Page 109 of Lovetown, USA
“Yeah.” My heart thuds in my chest. “I am. Because love can’t be built on deceit. Maybe the matches are perfect, maybe they’re not, but you have no right to play Cupid. The deceit makes it wrong.”
We stand there, locked in a battle of wills, neither of us yielding. Her eyes blaze, while mine hold steady. Finally, she exhales.
“So you’re writing it up, then?”
“I’ve been back and forth on it, to be quite honest.”
She nods. “Well, hey, do what you gotta do.”
“That’s it?”
“I have nothing else to say on the matter.”
She turns away, taking a few steps before she turns back, her smile painted back on.
“Actually, there is one thing. Something I think you should know.”
38
Trey
Lane is off.
I notice it when she comes back from the restroom. It’s not a dramatic change. She doesn’t seem mad, at me or anybody else. She’s just…subdued.
She smiles when she needs to, leans into pictures when people pull us in, laughs when someone tells a joke. But the smiles don’t reach her eyes.
I keep checking in, whispering, “You okay?” every ten minutes or so. And she brushes me off every time.
“I’m fine.”
But she’s not. I know her well enough to know that.
Still, we dance. We eat. The night is still amazing. She’s just not herself.
By the time we get in the car, my stomach is in knots. I can’t take it anymore. Something’s wrong.
“Lane, please talk to me. What happened?”
This time, she doesn’t say she’s fine. She sits perfectly still, staring out the window, her voice calm. Too calm.
“I didn’t wanna make a scene back there.”
My stomach drops.
“A scene? About what?”
Her head turns slowly toward me, her eyes catching mine in the dim light.
“The last time a man hurt me, I ruined my own life. I told myself I’m not gonna do that this time.”
"Lane…” I trail off, my heart pounding. Somewhere in my subconscious, I already know. “What do you mean? Who hurt you?
She swallows, and for a second, her calm wavers. Her lips tremble, just once.
“Daphne told me everything.”
There it is.
