by K. A. Linde
Platinum, All That Glitters, Book Three
By K.A. Linde
Copyright © 2016 by K.A. Linde
All rights reserved.
Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations, www.okaycreations.com
Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Visit my website at www.kalinde.com
To every girl who needed to learn to trust again and each guy who proved her worth.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Titles by K.A. Linde
THIS WAS A VERY BAD IDEA.
Trihnity Hamilton sighed heavily as she stared at the name on the screen of her phone and avoided the knowing looks from her best friends, Bryna Turner and Stacia Palmer.
“Just don’t invite him,” Bryna said irritably.
“I’m not inviting him,” Trihn snapped back.
Trihn had been dating her boyfriend, Neal, for over a year and a half. They had met and fallen for each other over their mutual love for artistic endeavors. He was a graphic design major while she studied fashion design with a focus in art. Unfortunately, the artsy lifestyle didn’t exactly fit with Trihn’s love for partying.
Or so Neal had said.
Frankly, Bryna flat-out hated him, and at this point, Stacia barely tolerated him. The disconnect between the two most important things in her life—her friends and her boyfriend—was causing some…unnecessary strain.
“I’m just going to answer this, and then we can go,” Trihn said.
She turned away from her friends before they could say anything to change her mind. And she knew Bryna would try.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” Bryna said to Stacia behind Trihn’s back.
“Leave it be, Bri,” Stacia said.
Trihn took a breath and answered the phone with forced enthusiasm, “Hey!”
“Hey, what are you up to tonight?” Neal asked.
Trihn twirled her long brown-to-blonde ombré hair around her finger and tried to calm herself down. She was not going to argue with Neal tonight, not about going to the club for a girls’ night. He’d understand.
He will.
She would just keep telling herself that.
Her stomach knotted anyway, twisting and turning against her will, as fear crept up her spine. No matter how much she tried to tamp it down, it’d just slither its way back up.
She took a deep breath. “I was just about to head out with Bri and Stacia. We’re going to this club that’s having some kind of crazy dance party.”
“Let me guess,” he said dryly. “Bryna’s suggestion?”
“Maya actually!” she said, trying to keep pep in her voice. “She’s meeting us there later after she gets off work.”
Maya was their favorite bartender at the local club they frequented, Posse. It was located just off the Las Vegas State campus where Trihn was starting the second semester of her sophomore year.
“I see. Well, never mind then.”
“I would totally invite you,” Trihn insisted.
Bryna coughed noisily behind her. Trihn swiveled around and glared at her and Stacia.
“But…it’s a girls’ night. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you would be getting back early. I should have checked with you about your schedule.”
Stacia snorted and shook her head. Bryna looked like she was ready to rip the phone out of Trihn’s hand and tell Neal exactly what he could do with his schedule.
“It’s fine, Trihn. I was going to see if I could come over since I just got back from San Francisco.”
“I know,” she whispered.
Over winter break, Neal had had a graphic design internship in San Francisco where his parents lived. It had been a continuation of his work from last summer. She had only seen him for a couple of days when her parents had flown him out to New York City for New Year’s.
He had gotten back to Las Vegas two days early. She had thought he wouldn’t be in town until the Sunday before school started, but his parents had decided otherwise. She felt bad that she already had plans. She would have run over there in a heartbeat, but Maya never got out of work to hang out with them. Trihn couldn’t pass up the opportunity. She figured she would just see Neal tomorrow, and all would be fine.
“So…” she said softly.
The silence stretched between them as she waited for him to say something. She bit her lip and fought against the growing awkwardness in their relationship. When he had visited her only a couple of weeks ago, things had been strange. He’d been more interested in getting to know her sister, Lydia, than spending time with Trihn. She and Lydia still had a strained relationship after what had happened post–high school graduation, and it didn’t help that Trihn had another boyfriend who seemed to be enamored by Lydia.
“I’ll just talk to you later or something,” Neal said after a few silent seconds. “I’ll probably go to The Kiln since you don’t want to see me.”
Trihn cringed. She actually hated The Kiln. It was an artistic dream in theory—a bar with live music and slam poetry under the same roof as a pottery studio. But, in reality, everyone would sit around and bemoan the state of the art movement, or the lack thereof, in America while getting high as fuck, and then they’d make art with their bodies with whoever was around. It wasn’t uncommon for the place to turn into an orgy.
“It’s not that I don’t want to see you,” she insisted. “I really do, but we’ve had this planned for a while.”
“Okay.”
“But…do you have to go to The Kiln?” she managed to get out.
He knew she hated that place. It was a breeding ground for bad behavior. All the while, he’d claim that the clubs she went to were bad.
