“Because you’re making it seem like I can’t see him if I want to. He didn’t say he wants to get back with me. He said he wants to make things right. If he makes one move or says one thing about wanting to get back with me, I’ll walk out of the building and let you tell me you told me so.”

“I’d rather not have to tell you.”

Liz sighed and tried to see Brady’s side in this. They were finally together and now her ex-boyfriend, who for a long time Brady had thought she had left him for, was trying to come back into the picture. Not so crazy for him to be pissed about it.

“Look, I don’t blame you for feeling like this, but I’m not one of your staffers. I’m your girlfriend.”

“I know you are,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not trying to dictate to you. I’m obviously poorly explaining my position. Let’s hope I do better on the campaign this year. Tell me how to convince you this is a bad idea.”

“Just trust me. If Erin came back to you, apologetic, begging to see you for coffee or lunch to make things right, what would you do? You would see her,” Liz answered for him.

“What would you say if I went?” he asked.

“I’d be insanely jealous, but I’d know that you left her for me and that is what matters. That it’s you and me.”

“Can you and me not include . . . him?”

“It is just you and me, but . . .”

“But?” he prompted.

Liz sighed, trying to mull it over. “I don’t know. If I decide to see him, I don’t want you to be pissed at me.”

Brady cursed under his breath. “You make this damn difficult, woman.”

“Well, you’re not the easiest person to live with either, Congressman.”

“No one ever said I was. But if he hurts you now, I can’t beat the shit out of him like he deserves,” Brady said coldly.

“I’m telling you that Hayden doesn’t want me back and he’s not going to hurt me. If he does want me back, then I’ll hurt him, okay? You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not worried about us. I just . . .” Brady paused. “Hold on. Heather is calling.”

“Okay.”

Liz waited on the line for a few minutes, trying to dissect the conversation they’d just had. At first she had thought Brady felt threatened by Hayden, but even the idea of that was preposterous. Even while she had been with Hayden, she had been thinking about Brady.

“Hey, baby, I have to go. Can we continue this conversation tonight?” he asked.

“Sure,” Liz said with a sigh. So much to think about. She wished they could have worked it all out before he had to get off the phone, but maybe it would be good for them to cool down before they got into another argument.

Liz tossed her phone back on her bed and ran her hand back through her hair. The whole conversation had spiraled so far out of control.

Trying to clear her head, she walked into the kitchen, popped open a bottle of red wine, and poured herself a glass. Victoria walked in just then and raised an eyebrow.

“Long day?”

“Exams are over,” Liz said, raising her glass and taking a big gulp.

“I can’t believe we’re going to graduate in six days.”

“I can’t believe you’re moving to D.C. right after that.”

Victoria grabbed a glass and started pouring herself some wine. “You’ll be up there all the time anyway with Brady.”

“Yeah. It’s just weird. We’ve lived together for four years.”

“I’d totally go lesbian for you if that’s what you’re getting at,” Victoria said with a wink.

Liz rolled her eyes and laughed. “Hardly.”

“So, who were you on the phone with? I heard some raised voices.”

“Brady,” Liz said, taking another sip. “Hayden showed up on campus today and said he wanted to talk to me.”

“God! Can’t he just leave you alone and not interfere with your life?”

“I don’t know. He just wants to try to make it better.”

Victoria shook her head. “You know how I feel about Lane. I think you should let him suffer.” Liz cringed and drank some more. “Seriously, you just don’t like to see anyone hurting, do you?”

“Not really. I made up with Massey today.”

“Massey is fine. Whatever. She didn’t sell you out to the newspaper,” Victoria said pointedly. “I know you. You’re going to see him, aren’t you?”

“I haven’t decided, but Brady got all pissed off at me.”

“Rightfully so, bitch! Think about it.”

“I have!” she cried. “I’m not rushing into things. I didn’t even really want to see him, but then talking to Brady, I kind of talked myself into it.”

“If you ruin this thing with Brady because of Hayden . . .”

“No! No way. I’m not going there,” Liz said vehemently. “Brady is everything. He’s my past, present, and future. I just kind of want to close the lid on Hayden. It’ll make it easier to stomach everything that happened knowing that we’re in an okay place.”

“He doesn’t deserve an okay place,” Victoria told her.

“Maybe not.”

They stood together like that, going through a couple glasses of wine each. School was officially over and it was strange for both of them having nothing they had to do. They had spent the last four years working endlessly and now it was all coming to a close.

When they lapsed into silence, Liz turned to absentmindedly scroll through her phone. Her thoughts turned to her career and what she was going to do now that she was only days away from graduating without an acceptance letter to graduate school and no job on the horizon.

Then she remembered a lunch conversation with her friend Justin a year ago, when he had tried to convince her to come work for him. He had originally been part of Liz’s scholarship program, but after he got a DUI, the university had stripped his scholarship. He’d dropped out of school and started his own company online that was just getting off the ground. He had tried to recruit Liz, but she had always been too busy. If he was interested, maybe she could use that as a starting point.

She jotted out a text to him.

Hey, do you have a free minute?