Platinum (All That Glitters #3) (2 page)

She hoped that would still be possible.

“
THERE YOU ARE
!” Trihn shrieked. She threw herself into Maya, standing just off of the packed dance floor.

Maya gave her a hug and laughed. “Are you drunk already?”

“Nah! But Bri and Stacia have been trying to feed me shots like candy,” she confessed.

“Oh, dear.” Maya turned to face Bryna and Stacia. “You’ve been getting my girl drunk?”

Bryna and Stacia innocently shrugged their shoulders, but nothing else about them proclaimed innocence. Bryna was a total blonde bombshell in sky-high Louboutin heels and a skimpy red dress that showed off her killer figure. Stacia had her own short blonde hair piled into a sexy messy bun at the nape of her neck. She was decked out in a royal-blue top that plunged to her navel and shorts so tiny that half of her ass hung out. Both girls were cheerleaders at Las Vegas State and enjoyed playing the part.

“I’m not drunk,” Trihn insisted.

They hadn’t been at the club long enough, and she had been dancing so much that the alcohol wasn’t hitting her that hard.

“See? She’s not drunk,” Bryna said.

“As if I’d trust you,” Maya said. She twisted her luscious African American caramel-toned body toward Trihn and gave her the same look she would give drunks at the bar when they insisted they were sober. Maya was tall enough to stare down at Trihn, which was a rarity for someone who used to model.

“Who cares anyway?” Trihn cried. “We’re here to have fun. You never come out with us. You’re not on bar duty. You don’t have to take care of anyone. Let’s just go dance.”

Laughing, she grabbed Maya’s hand and dragged her onto the dance floor. A part of her wished that she had switched out her Gucci heels for her combat boots. They were more comfortable, but she loved being dolled up, sporting her designer grunge, as Bryna called it. She had opted for black leather shorts, a lacy racerback bralette, and a glammed up jean vest that she had reconstructed herself.

“I’m going to need a drink if you want me to dance,” Maya said. She laughed at Trihn and released her. “Here, dance with the Cheer Slut in the meantime.”

She pushed Trihn into Stacia, who started shaking her ass against Trihn.

Maya raised her eyebrows at Bryna. “And what about you? Has Eric settled you down?”

Bryna responded with a defiant look that only she could pull off. Trihn was happy that her friend had found someone who made her happy. She’d had a wild couple of years.

In some ways, Trihn envied the way her best friend could say and do whatever the fuck she wanted without caring what anyone thought about her. Trihn had never been like that. She wore her heart on her sleeve and always wanted everyone to like her. But she pitied Bryna as well. Her life wasn’t as easy as it looked from the outside. Trihn couldn’t even imagine going through the shit Bryna had gone through last year, and Trihn was just glad that Bryna and Eric Wilkins were finally a couple.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Maya said with a giggle. “Go dance. I’ll be back.”

Trihn fell easily into the practiced movements from years of dance training mingled with endless nights of clubbing with her friends. Dancing was her happy place. It was one of the reasons she loved to party. Expectations would disappear, and she could live through the pulse of the music, the bright lights, and the rhythm of the people around her. She didn’t need anyone or anything in that moment. She could just be herself while dancing completely alone in the middle of a crowded room.

The moment she lost herself, she found herself.

A current ran through her body, and she soared as free as a bird high above the clouds. She turned and whirled and let loose. Half of the time, she’d freestyle to the hip-hop beats the DJ was blaring through the speakers. Sometimes, she’d perform remembered choreography from when she had been a part of the New York City Dance House in high school. She had a strong ballet background, but she had found a passion in underground pole dancing with her friend, Cassidy, after-hours at a burlesque club in New York City. Then, Trihn had followed Cassidy out to Las Vegas and never looked back.

“Whoa!” Stacia cried. “Did you see that?”

Trihn stopped moving. “What?”

“That.” Stacia pointed to a group of guys who were dancing a few feet away from them. “Some guy did a back flip!”

Trihn had a good half a foot on Stacia and Bryna, so she craned her neck to figure out what was going on. “It looks like people are showing off.”

“Let’s get in there!” Stacia cheered.

“Where do you think we are, S?” Bryna asked. “We didn’t just walk into
Save the Last Dance
.”

“Actually,” Trihn said, straining to to get a clear picture, “it doesn’t look that different than the movie. Come on.”

Without a second thought, Trihn threaded through the crowd and forced her way to the front of the circle. Stacia and Bryna came up behind her. As Stacia watched the people dancing, she bounced from foot to foot in excitement. Bryna looked a little bored, as if she would rather be the center of attention than let other people take the spotlight. But Trihn felt an inexplicable giddiness rising up in her stomach.

Three main guys kept moving in and out of the circle while a handful of girls were jumping in and shaking their asses to loud cheers. She wasn’t interested in the girls’ performances. They looked all right, she supposed, but the guys were way better.

One was a tall black guy with black hair under his navy blue hat with NY stitched on in white. He was throwing some pretty impressive break-dancing skills. The second guy was shorter with light hair. He was smirking at some other girls nearby. He had some fancy footwork, but he kept nudging the guy next to him, as if waiting for his approval.

That guy wasn’t even paying attention. He was teeming with energy. He was tall with short dark hair and wearing all black clothing. He was rolling his hat back and forth between his fingers while waiting for his turn to go out there, but his hips were moving, and he clearly knew what he was doing.

