Page 179 of The Perfect Love

And then he opens his mouth.

“Well, well, Trevor Matteny. Long time no see. How the hell have you been?”

Dread slices through me, icy and cold.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Stop fighting this…”

That voice. His voice.

My stomach drops, and I really think I might throw up.

“Who’s this? You finally bag yourself a hottie?”

“I bet a hottie like you could keep me up all night.”

I’m backing away before I realize my feet are moving.

“Yeah, this is my girlfriend, Chelsea.” Trevor turns toward me, concern etching his features when he sees me.

“Hey, I’m Dane.”

The name clangs through me as another flash from that night claws at me. Standing by a pool table. And then that voice. Him. Shaggy blond hair hidden by a baseball cap.

“I’m Dane. Baseball legend.”

My head’s spinning. It’s too much. A sob rolls through my whole body and I wrap my arms around myself.

“It was you.”

Trevor

Several things click together at once.

Chelsea standing there, face white, looking like she’s going to scream.

She said he had shaggy blond hair and hazel eyes. Most of the time, DJ kept his hair short. Until sophomore year. And his eye color? Fuck, I never noticed it until right now.

She said he told her he was a baseball player.

“Hey man, can I borrow one of your hats tonight? You know how the girls feel about a baseball player.”

Then she utters the most horrifying three words I could ever hear.

“It was you.”

“Trevor.” Hyla’s voice is sharp, cautionary, but I barely hear it. There’s only the sound of blood roaring in my ears as I lunge forward and punch him as hard as I can in the jaw.

He staggers backward, then dives forward and pushes me. “What the fuck, man? You that pissed I didn’t call?”

I grab him and spin him around, shoving him against the brick wall and getting right in his face. “You raped her.”

That smirky look finally slips off his face, and his gaze darts over my shoulder.

Then he puts up a cold exterior. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

I punch him again. As hard as I can.

He punches me back.

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