Liz caught sight of a head of long dark hair and smiled. Savannah. So she was here. Ever since the day that Liz had told her that she had actually voted for Brady, things had been different between them. Both girls had relaxed around each other at work and the few occasions when they hung out. Liz found that she actually liked Savannah best of anyone else at the paper. They had similar work ethics, and each was more determined than the other to prove herself.

Liz waved to her as she walked over to where Savannah was standing. “Hey, I didn’t see you in there.”

Savannah shrugged. “I’ve heard them speak a million times. I didn’t need to hear this one.”

“You didn’t miss much. It was pretty boring,” she said softly.

“Oh, I figured. Brady said at lunch that it was going to be.”

Liz breathed in and out as slowly as possible. Of course Savannah had lunch with her brother while he was in town. Nothing to freak out about.

“Well, he was right.” As always.

“Hey, I’m glad I ran into you. What are you doing for dinner tonight?” Savannah asked.

“Um . . . I don’t know. Why?”

“Want to come with me? I’ll pick you up and everything.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Savannah?” Liz asked with a half laugh. “You’re not really my type.”

“Okay, it’s super secret. Like, don’t even tell Hayden about it. Just tell him you’re going out with me, but we’ll have a good time, okay?”

“I haven’t even agreed,” Liz said, her interest piqued.

“Oh, did you not? I didn’t notice. I’ll come get you around eight,” Savannah told her.

“All right,” Liz said with a shrug.

“Brady’s going to be out in a second. Want me to introduce you two?” she asked. “I know you guys met on campaign, but I’ll introduce you to the real Brady Maxwell. He’s actually not as stuck up as he looks.” Savannah giggled and started dragging her across the room.

“Oh, no, Savannah . . . that’s okay. We’ve . . . we’ve already met. It’s, um . . . really not necessary,” Liz stammered out.

“Come on. It’s just my brother. He doesn’t bite.”

Liz disagreed. He most certainly did bite . . .

“Oh, there he is,” Savannah said, just as Brady walked out of a back door from the auditorium. “I had a feeling he’d come this way.”

“Oh,” was all Liz managed to get out as she stared at Brady standing there talking to his father. She felt as if her legs were made of lead and she wasn’t sure how she was dragging them along.

“Brady!” Savannah called as they approached.

His eyes snapped up to Savannah and he smiled. She knew that smile. God, how many times had she seen him look that happy? He loved his sister. They were really two peas in a pod. And then he saw Liz walking next to her and the smile dropped off of his face. Her legs didn’t just feel like lead then; her whole body felt like lead, sinking straight to the bottom of the ocean.

Savannah pulled Liz along behind her and kept that smile on her face. “Brady, this is my friend Liz. I work with her on the paper. She was my boss during the campaign. I don’t know if I mentioned her.”

Brady swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I don’t think you did.” He seemed to have composed himself, but his eyes were still hard. She felt two feet tall in the shadow of that gaze. Then he stuck his hand out. “Brady Maxwell. I believe we met on campaign. Yes?”

“We did,” she whispered, nodding. She took his hand in hers. Sparks flew as if someone had struck a match between them. It jolted her, and she actually jumped a little on contact. He took in a deep, even breath and then quickly dropped her hand.

“How nice to meet you again,” he said, that campaign mask firmly in place. She wouldn’t be seeing her Brady the rest of the conversation. Not that anything about him was hers anymore. “How was the rest of the campaign?”

Liz felt the weight of that question to her very core. “Same old, same old. It took forever to get to November,” she all but whispered. “Congratulations on your victory.”

“Thank you. I had a great team behind me. They really believed in me and my vision,” he said, each word stabbing her like a knife wound.

“That’s very . . . fortunate,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

Savannah smiled, oblivious to the underlying conversation going on between them. “I’m glad I could reintroduce you,” she said brightly. “I know Liz voted for you in the election and spent a lot of time ensuring students on campus voted.”

“Is that right?” Brady asked, his gaze shifting to Savannah.

“I know how you like to talk to your constituents,” Savannah said with a pat on his arm, as if he weren’t some big politician. To Savannah he was just her brother. “I’m going to go find Dad. Find me after, Liz, okay?”

Savannah traipsed away to find her father before Liz could say anything. And then she was left alone with Brady.

They stood there together awkwardly. How many times had she envisioned what she would say when she finally saw him? How many times had she thought that she would beg his forgiveness, yell at him for never coming after her, throw herself at him? But none of those things happened. They just stared at each other.

Liz knew that she should say something. She even opened her mouth. But what could she say? They were so far removed from where they had been last August. She just wanted to apologize, to explain, but she couldn’t. Not here. Not like this.

“There you are,” Liz heard from behind her. Her stomach sank. Shit.

She broke Brady’s gaze and turned to see Hayden walking toward her. He was in a navy sport jacket and khakis with a striped shirt underneath. His hair was perfectly tousled and his hazel eyes were almost green as he smiled at her.

He walked right up to her and kissed her softly on the lips. She didn’t think she even responded.

“Hey, Lizzie,” he said when he pulled back.

Liz stepped away from him, feeling terrible at the realization that Brady was watching. Fuck.

“Um, hey,” she said awkwardly.

Hayden noticed who she was standing by and straightened up immediately. “Oh, you must be Brady Maxwell,” Hayden said, having the sense to look slightly embarrassed. Though she wondered if he had kissed her on purpose. No. This was Hayden. He didn’t have a bone in his body that wasn’t good and decent.