Trihn had never in a million years thought that Lydia and Preston would make it to this moment. She had been shocked when they made it past six weeks. The thought of them being together for almost two years and getting married was unthinkable.
How could two people who made absolutely zero sense together get married? Lydia was a free-loving hippie. Preston was a philandering asshole. One or the other was going to end up cheating, if they weren’t already in that boat. Trihn had her money on Preston. He’d set a precedent.
Who am I kidding? This whole thing was going to be a fucking disaster, and she would have to stand by and watch the train wreck happen.
“Trihn?” Damon asked uncertainly. “Is everything okay?”
She glanced up at him and took a deep breath. “My sister is getting married.”
His face lit up. “That’s great! Congratulations!” When he noticed her frown, he held back on his enthusiasm and looked puzzled. “Is it not great?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” she said, standing up and trying to regain her composure.
“You looked pretty upset when you were on the phone.”
“And, now, I just want you to fuck me,” she told him.
His eyes widened in surprise. “What? How could you go from upset to sex that quickly?”
“Have you never had angry sex? Hate sex?”
He frowned. “I have, but I don’t think that’s what you need right now.”
Trihn placed her hands on his chest and leaned into him. “I really think that I should be the person to determine what I need. Right now, I need you to find a private place for us to fuck.”
Damon put his hands around her wrists. “I’m not really sure what’s going on with you, but maybe we should just talk about it rather than hiding it with sex.”
“Why am I the only girl in the world who begs a guy to fuck her and he refuses?” she asked. She pulled her arms back from him and waited for his response.
“Trihn, I thought I made myself clear last weekend. I don’t want to be just a one-night stand, and I don’t want to be your fuck buddy either. I wouldn’t mind you taking your emotions out on my cock,” he said coarsely, moving closer to her again. He dragged her body against him and leaned forward, as if he were going to kiss her. His voice was deep and husky with that smooth British accent that made her knees weak. “In fact, I would love nothing more than to be inside you again, but I want to know that you’re not running from every step we take forward.”
“And what if I do?”
“Then, I’ll leave you alone. I don’t want that, but I don’t want to be used either. A couple of months ago, I would have been all for this, but I’ve changed since then. I can’t go back to the person I was.” Damon looked away from her and sighed. “I have to get back in the booth or else I’m going to get in trouble at work. But will you stay until I get off work?”
“For a repeat of last weekend?” she asked hopefully. It would be great to forget about Preston and Lydia for a night.
He gave her a sad smile. “I just thought you could use someone to talk to.”
“I don’t really want to talk. I’d like to do other things to get my mind off of everything.”
“Just wait for me, okay?” He almost sounded resigned to her request, even after just telling her that he didn’t want to make this a friends-with-benefits situation.
“Okay,” she told him.
He leaned forward and kissed her hard on the mouth. It had been a short but powerful kiss. As soon as she got into it, he was already backing away. Then, he headed toward the DJ booth.
When the door closed behind him, Trihn’s bravado disintegrated. She tried to be so strong for everyone else, but she was dying on the inside.
How could Preston and Lydia be getting married? A sob escaped her, and she smacked her hand over her mouth to stifle it. She could not break down about this—not in public and definitely not at Posse with all her friends here.
Trihn snatched up her purse and hurried back into the club. She beelined for the door. She knew that she had promised Damon that she would wait for him to get off work, but she couldn’t stay trapped in the club all night, feeling horrible.
Trihn didn’t see Bryna or Stacia, so she flagged down Maya. “Hey, if you see the girls, will you tell them that I took a cab home?”
“Sure. Why are you leaving already?” Maya asked.
“I just don’t feel like partying.”
“I saw you with Damon. Are things not going well with that?”
Trihn shook her head. “No, they’re not. I’m still beat up about my breakup, and I just want to sleep.” Her voice broke on the last word, and she worried that, by talking about this, she was going to start crying. She took a deep breath and dug her fingers into the bar to try to stop herself from reacting to everything that was piling on top of her head.
“Okay. I’ll tell them, but I wish you would stay.”
Trihn swallowed hard. “Can’t. Love you.”
“Text me when you get home!”