“Just you,” she breathed, repeating his words. “You’re what matters.”
And they walked, hand in hand, down the New York City street with their entire lives spread before them, secure in the knowledge that, at the end of the day, at least they had one another.
Eight Months Later
THE LIMO HALTED directly in front of the red carpet. The tinted windows obscured the celebrities hiding within the posh climate-controlled vehicle bursting with champagne and Hershey’s Kisses. The press was waiting on the outside, anxious to get the first glimpse of the stars before they made their long walk down the red carpet and into the Staples Center in Los Angeles where the Fifty-Eighth Annual Grammy Awards would commence.
Trihn leaned against Damon in the backseat and fiddled with the diamond bracelet on her wrist. “I cannot believe this is actually happening,” she said.
“Me either. The Grammys…that’s huge,” he said with a shake of his head.
His hair was perfectly in place, and it was strange not to see it messy from being under a baseball cap all day. Someone had cleaned him up all nice, but he still looked like her man—utterly delicious.
He pressed a soft kiss to her cherry-red lips. “You look gorgeous.”
“You don’t look too bad yourself.”
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
Damon knocked on the window twice, and then the door opened from the outside. He stepped out first to an outrageously loud cheer. He turned around to help Trihn out next and kissed her hand once she was steady on her four-inch Louboutin high heels. They both smiled for the cameras, knowing that this was going to be how much of the next hour of their lives would go.
Once they were through the first group of people, it only marginally calmed down. The crowd would go crazy every time Damon walked by, and Trihn couldn’t blame them. He and Chloe had been nominated for six awards combined, including the hotly contested Record of the Year and Album of the Year.
When the nominations had come out, they had all been floored.
Chloe had flown in from Los Angeles to party with them. Her stint in rehab had been more than good for her. She’d returned a new person. Her panic attacks had subsided for the most part, and she had taken time to focus on closer personal relationships. Her next three songs on her self-titled album had come out in the past couple of months, and it felt as if they were the only things on the radio.
But her increased fame also rose Damon’s. His club in Las Vegas was packed for every show, and he had started working with other artists on an album that was set to release later that year. It was hugely anticipated, and the preorder numbers were through the roof.
“Damon Stone, can we do a quick interview?” a man said for E! Entertainment.
“Absolutely.” Damon smiled and walked with Trihn over to the red-carpet hosts.
He shook hands with Ryan Seacrest, who plastered on a smile.
“Hello, everybody watching at home. I’m here right now with Damon Stone, the celebrity DJ who took the world by storm with his hit single, ‘We Never Met,’ with superstar Chloe Avana.”
“Yes. Hello, Ryan. Hello there at home,” Damon said in his sexy British accent.
“And who are you accompanied by tonight?”
Damon put his hand on Trihn’s back. “This is my girlfriend, Trihnity Hamilton.”
“Excellent. I’ve recently heard a lot about your girlfriend in the magazines,” Giuliana Rancic said. “You’re a fashion designer with Clothes by Trihn. Are you wearing your own design tonight?”
She looked at Trihn’s floor-length emerald-green dress. It had a sweetheart neck before sweeping into her tiny waist and then dropping down to the floor with a small train. There were sleek cutouts to the dress from the back of her ribs, down across the sides of her waist, and over her pelvic bone, making her appear taller and slimmer. Her hair had been blown out and styled into supermodel waves that hung down her back. She was obsessed with the look and was certain only a hairstylist could perfect it.
Trihn smiled. “Yes. This is a one-of-a-kind Trihn.”
“Just Trihn,” Damon corrected. He gestured to his black tuxedo. “This is a Trihn design as well.”
“A well-worn suit to women is like lingerie for men,” Giuliana said with a wink.
“Damon, you’re up for four awards tonight for your hit with Chloe Avana. What did you do when you found out that you’d been nominated for so many?” Giuliana asked.
Damon laughed. “I was on my way to pick up Trihn when I got the call about it, and we both just sat in my car. Honestly, we were in shock. I called Chloe next, and she screamed in enough excitement for the both of us.”
“Speaking of Chloe for a minute, she helped skyrocket you to this fame, but it was your song and your lyrics that truly shone. We’re all excited for some more of that,” Ryan said.