“You’re going out to some club to get wasted with your friends and basically have sex on the dance floor, and you’re asking me not to go out?” he asked in a tone that brooked no argument.
“I’m not going to have sex on the dance floor,” she argued anyway. “But I know that people do at The Kiln. It’s just…gross.”
“Trihn, don’t lecture me about what I can and can’t do.”
; “I wasn’t,” she whimpered. “I just—”
“Look, I’m going to go. If you decide to stop fucking around and want to take us seriously, then come to The Kiln, and we can talk.”
“I—”
The line went dead in her hand, and she nearly screamed. How dare he insinuate that I’m going out to fuck around and that I don’t take out relationship seriously!
She was the one putting all the effort into their relationship. Half the time, he would be pissed off about what she was doing and who she was hanging out with. It was blatantly clear that he didn’t trust her. She didn’t get it because she had never done anything to make him think otherwise. She was the most loyal person alive.
After the fiasco with Preston, she couldn’t even imagine fooling around behind someone’s back. Just the idea of cheating pissed her off.
She tried to rein in her emotions. The last thing she wanted was to be in a bad mood when she went out with the girls. Things with Neal would work out. They always did. He would get mad and lash out, but when they got back together, everything would be fine. He was just frustrated.
“All right,” she said, dropping the phone to her side, “are you guys ready to party?”
Bryna and Stacia exchanged equally sympathetic looks. They knew things between Trihn and Neal were rocky even if they had only heard half of the conversation.
“Is everything okay?” Stacia asked hesitantly.
“I really don’t want to talk about it,” Trihn said stiffly. “Let’s just go have a good time.”
She hoped that would still be possible.
“THERE YOU ARE!” Trihn shrieked. She threw herself into Maya, standing just off of the packed dance floor.
Maya gave her a hug and laughed. “Are you drunk already?”
“Nah! But Bri and Stacia have been trying to feed me shots like candy,” she confessed.
“Oh, dear.” Maya turned to face Bryna and Stacia. “You’ve been getting my girl drunk?”
Bryna and Stacia innocently shrugged their shoulders, but nothing else about them proclaimed innocence. Bryna was a total blonde bombshell in sky-high Louboutin heels and a skimpy red dress that showed off her killer figure. Stacia had her own short blonde hair piled into a sexy messy bun at the nape of her neck. She was decked out in a royal-blue top that plunged to her navel and shorts so tiny that half of her ass hung out. Both girls were cheerleaders at Las Vegas State and enjoyed playing the part.
“I’m not drunk,” Trihn insisted.
They hadn’t been at the club long enough, and she had been dancing so much that the alcohol wasn’t hitting her that hard.
“See? She’s not drunk,” Bryna said.
“As if I’d trust you,” Maya said. She twisted her luscious African American caramel-toned body toward Trihn and gave her the same look she would give drunks at the bar when they insisted they were sober. Maya was tall enough to stare down at Trihn, which was a rarity for someone who used to model.
“Who cares anyway?” Trihn cried. “We’re here to have fun. You never come out with us. You’re not on bar duty. You don’t have to take care of anyone. Let’s just go dance.”
Laughing, she grabbed Maya’s hand and dragged her onto the dance floor. A part of her wished that she had switched out her Gucci heels for her combat boots. They were more comfortable, but she loved being dolled up, sporting her designer grunge, as Bryna called it. She had opted for black leather shorts, a lacy racerback bralette, and a glammed up jean vest that she had reconstructed herself.
“I’m going to need a drink if you want me to dance,” Maya said. She laughed at Trihn and released her. “Here, dance with the Cheer Slut in the meantime.”
She pushed Trihn into Stacia, who started shaking her ass against Trihn.
Maya raised her eyebrows at Bryna. “And what about you? Has Eric settled you down?”
Bryna responded with a defiant look that only she could pull off. Trihn was happy that her friend had found someone who made her happy. She’d had a wild couple of years.
In some ways, Trihn envied the way her best friend could say and do whatever the fuck she wanted without caring what anyone thought about her. Trihn had never been like that. She wore her heart on her sleeve and always wanted everyone to like her. But she pitied Bryna as well. Her life wasn’t as easy as it looked from the outside. Trihn couldn’t even imagine going through the shit Bryna had gone through last year, and Trihn was just glad that Bryna and Eric Wilkins were finally a couple.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Maya said with a giggle. “Go dance. I’ll be back.”
