Platinum (All That Glitters #3) (19 page)

He smiled down at her, bringing butterflies to life in her stomach. “So, are you my girlfriend then?”

“I…” She closed her mouth and glanced down at the ground.

That was a step forward.
Didn’t I just push us forward with my freak-out? Weren’t we moving in that exact direction whether I claimed to want it or not?

“It’s okay if you’re not ready,” he said, backpedaling.

“No, you’re right.” She moved her fingers up his shirt and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “My friends are already calling you that. I care about you. We’re not just dating because I just made it abundantly clear that I want to be exclusive. So, yeah, I guess I am your girlfriend.”

He let out a happy sigh and then sweetly kissed her on the lips. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Trihn felt like she had just made one huge step forward. A chip that she had tried to harden fell away from her heart. When she fell, she fell hard. And she had been trying to avoid letting herself get to that point, but Damon seemed determined to be the guy for her.

“I’m going to go tell Cadence that she can head out. You can come with me if you want,” he offered.

“You know, while she’s up there,” Trihn said, an idea forming in her mind, “why don’t you come up to VIP with me?”

“I still have to work.”

“I know, but I want you to meet someone.”

“Yeah? Color me intrigued.”

TRIHN GESTURED FOR DAMON AND JIMMY
to follow her up the steps to the VIP section.

Compared to when she and the girls had first gotten here, it was packed. Trihn didn’t know if it was a result of the news getting out that Chloe was here or what, but it was a fight just to get through the crowd.

She felt the reassuring pressure from Damon’s hand in hers and slowed down. She was excited to introduce him, but she didn’t need to throw down with someone to get through. Plus, this introduction was with her boyfriend. She swallowed hard at the realization that she was going through this all over again. It was scary, terrifying really, but still exhilarating. Damon wasn’t like anyone else, and she prayed to God that it would stay as the truth.

The bottle of tequila was empty when they made it to the corner booth. Chloe was standing on their table, dancing with Bryna, who looked like she had drunk her fair share of the bottle. Eric and Maya were supervising. Stacia was nowhere to be seen, which likely meant she was with a guy. Whether it was Pace, Marshall, or someone else entirely, Trihn had no clue.

“Is that—” Damon whispered next to her.

“Holy fuck, that’s Chloe Avana,” Jimmy said.

Chloe, hearing her name, swiveled around on the table and nearly lost her footing. She grabbed on to Bryna and cracked up laughing. Before they could tumble to the ground, Eric was there, supporting them both.

“Trihn!” Chloe cried. “Come dance with us.”

“When you said you were introducing me to someone, I thought that I was going to finally get the official introduction to your friends,” Damon said, his eyes wide. “Not that you’d brought a celebrity with you to Posse.”

“Well, yeah, I wanted you to meet my friend. But, also, this is Chloe Avana,” she said.

Chloe hopped off the table and strolled over to them. “Oh my God, you must be Trihn’s boyfriend!”

“That I am.”

“Good choice,” Chloe said with a wink. She turned to Jimmy. “And who are you?”

“Uh…” he murmured, seemingly losing his voice.

“This is Jimmy, Damon’s friend,” Trihn introduced them.

“Cute. We need another bottle, and it’s on the way. You guys should join us for shots.” Chloe sauntered back over to Bryna and nearly fell into her lap.

“She was not this drunk when I left her,” Trihn told Damon.

“Well, I don’t think we can turn that invite down.”

Trihn took the seat next to Chloe, and Damon and Jimmy filled in the rest of the booth.

Bryna leaned over Chloe and looked right at Damon. “So, you’re the hot piece of ass she’s been fucking?”

Trihn dropped her head into her hands. Drunk Bryna was always a little bit of a hot mess.

“Good to see you again, Bryna. Always a pleasure.” He glanced over at Trihn and laughed. “And, um…yeah, I guess that would be me.”

Eric pulled Bryna back with a shake of his head. “What she means is,
Hey, how’s it going? Thank you for being a great DJ at all party. It’s good to see you again and to officially get to meet you as the guy Trihn has been talking about
.”

“No, that’s definitely not what I meant,” Bryna said.

