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Brady’s eyes darted over to her side of the car, proclaiming rather loudly that her sarcasm wasn’t welcome.
“Fine. No. ”
“I woke up this morning to Heather thanking me. ”
“What?” Liz asked cautiously. “Why?”
“For you dating someone else. ”
Liz swallowed hard, but kept her eyes locked on him even as he drove them aimlessly around Chapel Hill. “I’m not dating him, Brady,” she said finally.
“Yes, well, I assumed that,” he said sharply. “However, that doesn’t explain why your face is on the front cover of the paper with this person…another guy. ”
“I visited him in D. C. ,” she answered truthfully.
Brady breathed in slowly. It was clear that he was trying to control himself. “I thought you were visiting a friend in D. C. ”
“Hayden is my friend. ” She hadn’t meant for her voice to come like a whisper, but the coldness to his tone scared her.
“Hayden,” Brady repeated the name.
“He’s the, uh…editor of the paper. ”
The silence was more painful than his anger. She wanted him to yell at her, scream, tell her how pissed he was, but he didn’t. He just sat there his hand lightly clenched on the steering wheel as he drove through town.
“And how do you feel about him?” Brady finally asked.
Ironic, coming from him. Liz clenched her fists at her sides and felt the heat rise in her face. Brady wouldn’t even tell her how he felt, and yet he demanded she tell him about Hayden.
“He’s not you. ” She turned her head away from Brady. She had already told Brady she loved him. That had to be clear.
“He likes you,” Brady said simply.
“It doesn’t really matter! Didn’t you hear me? He’s not you. This isn’t a competition, Brady. There’s no room for jealousy. Look, I liked Hayden for a long time, and he kissed me in D. C. , and I can’t even look at him right now. Why? Why can’t I look at someone who I liked for two years before I even met you?” she demanded, turning in her seat to face him once again. “Because the only thing I felt when he kissed me was that I was glad it was out in public. It wasn’t Hayden I wanted. It was you. And if it’s not you, then it doesn’t matter. ”
“You think this is a competition? That I’m jealous? I made it very clear that I didn’t want anyone else near you,” Brady said, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“It’s like you’re not even hearing me!” Liz cried. “I love you. I told you that I love you. Don’t you hear me? Don’t you understand what that means? Just tell me that you love me. ”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. And I won’t hurt you with this one. ”
Too late.
Liz recoiled as if he had slapped her across the face. His words hurt worse than she even thought they could. Her cheeks heated and her stomach twisted at his refusal…his rejection.
“Did you just come here to hurt me?” Liz asked softly.
Brady sighed and pulled over into an empty parking lot. They were on the north side of town and there wasn’t much traffic. He slammed the car into park and turned to face her for the first time.
“I came here to find out why you allowed your picture in the paper when you know it’s better for you to be anonymous. I came to find out who this Hayden person is when I’ve never even once heard you mention him all summer…though we’ve been together the entire time. And it seems I was right to come here and get my answers. ”
“You were right to come and get your answers. I much prefer to see how angry you are at the thought of me being with someone else,” Liz spat in frustration. “At least it shows you care under that hard exterior. ”
“Are you out of your mind?” Brady asked.
She could see his walls crumbling. His anger bubbling over. The emotions he so tightly controlled on a daily basis fragmenting and coming apart at the seams.
Brady shook his head before he spoke. “You’re the only person I’ve ever met who so completely disarms me. I feel like sometimes you aren’t looking at me; you’re looking through me. Like you know every single secret in my existence…like you know exactly what I’m thinking. That was exactly what I meant that very first day we met, when I told you that you were my airplane. You totally fuck me up, Liz!”
