“With you.”
“Mmm, with you.”
Brady kissed her temple and ran his hands up and down her back. “How about you hop in the shower?”
“Join me?” she asked, already almost falling back asleep from his hands on her.
He laughed lightly. “We both know how that will end.”
“So, yes?”
“You shower. I’m going to see if we have anything to eat. Didn’t think that one through.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Brady Maxwell?” she muttered.
“Cut a guy some slack. I wasn’t expecting to spend the weekend at the lake,” he said with a kiss on her cheek as he rolled to the other side of the bed.
“I’m glad you did.”
Brady kicked his feet over the bed and stood in the buff. “Me too.”
Good Lord! The man was the definition of sexy. Muscular arms, broad shoulders, washboard abs. It really wasn’t fair to the rest of the world, but she didn’t mind the view one bit.
He found a pair of black boxer briefs, basketball shorts, and a long-sleeve T-shirt from the closet and reappeared covering everything she had been assessing.
“I’m turning the water on,” Brady said, walking into the bathroom.
“Okay. Okay.” Liz hopped out of bed and followed him.
Brady placed a towel on the counter for her and turned the water on full steam. She grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him in for a kiss before he could leave. “You should stay,” she murmured.
“You’re going to need food.”
“Yes,” she said, touching him through his shorts. “I am.”
“I’d bet you’re a little sore. I wasn’t gentle,” he said. “And I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t . . .”
“Liz, shower.” He opened the glass door to the massive walk-in shower and slapped her ass to get her moving.
“Fine. Don’t say I never asked,” she said, scurrying forward.
“Next time I want you to beg me, I’ll let you know.” He shook his head and shut the shower door.
Liz laughed as he walked out of the bathroom. She stepped into the hot spray, letting the water run down her body. Truth be told, she was sore. Very sore. To say he hadn’t been gentle was probably the understatement of the year. He had been as rough as she had asked him to be and then some, but she wouldn’t take it back. Not for a second.
She showered quickly and then changed into one of Brady’s UNC T-shirts and some baggy sweats she found in the closet. It wasn’t the sexiest outfit, but it wasn’t as if he had cared what she was wearing last night. She took the stairs down into the living room and saw that Brady had started another fire. She turned to walk into the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of the lake through the sliding glass doors.
The lake was pristine and snow fell softly onto its smooth surface. It was a light snow. Nothing that was likely going to stick, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
“It’s snowing,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.
“Yeah, it’s been doing that since I got down here. Hopefully it doesn’t stick or we’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” Brady said.
“That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.”
He smiled and her heart stopped. “I hope you like oatmeal, because that’s pretty much all we have.”
“Oatmeal is fine.”
They ate in a peaceful silence. Both knew that the conversation to come was an important one, but each wanted to prolong the state of bliss they were in for a little bit longer. Brady reluctantly cleared the dishes, and Liz sat there sipping on the water he had poured her.
“So,” he said, leaning back against the counter.
“So,” she replied.
“We have some things to talk about.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we should start at the beginning.”
“Living room?” she asked, standing and backing into the room.
“Sure.”
Liz took a seat on the couch again, but this time Brady sat across from her. She hated the space between them already, but she knew why it was necessary.
“I guess I should preface this conversation,” she began, “by letting you know you probably aren’t going to like some parts.”
“I doubt I’ll like much of it,” Brady said, leaning back into the seat and crossing his leg at his ankle.
Well, at least he knew. Maybe he wouldn’t kill anything along the way.
“So, the beginning, right?” He nodded and she tried not to avoid those dark eyes. Liz took a deep breath and began. “I guess the story starts after I left your primary. I wanted you to be happy, and I didn’t want to jeopardize your election. So I left and was miserable the rest of the semester. I never told anyone what happened, and I never let anyone in. Not even my roommate. I guess after you won I realized there was no hope for us, and I just wanted to try to forget. That’s when Hayden and I started talking.”
She cringed at Hayden’s name, and she saw Brady’s jaw clench. She didn’t blame him. Not one bit.
“Fast-forward to October. Well, you know what happened that night.”
“Yes. I do,” Brady said stiffly.
God, she hated this.
“Well, when you closed that door, I decided that nothing else really mattered. It was only the first argument Hayden and I had ever had, so I forgave him and we put it past us.”
“Just like that?” he asked, frustrated. “I f**king broke up with Erin the next day and you just forgave him?”
“I’m not you, Brady. I made my own mistakes,” she said softly. “I thought it would be okay.”
Brady shook his head. “You’re entirely too forgiving. That guy is a jackass.”
“He is. But you have to understand that Hayden had never once acted like that with me before. And you were gone.” He opened his mouth to say something, but Liz beat him too it. “I know. I left. I know. Trust me. Can I just tell the rest?”
He breathed out heavily. “What happened?”
“Everything was fine with my relationship, but nothing was okay with me. I beat myself up for months about cheating on Hayden with you.”
“Over our kiss?”
“You and I both know it was more than that, Brady. We wouldn’t be here right now if it was just a kiss.”
He nodded, acknowledging her statement, and she continued.
“I had a breakdown and told Victoria. She said that I should tell Hayden, because the worst thing that could happen was that he would leave me. At the time, I really thought that was the worst thing that could happen. I just wanted the weight off my chest. I wasn’t going to tell him it was you,” Liz said. Her body ached as she thought about what happened next.