Trihn fell easily into the practiced movements from years of dance training mingled with endless nights of clubbing with her friends. Dancing was her happy place. It was one of the reasons she loved to party. Expectations would disappear, and she could live through the pulse of the music, the bright lights, and the rhythm of the people around her. She didn’t need anyone or anything in that moment. She could just be herself while dancing completely alone in the middle of a crowded room.
The moment she lost herself, she found herself.
A current ran through her body, and she soared as free as a bird high above the clouds. She turned and whirled and let loose. Half of the time, she’d freestyle to the hip-hop beats the DJ was blaring through the speakers. Sometimes, she’d perform remembered choreography from when she had been a part of the New York City Dance House in high school. She had a strong ballet background, but she had found a passion in underground pole dancing with her friend, Cassidy, after-hours at a burlesque club in New York City. Then, Trihn had followed Cassidy out to Las Vegas and never looked back.
“Whoa!” Stacia cried. “Did you see that?”
Trihn stopped moving. “What?”
“That.” Stacia pointed to a group of guys who were dancing a few feet away from them. “Some guy did a back flip!”
Trihn had a good half a foot on Stacia and Bryna, so she craned her neck to figure out what was going on. “It looks like people are showing off.”
“Let’s get in there!” Stacia cheered.
“Where do you think we are, S?” Bryna asked. “We didn’t just walk into Save the Last Dance.”
“Actually,” Trihn said, straining to to get a clear picture, “it doesn’t look that different than the movie. Come on.”
Without a second thought, Trihn threaded through the crowd and forced her way to the front of the circle. Stacia and Bryna came up behind her. As Stacia watched the people dancing, she bounced from foot to foot in excitement. Bryna looked a little bored, as if she would rather be the center of attention than let other people take the spotlight. But Trihn felt an inexplicable giddiness rising up in her stomach.
Three main guys kept moving in and out of the circle while a handful of girls were jumping in and shaking their asses to loud cheers. She wasn’t interested in the girls’ performances. They looked all right, she supposed, but the guys were way better.
One was a tall black guy with black hair under his navy blue hat with NY stitched on in white. He was throwing some pretty impressive break-dancing skills. The second guy was shorter with light hair. He was smirking at some other girls nearby. He had some fancy footwork, but he kept nudging the guy next to him, as if waiting for his approval.
That guy wasn’t even paying attention. He was teeming with energy. He was tall with short dark hair and wearing all black clothing. He was rolling his hat back and forth between his fingers while waiting for his turn to go out there, but his hips were moving, and he clearly knew what he was doing.
Trihn couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.
He was so damn good.
As if sensing her staring, his eyes found hers. She sucked in her breath as he just watched at her, his gaze resembling a challenge. But if he thought she was going to walk into that circle, he was out of his mind.
She was sure muscle memory would help her throw a few tricks of her own if she went out there—not that she had any intention of doing
so, but it would be funny to show him that girls could do more than shake their booties.
Despite the fact that she loved performing, she couldn’t imagine doing it now. Performances had always been scheduled in her life with lots of notice and prepared choreography. She wasn’t drunk enough if she was worrying about what people might think about her dancing out there. Her stomach was twisting into knots while she considered it.
The first guy finished his break-dancing move, and suddenly, the last guy stepped into the space. With the circle all to himself, he moved his body, as if he owned the place. He didn’t have one single self-conscious bone in his body.
“He’s hot,” Stacia murmured next to her. “Not my type, you know, because he obviously doesn’t play football, but he’s still hot.”
Trihn nodded. “Definitely.”
“I think I know him from somewhere,” Bryna said curiously.
Bryna knew everyone, so that wouldn’t surprise Trihn, but she was pretty sure she would have remembered him if she had seen him before.
Maya pushed through the crowd to get to them in that moment. “Jesus Christ! Just abandon me, why don’t you?”
“Sorry,” Trihn said without taking her eyes off the guy dancing.
“Well, I see why you did,” Maya said.
Maya nudged her forward a little, and Trihn nearly fell across the invisible threshold. That drew the guy’s heated gaze, and he gave her that same knowing look. He smirked at her stumble, and she felt her heartbeat skyrocket. She wanted to believe it was from embarrassment and not the hot guy in front of her.
“Maya! God!” Trihn cried.
She pressed back into the throng of people once more. She didn’t want to be noticed.
“Seriously, how do I know him?” Bryna cried. “This is going to bug me. I’m need to talk to him. Stacia, go shake your ass or something.”
“With pleasure,” Stacia said.
Trihn grabbed her hand. “Don’t go out there. You’d just be perpetuating the stereotype that the only girls who can dance are girls who shake their asses.”
“And?” Stacia said in confusion.
“Well, you’d be feeding into the patriarchy.”