“God, it’s freezing,” he said.
Damon blew on his hands to try to warm them up as the car thawed.
Trihn huddled in her leather jacket. “My high school self would be laughing at me for going outside without a winter jacket and tights this time of year.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked. “Where are you from?”
“Brooklyn,” she said into her hands. “I would have been freezing in this dress back home. Still, I can’t believe it’s thirty-seven here.”
“Back home in London, it would technically be about the same temperature, but it’s so much colder there with the rain, snow, and wind rather than the desert.”
“Exactly. So, you’re from London?”
“My dad’s from there. I attended primary school in London with my mum and dad, but he ditched us, and we moved here because my mum got a teaching job,” he explained casually, as if he weren’t telling his life story to a perfect stranger.
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
Damon smiled at her as he backed out of the parking spot. “Don’t be. I’m not. He and my mum were always fighting. We’re all better off.”
“Does your mom still live here?” Trihn asked curiously.
He’d sounded really excited when he mentioned her.
“Yeah, she still lives in the house I grew up in. She’s a theater professor at LV State now and probably cooler than I am,” he told her with a genuine smile.
“It sounds like you two have a great relationship.” She wished that her relationship with her family were as cut-and-dried as it had been before Lydia and Preston. At least she was still close with her father, who had put in all the effort to move her out to Las Vegas, to get her into school at the last minute, and to set her up with an apartment.
“We’re really close,” he agreed. He glanced over at her when he realized he had been driving without thinking about it. “Uh…where is your place? I went on autopilot.”
“The opposite direction actually,” she admitted. “But I like talking to you. Maybe we could just go to your place and do more of this.” She gestured between them.
He narrowed his eyes, as if he wanted to say something. She could see that he wanted her to come back with him and talk because the conversation was good. But he had made his point earlier about wanting a relationship and not being just some rebound guy.
He was debating with himself, but he finally nodded. “I’d like that.”
DAMON PULLED UP in front of an apartment building and cut the engine. “This way.”
They hurried out of the car and up the first flight of stairs. He carefully unlocked the door and then ushered her inside the apartment. It was a small studio with typical bachelor furniture—black sofa, oversized television, PlayStation, Xbox, and an assortment of cups and dishes.
“Sorry about the mess,” he apologized immediately. He grabbed everything in sight and then rushed it into the kitchen. “Wasn’t expecting company.”
“It’s fine,” Trihn said. She stripped out of her leather jacket and slung it on the back of the couch.
“Do you want a drink or something?” he asked.
“Sure. Whatever you have is fine.”
Damon came back a minute later with a beer in each hand. He handed one to Trihn and took a long swig of his. “I don’t drink on the job,” he told her, “so it’s nice to come home and unwind.”
She tipped the bottle up and took a sip. She was still buzzing a bit from the bar. Maya had been pouring her drinks with a heavy hand tonight—on purpose, she was sure.
“Do you live here alone?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s a one bedroom.”
“That’s nice. I live with my friends, Bryna and Stacia.”
Damon smirked. “I know who they are.”
“Oh, I’m sure. Everyone knows who they are.”
“Everyone knows you, too.”
She raised her eyebrow. “I really don’t think so.”
“Trust me. You’re hard to miss.” He flipped off his baseball hat and set it down on the table before taking the seat next to her. “I noticed you a long time ago. Yesterday was just the first time I got up the nerve to talk to you.”
“What took you so long?” she joked before taking another drink.
“Well, I thought you had a boyfriend, so I tried to steer clear. Then, when you were alone with your friends, I thought that might have changed.”
Trihn glanced up and met his dark eyes. “It did.”
His eyes dropped down to her lips and then back up. “Yeah. What happened with that?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It happened. It’s over. And I’d rather just be here with you tonight.”
“He must have been a total arse,” Damon said.
Trihn took another big gulp. “You have no idea.” She set the empty beer down on the coffee table and leaned forward toward Damon.
He raised his eyebrows at the finished drink. “That was fast.”
“Why did you come downstairs after turning me down?” she asked.
“The truth?”
She nodded her head.
“It drove me nuts, watching you dance with that other guy.”
She smiled wide. “That so?”