Page 98 of The Affair
“Yeah,” I replied. “A phone message. The normal response would have been returning my call, not showing up at my doorstep after hours.”
“I know,” he answered. “But I didn’t want to do this over the phone, Elle. You deserve more than that.”
“Like your brother? Don’t you think he deserves more than the crappy treatment you’ve given him over the years?”
He breathed out. “You know, you didn’t seem to mind before you were sleeping with him. In fact, I think you hardly even noticed him.”
There were the accusations again. The judgment. The jealousy.
“You’re right,” I answered. “I was too caught up in us to see anyone else.”
“So, this is my fault? Because I loved you.”
“No,” I said. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then, what are you saying?”
This was going nowhere, kind of like that marriage we’d ended. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I called you, looking for answers that aren’t yours to give.”
“So, he hasn’t told you then?”
“If you mean, he hasn’t told me why you and your entire family treat him like trash, then no, he hasn’t. But he will when he’s ready.”
I watched his expression change just then.
His grimaced, shaking his head back and forth. “He got exactly what he wanted. All those years of pining, patiently waiting for me to screw up, and somehow, it all worked out exactly how he’d planned it.”
“What are you talking about?”
His gaze met mine. “Did you ever wonder why I ignored my brother, growing up? Why I purposely kept you away?”
“I—”He kept me away from Sawyer?
“He’s obsessed with you. He always has been. Ever since that stupid day with the bicycle. He even taunts me by donating a bunch of them every year at Christmas.”
My mind was reeling. None of this made sense. “Bicycle?”
“That day we met, it wasn’t me who nearly trampled you on the bike. It was Sawyer.”
“But I remember it clearly. You were the one I saw when I came to.”
“I was but only because my dad had seen what happened and spent the next hour yelling at him for being so irresponsible. By the time he made it back out of the house, you were awake, and I had taken his place.”
“You lied?” I couldn’t believe what he was telling me.
That was our story. I’d lost count of how many times I’d told it.
It had been the cornerstone to our fairy-tale romance.
He merely shrugged. “Not really. I never said I was the one who was on the bike. You just assumed. I didn’t think it mattered that much.”
“And Sawyer?”
“He never forgave me. He said I’d stolen his chance. He spent the next several weeks trying to win you back, but it was too late. You were mine.”
“So, I was just a game?”
“What?” His face softened. “No. Well, maybe that was my intention at the beginning—to annoy him by interfering—but then I met you, Elle, and I was a goner. I knew you and I were meant to be.”
