Platinum (All That Glitters #3) (29 page)

He shrugged Chloe off, never tearing his eyes from Trihn, as he continued singing. Trihn’s eyes darted to Chloe behind him, and she just looked annoyed that she wasn’t the center of attention. Her eyes kept shifting around the booth from Damon to Bryna and Gates, as if she wanted everyone to pay attention to her.

Chloe leaned into Damon and tried to pull him toward her again, but Damon simply ignored her.

He stood and held his hand out for Trihn. She placed her hand in his, ignoring Chloe’s frustrated expression. When she stood, he twirled her in place, despite the intense backbeat and the dance music. He lightly held her in his arms, and their bodies moved together, as if they had been made to. Their movements had always been synchronized. They’d danced together long before they had fallen in love.

This felt right to Trihn, being in his arms like this with just his body pressed against hers, her hand in his, and him singing to her.

The song ended, and the people around them applauded Chloe and Damon’s new song. Chloe smiled all around, happily taking the praise. Damon never broke eye contact with Trihn. There was so much in that unspoken communication.

“I’m so excited that Damon is going to be coming on tour with me!” Chloe announced casually.

Trihn tore her eyes away from Damon to look at Chloe. “What?”

“Christ, Chloe,” Damon growled.

“What?” she asked, seemingly oblivious.

“You’re going on tour?” Trihn asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s go somewhere and talk.” He glared at Chloe as he pulled Trihn from their booth.

Trihn could hear Bryna shrieking at Chloe before she and Damon were even out of VIP. Trihn would not want to be the one the other end of that conversation.

Damon pulled her out to the outdoor patio, which was mostly abandoned because of the heat. There was a bartender at a bar, and a few people were scattered around. Damon wasn’t recognizable yet, like Chloe and Gates were, so they were fine to grab their own couch and fend off the staff who wanted to get them drinks.

Trihn sat in perfect silence while Damon seemed to scrutinize her face.

“Talk to me,” he encouraged.

“What do you want me to say?”

“What you’re feeling. That look on your face when Chloe said I was going on tour with her…” He sighed, clearly frustrated. “I never wanted to be the person to cause you to look like that.”

“I just don’t know why this is the first I’m hearing about all of this. The tour, the song, this big surprise with Chloe?” She shrugged. “Why didn’t you tell me the song was ‘We Never Met’? Or ever play it for me?” she asked.

“Honestly, I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to play it for you first, so I could look you in the eyes and sing
your
song to you.”

She shook her head. “I appreciate that, but it just kind of sucks being the last to know.”

“I wrote this for you. I thought you’d be happy.”

“I am happy—for you! I’m so excited that my boyfriend has a song on the radio.”

“You don’t really seem happy.”

Trihn sighed. “It’s not about the song. It’s about being the last to know. I mean, you did a music video to this song. Tell me that it’s not in a nightclub and you and Chloe somehow find each other.”

Damon didn’t say anything for a minute. “It’s what that song is about,” he finally said.

Trihn rolled her eyes. “That’s what I thought.”

“I legitimately thought that you’d be happy about this.”

“And that’s why you hid it?”

“I didn’t mean to hide it. I wanted to surprise you. I guess I should have told you,” he said, flipping off his hat and fiddling with it. “You get kind of wrapped up in everything in LA once you’re there. You don’t stop to think that something could be a bad move.”

“Wrapped up in things like Chloe?” Trihn couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy that hit her.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Sometimes.”

Her eyes snapped to him, filled with anger. “Seriously?”

“Not like that!” he amended quickly. “I just mean, with her enthusiasm for the music and the industry. She makes everything out to be an adventure, and you just get sucked into her Chloe vortex. She planned this whole thing for you, you know?”

“And you don’t find it strange that she’s planning surprises for your girlfriend so that she can announce to
everyone
that you’re going on tour with her? Not to mention, her leaning into you and grabbing on you,” she said in a rush. “Is that normal in this Chloe vortex, too?”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. I don’t know what’s up with her tonight.”

“Really? I think it’s pretty obvious myself.”

“She’s not into me, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”

“That’s exactly what I’m insinuating. The first time I met her, she was this lonely girl who couldn’t even get close to the guy she was on tour with because she was having panic attacks and worried about being seen in public with people. Now, suddenly, she’s
everywhere
with you.”

“It is
just
business,” he told her.

“Does she know that?”

“Yes. She knows that because I am here with my girlfriend, who, for some reason, seems to be insanely jealous even though I’ve made it clear from day one that she is the only person I want,” Damon said, his tone sharp.

“How could I not be jealous? You know I have trust issues, and now, she’s with you all the time. She seems very comfortable with touching you. I think it’s crazy to ask me not to be worried about that,” she told him.

Damon stood and shook his head. “You have
nothing
to worry about. Can’t you see that I’m standing here with you? That I want you? I sang the song to you. I came back to Vegas for your fashion show for you. Chloe doesn’t even factor into my universe, outside of music.”

“Well, the way she was acting tonight doesn’t exactly give me a vote of confidence.”

“I’m standing here, telling you that you’re the one, that I love you, and that no other girls exist to me, and all you see is the bad.”

“I don’t just see the bad. I see reality.”

“Your reality,” he said, pointing his hat at her. “And your reality is skewed. You are so desperately terrified of me being Preston that you don’t even realize that you’re pushing me away.”

“I’m not afraid of you becoming Preston! I just don’t trust her,” she said.

“Then, trust me!”

“I would if you were honest with me!”

