“Guys, watch what you’re doing!” Hayden called.

Liz’s body was flush against Hayden’s, and when he looked down at her, she blushed and pulled away.

“We’re going to need,” Phillip said, and started counting the people, “six shots of SoCo. Got to do it right for my buddy from the Carolinas.”

“There are only four of us,” Hayden observed.

Topher nudged Hayden; he had his arms slung over the shoulders of two girls. “Meet Anne and Abigail.”

Liz shook her head at the display. The girls barely acknowledged them. Liz started making a bet with herself on how fast these girls would ditch them after they took the shots.

“Six shots of SoCo,” Phillip said, passing around glasses as the bartender handed them to him. “Hope you don’t mind, Lane, but I put this on your tab.”

“That’s like fifty bucks,” Hayden said, exasperated.

“Better you than me,” he said, raising his shot glass in the air dramatically. “To nights you’ll never remember, and friends you’ll never forget.”

The group all cheered and clinked their shots together. Liz tilted her head back and let the liquor slide down the back of her throat in one swift motion. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Potent.

“Awesome,” Topher said, slamming his drink back on the bar.

“We’re uh…going to go dance,” one of the girls said with a shrug.

“Yeah, thanks for the drink,” the second one said, already attempting to retreat.

Called it, Liz thought.

“Aww, leaving already?” Phillip asked, walking with them away from the bar.

Liz laughed as Topher trailed after them too.

“That’s a lost cause,” Liz said.

“Those guys don’t give up easy,” Hayden told her. “The girls will give up fighting it before they do.”

They picked up their drinks and followed the guys back to where they were chatting up Anne, Abigail, and their friends. The girls all started dancing together to the rhythm of the music. Liz knew girls at home who used this as a defense so they didn’t have to dance with certain guys. Phillip and Topher stood and watched them for a couple minutes before coaxing one of the girls to dance with each of them. They were smoother than a lot of the guys she knew, but still.

The dance floor filled up as the alcohol flowed, and soon even Liz found herself dancing with the group of girls. She could only remember that the tall girl was Anne and the short one was Abigail. The rest of the girls blended together and really it didn’t matter. It was nice to kick back and enjoy herself. She forgot about everything that was frustrating and confusing about her summer and lived in the dance.

She didn’t even think she was that great, but she was living by Victoria’s motto tonight: If you’re a girl, you can shake it. Apparently that was all that was needed.

Liz danced sandwiched between the other two girls, feeling tipsy and giddy from the drink and heat. She raised her hands high over her head, swished her hips side to side, and dipped down low with the other girls. She dropped her head back and laughed as the girl in front of her touched her toes. It was all entirely too ridiculous, and that made it all the more fun.

Anne, the girl behind her, grabbed Liz’s hips to keep from falling over and ended up laughing loudly in her ear.

“Oh my God!” Anne cried.

Liz laughed and steadied herself against Abigail, who stood up and reached out for her friends in front of her. Liz glanced over at Hayden with the biggest smile plastered on her face.

He was standing there only a few feet away, just staring at her. She couldn’t judge his expression. It was like a mixture of curiosity with disbelief and a whole lot of where the hell did that come from?

Hayden caught her staring back and smiled. He took a few steps to bridge the distance between them and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the girls. She landed against his chest and he drew her into him.

“Good Lord, what have you been doing all summer?” he whispered into her ear.

“What do you mean?” Liz asked innocently.

“You’re so…free,” he said, as if it was the only word he could come up with.

“It’s just me, Hayden.”

“You say that,” he said, his hands sliding to her hips and swinging them into time with his, “and then you dance like this.”

Liz wound her arms up around his neck. “No reason not to dance,” she murmured.

“No,” he agreed, “no reason at all.”

He stared down at her then and she saw in his eyes something she hadn’t noticed before—lust. Liz swallowed hard and tried to forget about it. That wasn’t what this was. Hayden had his chance at the end of the semester and had made it clear they were just friends. But she knew for certain that he was not looking at her like a friend.

The crowd drew in all around them as couples paired off, but when she was dancing with Hayden, it felt as if there wasn’t anyone else in that room.

As they continued to dance, Liz felt her heartbeat rise along with the temperature in the room. She couldn’t believe that after two years of crushing on Hayden, here he was finally showing her the attention she had been craving all along. It didn’t feel fair that it had taken a summer with Brady to change her, to open her up. It was as if he had unlocked a piece of her that she hadn’t even known existed.

Now here she was in a crowded nightclub with the guy she had always wanted, and to say she was conflicted was an understatement. She couldn’t turn off two years of attraction like a light switch, but she owed it to Brady. They had too much to work out for this to happen.

Their dancing slowed almost to a stop as Hayden drew her closer and closer to him. She dragged in a ragged breath as her eyes rose to his. She could feel his hot breath on her cheeks and his fingers dig softly into her back.

Oh God, she thought, seeing everything play out before her eyes as if in slow motion.

“Guys!” someone called, barreling against them and clinging to Liz’s arm.

Liz broke out of her trance and took a step away from Hayden. Her heart was beating fast and she knew her cheeks were crimson. She broke his gaze and looked over at the person holding on to her.

“Jamie,” Liz said, relieved. That had been close.

