Platinum (All That Glitters #3) (6 page)

“And I don’t want a relationship,” she told him.

“Maybe that’s what I want.”

She scoffed. “You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t have to know you to know that I want a relationship. I’ve seen you in the club. I see the kind of person you are. When you look down at people every weekend, you can generally see who the good ones are.”

“And I’m a good one?” she asked skeptically.

“You’re real and genuine.”

Trihn shook her head. “You can tell that from looking at me in a nightclub. I think that’s ridiculous.”

He shrugged. “Didn’t ask for your opinion. I know it for a fact.”

“So, you don’t want to have sex with me then?”

He clenched his fists together and looked back down at his equipment. “Don’t make this hard on me.”

Trihn took a step forward, emboldened since he hadn’t said no. “I want you to fuck me, and you’re not interested?”

“Of course I’m interested,” he said. He pulled his hat off his head and twirled it between his fingers. “And maybe a couple of months ago, I would have done just that but not tonight.”

Trihn’s stomach sank as she heard the finality in his voice. Her cheeks heated, and the confidence that had gotten her through this conversation deteriorated. She was just a girl feeling the sharp sting of rejection.

“Okay, fine,” she said.

She hurried away from him, heading toward the door. All she needed was to be out of his booth where she had just humiliated herself in front of a guy who she had thought was interested in her.
Why had I thought it would be okay to ask him to have sex with me? Fuck!

These kinds of conversations worked for her friends, but she just sounded and felt ridiculous, trying to put herself out there. Everything always blew up in her face. She shouldn’t even be surprised that this hadn’t been any different.

“Trihn!” Damon called after her.

“No, I get it. Forget I said anything.”

Then, she was out the door, rushing past the bouncer, and heading down the stairs that led back to her friends.

She leaned against the wall and took a few deep healing breaths. She wasn’t going to cry. She promised herself that. Her heart ached because of her breakup, but the slap in the face that Damon had delivered with his refusal hadn’t helped anything.

Trihn’s rebound mission was officially over.

“
YOUR IDEA SUCKED
,” Trihn said when she calmed down enough to return to her friends.

Bryna had been dancing with Eric but had stopped her movements at Trihn’s approach. She cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“He turned me down. I offered to let him fuck me, and he said no.”

Trihn wasn’t sure who looked more surprised—Bryna or Eric.

“Is he gay?” Eric started laughing.

Bryna jabbed him in the ribs. “That is
not
funny!”

If Trihn weren’t so embarrassed after what had happened with Damon, she would have found the joke funny. For more than a year after Bryna had first met Eric, she had thought he was gay because of some offhanded comment her ex-boyfriend had said to keep her away from Eric. Then, she had discovered the truth that he was one hundred percent not gay and one hundred and fifty percent in love with her. He was also the best thing that had ever happened to Bryna.

“No, he is decidedly not gay. He said he wanted to fuck me, but he wouldn’t fuck me.”

Bryna opened her mouth and then closed it twice before speaking, “That’s…wow. I’ve never had that happen before.”

“We all know that, Bri,” Trihn said.

“Hey!” Eric cried.

Trihn smiled genuinely up at Eric. She really liked Eric and had been rooting for him and Bryna from the start. He was easy on the eyes and quick to make Bryna smile.

“I know it’s just you now, but we all know how she was.”

“I’m not Stacia!” Bryna said. “Anyway, that has nothing to do with the fact that Damon obviously has some mental problem. Who would turn you down?”

“Clearly, every single guy I’ve ever been interested in,” Trihn said, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I could hook you up with one of my friends,” Eric suggested. He pointed out a guy standing by the bar. “That’s Patrick. He’s a redshirt junior on special teams right now. I’m working with him to plug him in as a defensive back. Probably will get some good play time next year.”

Trihn looked over at the guy and then shook her head. “I’m not sure anything you just said was even English. No offense, but the last thing I want to do is date a football player.”

Eric laughed. “Fair enough.”

“Fuck, I need a drink,” she said before heading to the bar. She elbowed her way through the crowd and walked straight into someone. “Ugh! Watch where you’re going!”

The guy stepped back and held his hands up. “Trihn, your New Yorker is showing,” Pace said.

Pace was the person she hadn’t wanted to run into. Stacia would have a fit if she knew that he was at Posse tonight. Their on-again, off-again thing clearly wasn’t working for anyone and made Pace even more irritable than usual.

“Whatever, Pace,” she said. “I’m really not in the mood.”

“Well, have you seen my girlfriend?”

“I have seen my friend, who you are currently not dating. I recommend you just walk right back out of here because you tend to make a fool of yourself when it comes to Stacia.”

“I’ll take that under consideration, but I know the real reason you’re trying to keep us apart,” Pace said with a wink. His blue eyes twinkled.

“Oh God, I don’t think I even want to know.”

“I heard that you and Neal broke up, and you’re dying for a good rebound.”

Trihn rolled her eyes. “It’s good to see you, too, Pace.”

She pushed past him without another word and hoped for the best for Stacia. She knew Stacia could take care of herself. She just prayed that, when Pace found Stacia, she wasn’t having sex with Marshall somewhere. Trihn could only deal with so much drama in one night.

“Gin and tonic,” Maya said, pushing a glass full of clear liquid toward her.

