Page 68 of Stealing Sunshine

I lift my eyes and find hers waiting. Like an expert in all things Bryce, the aspects of myself that I don’t reveal to fucking anybody, she bypasses all of my safety protocols and makes a home for herself in the pits of my insecurities and worthlessness that I’ve tried to bury for over a decade. They don’t feel so heavyonce she’s reached them, like she’s transferred some of her colour into their black holes.

It should be enough to have me taking off. To give me the push I need to reinforce my security.

I bring my walls down a little lower instead.

“You deserved a finished classroom. It should have been like this from the very start,” I declare.

“It should have. But it wasn’t. And I have you to thank. So, thank you, Bryce.”

Staring helplessly into the endless depths of her eyes, I can’t be bothered to look away. Even when I discard my sandwich on the table and take her cheek in my hand.

It scorches against my palm, threatening to brand me with her initials. My heat sparks in answer as she leans into my touch instead of away, accepting it and nuzzling closer, eyelids drooping.

“This is just one of the many things I’d do for you, Daisy.”

“Because it gives us something to use as proof?”

I stroke the corner of her mouth with my thumb, aching to tug it up just so I could see her smile again.

Poison slithers up my throat as my lie builds, leaving a sour taste behind.

“Yeah, Sunshine. Just proof.”

21

DAISY

I don’t knowwhy I thought a hike would be a good idea.

When I was a teenager, this would have been my idea of a regular workout. At one point, I was spending two hours a day running through the wooded areas outside of town, taking in the fresh air and burn in my calves and chest.

I never ventured up the mountains, though. My moms took to threatening me with Johnny’s mandatory company on my runs if I even dared think about heading up one on my own. The threat worked because there was no way my twin brother—who might actually run slower than our ninety-year-old grandmother—was going to ruin my afternoon routine. Kiki loathed exercise and was out of the question, and Josette was my only sister still at home. She was too busy volunteering as the photographer for all the school sports teams to join me.

Then, by the time I headed off to university, I stopped running, and the prospect of hiking the beautiful mountains I grew up gawking at seemed completely impossible.

Until I blabbered to Bryce.

And now, I’m paying for my loose lips.

Folding my body over a massive rock, I heave breaths intomy tight, burning lungs and wipe the sweat from my forehead with the bottom of my shirt.

“Will you make it to the top?” Bryce asks with a tinge of humour.

I shoot her a weak, playful glare. “How are you so unbothered right now? Don’t tell me you’re secretly a pro hiker.”

She props her foot onto the trunk of a tree and leans forward to grab the toe of her sneaker for a stretch. Like the first time I saw her in workout gear, it’s a completely different experience than the typical jean skirt or work blouse.

Even with the fall chill in the air, she opted for a pair of tight, high-cut spandex shorts and a cropped shirt that’s been torn at the arms in the same style my brother loves. It reveals the muscles in her biceps, the band of her black sports bra, and the detailed artwork all over her skin.

I settled for regular leggings and an old, baggy shirt that I’m pretty sure belongs to my brother. It wasn’t until I was digging through my dresser drawers after work today that I realized I don’t own any allocated gym wear, and that told me all I needed to know about how this hike was going to turn out.

“Poppy keeps me in shape. Pole is the hardest workout I’ve ever done.”

“Really? I’ve never tried. But from the fact I could collapse here and not get up ever again, I don’t think I’d do very well,” I joke.

“She isn’t at the Cherry Peak BB location much. If you want to attend one of her classes, you should head to Calgary.”

“Is that where you go?”

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