Jamie smiled brightly at her. She was dressed simply in a striped hi-lo dress and sandals. She threw her arms around Liz with a cheer. “Oh my God, you guys are still here!”

Liz laughed and moved her to arm’s length. “Of course we’re still here. How drunk are you?”

“The girls gave me too much wine,” she said with a giggle. “We should dance!”

“Um…your sister is pretty wasted,” Liz told Hayden.

“Shhhh, don’t tell him,” Jamie whispered into Liz’s ear.

“Jamie,” Hayden said, shaking his head. “You can hardly stand up.”

“Don’t you start.” Jamie pointed her finger in his face. “James will be here any minute, and I’ll hear enough from him.”

“Do you want me to go get you a water?” Hayden held her steady.

“Yes, I do, but first, bathroom,” she said with a giggle. “Liz, shall we?” She gestured out dramatically in front of her.

“Sis, your Drama Club is showing,” Hayden teased.

“Smack him for me,” Jamie told Liz before striding toward the bathroom.

“I’ll uh…go with her, I guess,” Liz said with a shrug.

Liz walked across the crowded bar and into the bathroom behind Jamie. It was packed with girls fixing their hair, applying makeup, gossiping, and there was always one throwing up into the toilet.

“I’ll be quick!” Jamie said, finding an open stall.

Liz stood against the wall with a huff. She tried not to think about how Hayden had almost kissed her. They had been in that position before, except this time she didn’t think he’d had any intention of backing off. She was thankful that Jamie banged into them when she did. She wasn’t sure if she would have stopped him if he had leaned forward, and that was disorienting.

What am I going to do the rest of the night? she wondered.

Jamie left the stall, walked to the sink, and started washing her hands.

“I just have to tell you something, Liz,” Jamie said, grabbing the last paper towel and drying her hands.

“Yeah?” Liz wondered what kind of drunken conversation they were about to have.

“I was really worried at first when Hayden said you were a reporter.”

“What?” she said, confused. “Why were you worried about that?”

Jamie tossed the paper towel. She turned to Liz and sighed as if it was such an obvious question. “I didn’t want him to be dating someone too rigid. You know, like him.”

Liz’s eyes bulged. “Oh, Jamie, we’re not…uh…we’re not dating.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” she said, waving it off. “He mentioned that.”

“Yeah, just friends.” Liz hoped it would sink in.

“But seriously, you’re not uptight or anything! I mean I really like you!” she said, tossing her arms around Liz again.

“Well, thanks,” Liz said. She patted her back softly and then pulled away.

“I’m so glad that you’re here with him. He’s so much fun when you’re around. It’s not all about work this, the paper that.” Jamie gestured right and left and rolled her eyes. “He needs a good distraction.”

Liz really liked Jamie, but she couldn’t have this conversation. It was like Jamie had already convinced herself Liz and Hayden were good together. No matter what she said, she wasn’t going to be able to persuade his sister otherwise either.

“Maybe we should head back,” Liz suggested.

Jamie glanced down at her phone and nodded. “I think James is here!”

They walked out of the bathroom and Jamie immediately launched herself at her boyfriend. They disappeared on the dance floor a second later, leaving Hayden and Liz alone once more.

“You want another drink?” he asked with a cute smirk on his face.

Liz nodded and followed him to the bar. He ordered them both another round of drinks. As they waited, he moved her back against the bar and squared her in with his body. One of his hands brushed her messy waves off to one shoulder and the other slung across the back of the bar.

“Did I tell you how amazing you look tonight?” he murmured, leaning forward to speak directly into her ear.

A shiver crept down her back at his nearness. She shook her head.

“You look amazing,” he repeated.

“Thank you,” she said softly, not even sure whether he could hear it over the music.

The bartender passed drinks to Hayden, who handed Liz hers. “Come on. Let’s dance some more.”

They spent the rest of the evening trapped in a mass of dancers at the bar. Topher and Phillip left with Anne and Abigail later. They stopped by long enough to say good-bye and smile smugly, as if they knew Liz hadn’t believed they would score. Jamie started feeling sick shortly after that. James apologized to them for her. Hayden closed his tab and then helped James haul her out of the bar. Hayden left her with James to flag down a cab. A few minutes later one showed up that would take them back to the apartment.

“Hayden, you’re not coming with?” Jamie asked, looking like she might throw up any second.

“We’ll be back soon,” he said with a smile as he tucked her into the car. Jamie lay back against James just as Hayden shut the door.

“We’re not going back?” Liz asked, furrowing her brow.

“I wanted to show you something. Hope that’s okay,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and directing her to walk in the opposite direction of his apartment.

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the Reflecting Pool once more. Her feet were sore from walking the few blocks to their destination in heels, but it was a pretty sight. Everything was all lit up, and it was late enough that no one else was around.

Hayden pulled her toward the brightly lit Lincoln Memorial. She trekked up the stairs in her heels until she stood right in front of Lincoln’s enormous statue.

“I told you I’d get you your view,” he said. She could sense him inching closer to her.

“It’s beautiful, Hayden.” She continued to stare at the memorial.

“Lizzie,” he whispered.

She turned then at the way he said her name. He had never called her Lizzie before. She kind of liked the way it sounded coming out of his mouth. Hayden Lane, who was always completely controlled, was struggling for just an ounce of control around her. When had the world completely flipped upside down?