“Just keep them coming.”

“It didn’t go so well?”

“By
not so well
, if you mean, it was horrific and humiliating, then yeah, I’d agree with that.”

Maya frowned. “I seriously never would have guessed that.”

“You know, everyone keeps saying that, but it doesn’t really help.”

“You’re right. Well, forget Damon, and let’s focus on you. Have another drink, and go dance the night away. You don’t need a man to make you feel amazing. Show him what he’s missing,” Maya said with a wink.

Trihn nodded and raised her chin. Maya was right. The world was beating her down, and running away would mean it’d won. Neal had broken up with her and left her in pieces. Damon had refused her and humiliated her. She didn’t need either of them.

Or at least that was what she told herself as she made her way out onto the dance floor.

Dance was always her outlet, and she hadn’t been doing as much of it as she would have liked. She used to take Cassidy’s pole class in her spare time, but last semester, she had been swamped with work, and then she had been gone for break. Ballet was a close second. After her time at the New York City Dance House, she had enrolled in a ballet class at LV State, but that had only lasted a semester. Those classes hadn’t really fit into her schedule.

But she still had this.

She raised her hands over her head and started dancing seductively in the middle of the crowded room. Her body moved perfectly in sync to the music blaring through the speakers, and she let adrenaline fuel her forward. This was power and passion, lust and love, all rolled into one incredible package. And it was free for her to claim at all times.

Her eyes landed on the Patrick guy who Eric had pointed out to her. She had no interest in being with a football player and knew that she wouldn’t stoop to Stacia’s level, but he would do for dancing. He was hot enough.

She crooked her finger at him, and he lumbered over to her with a smirk on his face. He tried to engage her in conversation, but she ignored his attempts and danced up on him. She pressed her back to his chest and let her head drop backward.

He was all right but nothing compared to Damon. She figured it didn’t matter if she was just trying not to think anyway.

Trihn had downed her drink and was halfway through another one that Patrick had bought for her when someone interrupted her dance with Patrick.

“Mind if I cut in?” he asked in his posh British accent.

Her head snapped to the side, and her mouth dropped open.

“Fuck off,” Patrick said.

He eased his arm around Trihn’s waist and tried to pull her away, but she was rooted in one place.

“What do you want, Damon?” Trihn asked.

“A dance,” Damon said.

He had his hat in his hand and was twirling it between his fingers. She didn’t know if that was a show of confidence or nerves.

“I thought you made your position clear.”

“You know you’d rather be dancing with me.”

Patrick flexed like he was going to butt in, but Trihn just pushed him away.

“Save a dance for me later,” she said to Patrick.

“Man, whatever,” Patrick said. He glared at Damon before stomping off like a kid throwing a tantrum.

Damon tipped his hat back onto his head and smiled. “You’re way too good for him, you know?”

“We were just dancing. Last I checked, people could do that without having a relationship.”

He nodded and then pulled her close. Their hips effortlessly moved together. There was no thought to the motion. It was just a seamless perfection.

But it didn’t explain why he was down here or why he was dancing with her or why he was talking to her at all.

“What are you doing down here, Damon?”

“It’s my break.”

“I went up there and made a fool of myself. Now, you’re here, dancing with me?”

“You’re a good dancer.”

Trihn stilled and stared up at him. “What do you want?”

“Well, I wanted to dance with you,” he said, “but I also wanted to talk to you.”

“I think we’ve talked enough.”

“Later. After I get off work, wait for me.”

His hands landed on her hips again. It was so simple with him. Despite the embarrassment she still felt in his presence, dancing made total sense and made all the other emotions vanish. It was her favorite thing about dancing. Damon just made it that much easier because he was so good.

“Why should I?” she asked.

“Just wait for me, okay?”

He sealed their hips together, and they rolled in heart-stopping circles that pushed her body so tightly against his that she barely had room to breathe. She could feel the hard contours of his washboard abs under the dark T-shirt he wore. Her dress was so short that when he pressed a knee between her legs as they danced, her ass nearly hung out the back. If they wanted to, they could probably have sex right there on the dance floor. Their movements were so in tune together that it was basically foreplay. And when he finally pulled away at the end of his break, Trihn was breathing heavily, and his pupils were dilated.

“You’ll wait?” he asked.

“Against my better judgment,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Good.”

Then, he disappeared into the crowd to return to the DJ booth, leaving her more confused than ever.

“You sure you don’t want to ride home with us?” Eric asked.

He was holding up an extremely drunk Bryna, who was vacillating between giggles and rants.

When Bryna got drunk, she only had two modes—crazy and psychotic. It all depended on how happy Bryna was. Luckily, psychotic hadn’t been out in a while, but Trihn had seen her blow her fuse a few too many times not to always be a little wary of a drunk Bryna.

“Yeah. I’ll catch a ride with Maya if I have to,” Trihn reassured him.

When her friends finally cleared out of the bar, Trihn sat down on a barstool that was normally covered with people, and with jitters in her stomach, she looked up at Maya.

“I’m surprised you made it this long,” Maya said, wiping down the counter.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here, waiting for a guy who rejected me when I offered him sex.”

Maya guffawed and then tossed her towel down. “You could have had sex with any guy in the place tonight, but you want him now because he said no.”