She followed me to the wrought-iron bench that sat at the very edge of the hillside. In front of us lay the city skyline, its lights twinkling in the dusky purple twilight. Skyscrapers lined the jagged horizon, some of the windows still lit from within. And a steady stream of cars moved over the connecting roads in a blur of red and white.

I still wasn’t sure what had possessed me to bring her here, somewhere I had never brought anyone else—or even mentioned it to.

“The view from here is amazing.” Shifting her weight, she crossed her legs.

I couldn’t help but stare. They were long and shapely, and I hadn’t been able to get them out of my mind since XS.

“The view right here’s pretty nice too.”

Her lips curled, and her cheeks darkened almost imperceptibly in the dim light. She shot me a look that said she couldn’t tell if I was messing around or not. Which meant my game had gone to shit lately. Probably due to lack of practice and aforementioned absence of chill.

“How do you know about this place?” Bailey’s round eyes searched my face, her expression turning serious.

“Sometimes I come here for runs in the off-season. You know, to mix it up and get off the dreadmill.” I stretched my legs out in front of me, draping an arm along the back of the bench. “Then I stop and undo all my hard work with a sugar-laden drink at the end. It’s all about balance.”

“Must be paying off if you guys are schooling us in the standings this badly already.”

“Guess so.” I shrugged. “You should probably jump ship while you can. It’s not too late to join our bandwagon.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Keep dreaming.”

We fell quiet, looking out at the view, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was kind of nice being with someone who, like me, didn’t feel the need to fill every second with idle chatter. After a while, we slipped back into small talk about school, hockey, and other friend-appropriate topics.

Until my internal stream of thoughts butted in before I could stop myself.

“No offense to you, but I don’t get the Morrison thing,” I said. “You’re cool. And that dude’s got about as much personality as a carton of white milk.”

“Oh my god.” She stopped mid-sip and huffed out a little breath of air. “Somehow that fits perfectly.”

I drained the last of my hot chocolate. “Seriously, what did you see in him? Asking for a friend.” I paused. “Okay, that friend is me. I’m a nosy fuck.”