She stalked across the parking lot to his car. She hadn’t even realized how furious she was until she started walking. How dared she say those things! Calleigh had power and prestige, but that did not give her the right to treat Liz like this.
“Hey,” Hayden called, jogging to catch up to her long strides, “are you all right?”
“Fine,” she muttered, walking faster.
He latched on to her elbow and pulled her up short. “Are you really all right?”
“What do you think?” she asked, sneering at him.
“I’d say no.” He didn’t let go of her elbow. “I’m really sorry about…all that.”
“What was all that?” Liz asked.
“Calleigh and I were together last year before she took the job in Charlotte. It wasn’t anything serious.”
“She seems to think it’s still something,” Liz pointed out.
He shrugged. “I can’t control how she feels. It’s not whatever she thinks it is.”
“Well, maybe next time you shouldn’t go running off alone with her and then she won’t think it’s something,” Liz said calmly. She couldn’t believe that had come out of her mouth. It was what she was thinking, but never something she would normally say. Maybe Brady’s frankness had gotten into her system.
Hayden dipped his head in surrender. “You’re right. I didn’t mean for it to come off that way.”
“Intentions only go so far.”
“True,” he said, looking up into her eyes. She could see he wanted to say more, do more. But he didn’t. She wasn’t sure what was holding him back.
He was standing only inches away from her, and she knew she would give in to him if he made a move. Even with Brady’s words still ingrained in her head and Calleigh’s stinging words ringing in her ears. She was mad at him, but it didn’t hold back the crush that had been brewing inside of her for the past two years.
Hayden took a step in, and Liz’s breath caught, her heart fluttering at a rapid pace. He was so close. She took a small step forward until their clothes brushed against each other and tilted her head up to look at him. He smiled at her and she sighed softly, waiting for the kiss she knew was coming.
His mouth quirked up at the side and then he backed up. She was so confused. She had given him an open invitation, and he had backed down.
Liz quickly turned toward the car, her face burning.
Hayden cleared his throat awkwardly. “We should get back.”
She didn’t even have the strength to respond, just walked to the passenger-side door and waited for him to unlock it. She didn’t want to know what he was thinking. He had turned down Calleigh, only to reject Liz as well.
She would have been better off staying up in VIP. At least Brady had made his intentions clear. The hot and cold with Hayden was confusing at best.
Liz tossed her jacket inside and slid into the passenger seat of the Audi. The forty-minute drive back to Chapel Hill was quieter than the ride there had been. The radio was playing some hipster music that she wasn’t really into, but it was better than the silence.
He parked outside of the small run-down house she rented on the north side of campus. The neighborhood wasn’t all that great, but it was a short walk to the journalism school and was better than trying to find parking on campus. Luckily Victoria didn’t care about the decrepit nature of the building, because it was so close to the bars on Franklin Street.
“Thanks for the ride,” she murmured, grabbing her jacket and popping the door open. “I’ll start working on the article.”
She was all the way around the car when Hayden stepped out. “Liz,” he called, stopping her from walking up the grassy path to her house. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
Which part? she wanted to ask him. Was he sorry that he had run off with Calleigh? Was he sorry that Calleigh had been a bitch to her? Was he sorry for not kissing her when she had been expecting it?
Instead she just said, “It’s all right.” She didn’t even know what she was saying all right to.
“It’s not. Calleigh shouldn’t take out her anger about me on you,” he said.
Oh.
“Yeah, probably not,” Liz muttered. “Night, Hayden.”
“Liz,” he called again as she walked away. She turned around reluctantly. “I am sorry.”
She sighed and nodded. Please be over quicker. “I know you are. Don’t worry about what Calleigh said.”
“I just…don’t want this to affect our…erm…relationship.” Her ears perked up at that statement. “You’re a great reporter. I wouldn’t want you to think I’m using my authority or anything to come on to you. I would hate to lose you at the paper.”
Liz’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t want to lose her at the paper? Like that was even an option. The paper was all she wanted. Was that why he hadn’t kissed her? Was he afraid that starting something with her would be bad for the paper?
“Would you say you’re coming on to me?” She hadn’t thought that he was…not compared to Brady back at the club.
Hayden looked flustered, and she was glad. She had liked him for a long time and then after one evening together he was crushing it all. “I worry about how you took Calleigh’s comment. I don’t…”
“Just leave it, Hayden,” she said wearily. “It’s too late for this conversation. I’m tired.”
“Right. Sorry. I thought I was clarifying, but it seems like I’m only more jumbled. I’ll see you at the paper tomorrow.” He stepped forward and grasped her hand unexpectedly. Despite everything, she was still glad that he was touching her. She was angry about the way he was acting this evening, but she couldn’t hold back her feelings for him.
She saw him swallow as he stepped toward her again. She wasn’t expecting a kiss, not after the incident in the parking lot. In fact, she didn’t know why he was touching her at all, but she wasn’t stopping him. And she didn’t stop him when he pulled her into his arms.
They were strong arms, not particularly big but definitely not small. They fit well around her waist, and she could feel their definition as they circled her. Liz automatically wrapped her arms around his neck as he drew her into his chest. The hug was brief, but still, it was Hayden.