Damon shook his head. “One song. One surprise. And I’m back at square one. I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”

He turned to start walking away, but she grabbed his arm.

“What?” she asked in shock. “What are you saying?”

“I’m going to go back to LA tonight with Chloe.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you…are you breaking up with me?”

He dropped his head and then kissed her forehead. “No.” He sighed heavily. “I love you, Trihn. I do. But until you let go of the past, I don’t know that you’ll ever trust me. And what is love without trust?”

She opened her mouth to say something to stop him, but he just kissed her again.

“We have a lot of promotion to do for the album and the tour. This was always going to be a short trip, but I wish it had ended under better circumstances.”

“Damon,” she whispered, “I love you.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head again. “I love you, too.”

And then he turned and walked away from her, taking her heart with him.

TRIHN STARED BLANKLY
up at her ceiling.

She had been lying in bed all night, trying to figure out where everything had gone so horribly wrong. At some point, she must have drifted off from exhaustion, but when she awoke again, she continued staring and mostly stressing.

Damon was the best thing that had ever happened to her. That much, she was pretty certain of. He loved her for the person that she was, not the one who had crawled into a hole and buried her head after having her heart bruised and broken. He was there for her when she needed someone. He had fought for her from day one.

And she had run him off, too.

He’d said they weren’t broken up, yet she felt numb, as if they had.

She had gotten so worked up about Chloe, and their argument had escalated so quickly that she hadn’t even stopped to hear what he was saying. He didn’t want Chloe. If he had, there would have been no reason for him to pretend to want Trihn. But she hadn’t been able to see that last night.

Between Chloe grabbing on to him, them laughing together, and the thought of the music video and tour, Trihn’s blood had boiled, frying any rational thought.

Chloe just seemed starved for attention from a real human being. She acted…
young
. That was the only word Trihn could use to describe her. Despite growing up while acting in Disney and then moving to Hollywood for music and film, she still seemed so…young.

And Trihn had just let the whole thing get to her instead of seeing how much Chloe probably just needed a friend, and Damon was a good guy.

He wouldn’t cheat on Trihn. He knew what that would do to her, and he wasn’t that guy. He wasn’t Preston.

Maybe Damon was right. Maybe she had been
comparing him to Preston, comparing everyone to Preston. And all that had done was drive her completely insane.

Preston was her first boyfriend, her first love. But it had been a charade. Maybe he had been into her. Maybe it had all been a game. She didn’t even want to know at this point. But what she did know was that it hadn’t been anything like falling in love with Damon.

When she had started dating Neal, she had been so afraid to let other people in. She’d never told Neal about what had happened with Preston. She’d never let Neal see her vulnerable like that. And in turn, she had let him emotionally abuse her. Their relationship was like trying to fit a round piece into a square hole.

But from day one, she and Damon had made perfect sense. It was her own fears and doubts that had created the wedge between them.

Letting go of her past wouldn’t happen overnight. But if she didn’t start today, then she could lose Damon, and that wasn’t acceptable.

Resolved to make this better, Trihn reached for her phone, and it immediately started ringing in her hand. She startled, sitting up in bed and looking at the display.

A smile lit her face.
Always in sync.

“Hey,” she said into the phone.

“Trihn,” Damon said with a breath. “I was up all night, thinking about you.”

“Me, too.”

“Shit, I am so sorry. I should never have left last night.”

“No, you were right. I understand why you did it.”

“You do? I still don’t,” he said quickly. “I should have stayed. I should have been there for you. I should have reminded you a thousand times that you were the one for me instead of blowing up on you. You can’t help your fears, and all I did was make them worse.”

“Stop,” she said. “Please stop. You don’t need to apologize. I should have trusted you instead of freaking out about Chloe.”

“But I should have drawn a bigger line in the sand with her. There should have been no reason for you to ever doubt that something was going on. Ever.”

“I know. I wish I hadn’t freaked out. I don’t like that the anxiety gets ahold of me like that. I’ve just never known anything besides cheating and heartbreak,” she told him. “It’s not fair to you for me to assume that you’re going to be the same. I don’t want to compare you, and I’m going to be better. I’m just trying to figure out this loving relationship thing.”

“Well, I’m still going to be here. We’ll figure it out together, okay?”

“Okay. I wish we’d figured it out last night, so you could be here in my bed right now instead of on the phone.”

Damon laughed. “Yeah. There are a lot of better things we could be doing right now. I’m pretty sure none of them involve arguing or sleeping.”

“Mmm…no, not at all.”

“Fuck, I miss you. A couple of hours was not enough time with you.”

“I know. I miss you, too. Next time, we should use our time much more wisely.”

“I have every intention of doing just that,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Stripping you naked and running my hands down your body.”

Trihn slipped back under the covers of her bed and closed her eyes, imagining just that. “I like the sound of that.”

“You moaning in my ear when I grab your hips and pull you toward me.”

Trihn whimpered softly into the phone at his words.

“Just like that,” he said. “I spread your legs apart to take a taste of you.”

“Damon,” she groaned, not sure if she was stopping him or telling him to continue.

“Are you touching yourself?” he asked. His voice was strained. “I want to imagine you fucking yourself while you’re thinking about me.”

Trihn slipped her hand under the hem of her tiny sleeping shorts. She ran her finger across the wetness pooling in her center from his words and started rubbing slow, gentle circles around her clit.

“Trihn?”

“Yes.” She had forgotten that she hadn’t said anything. “Yes, I am.”

Damon grunted, as if the power of that confirmation turned him on even more. “I would give anything to see this right now.”

“You lick and suck me until I orgasm,” she ventured.