On the Record (Record #2)(102)

“I don’t smoke!” he said, raising his voice again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . Why do you think I smoke?”

“Oh, because I saw you do it in October when you left the newspaper.”

“You were watching me?”

“It seems the only way to get you to tell the truth!”

“I used to smoke,” Hayden admitted. “When I was in high school, the other guys on the track team smoked, but I quit. High-stress situations make me crave them.”

“How many high-stress situations have you been in lately?” Liz asked accusingly.

“A few,” he said stiffly. “But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to try to make things right. How can I make things right?” He splayed his hands out in front of him and took a step forward.

“If you came here to fix things, then you should have never come. You can’t make it right. There’s absolutely nothing that you could say to me that would get me to change my mind. You’ve already done enough damage here. I think you should maybe do some soul-searching and see how much you totally f**ked up the best thing you’ll ever have in your life. How does it feel knowing that you ruined your own life?” she said calmly. “I hope that Calleigh beats you to that promotion and drops your ass. It would be what you deserve.”

Hayden’s mouth dropped open and he just shook his head. “So I can’t make this better?”

“No,” she said resolutely.

“There’s no reasoning with you?” he asked, pleading with his big hazel eyes for some way to make it up to her.

“I couldn’t think of a single thing that you could do to fix this. You broke me. You broke us. It’s over,” she said, her voice cracking. “And I think you should just go.”

Hayden nodded, accepting his fate. As he pulled the door open to exit, he turned back to face her. “I am sorry, and I will never stopping looking for a way to make this right.”

The door closed behind him and the energy left Liz in a huff. Emotionally she felt as if she had just run a marathon that she had never trained for. She stumbled to the couch and crashed back into the cushions. She didn’t think she would have been able to keep going even if she had wanted to. Her heart felt heavy, but at least she knew one thing: she still had Brady.

Victoria rushed into the room. “Is he gone?”

“Yeah, he just left,” Liz murmured. “I can’t believe I said all of that. I can’t believe it’s really over.”

“Me either, but the bastard deserved every word. So . . . what happened?”

“With Hayden? Didn’t you hear the whole thing?” Liz asked.

“No! With the guy you left with on Friday. I heard you come home, but then you went right back out with him. Was he good? Were you in a sex coma? Why didn’t you answer your f**king phone, bitch!” Victoria said, punching her lightly in the arm.

“Oh, Clay. No, I didn’t sleep with him. I knew him when I walked out with him.”

“No fair! That wasn’t the game.”

“He’s Brady’s brother,” Liz told her with a sigh.

“You left to have sex with Brady’s brother!” Victoria gasped.

“Well . . . originally.”

“Holy f**k! I underestimated you. Forget my threesomes . . .”

“Foursomes,” Liz muttered under her breath.

“You might be dirtier than me!”

Liz shook her head. “Not possible.”

“Are you going to sleep with both of them?” Victoria literally gasped. “At the same time?”

“Victoria, no. You’re living out your own fantasies, not mine. Clay is really good-looking, but I have no interest. I spent the weekend with Brady at his lake house.”

Victoria shrieked and bounced up and down in her chair. “Oh my God! I’m so excited. Did you guys f**k? Are you back together?”

Liz smiled coyly, her eyes drifting down to her hand. “Yes . . . on both counts.”

“Okay. Okay,” she said, trying to stay calm but not succeeding. “Tell me all about it. You had sex with a congressman. This is too good to go without details.”

“I’m not giving you details! We had sex . . . a couple times.”

“Like how many times?” Victoria asked, clapping her hands together.

“I don’t know.” Liz started counting in her head. “Um . . . like five times.”

“That’s like fifteen orgasms! Lucky girl!”

“You’re ridiculous!” Liz said. “Fifteen orgasms? Jesus, Vic.”

“Oh, maybe I’m just that lucky,” Victoria said with a wink. “But, girl, you’re with Brady. What does that feel like?”

Liz sighed and leaned back into the couch. “Perfection.”

Chapter 29

MISDIRECTION

Liz took some Tylenol and then collapsed into her bed. The emotional roller coaster she had been riding the past week exhausted her, and all she could think about was sleeping through the day. Luckily Massey was covering the paper this weekend, so she could be a bum another day longer.

She couldn’t believe everything that had happened. All she could concentrate on was Brady. She was with Brady. And not just that, but he wanted to go public with their relationship.