“Now, this is the Bryna Turner I’ve always heard about—cheerleader, gold digger, riotous drunk,” Damon said with a smirk. That British accent made Trihn swoon all over again.

“Everything you’ve heard is true,” Bryna said.

Trihn laughed. “And worse.”

“Gold digger?” Chloe asked, wide-eyed. “But you’re fucking rich.”

“Everyone has their vices,” Bryna said with a nonchalant shrug.

A bartender came over and placed another bottle of tequila and a bottle of vodka down on the table with some more mixers. Maya thanked the girl and started pouring out drinks for everyone.

“No, thank you,” Damon said when Maya offered him a drink. “I have to get back upstairs soon. This was cool.”

“You’re leaving already?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, I’m kind of on the clock.”

“Thanks for humoring us, Chloe. I just thought it would be cool to introduce him to you,” Trihn said, unable to believe this was real life. “He has this remix of ‘Heartbreaker,’ and it’s my favorite of the tracks he’s put together.”

“Really?” she asked, reaching for the drink that Maya was handing her.

“It’s actually really good,” Bryna chimed in. “Quality. He knows what he’s doing.”

Chloe seemed to reassess Damon. She probably had people who wanted to make it in the music industry try to get close to her all the time. She’d seemed to tune out as soon as the conversation had shifted to her career. But Bryna’s words held a lot of weight.

Trihn hadn’t even thought that saying something about the mix would turn Chloe off. That wasn’t Trihn’s intention at all. She had just wanted to thank Chloe for the great music.

Chloe shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “Well, if Bryna approves, then I want to hear it.”

“You do?” Damon and Trihn said at the same time.

“Yeah. Can I hear it now? Is that possible?” she asked.

“I could cue it up for you in the booth,” Damon offered.

“Then, let’s go to the booth,” she said, standing and taking the lead even though she had no clue where she was going. “Come on, Mateo,” Chloe barked.

Mateo plopped a hat down on her head and forced the sunglasses back on her before departing. Trihn, Damon, and Jimmy followed close behind her. Damon looked at Trihn in astonishment, and she was sure that her face mirrored his, both unable to believe this.

She had just put Damon on the spot in front of a big name in the music industry, and now, he was going to showcase what he was good at in front of this celebrity. She hoped this would turn out to be a good thing.

As they walked through the crowd, it was clear the news about her appearance here had definitely spread. Damon and Trihn crowded in around Chloe as they made their way through the throng of people who was excited to find her in their midst.

When they finally made it up the stairs to the DJ booth, Chloe leaned back against the wall and was breathing heavily. She was counting under her breath, and Trihn could see her hands were shaking.

“Are you okay?” Trihn asked.

Mateo took a step between them. “Give her a minute.”

After a few deep breaths, Chloe took her hat off and seemed to regain her composure. “Sorry about that. After London, crowds freak me out. Last year, I had a panic attack while walking to my car after leaving the AMAs with all the people in the parking lot. Oh, shit,” she said, looking at Mateo with fear in her eyes. She glanced back at Damon, Trihn, and Jimmy fearfully. “Please don’t tell the press that.”

“It’s okay,” Trihn said. She took Chloe’s hand in hers. It was heartbreaking to see the other side of the confident girl from the stage. “We won’t say anything. Promise.”

“Thanks,” she said hopefully. “Let’s, uh…just go hear the song.”

Damon nodded his head at the bouncer. Seeing Chloe with her bodyguard, the bouncer widened his eyes as he swung the door open to the booth for them. Damon and the bouncer clasped hands before their group entered the booth and Jimmy shut the door behind them.

Cadence swiveled around at the commotion. She had her headphones on and seemed to have been jamming to the techno music in the background. “Hey, Damon. Super sorry about earlier. I’m all set to leave whenever you’re—shit! Is that Chloe Avana? If not, you’re a total doppelgänger.”

“Nope. It’s me. Hi.” Chloe waved at the girl.

“Whoa. Can we get a selfie?”

Chloe laughed, as if the panic attack in the hallway hadn’t just occurred because of psycho fans. “Sure.”

