Page 71 of Perfect

“Of course. The jealousy he’d shown at Nate’s was textbook stuff and he’d have to be blind not to fancy you.”

Although I’d encouraged it, the smoke he blew up my arse felt great.

Pushing my hair back behind my ear, I released the breath that I had been holding. So, Tom held the belief that Connor wouldnevermake a serious move? Maybe he was right and the yo-yoing behaviour of ‘he loves me’, ‘he loves me not’ was all it wouldeverbe? The thought made me want to start biting my nails. Maybe that’s what this lifestyle did to all girls. Ella’s fingers were pretty much fucked.

Not meaning to be disrespectful to Tom, I decided to encourage more conversation about Connor. My aim was to try and establish some more details about his dark past. Especially the situation with his dad, who must definitely be the reason behind his split personality.

Tom was saying something about Connor’s family.

My ears pricked up.

“Do you think his parents screwed him up?”

Tom steered the car into the road slowly, he really did drive like an old lady. He’d also overdone it with the aftershave again, you could almost taste it.

“To be honest, I was going to tell you the other night, but I thought it best to talk in person. I don’t trust text messages; they always get into the wrong hands.”

“OK.” Butterflies started fluttering in my tummy as I waited for him to spill it.

I felt a frisson of frustration as he took an age to answer and I wanted to physically shake it from him.

“Look, you’re not telling me anything which is going to come as a total shock. I know Connor has issues with his father,” I said twisting toward him.

My words had the desired effect and seemed to reassure him. What he said of course was much worse than I had anticipated.

“So, after Connor’s behaviour at the party and our text conversation about his medication I spoke to Ella,” Tom began, darting me a difficult look before turning back to the road. “I told her I thought he’d stopped taking his meds and she said she’d speak to him. After I pushed her, she actually opened up about what sheknew. Ella has been withdrawn and cagey since she came back from America, so I was surprised by her reaction, to be honest.”

Pursing my lips, I recalled what Anna had said about Ella’s trip to America and the alleged pregnancy scare, which I now wasn’t sure I believed.

“So, something has been going on with her and she got to the point where she needed to share or she’d explode,” I suggested, eyeing Tom.

He nodded his head. “Something like that.”

“So, what did she say?”

After another boy-time beat of silence, he at last put me out of my misery.

“Connor was abused by his dad.”

I felt like I’d been shot in the stomach.

The worry I’d experienced after leaving Connor at the house intensified in my chest and I thought I was going to be sick. I inhaled and tried to ward of the churning feeling before I puked in Tom’s fucking Volvo. My guess had been wife beating,notchild beating.

Of course, the two things were both horrendous, but in my mind, the latter feltmuchworse. How could a parent put their hands on theirownchild in anger?

My throat felt tight and I prompted.

“As in, like, physical abuse?” Another jet of horror shot into me like an arrow as my mind raced. Don’t jump to conclusions, do NOT jump to conclusions.

Tom paused before he replied.

“Yeah. Fucked up, isn’t it? I was shocked myself.”

“That’s awful. What else did she say?” I asked in a shaky voice. It was impossible to consider a guy like Connor to be a victim of physical abuse onanylevel. He was so tough and macho-looking. But of course, he wouldn’t always have been that way.

“And how come Ella knows all this?”

Tom pursed his lips before shooting me a look. “He confided in her one night. They were both pissed at the time. He probably doesn’t even remember.”

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