Page 54 of The Risk Taker
“Well isn’t this sweet,” she slurs.
“What are you doing, Sara?” I ask, my pulse pounding against my throat. After all this time, she just shows up? No calls, no texts, no communication for a year. Yes, I get that she hates me but to show up and get drunk?
She stumbles on the steps and I hurry to her before she falls and cracks her head open. I right her, and when she’s finally stable, she shoves me away.
“What am I doing? What am I doing?” she shrieks, her voice bordering on hysteria.
“Sara,” Fallon says in a calming voice that doesn’t seem to have any effect on Sara. “We should go inside.”
Sara snorts. “So what is this, Fallon? Tit for tat?” she asks, as her head bobs back and forth between the two of us.
“Sara,” Fallon hisses. “Don’t.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. You think because I needed time away that you could go to the beach with Jamie and fuck him.”
“Sara, please. It’s not what you think.”
“What does she think?” I ask, totally confused by the tit for tat comment. “What is she talking about, Fallon?”
“I…just…”
“Fallon?” I ask, my stomach tightening. Jesus, what does she know that she’s not telling me?
“I know she told you, Jamie,” Sara says. “She hates me enough, and sleeping with you, well, that was just payback. Isn’t that right, Fallon?”
I back up, and stop when I land in my bushes. “Payback? Somebody better fucking tell me what’s going on here.”
Sara’s eyes go wide, like she just had a revelation. “You’re kidding me?”
“Sara, I never said—” Fallon begins but stops when Sara throws herself at me, and tears form in her eyes.
“Jamie, I’ve missed you,” Sara cries.
What the fuck is going on?
I peel her arms from around my neck and set them at her side. “What are you talking about payback?”
“Nothing. I’ve been drinking.” She blinks up at me, and tries to brush whatever this is, off. But I’m not about to let it go.
I turn to Fallon. “What is she talking about?”
“Jamie,” she begins and reaches for me, but I avoid contact.
“Tell me, Fallon.”
“Not here, Jamie. Not now.”
“Shut your mouth,” Sara says.
“Fallon, please…” I plead.
She takes a breath, lets it out slowly and lowers her head. “I’m sorry, Jamie.”
“What are you sorry for?” I ask, as my gaze moves over her face, trying to read her.
“Sara and Ethan were having an affair. I was ninety-nine percent sure. Now I’m one hundred.”
“You bitch,” Sara says and launches herself at Fallon. She digs her nails into Fallon’s arms, and scratches before I can pull her off. I drag her away, and she softens in my arms, changing tactics with me. “It was a mistake, Jamie. You were away a lot. I was lonely. It just happened.”