Cadence jumped up and pulled out her enormous cell phone. She clicked a picture with Chloe. “This is awesome. So great to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Cady, we’re going to cue up my remix of ‘Heartbreaker,’” Damon told her. “You’re free to go, or you can stay if you want to hear it.”

“I’d love to hear it, as long as that’s okay with your girlfriend,” she said, hesitantly looking at Trihn.

“It’s fine,” Trihn said automatically. “I’m Trihn.”

“Cadence.”

They shook hands, and Trihn promised herself that she would be the bigger person in this situation. Damon was falling for her, and they were exclusive. This was nothing. Just a blip on the radar.

Damon fiddled with the controls, and Chloe leaned against the table, staring at the computer he was syncing up. Trihn was so excited that this was happening. She would get to watch Damon work, and it was cool that Chloe would hear his talent.

“All right. Here is just a sample. I’m pulling it up to play in the club, but I’m going to let Cady’s track finish out.”

He flicked a few more buttons, and then “Heartbreaker”
started playing in the sound booth. Chloe tapped her foot as she listened to her lyrics come through the speakers. Trihn could see the instant the beat really hit her.

She stood up straighter and intently looked at the screen. “Huh,” she whispered.

Damon frowned. “What?”

“You added something. It’s not just the remix, like most DJs do. The vocals are different.”

“Oh, yeah, that,” he said, silencing the music. “Sorry. I just added in a harmony to you on the chorus, and I recorded a piano and guitar to go with the bass line. Then, I remixed the song from there.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Can you key this up to play without the lyrics?”

“Um…yeah, sure. Give me a second,” Damon said. He went back to work on his computer. A few minutes later, he was playing the song again. “This what you want?”

She listened and then nodded. “Yes, perfect. Play that version, and mike me.”

“What?” Damon asked. He stilled on the computer and looked at her in confusion.

“Everyone down there already knows that I’m here. What better way to give a show than for me to sing the song while miked to your sound system?”

“Chloe,” Mateo said stiffly from the corner.

“It’ll be fine,” she insisted.

“You’ll have to leave right after,” he told her. “I’m going to call the limo.”

“Ruining all my fun.”

“I’ll need the full detail to escort you out of here.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “Cue it up,” she said to Damon.

“Okay, yeah,” Damon said, energized. “Just give me a second.”

Chloe was excited. She was bouncing up and down while softly singing scales to herself. Despite how much she’d had to drink earlier, she was still warming up her vocal cords like a pro.

Trihn couldn’t believe this was happening. When Chloe had said she wanted to hear Damon’s version, Trihn had thought they’d listen to the song, and that would be that. She hadn’t thought Chloe would want to sing to Damon’s music.

“Your boyfriend is mega talented,” Chloe said to Trihn. “That mix? Ah, love!”

“He is, isn’t he?” Trihn said with a smile, watching her boyfriend work.

“Uh, yeah! And hot! And that accent! You’re so lucky!”

Trihn laughed. “I guess I am.”

“All right,” Damon said. “You’re good to go.”

“Announce me.”

Damon didn’t even hesitate. He’d worked at the radio station long enough to know how to introduce an artist even if he’d never had anyone on the show as big as Chloe Avana.

“Posse! Have I got a surprise for you,” Damon said into the microphone as the end of the last song changed into a synthesized instrumental. “We’re about to take down the house, and I’ve got someone here all ready to bring it down with me. This is ‘Heartbreaker,’ and here with me tonight is none other than the international superstar Chloe Avana.”

The crowd below them roared with approval.

Damon and Chloe smiled the same smile. They were both in their element.

“Heartbreaker” started on cue. Damon worked his magic on the board, getting into the music and letting loose. Then, Chloe’s vocals came in, and she sang her heart out. To Trihn’s surprise, Damon silenced the backup vocals he had recorded and sang into his microphone. He dropped the sound on it so that it came out in the background, but it was perfect with Chloe’s high notes. It was hands down the best performance of the song Trihn had ever heard. It was even better than the one Chloe had sung at her concert that night for the final encore in front of seventeen-thousand people.