Liz shrugged and scrolled through them. Be safe. Blah, blah, blah. Same stuff. She would answer him later. Maybe.

That made her giggle.

She clicked over to Facebook and scrolled through her newsfeed, commenting randomly on different statuses. Not anyone she really wanted to talk to. No. The person she wanted to talk to probably didn’t even have a Facebook. Or at least, he probably only had an official page.

That made Liz laugh again. She had never checked whether Brady had an official page. She had always gone to his website instead. But he had to have one. Only made sense.

She typed his name incorrectly three times into the box before getting it right. There it was. Yep. Nothing interesting. Same as his website. It’s not like he was going to be posting pictures of him and his girlfriend. She rolled her eyes.

Whatever. Girlfriend.

Stupid word.

She could probably still get ahold of him if she wanted. Girlfriend be damned.

Liz searched her phone for the various numbers programmed into it. She didn’t know if the line he had used on campaign for his office was still active, and he changed his work number frequently enough because of people tapping into his line that there was no way that one still worked. Plus, he didn’t take work calls this late.

That left his personal number. The one he reserved strictly for family.

It was amazing that even through her addled mind the details of his personal schedule from the summer came back to her clear as day. She didn’t think she would ever forget that time of her life. Even if it only hit her in moments now.

Liz bit her lip and clicked the number. She started typing out a message before she even had a chance to think about it.

It’s my birthday and I want to cash in my congressional favor.

She giggled and placed her phone back into her purse. After relieving herself she hurried out of the stall.

“Jesus, what took you so long?” Massey asked, typing away on her own phone.

“I think I’m drunk,” Liz said while washing her hands.

“Um . . . yeah.”

The girls walked out of the restroom and back to Victoria, who was standing and talking to Savannah.

“Savannah!” Liz cried, giving her a big hug.

Savannah raised her eyebrows at her. “Um . . . hey. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s do shots and then head to a bar we can dance in,” Victoria announced.

Kyle poured five shots full of something that smelled like lemons. He passed them across the bar and kept one for himself.

“Just close me out.”

“Anything for you, V.”

Victoria pushed one over to Savannah, who shook her head. “Oh no, sorry. I’m not drinking.”

“Um . . . I just bought you a shot. So you’re drinking.”

“Come on!” Liz called. “It’s my birthday.”

“Um . . . maybe just one. But nothing after this.”

“Don’t be so uptight, Maxwell,” Massey said, nudging her in the ribs. “It’s okay to have a good time in college. You’ll still get into Congress even if you drank underage once.”

Savannah’s cheeks heated as she took the glass in her hand.

Liz reached out and shoved Massey. “Don’t be a bitch. She doesn’t even want to go into politics. Don’t you know your newspaper staff?” Liz asked through her drunken haze. She didn’t like anyone messing with her friends, especially after Savannah trusted her. All the alcohol kept her inhibitions down. “Don’t be rude!”

Massey’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “Feisty much, Liz?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have to be if you weren’t being an ass**le.”

“Whoa!” Victoria said, raising her glass up to silence them. “Drunk Liz wants to get into a fight.”

Massey shrugged. “I was only joking,” she said to Savannah.

“It’s fine,” she said tightly. “Let’s just do the shot.”

“Agreed,” Victoria said.

Liz felt her phone vibrate in her purse and butterflies flew around her stomach. Had Brady actually responded? What had she even said to him? It hadn’t been that long ago, had it? God, she didn’t even remember.

“Happy Birthday, Liz,” Victoria called.

Everyone raised their shot glasses and cheered her. Liz realized what was happening and held her shot glass up too. She tipped the glass back and let the liquid slide down her throat.

Whoa! That was strong.

They set the glasses back down on the bar and as they waited for Victoria to close her tab, Liz pulled her phone back out to check her messages.

One new message.

Carmichael Personal read on the screen.

Brady. Her stomach flipped. He had responded. She couldn’t believe it.

And what favor could a congressman offer to a girl on her birthday?

Liz’s heart stopped. Was he . . . teasing her? Shit! What had she said to get Brady to tease her? Liz reread her other messages and then Brady’s once more. Yeah . . . he was totally teasing her. She jotted back another drunken message immediately.

I can think of a few things.

I can think of more than a few. Perhaps you could be more specific.

“Are you drunk texting Lane?” Massey asked, coming up next to her as they walked in the street.

“What? Oh no,” she said quickly.

“Oh my God, you so are. What is he saying?”

“Nothing!”

“Is he sexting you? Because you are totally blushing.”

Liz’s face colored deeper at the accusation. “You think Hayden sexts?”

Massey wrinkled her nose. “No. You’re right. He probably doesn’t.”

“Are y’all talking about Hayden?” Savannah asked, listening in on the conversation. “Because that’s gross.”

“He’s not gross!” Liz defended him.

“No, he’s not! I didn’t mean it like that,” Savannah said automatically. “I just don’t see him like that. To me he’s like the boss.”

“Liz is f**king the boss,” Massey said giggling.

Liz rolled her eyes and hid her phone as she responded to Brady.

Things your sister wouldn’t approve of me discussing with you right now.

I bet she wouldn’t be the only one.

She bit her lip at the message. Somewhere in the dark recesses of her mind, something was telling her to stop talking and not continue on this conversation. There was a reason that she shouldn’t be saying these things. Both of them shouldn’t. It wasn’t a good idea, and it wasn’t going anywhere. But she’d had too much alcohol to care at the moment. So she jotted out a text.