“If all Londoners are like you, then I fear for the hearts of the women in England.”
“I only fear for my own heart because of my drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend.” Damon laughed and pulled her in for another kiss. “You taste like cinnamon.”
“I like when you say that.”
“Mmm…delicious cinnamon.”
She shook her head and playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “No, calling me your girlfriend.”
“You’re my girlfriend,” he repeated before kissing her nose. “You’re my girlfriend.” Then, he kissed her lips. “You’re my girlfriend.” Then, he kissed down her neck.
“I’m never getting any work done ever again,” she said.
“Is that a complaint?”
“Absolutely not.”
Damon picked her up and carried her back into the bedroom. He dropped her on his bed. She laughed and lounged back.
Something lit up on the nightstand that drew both of their attention for a split second.
He narrowed his eyes at the phone. “Weird.”
“What is it?” she asked, sitting up on her elbows.
He reached for his phone and looked at the screen. “I have four missed calls from Jimmy.”
“Do you think he’s okay?”
He looked worried. “We’re about to find out.” He dialed the number. “Hey, Jimmy. You all right, man?” He leaned the phone between his shoulder and ear and then sat down on the bed next to Trihn. “Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about?”
Damon’s face drained of color, and Trihn’s stomach sank.
What the hell happened?
“Is he okay?” she whispered.
He pulled the phone back and pressed the speaker feature. “Hey, Jimmy, slow down, and say all of that one more time.”
“Fuck, Damon. Just listen to me already. Cadence posted a video of you on YouTube. It’s of you performing with Chloe last night at Posse. It’s all over the Internet. Get online right now. You’re fucking trending on Facebook and Twitter.”
Trihn’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God!”
“I have to see this,” Damon said.
She opened the Facebook app on her phone, and sure enough, there was the headline.
CHLOE AVANA, GRAMMY-NOMINATED ACTRESS, PERFORMS WITH DJ AT NIGHTCLUB
She clicked on the link, and the video started playing automatically.
Trihn couldn’t believe it. Cadence had gotten a great shot of Damon and Chloe singing, and the vocals were perfect. Even though the booth was dark, it was clear who was singing. It even looked like it was just the two of them with no one else there.
“Damon! Fuck, are you still there? Everyone is asking who you are and where you came from. Your name is starting to show up online. I saw an article with it in there. Hold on. Let me send it.”
A second later, Damon’s phone dinged, and he opened up the link to reveal a picture of himself with Chloe beneath another headline.
CHLOE AVANA PERFORMS A REMIX OF “HEARTBREAKER” WITH UP-AND-COMING DJ DAMON STONE
“Up-and-coming,” Damon whispered.
“You’ve hit the jackpot!” Jimmy cried. “Can I get your autograph?”
“Fuck off, Jimmy. It’s nothing. This is about Chloe. It’ll blow over.”
“I fucking hope not!”
“It will, but thanks, man. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Congrats. Later.”
Damon hung up, and Trihn and Damon silently sat there as the rest of “Heartbreaker” played on Trihn’s phone. When the song finally ended, she closed out of the video and then refreshed the page. Her eyes bulged when she checked the stats on the video.
“One point two million views, and it’s only been up for a few hours,” Trihn said.
“This is Chloe’s life.”
“But you’re in it,” she said.
She started scrolling through the comments. Every fifth one mentioned Damon in some capacity. It was variable on whether it was favorable or not, but he was as much a part of this as Chloe was.
Trihn didn’t think Damon even realized it until his phone started ringing again.
“It’s a blocked number,” he said.
She shrugged. “Just answer it.”
“Hello?”
Damon straightened immediately and stood up. “Uh, hey, Chloe.”
He took a few steps into the other room and chatted on the phone. He even laughed a few times at whatever she was saying.
Trihn pulled her knees up to her chest. Her stomach was in knots. She wanted to know what Chloe was saying on the other line, but some part of her didn’t want to know. At some point, she knew that whatever Chloe said had something to do with the 1.2 million views on their now viral video.
It wasn’t often that a person could point to one specific moment in time and say, This changed everything. But here, right now, was Damon’s moment. And it was about to change everything.
He walked back into the room as he hung up the phone and turned to face Trihn with clear shock and exhilaration on his face. “I’m performing ‘Heartbreaker’ tonight at Chloe’s concert at the MGM.”
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, the moment you have all been waiting for,” the announcer called out into the stadium. “Chloe Avana.”