Trihn couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.

He was so damn good.

As if sensing her staring, his eyes found hers. She sucked in her breath as he just watched at her, his gaze resembling a challenge. But if he thought she was going to walk into that circle, he was out of his mind.

She was sure muscle memory would help her throw a few tricks of her own if she went out there—not that she had any intention of doing so, but it would be funny to show him that girls could do more than shake their booties.

Despite the fact that she loved performing, she couldn’t imagine doing it now. Performances had always been scheduled in her life with lots of notice and prepared choreography. She wasn’t drunk enough if she was worrying about what people might think about her dancing out there. Her stomach was twisting into knots while she considered it.

The first guy finished his break-dancing move, and suddenly, the last guy stepped into the space. With the circle all to himself, he moved his body, as if he owned the place. He didn’t have one single self-conscious bone in his body.

“He’s hot,” Stacia murmured next to her. “Not my type, you know, because he
obviously
doesn’t play football, but he’s still hot.”

Trihn nodded. “Definitely.”

“I think I know him from somewhere,” Bryna said curiously.

Bryna knew everyone, so that wouldn’t surprise Trihn, but she was pretty sure she would have remembered him if she had seen him before.

Maya pushed through the crowd to get to them in that moment. “Jesus Christ! Just abandon me, why don’t you?”

“Sorry,” Trihn said without taking her eyes off the guy dancing.

“Well, I see why you did,” Maya said.

Maya nudged her forward a little, and Trihn nearly fell across the invisible threshold. That drew the guy’s heated gaze, and he gave her that same knowing look. He smirked at her stumble, and she felt her heartbeat skyrocket. She wanted to believe it was from embarrassment and not the hot guy in front of her.

“Maya! God!” Trihn cried.

She pressed back into the throng of people once more. She didn’t want to be noticed.

“Seriously, how do I know him?” Bryna cried. “This is going to bug me. I’m need to talk to him. Stacia, go shake your ass or something.”

“With pleasure,” Stacia said.

Trihn grabbed her hand. “Don’t go out there. You’d just be perpetuating the stereotype that the only girls who can dance are girls who shake their asses.”

“And?” Stacia said in confusion.

“Well, you’d be feeding into the patriarchy.”

Bryna busted out laughing. “
That
is how she’d be feeding into the patriarchy?”

“She has a point, Trihni,” Maya said. “Admit that you just don’t want Stacia dancing with the hot guy looking at you like he wants you for dessert.”

“You guys are unreal.” Trihn glanced back over at the guy.

Some girl had just entered the circle before Stacia could and was trying to dance up on him. He moved his hips around a couple of times before gliding his feet across the floor, as if he were floating and moving away from her. He relinquished the dance floor to the girl. When his head popped back up, he was looking at Trihn.

“He’s staring at you,” Maya said.

“No, he’s not.”

But he was.

“
GIVE IT UP FOR MY MAIN MAN
, Damon, killing it on the dance floor!” the DJ called over the speakers. “Damon will be back in the DJ booth, bringing you all your favorite mixes, after this break.”

“Oh my God!” Bryna shrieked. “That’s how I know him!”

“How?” Trihn asked.

Maya laughed. “This should be good.”

“Not like that actually,” Bryna said.

She turned her fierce gaze on Maya, but Maya just rolled her eyes. She could deflect Bryna like no other.

“Would it have really surprised anyone though?” Stacia asked.

“I suppose, he isn’t her type. She liked them older and filthy rich,” Maya said. She laughed and tipped back her drink.

Bryna shrugged her shoulders, unperturbed. “He was the DJ at my party last year when I moved into the mansion. I just couldn’t remember his name, but that’s definitely him.”

Trihn looked up at Damon again. He had this air about him, like nothing could change his good time. He was so carefree and utterly intoxicating to watch. He wasn’t even the best dancer that Trihn had seen before, but he’d moved with such confidence that everyone in the place cheered for him.

“Are you sure it’s the same guy?” Trihn asked. She found it hard to believe that she wouldn’t have noticed someone like that at one of Bryna’s parties.

“I’m positive that he is the same guy,” she said.

“Hmm…” Trihn shrugged and backed out of the circle as it started to close in on itself.

Damon caught her eye in a way that said he knew all her secrets.

She shied away from his gaze. It wasn’t like she wanted to jump into the middle of the circle and take over. Her best friends were more likely to do that than she was. It’d be better to forget all about Damon and just walk away.

So, she did.

The girls followed her back to the bar where Maya promptly ordered them all drinks. Trihn sipped on her gin and tonic and pushed her hair off the back of her neck. It was boiling hot inside. The dancing certainly hadn’t helped to cool her down.

Some guy started talking to Stacia, and then she promptly disappeared onto the dance floor, dragging Bryna with her. Ever since Stacia and Pace Larson—Bryna’s stepbrother and the backup quarterback for the LV State football team—had broken up, Stacia had been all over the map. Sometimes, she’d mess around with other people. Other times, she’d slip off to try to make amends with Pace even though she had been the one to break it off, only to come home and cry herself to sleep over the loss of her quarterback because she’d decided it would be best for them not to work it out. Trihn suspected she hadn’t seen the end of them while Bryna thought it was all done with.

As Trihn danced with Maya near the bar, she kept the girls in her line of vision. She finished off her drink and dropped it off on the counter. She was getting ready to drag Maya out on the floor when someone sidled up next to her.