“Just stay here, Blu,” Neal said, brushing her off.
Blu’s eyes found Trihn, and she knew somehow that they were together. It pinched her insides that he had moved on this quickly. And it piqued the deep, dark curiosity within her that wanted to know if Blu had been at his house the day of their breakup, if she was the reason this had all come crashing down.
Trihn passed Blu and couldn’t help looking her over, wondering what Blu had that she didn’t. When their eyes locked, it was like looking into a mirror, and Trihn realized that this girl was probably wondering the same thing. It made Trihn even sadder about the situation.
She hurried back through the house and to Neal’s bedroom. He opened the door, and a couple was making out on his bed.
“Get the fuck out,” he said.
The two looked at them in a haze of lust before realizing who it was, and then they disappeared. Neal let her enter first. He closed the door behind her, drowning out some of the music. Trihn tried not to look around. There were too many memories here, and she didn’t want to spiral out of control.
Neal entered his closet and came back out a second later with the sketchbook in his hand. He extended it to her, but when she reached for it, he yanked it back really quick.
“Real funny,” she said, holding her hand out.
“What are you going to give me for it?”
“What do you mean?” she asked warily. “It’s my notebook. I just want it back.”
“Come on, Trihn. You and I both know that you’re just using this as an excuse to get back with me.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Um…no. It’s really not. As far as I’m concerned, you cheated on me and then kicked me to the curb. I thought you made your point pretty clear.” When he didn’t deny it, she rolled her eyes and felt her heart harden. “So, that’s how it was then? Blu, I’m assuming?”
Neal shrugged, nonchalant, and changed the subject. “What do you need another sketchbook for? You have a million at your house. You only need this to try to get with me. Well, I’m here. Have your way with me,” he said.
He laughed and cocked his head to the side, as if in invitation. But she saw through his bravado. He was drunk and rambling. Some thought you could hear the truth when people were intoxicated, but she sure hoped this wasn’t the truth out of his mouth.
“I need that notebook because it has a dress in it I’m designing for school. That’s it. No ulterior motive.”
“I know you must miss me.”
Trihn breathed out heavily. “You know, I really don’t.”
Neal’s nostrils flared at her dismissal. “You’re probably dying for sex.”
“Yeah, I am,” she admitted.
He smirked and leaned toward her.
She grabbed the notebook from him. “But just not from you.”
Trihn yanked open the door to his room and dashed down the hall. She didn’t care that Neal was drunk and high. The way he’d acted was completely uncalled for. Had he always been like this, and I’d just ignored it?
She pushed her way through the crowd in the living room and out the door. Once she was back out in the clean air, she took shuddering deep breaths.
Neal might have broken up with her, but he had just given her the keys to move on. She had thought that seeing him would cause all the old emotions to flood back in her. She’d worried that she really would miss him since he had been out of her life.
But she didn’t.
It had just reinforced the fact that she was better off without him. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
And she knew exactly what she needed to do.
“Hello?” Damon said uneasily into the phone.
“Hey. This is Trihn.”
“Yeah, I know. What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Are you working tonight?” she asked.
“Nah. Tonight is my day off. Why?”
“Can we meet up somewhere?” She took a deep breath and waited for his response. She knew that he had said he would change her mind, but she hoped she hadn’t ruined it by ignoring him the past couple of weeks.
“Uh, yeah.” She could hear him shuffling around in the background. “Did you want to meet at Posse?”
“Not really. Just somewhere we can talk.”
“The radio station on campus?” he suggested. “I still have a key, and no one should be there right now.”
She was glad he hadn’t suggested his place. She didn’t trust herself not to jump him if a bed were nearby, and she wanted to get everything out in the open before going down that route again. She owed him that much.
“Sure. Sounds good. Meet you there in twenty. Is that good with you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that works.”
“Cool.”
“And, Trihn?” he said before she could say anything else. “It’s really great to hear from you—unexpected but still really good.”