“I know. But how do you feel about the wedding?” Damon took the seat next to her.
Trihn looked down at her plate. This was the moment of truth. She hated breaking this spell that they were under, post-coital bliss and all that. But if she was going to give one hundred percent to this relationship, then she needed to be honest with him about what was bothering her.
“So, you know how I said that Preston cheated on Lydia?”
Damon nodded.
“Well, it was with me.”
Damon nearly spit out the food he had just put into his mouth. He coughed and slammed his fist on his chest to try to clear his throat. “What?” he gasped out.
“It was a long time ago. We met right after I graduated high school. I thought he was single. He was my first real boyfriend, the first boy I ever loved. I invited him to go away with me and my family to the Hamptons at the end of the summer, but he said he couldn’t go because he had to work. It turned out, he was going away with Lydia to the Hamptons, and he just thought that they were going alone.”
Damon’s jaw was practically on the ground. “He had been with your sister the whole time?”
“Yes. When I told Lydia, she seemed like she understood. She was going to end it, and I would stay in New York and go to NYU.”
“Really? NYU?”
“Yeah. I had been accepted there and had plans to go until all of this went down. But Preston manipulated Lydia into believing that he hadn’t been serious with either of us and that he actually just wanted to be with Lydia.”
“And she bought that bullshit?” he asked.
“Hook, line, and sinker.”
“Wow.”
“But he had no intention of breaking up with me, and he would have continued with the lie, if neither Lydia or I had found out. We actually…had sex in the Hamptons that week after I knew he was with Lydia.”
“Fuck. No wonder you hate him and are terrified of relationships.”
“I’m not terrified of relationships. I’m terrified of getting my heart ripped out all over again. I find it hard to trust people after what Preston and then Neal did to me.”
“But you trust me?”
She nodded slowly. “I really want to.”
“I really want you to, too.” He linked their fingers together and pulled her in for a slow kiss.
“What about you? Any past girlfriends?” Trihn asked, trying to take the spotlight off of her for a minute.
“Sure. A couple. None really worth mentioning.”
“That usually means something bad in my book.”
He chuckled and took another bite of his French toast before drowning it in coffee. “I guess I had a serious girlfriend in high school, but we went to different colleges, and long-distance worked for all of two weeks before she wanted to see other people. There were a few short-term girls in college. Just didn’t work out.”
“I’m surprised by that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re so…perfect,” she finished.
Damon laughed disbelievingly. “I’ve cleaned up my act a bit since then. Decided I wanted to be someone other than the life of the party.”
“So, you partied a lot?”
“Comes with the territory. DJs usually end up at parties. You get to know a lot of people—frat boys, jocks, stoners. When you mingle with them all, you start to find yourself drifting in that direction,” Damon admitted. He frowned and looked down, as if he were remembering something particularly troubling. “I kept my cool, but I saw a lot of people who didn’t.”
“I bet you did. What was the worst thing you saw?” she asked.
Damon shrugged. “That’s all relative, of course. But one memory kind of sticks out.”
She questioningly raised her eyebrows.
“I was at this insane party last March. This crazy blonde cheerleader was throwing it because some sugar daddy had bought her a fucking mansion.”
Trihn laughed. “Bryna’s party?”
“Yeah. This gorgeous girl was at that party. Hands down the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”
“Oh,” Trihn said, wondering why the hell this was important.
“But she was there with another guy.”
“How unfortunate for you.”
“Yeah. All I wanted to do was go over and introduce myself. But she was way too far out of my league. She had these beautiful friends who would do anything for her and a boyfriend who she seemed to care way too much about. The guy was a total dick and made it his personal mission to be as horrible of a boyfriend as possible to this girl.”
Trihn narrowed her eyes. “Me?”
“You.” He nodded. “He chose to come to the party. Then, he moped the whole time and got pissed at you for being there. He made you cry, and then you ran out after him.”
“I did,” she whispered. “You remember that?”
“I remember because I swore if I ever got a girl as amazing as you, I wouldn’t do the same things that douche bag did.”
Trihn sighed in satisfaction. “Where did you come from again?”
“Born and raised in London, love.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and leaned forward to give her a kiss.