good thing for Damon. This was what he had been working toward. He needed to be there for his career. But it didn’t stop the first edge of panic from taking over her body.

She repeated to herself all the things Damon had said to her before he left. They were all that mattered. He cared for her. They could make it. They were a team. It pushed the panic back a little, but knowing she had been sitting around all night waiting just irritated her.

All night, she had been freaking out about him instead of just trusting him and having fun with her friends. That was what she should have been doing—not sitting around her apartment, all alone, and getting worked up.

Trihn changed into one of her signature outfits—black leather miniskirt and black rhinestone bra top with her leather jacket and knee-high leather boots. She blew out her dark hair until it was stick straight and then added dark makeup with cherry-red lips.