Page 101 of The Quiet After The Fall

“Of course I came, you said it was important.”

“It is.” She leads me to the living room and sits on the edge of the couch. “I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer me honestly. No deflecting. No work’s been busy.”

Knots form in my stomach. “Okay.”

“Are you seeing someone else?”

I expected the question but it still knocks the wind out of me for a second. I could lie. Lord knows I’ve gotten good at it these last few months, but I told myself no more lies. And looking at her right now, hurting and raw, I can’t make myself do it.

“Yes.”

She nods slowly, like she already knew what I was going to say, but my confirmation still hurts. Of course it does. “Okay.”

“Ella, I’m⁠—”

“It’s fine, Knox. I’m not angry. Not really. More relieved that I’m not losing my mind. You’ve been somewhere else for months. I just didn’t know if it was grief, or stress, or someone else.”

I hang my head, feeling like a total piece of shit. “It’s complicated.”

Understatement of the century.

She lets out a humorless laugh. “I’ve heard that before.”

I pull a hand down my face. It would be so much fucking easier to tell her everything here and now, but I can’t, not yet. “I want to tell you everything, but I can’t yet. I need you to trust me.”

“That’s rich. You cheat on me then ask me to trust you in the same breath.”

I didn’t want to bring it up, but like a sign from Owen, the necklace swings out from her collar. I point to it. “Don’t act like you’re innocent. I know whose ring is hanging from your neck.”

Her hand flies to it, and she wraps her fingers around it like she can somehow hide what I’ve already seen.

“That’s not…” She stops herself, jaw tightening. “That’s different.”

“Is it, though?”

“Owen’s dead, Knox.” Her voice cracks. “It’s not the same as you fucking someone behind my back.”

“You’re right. It’s not the same.” I sit down across from her and let out a deep breath. “I’m not trying to compare our sins or make you feel bad about it. I just needed you to know that I know.”

“How long have you known?”

She’s rubbing the ring, like it’s a habit she’s done for years.

“A while. I found the texts after the accident. Actually, Sawyer found them.”

Her hand drops to her lap. “Sawyer found out. Oh, God.”

“That’s who I’ve been seeing.” There’s no point holding it back now, not with everything else already spilling out between us. “She’s the one who found your texts on his phone, going through it after the accident. She figured it out.”

Ella’s face runs through stages as she processes all of this. Her brows pull in tight, mouth parting like she wants to say something but decides to keep it in. Her fingers reach for the ring again, and I notice a flush creeping up her neck.

Finally she lets out a short laugh, shaking her head. “That’s almost funny, in the most fucked up way possible.”

This most definitely isn’t the Ella I know. I’d expected anger, maybe tears…not laughter. What alternate universe am I in?

“Kind of,” I agree.

“Does she hate me?”