She just needed fresh air to think and try to come down from how drunk she was. At least that was what she was going to tell herself.
TRIHN DIDN’T MAKE IT INSIDE.
Her head swam, and she figured the pool deck was far enough. It was empty and secluded. She could still hear the party raging next door, but six-foot-high shrubs and an Olympic-size pool separated their houses, so it was muffled at least. The air didn’t feel as constricted here.
No Preston. No Lydia. No Ian. No questioning everything.
Trihn lay down on one of the cushioned benches next to the hot tub, propped her feet up on the white wooden armrest, and stared up at the stars above her.
Solace. Sweet solace. Just me and the universe.
This was the good thing about alcohol. She didn’t have to think or feel or really do anything. She could just lie here all night.
Then, hands covered her eyes, blocking her view of the stars, and she screamed.
One of the hands moved to cover her mouth, and a soft whisper came from behind her, “Shh.”
Trihn tried to scream again.
Then, his voice filtered through her struggle. “Calm down, beautiful.”
She would recognize that voice anywhere.
Preston.
He released her when she stopped struggling.
She quickly sat up, bringing a wave of dizziness with her. “What…are you doing here?”
“Came looking for you.”
She reached out for the bench to steady herself and took a deep breath. She needed a clear head for this conversation. “Why? I don’t know what you want.”
“I wanted to see you,” he said smoothly.
His eyes scanned her body, and her heart accelerated, but at the same time, she was disgusted. How can he look at me like that? And why do I want him to?
She was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
Those dark blue eyes dancing in the dim deck light, the strong jaw and messily styled hair that she wished her fingers were running through, the loose khakis and blue-striped button-up he had rolled up to his elbows—everything about him made her ache to move closer toward him. But she stayed rooted in place.
“What the fuck, Preston? You’re dating my sister!” Trihn hissed.
“Last I checked, I was dating you, too.”
“That’s disgusting!” she spat. “We’re not together. I don’t even know how you could date two people at once like that!”
“You seemed pretty cozy with Ian. I thought this was par for the course with you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Ian and I are just friends. Always have been and always will be.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me.”
She shook her head. “Don’t try to put this on me. Even if I were dating Ian, which I’m not,” she clarified, “you and I were over the second I saw you with her.”
“Yes, I think you tried to clarify that when you said your boyfriend broke up with you. Clever lie.” He smirked and reached out for her, as if none of that was of any concern. His fingers wrapped around her waist, and he drew her to him.
“Don’t touch me.” She wrenched out of his grasp and crossed her arms. She wobbled on her feet and then steadied herself on the bench again. “You lost any right you had to touch me.”
“Then, why haven’t you told anyone?” he asked. He cocked his head to the side to examine her.
“I…” She closed her mouth. Nothing she could say would justify why she hadn’t told Lydia. She didn’t think Lydia would believe her. She didn’t want to ruin the vacation. She worried it would ruin everything. Her heart was shattering into a million pieces, and she wasn’t prepared for it to be really over.
“Yes?” he asked.
“How long have you known that Lydia and I are related?” she blurted out.
“Since you told me that Linh Hamilton was your mother,” he answered easily. “I hadn’t really considered the possibility until then.”
“That was so…long ago,” she stammered.
“Two weeks,” he offered.
“And you didn’t think that you should maybe fucking tell someone about it?” she asked, her anger heating again like a flame to a fuse. “God, you’re just a cheating bastard!”
“Trihn, you’re asking all the wrong questions.”
“Are you insane?” she asked. The adrenaline from this conversation was burning off the alcohol in her system, and she stood a little straighter. “Is that a better question?”
“I’m not. I just fell for two incredible women for two very different reasons.”
He slowly started walking closer to her. She felt like she had lead in her feet because, even as he approached her, she didn’t move away. She wasn’t sure if she even could at that point.
He stopped before her with just inches between them and brushed a stray strand of hair off her face. “How could I resist you after that first introduction?”
Trihn remembered that fateful day when she had met Preston. She hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from him, and he was the first person she had really wanted to pursue. He had given her the confidence to push for a relationship, and then he had pulled the rug out from beneath her.
As her mind went back to that day, standing on Lydia’s steps, she gasped. “You were visiting Lydia! That’s why you were there that day!” she accused.
He smirked, as if knowing all the puzzle pieces were finally falling into place.
“The only reason I know you is because of Lydia.” She shook her head in disbelief. Pure anger shot through her emerald-green eyes. “How could you do this, Preston? You could have let it be that day, but you pursued me. You showed up at the studio. You took me to the ballet. You were the one who bribed someone, so we could go backstage and fool around. You were the one who fucked me at your place, at the studio after-hours, at—”
“I know what we did.”
“And you’ve been sleeping with her,” Trihn accused.
“Trihn…”
But she wouldn’t listen to what he had to say. Preston’s fingers dug into her hips, holding her in place, and they weren’t gentle. She could tell just by that action that he wanted her.
And she wanted him. He was supposed to be special…to be hers. Trihn had waited. Fuck, she had wanted it to feel right. And, of course, it had felt right with Preston, who belonged to someone else. And not just anyone else…to Lydia.
“I hate you,” she spat.
His smile grew wider. “But I thought you loved me.”
Her mouth dropped open. Without thinking, she pulled her hand back and smacked him as hard as she could across the face. His head whipped to the side. There was a moment of silence after the slap rang through the air where Preston looked off to the side and fumed. Then, he turned to look at her again.
Her chest was heaving. She couldn’t believe she had done that. She had never slapped anyone before. She had never been violent.
His eyes were shining bright, and whatever ounce of control he had held on to was shattered in that look. His mouth crashed down on hers. Even if she had wanted to stop him, she wouldn’t have been able to. The white gloves were off.
Soon, they were in a frenzy, tearing at each other’s clothes, desperate for the feel of skin on skin, as the tension cracked like lightning between them.
His pants fell around his ankles. Her thong was tossed to the side, and then he shoved her short green dress up around her hips. She bit down on his lip as he manhandled her into place. She ran her fingers through the hair she had been daydreaming about and then tugged to the point of pain. He grunted but didn’t stop. He just pushed her backward onto the bench she had just been lying on.
“You want it rough, don’t you?” he growled before covering her body.