Platinum (All That Glitters #3) (32 page)

Everyone dug into the food, saving Trihn from having to say much more about it.

“So, are you really dating that guy who sings that new song with Chloe Avana?” Lydia asked.

Trihn squared her shoulders. “Yeah. Damon.”

“Damon Stone. Is that his real name?” Lydia asked. “Don’t they all have fake names?”

“Yeah, a lot of them do, but no, that’s his real name. We went to a show for this guy named DJ Poet, but his real name is James Poe, and the studio thought that was boring.”

“I’ve heard his stuff before,” Preston said. “Poet, that is.”

“But…I’m confused. What happened with Neal? He was so sweet,” Lydia said.

Trihn clenched her jaw. “It just didn’t work out. Damon is a much better choice.”

“Do you get to see him much? Mom said he’s touring.”

“He just went out on the road. He’s normally in Vegas. He was a DJ at a nightclub I frequent. That’s how we met.”

“Interesting. It must be hard to be away.”

Trihn nodded. “Yeah, but we talk a lot. So, it’s not the end of the world.”

“That’s good,” Lydia said.

The conversation switched to other topics, and Trihn actually found herself relaxing. She’d been home a couple of times since the Preston fiasco, but usually, she had been so uncomfortable that she would have to leave the room to get away from the tension. Preston put her on edge, and she knew he liked to do it on purpose. It must have been Damon who changed all of that.

“Trihn?” Lydia said.

Trihn jerked her head up out of the pasta she had been eating. Her mother’s food really was delicious. She hadn’t realized that she had completely zoned out of the conversation.

“What?”

“We were just talking about going upstairs after this. I’d like to try on my wedding gown, so you could see it.”

Trihn swallowed hard. “I didn’t know you had already purchased one.”

“Well, you don’t return my calls,” Lydia said softly.

“I, um…probably have to go right after this.”

“Trihnity,” Linh said. “You can stay for a bit to see her dress.”

Trihn bit back a snide retort and looked at her meal. She didn’t think she could stomach seeing Lydia in that dress. But maybe with the way things had been going, it wouldn’t be that bad. Trihn could just disconnect the who and the why and only see the amazing craftsmanship because she was sure that their mother had had it custom-made.

“Sure,” Trihn finally said. She looked back up.

Lydia lit up like a light bulb. It was like she had just come downstairs on Christmas morning. “Great. I’m excited.”

Preston reached over and took Lydia’s hand in his. “When do I get to see it?”

Trihn swallowed back the rising bile in her throat.

Lydia giggled. “Not until the wedding day, of course.”

“That seems fair.” He slowly drew her hand to his lips, and just as he placed a light kiss on the top, he turned and looked at Trihn.

She nearly choked and shoved her chair back. “Excuse me. I just have to…take my plate in.”

“Don’t be silly, Trihn. I’ll clear the table,” Linh said.

“No, it’s fine. I want to do it.” She scooped up her plate and left the table.
So much for being comfortable.

Trihn tossed her plate into the sink with a sigh. Resting her hands on the counter, she leaned forward and tried to regain a sense of equilibrium.

“You made a quick departure,” Preston said, appearing in the kitchen a minute later.

“What do you want?” she asked with venom in her voice.

“Just came to check on you.”

“I’m fine. You can go now.”

“So, another new boyfriend?” Preston said, ignoring her comment.

“Yep. Damon is amazing. He really loves me.”

“I’m sure he does. What’s not to love?”

Despite her best effort, she winced at that comment.

“I read a few interesting things about your boyfriend.”

Trihn glared at him. “I really don’t want to talk about this with you.”

“Do you honestly think that he isn’t sleeping with Chloe Avana?”

“You’re an asshole. That shit isn’t true.”

“Is that what he’s saying?” he asked, leaning against the counter and looking down at her.

She hadn’t realized he had gotten so close. He was practically hovering over her. She took a steady step backward.

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“You can do better.”

She scoffed. “You don’t know anything.”

“Come on, Trihn. You and I both know that some new guy could never compare to me.”

Trihn snapped her eyes up to him. She couldn’t believe he’d had the gall to say that to her.

He’d teased her about Neal when they were together, but she had always extracted herself from the situation as soon as possible. And then she’d blocked the memory from her mind. This was different though. This was about Damon, and Preston hadn’t even fucking met him!

“You’re right,” she said finally.

Preston smiled wide.

“Damon doesn’t compare to you. In fact, I’d never, ever want to put you two in the same category because Damon is twice the man you’ll ever be.”

Trihn pushed past Preston and went back into the dining room. “I’m leaving.”

“What?” Linh said.

That was shortly followed by Lydia’s, “You can’t leave yet! My dress!”

“You can tell that to your fiancé.” Trihn shook her head. “It was good to see you guys, but I have to go now.”

After she grabbed her bag, her mother tried to stop her at the door. “Trihn, please don’t go. What’s wrong with you?”

“No one here would even believe me. So, why should I bother?”

“We’ll listen. What is it?”

“Preston! God, can’t anyone else here see what he’s doing? He’s a lying, manipulative slimeball. He just came on to me in the kitchen when no one else was around so that there would be no witnesses.”

“Trihnity,” her mother admonished.

“Don’t even say it. Just don’t.” Trihn sighed. “I love you, Mom, but I’m not going to come back to New York again unless it’s to introduce you to Damon or for work. I just can’t handle this, and I don’t need the stress in my life.”

