“Yeah,” Victoria said eagerly.
“I called him that night Hayden and I argued. He picked me up and we went to his condo. We made out. I freaked out and he brought me home.”
“Holy shit! You’re sneaky.” Victoria jumped from one foot to the other. “This is so exciting! I’m usually the dirty one.”
Liz couldn’t help but laugh. What else could she do?
“How could you call him, go to his condo, and kiss, but not f**k? I’m astonished at your self-control!”
“I wanted to, but it didn’t feel right. It’s complicated,” Liz told her.
“Um . . . it’s not complicated. You insert his dick inside—”
“Whoa!” Liz said, holding her hand up. “You don’t have to give away Victoria’s secret.”
“Oh, ha ha! You’re so f**king original.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “So seriously, who is the guy?”
Liz sighed heavily. She couldn’t tell. She just couldn’t. Especially not out in public.
“Can we talk about this somewhere more private?” Liz pleaded.
Victoria clapped her hands together and dashed into the dressing room. A few minutes later, she had all of the dresses hanging haphazardly on the rack, with her selection and Liz’s black beaded dress in her hand. She paid for both through Liz’s protests and then quickly hurried Liz out of the boutique.
“Okay,” Victoria said when they were finally seated in her car.
“Let’s go home. It’s probably safer,” Liz said ominously. She didn’t trust Victoria not to drive them into a telephone pole.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Liz swallowed, her throat constricting the closer they got to home. She was warring with herself on what she could and couldn’t tell Victoria. She desperately wanted to confide in someone. It was making her crazy. She had held this in for a year and a half and she didn’t want to have to hide anymore. She didn’t want to reveal it to the entire populace or anything. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted.
She still valued Brady’s career and would do everything in her power to keep their relationship from hurting him. That was the reason she had left in the first place. If she didn’t believe in that, then she never would have left.
Victoria pulled into their driveway twenty minutes later and practically skipped to the front door. At least someone was enjoying this.
Once Liz was inside, she took a seat on the couch and tucked her feet up underneath her. While Victoria sat in the chair across from her, bouncing with anticipation, Liz picked at her nails. She didn’t even know where to begin or what to say. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything.
But the one thing she had learned about the entire situation was that secrets were heavy. Mentally, physically, emotionally—they exhausted her. And she had quite the secret tucked away in her heart.
“Well . . . we’re home and it’s safe,” Victoria offered. “I’m literally dying over here. I’ve been curious about this guy since you first told me about him, and to think you saw him in October.”
“It’s really not something to be excited about. There’s a reason I’ve been keeping it all secret,” Liz explained.
“I remember you saying that he asked you to keep it secret. Still shitty to me, if I do say so.”
Liz breathed out heavily. “I know why you think that, but it’s a necessary precaution. I just want you to promise me that you’re not going to tell anyone about this. I’m already kind of freaked out. I mean, I think I should tell Hayden about what happened, but God, I don’t even know how to do that. I don’t want him to hate me.”
“He’s not going to hate you.”
“You don’t know that.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “I do too. He’s crazy about you.”
“Maybe. So, do you promise?”
“Of course, who am I going to tell?”
“Absolutely no one,” Liz said, trying to drill it into her head.
“Right. I promise not to say anything. I can’t see how it’s that big a deal though,” Victoria said dismissively.
Liz took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. She didn’t have any idea how to start, so she just blurted it out: “Brady Maxwell.”
Victoria sat very still for a second. Her eyes were glued to Liz, but didn’t give anything away. Then slowly the name seemed to sink in and her eyes gradually grew in size. Her mouth dropped open slightly and she stopped bouncing.
“Wait . . . like Brady Maxwell, Brady Maxwell? Like the congressman you interviewed?” Victoria asked.
“Um . . . yeah,” Liz whispered. She felt as if she could breathe properly for the first time in a long while. She had been carrying that secret around for so long. She hadn’t known she would feel so relieved now that it was out.
“Whoa!” Victoria said, falling back into her chair. “You were banging a congressman. Is he married?”
“No. He’s not,” Liz said tensely.
“I just . . . wow. You were right. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I definitely thought you were going to tell me one of Hayden’s friends or something and that’s why it was a big secret. I never in a million years would have guessed you were f**king that hot specimen.” She was clearly shocked, because Victoria didn’t ramble. “Is he good in bed?”
Liz laughed softly. “Um . . . yeah. Very good.”
“So wait . . . a sitting congressman picked you up from the newspaper, took you to his condo, and you didn’t f**k him?” Victoria asked, slapping her hands on the armrests. “Are you out of your mind? Are you not attracted to power? Why did it end? What happened last summer? Gah, give me details! I need to know.”
Tears sprang to Liz’s eyes again without warning. She pushed her palms into her eyes to stop them. “You don’t understand,” she murmured. “I was a liability to the campaign. I’d written negative stuff about him and they already weren’t sure he was going to win. He only won by a slim margin as it was, and if anyone found out we were together, he wouldn’t have. Any small slipup had the potential to ruin him.”
“So he broke it off? They forced you out?” Victoria whispered. “Bastard!”
“No,” Liz said, shaking her head. Victoria hopped off the chair and plopped down into the seat next to her. “I left.”