She hugged her mom and then hurried out of the house. It wasn’t until she had made it back to her hotel that she felt the weight lift off her chest. She was miserable about how Preston had acted, but in some way, it just proved what she’d already known. Preston was an asshole, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise for Lydia.

Trihn curled into bed and was falling asleep when her phone started ringing. She reached for it and saw Damon’s name on the screen.

“Hey,” she said with a sigh.

“Hey, love. Oh, how I have missed that voice.”

She laughed softly. “I miss you. How was the show?”

“Orlando was incredible, and now, we’re on our way to Atlanta. How was dinner with your parents?”

“Lydia and Preston showed up, and he was a total asshole.”

Damon was silent for a full minute.

“Are you still there?” she asked.

“Yeah, just reining in my anger.”

“Join the club.”

“Well, I have a long drive ahead of me,” he said into the phone.

She imagined him lying back on a bunk in a van driving them up the interstate toward Atlanta.

“Are you about to go to bed?” he asked.

She nodded. “Mmhmm.”

“Early flight, right?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. Just close your eyes, love, and forget all about what happened at your dinner. Just pretend I’m sitting in front of you, strumming on my acoustic guitar.”

And then he started singing. The words were slow and soft, almost like a lullaby. Before she knew it, she drifted off to the sound of his voice, which proved to be a much better ending to a tiring day.

“
SHIT. FUCK. FUCK. FUCKING HELL
!” Trihn jolted out of bed and started running around the hotel room like a maniac.

While falling asleep to Damon singing had been the most epic night, not setting her alarm and subsequently sleeping through her flight had not been as awesome.

She quickly stuffed everything back into her bag and was on her way to JFK within ten minutes. She was so late. There was absolutely no way she could make it now, but hopefully, the airline would take pity on her and let her board a later flight.

She jotted out a text to Damon while sitting impatiently in the backseat of a cab.

Missed my flight. Fuck.

That sucks. Are they going to let you switch flights?

I don’t know. I’ll have to see when I get there.

Come here instead.

To Atlanta?

Yeah. The show isn’t until later, and we don’t leave for Charlotte right away. You could stay the night. I’d pay for you to fly back to Vegas.

Trihn stared down at her phone in shock.
Is this for real?
That sounded like a much better option than returning to Las Vegas.

That would be amazing! I’ll see if the airline will go for it.

Let me know. I’d love to see you. It’s been too long!

The rest of the ride to JFK was a lesson in self-restraint. Now that she had a better destination, she was so anxious to get to the airport that she couldn’t stop the jitters.

Once she finally paid the cab and wheeled her suitcase up to the airline counter, she was practically bouncing with excitement. A ten-minute conversation with the airline proved even better than expected, and soon, she was clutching a one-way ticket to Atlanta.

A couple of hours later, Trihn was standing outside of Damon’s hotel in Atlanta. She couldn’t believe she had just flown there instead of going home.

She’d texted him that she had gotten a flight to Atlanta, and he’d sent over the hotel information. He’d said they had a morning rehearsal, and then he was just going to be chilling in his room. When she landed, she was supposed to text him, but she’d thought she’d surprise him at the door.

Trihn knocked twice. When no one answered, she knocked again.

“Fuck, I’m coming, Chloe. Give me a minute. Jesus.”

The door swung open and revealed Damon without a shirt and in a pair of dark jeans that were unbuttoned at the waist. His hair was perfectly messy, and stubble had grown in across his jawline. He looked like a sexy fucking mess.

“I hope you don’t always answer the door for Chloe like this,” Trihn said, arching an eyebrow.

“Bloody hell,” he breathed. “You’re the best fucking sight of my life.”

Trihn laughed right before he crushed his mouth down onto hers. He grabbed her bag and dragged her into his hotel room. Before the door was even closed all the way, Damon was peeling the layers of her clothes off her body. She was actually quite happy at the state of his undress because it made it easier just to slide those pesky jeans and boxers off his legs.

He hoisted her legs up around her waist and carried her over to the king-size bed.

“I missed everything about you,” he murmured, crawling onto the bed and rocking forward on top of her. “Your beautiful body.” His hands ran down her sides. “Your amazing lips. That voice. Say my name.”

“Damon,” she purred into his ear.

“Fuck, that makes me hard.” He roughly kissed her. His hands tangled up into her hair. “This hair. I’ve dreamed about pulling this hair.”

He knotted it in his hand and yanked until she arched her body, giving him access to her neck. His kisses traveled along the hollow of her neck to her collarbone, rubbing his chin across her skin and leaving wonderful fucking scratches.

His dick rubbed against her, and all thoughts of the orgasm she had given herself at the sound of his voice disappeared. There was nothing like the real thing. And she could give herself a pretty amazing orgasm without his help. She opened her legs wider for him, begging for him to be inside her.

And they bucked together at the same time. Their bodies joined, and Trihn released a low moan. It had been so long. Their thrusts were measured and in sync. Each of them was desperately hungry for the other. All those days apart had just fed the ache between them.

She let loose, clutching on to his back and digging her nails into his skin. He pumped three more fierce thrusts into her and then emptied himself with a cry.

Her fingers slowly relaxed, and she pulled him closer to her, leaving several light kisses across his shoulders.